domingo, 29 de dezembro de 2019

Zinedine Zidane – 15 of the best Quotes about the French Legend

zinedine zidane

For many of us, Zinedine Zidane was the most impressive footballer of a generation. He won everything as a player and seems to be doing the same now as a manager. He didn’t say a whole lot, preferring to let his feet do the talking but as you can imagine, the football world has had a lot to say about him over the years. Here’s our collection of some of the more memorable quotes about the great Zizou.

“The most elegant footballer I have ever seen.” – Gary Lineker

“For me, he’s the greatest player of the century. The best player of all time.” – Fabien Barthez

“A true artist. What he could do with the ball was incredible. Only Maradona could do the same. Zizou was also a player capable of rising to the occasion at important moments, and deciding games.” – Marcel Desailly
“To train with Zidane for three years was a dream. For me, he is the greatest player of all time.” – David Beckham

“Zidane is one of the best footballers of all time, one of my idols. He had such elegance and grace, a wonderful touch and superb vision.” – Ronaldinho

“I think he was born with a ball at his feet. I think when the doctor pulled him out, he said ‘This is weird, there is a ball here!’ – Emmanuel Petit

“He dominates the ball, he is a walking spectacle and he plays as if he had silk gloves on each foot. He makes it worthwhile going to the stadium – he’s one of the best I have ever seen.” – Alfredo di Stefano

“To see Zidane in action was to witness poetry in motion. The skills, the vision, the goals . . . he was a sublime performer. When he was at his peak, winning the World Cup, the Champions League and all the rest, he was unquestionably the finest player on the planet.” – Paul Scholes

“When Zidane stepped onto the pitch, the 10 other guys just got suddenly better. It is that simple. It was magic. He was a unique player. He was more than good, he came from another planet. His team-mates became like him when he was on the pitch.” – Zlatan Ibrahimovic

“Every piece of advice he gives you is like gold dust and it helps you improve on the pitch.” – Luka Modric

“Zidane is the master. Over the part 10 years there’s been no-one like him, he has been the best player in the world.” – Pele

“In France, everybody realized that God exists, and that he is back in the French international team. God is back, there is little left to say.” – Thierry Henry

“The greatest player of the past 20 years? It has to be Zidane. He had everything. You never needed to tell him anything as he did it all by himself and knew what was expected.” – Marcello Lippi

“I would give up five players to have Zidane in my squad.” – Cesare Maldini

“He was as elegant as a dancer – he even used the soles of his boots efficiently. Everything was easy for him; he made such movements that if I tried to copy them I would break my legs.” – Franco Baresi



World Cup Legends # Zinedine Zidane


Next up in our series on World Cup legends is the imperious France midfielder, who's famous final act against Italy in 2006 made him football's ultimate flawed hero


In Argentina, it is common sense that if you revere the second goal that Maradona scored against England at the 1986 World Cup, then you must revere the Hand of God.
The explosive intricacy, the impish daring, the lethal finish of the second goal, all spring from the same life of tough peripheral poverty that extols trickery and recognises the necessity of gamesmanship. The same can be said of France and Zinedine Zidane.
In France’s second game of the 1998 World Cup, Zidane was sent off after raking his boot over the thigh of Saudi player Fuad Anwar.
Three weeks later, after scoring two of the three goals that won France their first World Cup, the face of a Franco-Algerian, a Muslim of Berber ethnic stock, raised in the banlieues of Paris and Marseille, was beamed onto the side of the Arc de Triomphe in the midst of the biggest party in Paris since the liberation.
A team decried by France’s far right as inauthentically French was now celebrated as proof of the new multicultural France.
Having announced his retirement, the 2006 World Cup was always going to stage Zidane’s last games as a professional footballer. I was lucky enough to see France vs Spain in the round of 16. Zidane had already won the game for France, controlling the midfield and making a goal for Patrick Vieira. Then he scored his own.
Running at full tilt, he received a waist-high spinning ball and without breaking step cushioned it off the top of his thigh. It fell so softly into his path that a tiny touch of his extended toe brought it perfectly under control. How do you top that? A sharp right-angled turn, brilliantly disguised by his impassive eyes and an impossibly late shift of weight, then a pirouette spinning at lightning speed on a thimble, cut short by an immaculate shot that rendered the flailing efforts of defender and goalkeeper almost ludicrous.
By the time of the final, Zidane had already been made the player of the tournament and in the 108th minute of the game against Italy, his header seemed bound for goal. The chance was saved and two minutes later, after an exchange of words, Zidane headbutts Marco Materazzi and walks off the pitch forever. France lost the penalty shoot-out.
David Beckham came home from his red card in the 1998 World Cup to burning effigies and a nationwide hail of abuse. Zidane, meanwhile, was not simply forgiven but venerated – his act variously interpreted as a blow against racism and a statement of the importance of pride over victory.
In England, we immortalise our footballers as ephebic youths and Athenian heroes. Outside Wembley, Bobby Moore stares imperturbably into the middle distance; at Stamford Bridge, Peter Osgood is a picture of serenity. France cast Zidane’s headbutt in bronze 16ft high and put it outside the Pompidou Centre.

We have forgotten, if we ever knew it, that heroes have their flaws, the gods have feet of clay, and they are no less divine for it.

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