In 2006, an estimated 715 million people watched the FIFA World Cup finals between France and Italy, or roughly six times that of the record-breaking Super Bowl in 2015. With a field composed of Thierry Henry, Franck Ribéry, Francesco Totti, and Andrea Pirlo, the match was a star-studded affair from the opening whistle. Yet, all eyes were concentrated on one player: Zinedine Zidane.
And rightfully so. The Frenchman was, after all, three time FIFA World Player of the Year, voted as the best European soccer player of the past fifty years, and named among the greatest starting eleven professionals in the history of the game. Moreover, the 2006 World Cup finals was to be Zidane’s last soccer match. A fitting farewell for a man David Beckham admiringly called, “the best player there ever was.”
After taking an early lead (thanks to a Zidane goal), Italy took control of the game, leveling the score and sending the match into overtime. It was there that Zinedine did the unthinkable:
With ten minutes left until penalty kicks, Zizou tangled and exchanged words with Italian defender Marco Materazzi, who reportedly, insulted Zidane’s family and Muslim origins (Zidane’s parents are from Algeria). The Frenchman’s response was as swift as it was shocking, sending a severe headbutt into Materazzi’s chest. After the referees deliberated for several minutes, arguably the best player to grace the field was shown a red card in his final match. The last image those 715 million viewers witnessed of Zidane was the Frenchman walking, head down, past the World Cup trophy and into the locker room. His phenomenal career over, his fairy tale ending crushed, and his power to influence the game of soccer reduced, as powerless as a defanged snake.
It was announced yesterday that Real Madrid, one of the world’s most successful and profitable clubs, would fire their head coach, Rafael Benítez, 55, after a mere seven months on the job. Madrid announced that former French international and Real Madrid superstar, Zinedine Zidane, would take over the reigns.
For some, it was a surprising hire, as Zidane, 43, has little to no high-level coaching experience, with a brief spell as an assistant coach at Real Madrid in 2014, and head coach for Castilla, Real Madrid’s second-tier team in 2015.
If Zizou will be fit for the tall task of managing a team of players with egos only outmatched by their talent (such as Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodríguez, and Karim Benzema) remains unknown. What is understood—not only globally, but in Real Madrid’s locker room—is that playing under the tutelage of a Zidane means playing for the most respected man in the world’s most popular sport.
Imagine dedicating yourself for a coach that had the athletic, competitive, and big-game winning clout of a Michael Jordan, the rags to riches and humanitarian involvement of a Manny Pacquiao (Zidane is from the rough streets of Marseille, and is a UN Goodwill Ambassador), and the overall, good-natured likability factor of Derek Jeter. That is the person Real Madrid’s players are taking orders from now in the locker room: their childhood idol.
Yesterday’s news conference from Madrid was an exciting and moving scene. Zidane told the crowd of journalists that he felt more emotional than when he signed as a player for Real Madrid in 2001, for what was then a record fee of roughly $81.2 million. “I will give everything so that the team wins something this year,” he said. After introducing Zizou, and announcing him as the next head coach, club president Florentino Pérez (an ardent supporter of the Frenchman since his playing days) turned to Zidane and told him, “I know that for you the word ‘impossible’ doesn’t exist.” If you’ve ever wondered what $3.26 billion of pressure sounds like, you’ve just heard it.
"That is the person Real Madrid’s players are taking orders from now in the locker room: their childhood idol."
If anyone knows how to unite a team and perform under pressure, it’s Zidane. Not only has he successfully done so for Real Madrid as a player in the past, but he’s done it for his home country as well. It was, after all, in France when, in 1998, the World Cup hosts were going through serious issues of national identity and racial tension. Waves of immigrants had flowed into the country, and many natives were becoming disgruntled. Enter Les Bleus, as the national team is known in France. While the team picked up momentum through the tournament, so too did the country’s sense of national pride. After France was crowned world champions, led by Zidane, the people rejoiced in a way unseen since the war ended in 1945. That night, in the middle of the biggest party on the planet, the face of Zinedine Zidane, a child of North African Muslims, was superimposed on the Arc de Triomphe. A team comprised of Muslims, Christians, whites, browns, and blacks, held the nation together. For once, France was not engaging in those bitter terms that separated them. They united under Zizou and the colors of blue, white, and red.
If Zidane can replicate even an ounce of the success from his playing days, Real Madrid have just found themselves a rare new coach for years to come. Yeah, he was that good.