Zinedine Zidane : A legend

I can confess without feeling embarrassed or ashamed I haven't been watching football for quite a long time. In fact it all started in the 1998 World Cup, when I got my first taste of watching soccer live on TV. Although I didn't understand the game that well at that time I kept on seeing every match I could and after the final took place had come to the conclusion that Zidane was the best player the world would see . Yeah, I didn't know all the footballing greats like Maradona and Pele at that time so I eventually had to change my decision. I didn't know much about club football until I came across Zidane's amazing volley in the 2001/2002 champions league final between Real Madrid and Bayern Leverkusen. As I told you earlier that I had once come to the conclusion that Zidane was the best player the world would ever see, his superb volley convinced me even more about his quality. It was the perfect way to repay Madrid back after the Spanish giant had spent around €66m, around £45.6m, in order to buy him the highest in football history.

On 7 May 2006, Zidane played his last home game for Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. His team-mates wore special jerseys that had ZIDANE 2001–2006 written on the bottom of the club logo. The Real Madrid fans gave him a warm reception and kept cheering him throughout the game. The opposing team was Villarreal CF, and the game ended in a 3-3 draw, where he scored the second goal for Real Madrid. After the game, Zidane swapped jerseys with Juan Román Riquelme, the Villarreal CF and Argentinean midfielder. Zidane was given an ovation by spectators chanting "merci", which left him in tears. I also had to shade some tears for him, not that I am ashamed to admit it. I felt proud whenever I thought that i had the opportunity to witness one of the greatest footballer of all time.

n the 110th minute of the 2006 World Cup final against Italy, Zidane was sent off for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest in an off the ball incident. The two players exchanged words before Zidane began to walk away from him. Materazzi allegedly said something to Zidane, who turned around, made a run-up and head-butted Materazzi in the chest, sending him to the ground. Although play was halted, referee Horacio Elizondo did not appear to have seen the confrontation. According to match officials' reports, Fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo informed Elizondo of the incident through his earphones. After consulting his assistant referees, Elizondo showed Zidane the red card and sent him off.

I wished that his career could have come to a better conclusion and that could have been accomplished if France had won the 2006 World Cup.