San Francisco Frontiers - Zinedine Zidane - The good, the bad and the ugly

AFP Sport picks out key moments in his career:

Double on France debut

Just as another French legend, Michel Platini, had done before him, Zidane scored on his international debut.

Aged just 22, he came on as a substitute in a friendly against the Czech Republic and struck twice in the space of two minutes. Platini, too, had marked his debut by scoring against the then Czechoslovakia.

Doing so in front of his home crowd in Bordeaux, the club he represented at the time, added the icing to the cake.

Soon afterwards, 'ZZ' was handed a heavy responsibility. Following Eric Cantona's long ban for his infamous kung-fu kick on a fan, France coach Aime Jacquet designated Zidane as the playmaker.

It proved to be an inspired choice.

On top of the world

The stage was set. France expected their team to win the World Cup on home soil by defeating defending champions Brazil.

The team, and Jacquet in particular, had been subjected to a barrage of criticism, especially from sports daily L'Equipe.

The final at the Stade de France was also set up as a battle between two stars: the brooding Zidane and the barrel-chested Ronaldo.

Zidane had yet to score in the tournament and had been sent off for stamping on an opponent in the group game against Saudi Arabia.

On the biggest stage of all, however, Zidane rose to the occasion while Ronaldo never found his rhythm, although he could perhaps be excused as it later emerged that he had suffered a seizure on the day of the final.

Zidane made up for his lack of goals prior to the final, putting France 2-0 up by half-time in unlikely fashion with a pair of headers.

Despite Marcel Desailly's sending-off with just over 20 minutes remaining, France held on and Emmanuel Petit added a late third.

"I've never been very good with my head," said Zidane. "But thankfully I managed to get it right... twice!"

'Goal for the ages'

Zidane's greatest goal may well have come with his less favoured foot -- his left.

The 2002 Champions League final between Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid was locked at 1-1 near half-time when Roberto Carlos's less-than-perfect cross found Zidane.

Despite it falling on his weaker foot, Zidane went for it and unleashed a fierce volley that flew past Hans-Jorg Butt in the Leverkusen goal.

That was to prove the difference as Leverkusen, driven on by German star Michael Ballack, were unable to break down the Real defence.

For Zidane, it was a case of fourth time lucky. He had lost a UEFA Cup final with Bordeaux before suffering successive Champions League final defeats with Juventus.

"I had a pass from Roberto Carlos and slammed it in. It was a very nice volley," Zidane said in his usual understated manner.

Spanish sports daily Marca captured the moment more aptly: "A goal for the ages."

Zidane sees red

Talk about going out with a bang rather than a whimper -- Zidane's last match of a stellar playing career was the 2006 World Cup final against Italy.

He was to pass within touching distance of the trophy as he trudged disconsolately to the dressing room after being red-carded.

Having been coaxed out of international retirement and reinstated as captain, he had already made his mark in the final by scoring a penalty.

However, Italian defender Marco Materazzi got under his skin as a shootout beckoned with a crude remark about Zidane's sister.

To everyone's astonishment Materazzi then fell to the ground after being head-butted by Zidane.

The Frenchman knew his fate and started taking off the captain's armband even before the referee had the card out of his pocket.

"I could never have lived with myself," Zidane said later of the scenario of staying on the pitch and France winning as a result.

Italy were to win on penalties.

Real deal

He served his coaching apprenticeship at Real Madrid, as assistant to Carlo Ancelotti before assuming the main role in January 2016.

He made one of the most pressurised jobs in the sport look easy, reeling off three successive Champions League successes (2016-18), becoming a member of the elite club who won it both as a player and as a coach.

There was to be a second spell as coach, though, it did not wield another Champions League, just a La Liga title in 2020.

T.Martin--SFF