Zinédine Zidane

Zinedine Yazid Zidane (zinedin zidan, born 23 June 1972), nicknamed "Zizou", is a retired French footballer and current manager of Real Madrid. He played as an attacking midfielder for the France national team, Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid. An elite playmaker, renowned for his elegance, vision, ball control and technique, Zidane was named the best European footballer of the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll in 2004. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. At club level, Zidane won the La Liga title and the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid, two Serie A league championships with Juventus and an Intercontinental Cup and a UEFA Super Cup each with both aforementioned teams. His 2001 transfer from Juventus to Real Madrid set a world record fee of €77.5 million. His left-foot volleyed winner in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final is considered to be one of the greatest goals in the competition's history. On the international stage with France, Zidane won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice in the final, and UEFA Euro 2000 where he was named Player of the Tournament. The World Cup triumph made him a national hero in France, and he received the Légion d'honneur in 1998. Zidane was named the FIFA World Player of the Year three times, in 1998, 2000 and 2003, and won the 1998 Ballon d'Or. He was Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 1996, Serie A Footballer of the Year in 2001 and La Liga Best Foreign Player in 2002. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the world's greatest living players compiled by Pelé. Zidane received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament at the 2006 World Cup, despite his infamous sending off in the final against Italy for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest. Prior to the World Cup, he announced he would retire at the end of the tournament. After retirement, Zidane became assistant coach at Real Madrid under Carlo Ancelotti for the 2013–14 season. After a successful year in which the club won the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey, Zidane became the coach of Real Madrid's B team, Real Madrid Castilla. In 2010, Zidane was an ambassador for Qatar's successful bid to stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the first Arab country to host the tournament. Zidane is currently the manager of Real Madrid, taking over the position in January 2016. In his first two seasons as manager, Zidane won the UEFA Champions League title twice, a La Liga title, a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup.