zinedine zidane : the legend

Zinédine Yazid Zidane (IPA: [?zine?din jazi?d zi?dan]) (born 23 June 1972), popularly nicknamed Zizou (IPA: [zi?zu]), is a former French football player of Kabyle ethnicity who has starred for both the French national team and four European club teams, most recently Real Madrid.

In the 1998 World Cup final, Zidane attracted international attention with two headed goals against Brazil that won his country's first ever FIFA World Cup title. He contributed to his teams' victories in the Euro 2000, the UEFA Champions League, and domestic championships in Italy and Spain.

Zidane was elected FIFA World Player of the Year a record-equalling three times (1998, 2000, 2003) and was named European Footballer of the Year in 1998. The world-record fee of € 66 million for his transfer to Real Madrid in 2001 remains unequalled. In 2004, he topped the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll on Best European football player of the past 50 years, and was included in the FIFA 100, Pelé's list of the 125 greatest living footballers. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, thus receiving the Golden Ball.

As announced on 25 April 2006, Zidane retired from football after the 2006 World Cup Final on 9 July 2006....