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FIFA WC 1998
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Rewind back to July 12, 1998. It was a typical sultry summer evening in Paris, except that it was 
playing host to the FIFA World Cup final between the hosts France and the perennial favourites,
Samba Boys from Brazil. It was a beautiful setting at the 81,000-odd seater Stade de France and 
with the host nation in the final, the fan interest was unimaginable, across the globe.That was 
the day Zinedine Zidane was born in every fan's heart. France beat Brazil 3-0 and Zidane became
the hero scoring two goals.

The command he had on the field was mindboggling. Zidane was always dictating the match like 
child’s play and his skills on the ball left everybody speechless, to say the least. To see 
him 360 his way around defenders always reminded me of an artist at work, a great one at that. 
Zizou left many defenders biting the dust with his mesmerising trickery and dribbling. His set
-piece ability was unparalleled and his cool-as-a-cucumber attitude in high octane situations 
made him a hot property and a natural choice for the captain’s armband.

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EURO 2000:
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After the World Cup 1998 came Euro 2000 and Zidane was back on the international stage! And 
France won again and in the process became only the second country after West Germany to 
hold the World Cup and European Championships, simultaneously. Zidane finished the 
tournament with two goals, a memorable free kick against Spain in the quarter final and the 
golden goal  in the semi final against Portugal, and was named player of the tournament by UEFA 
and achieved cult status in my and many a eyes, through his mind-numbing performances.

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FIFA WC 2002:
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So the reigning titans of Football, Les Blues arrived in Japan-South Korea as firm favourites to land 
the title. But as luck may have it, their talisman Zidane picked up a thigh injury, thus preventing 
him from participating in the initial two matches and Les Blues perished without him, failing to 
even register on the scoring sheet. They rushed Zizou for the final match, but he could not 
prevent the title holders from bowing out of the tournament, in the most acrimonious way the
tournament had ever seen.

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EURO 2004:
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Though France performed well below expectations again on the big stage, losing out to the 
surprise package and the eventual winners Greece in the quarters, Zinedine Zidane again topped 
the charts with chipping in with the performance of the tournament against England in the 
knockout stage. Zizou’s stoppage time curler and an even more late penalty brought an agonising 
end to the Three Lions’ campaign in a typical fashion. After France were eliminated from the 
tournament, Zidane announced the much dreaded news of his international retirement from football.

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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL 2001-02:
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A transfer fee of 46million pounds still seems staggering and when you consider a time frame of 
10 years, the time value of money will clearly indicate that this sum meant a lot more in 2001 
than the 80 million Real paid for Ronaldo. When a club goes to such lengths to sign a player, he 
has to be special. And special he was, who other than Zinedine Zidane! Well, if I may, he was 
worth every penny.

What better occasion than a Champions League Final to prove your worth to the fans and the 
management alike, and that too in your inaugural season. As Florentino Perez put it, Zizou 
scored the greatest-ever goal the tournament final had seen. A lob from Roberto Carlos from the 
left wing found Zizou in the box and he absolutely buried it, with an unbelievable volley with his 
weak foot like a ninja administering his final and fatal kick on his opponent. The crowd went 
berserk and Madrid won it a record 9th time.

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FIFA WC 2006: |) So near, yet so far (|
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Wait, didn’t I mention that Zinedine Zidane had retired from international football? Well yes 
indeed, but some coaxing from the manager, Raymond Domenech after France were struggling to 
qualify for the finals at Germany brought him back into the frame as captain. And the magic 
began as the strugglers became the stranglers and Les Blues every team that came in their path 
to set up a mouth-watering quarters clash with old foes Brazil. And as the Gods had scripted it, 
Zinedine Zidane provided an assist to Thierry Henry and was named MOTM by FIFA. France faced 
Portugal in the semi final and, as in Brussels six years earlier, Zidane’s penalty kick decided the 
contest and sent France to another major final.

Enter Italy, whose defense had been breached just once in the run up to the final. They were on a 
roll, with Gianluigi Buffon, their versatile goalkeeper saving virtually anything and everything. But 
who better than Zizou to beat him just within 7 minutes of the start with an audacious penalty 
which clipped the underside of the bar and crossed the goal line before bouncing back. Buffon 
was left rooted to the spot, bamboozled by the genius of the man. Though Italy equalised with 
Materazzi’s header, it was France who were in the driver’s seat with Zinedine Zidane calling the 
shots. But as fate may have it, the two goal-scorers got involved in a heated exchange before 
Zidane was sent off in th 110th minute for headbutting Materazzi (who had insulted his sister). 
The walk was long with every France supporter in shambles, as the team looked in disarray. Italy 
turned out to be the eventual champions after Trezeguet’s penalty shattered the bar with Zidane 
was awarded the Golden Ball as the best player of the competition.

It was a sad day for every France supporter and Zizou fan as it was not a perfect sent-off for the 
greatest-ever midfielder to have graced the game. I had tears in my eyes as would have many 
fans across the world as we felt that France and Zidane were robbed of a World Cup by a 
cheapster named Materazzi.

Though the end of Zizou’s illustrious career was not as one would have liked, but Zidane will 
remain one of the greatest players to have ever graced the game, alongside Pele and Maradona. 
His leadership was sorely missed when France were nothing more than a laughing stock at the 
FIFA WC 2010. Zinedine Zidane will always be missed by the beautiful game and his skills will 
remain entrenched in our hearts, forever.

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Currently, Zidane works as a special adviser to Real Madrid’s first team. In his new role, Zidane is 
expected to participate in Champions League events and functions. He is also to travel with the 
first team on a regular basis and participate in pre-match gatherings, training sessions and 
meetings with the head coach.

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I hope you enjoy this video >> A MUST WATCH <<

HBD for the Legend!!!!You'll always be in our memory!!!!

LEGEND!

Congratiolations Zinedine... and i think there is one small mistake made in the info... when Zidane headbutted Materazzi , Materazzi insulted his mom and sister not only his sister...

My favourite player will always rule the world of football for decades still.

Keep up the good work, I enjoy reading these posts. 

this is a good article nd i always loved zizou

Forever Legend                                                                                                                                               

yes Legend...