Zinedine Yazid Zidane is one of the greatest footballers to have played in the past twenty years. Born on 23 June 1972, he played with some of the greatest players of the time and he outshone all of them in both his international and club career.
He first started playing Professional football at the age of 17 for Cannes in the year 1988 and from there he never really looked back going from strength to strength. While he was at Cannes, his team finished fourth in the league allowing them to qualify for playing in a European competition that remains their best finish ever.
In 1992, he moved to Bordeaux where he won his first trophy when his club won the Intertoto Cup in 1995. That allowed the international scouts to come and take him to Juventus. Blackburn Rovers almost got him, but despite the efforts of then-manager Kenny Dalglish, the deal could not be completed.
He failed to win European Champions League despite appearing in two consecutive finals. He was one of the automatic selections for France in 1998. He proved his selection right by two brilliant goals against Brazil in the finals.
He led the French team to become champions of Europe in 2004. In the meanwhile, he joined the biggest club in the world, Real Madrid in 2001. He was transferred for what the highest fee was ever paid for any player up to that time of nearly 75 million Euros. He won his only Champions League title for his club; he scored the memorable winner in that match.
