| FRANCE | |
| 1988-2006 | |
| AS Cannes (1988-1992) Bordeaux (1992-1996) Juventus (1996-2001) Real Madrid (2001-2006) | |
When people ask me who the greatest player of the last 10 years was, I say, without any hesitation at all, Zinedine Zidane. Of course, people then come back with “Oh, the guy who committed the headbutt in the World Cup Final?” Yeah, Zidane was a hothead, and he ended his career on the worst possible note imaginable. However, it doesn’t diminish his brilliance, nor does it detract from his accomplishments.
Zidane was, arguably, the best playmaking international midfielder since Maradona. He was the heartbeat of the French National Team that dominated from 1998-2000, winning both the World Cup and the European Championship. If there were any doubt about how important he was to his country, look no further than the 2002 World Cup, where an injured Zidane watched the first two French matches from the bench and hobbled onto the field for the third and was unable to prevent France from being eliminated without scoring a single goal. Additionally, France’s struggles in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup without Zidane, and their poor display at Euro 2008 only underscored how reliant the team had become on his brilliant playmaking.
He wasn’t just a playmaker, though, and he was more than capable of putting the ball in the net on his own. He was a great free-kicker and was one of the best headers in the game. He had exquisite ball control skills and was great at keeping possession of the ball, especially when going forward. He had a ferocious shot, and he could finish from long-range or up close.
On the club level, Zidane was just as great as he was on the international scene. He won two Scudetti with Juventus and he won the Champions League and La Liga with Real Madrid. Additionally, he won the Ballon d’Or in 1998 and was a three-time FIFA World Player of the Year. With Kaka’s proposed transfer to Manchester City falling through the cracks, Zidane remains the most expensive player of all time, transferring to Real Madrid from Juventus for £46 million.
His temper, obviously, cost him dearly, and his sending off in the World Cup Final was hardly the first time he saw red during his career (both literally and figuratively). He was sent off 14 times during his career, including an ugly incident in the 1998 World Cup where he stomped on a Saudi Arabian player’s chest. His two-match ban got him back in time for the Quarter Finals, though, but it cost him a chance at the Golden Ball. Plus, there was the embarrassing scene in 2006, where he finally did win the Golden Ball, but was sent off in the World Cup Final after headbutting Marco Materazzi. Still, just because he didn’t have a fairy tale ending, it doesn’t make him any less of a legend.
