Zinédine Zidane, Icon

Zinedine Zidane is the dictionary definition of a top player, a footballer who played for the world's most prestigious clubs before carving out a career as one of the most successful managers of his generation, and indeed in the history of football (1). He has earned respect and adulation all over the world. Few observers believed that he could match the standards of his incredible playing career in his new life as a coach, but in the space of a few short years he has definitively silenced any remaining critics. Much as he did during his time with the Girondins de Bordeaux…

Before signing for F.C. Girondins de Bordeaux and stepping out onto the training pitch at Le Haillan, at the outset of the 1992-1993 season, Zinedine Zidane was already familiar with the club. He'd played against them the previous year, when the club was still officially known as Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club. In the meantime, a series of legal and administrative – but not sporting – disasters had consigned Bordeaux to a season in D2…

In the 27th fixture of the 1990-1991 D1 season (13 February 1991), the young man known to his parents as "Yazid" lined up against Bordeaux at the Stade Municipal with A.S. Cannes, a hard-working and ambitious young team from a club with a reputation for developing new talent. The game itself was not particularly memorable (1-1), but Zidane's performance alongside Éric Guérit, Jean-François Daniel and the legendary Luis Fernandez was enough to remind all watching that he was one of France's brightest young footballing hopes. Against Sénac, Lizarazu and Dugarry – ZZ already got on well with "Duga," having played alongside him in the France youth teams – the Marseille-born midfielder showed himself to be ideally-suited to top-flight football. Consciously or not, people were beginning to take note... When fellow Marseille native Rolland Courbis took over at Bordeaux - shortly after the team won immediate promotion from the Second Division under Gernot Rohr - the Girondins (now playing in burgundy, as part of the overhaul that saw the club change its name, statutes and legal status) decided to put in a bid for "Zizou." Club presidents Alain Afflelou and Jean-Didier Lange were determined to keep the club on its upward trajectory, and win back the European standing that Bordeaux enjoyed before its legal and financial woes. Their ambition was to achieve a subtle alchemy between fire and ice, youth and experience, talent and competitive edge. Naturally, Zidane was a perfect fit…

A.S. Cannes, relegated to D2 in spite of their best efforts, were obliged to sell off some key players. The duo of Guérit and Daniel, prime targets of the co-presidents, made the jump to Bordeaux; this was good news for young Zinedine, still just twenty years of age, who followed suit and finalised his own transfer. Tough luck for Bernard Tapie's Olympique de Marseille, who had also made an offer... Enticed by the prospect of "learning on the pitch," he was looking forward to continuing his rapid development in Bordeaux: tactically, athletically and collectively. As he put it to the club's official magazine, Le Scapulaire, Zidane's ambition was to become a key player in the reconstruction of this great club.

Expectations were high for this young virtuoso. Having been handed his top flight debut by Jean Fernandez back in 1989, he gradually became a stalwart of the Cannes team that went all the way to Europe (C3)! As physically imposing (185cm and 80 kg) as he was technically-gifted, Bordeaux fans were salivating at the idea of watching him wreak havoc inside the opposition box. The man himself attempted to play down the expectations.

Jean-Charles Ménard, editor of the club magazine, had a very different view of the matter in a subsequent editorial.

Indeed...

Zizou joined a squad composed of old hands, youngsters and a few select recruits: Gaëtan Huard, Philippe Sence (goalkeepers), Laurent Croci, Márcio Santos, Éric Guérit, Didier Sénac (captain), Jean-Luc Dogon, Bixente Lizarazu, Michel Milojević, François Grenet, Michel Flos, Philippe Lucas, Stéphane Plancque, Jean-François Daniel, Christophe Vecchioni, Patrice Marquet, Christophe Dugarry, Celso Moreira Valdeir and Ronan Salaün were all on the roster that season. Hard workers and creative geniuses, established internationals and talents of the future: the perfect blend for success, and optimal conditions for a talented young recruit. And all under the watchful eye of a coach renowned for his charisma, experience and flair…    Zidane was not lacking in confidence, and he had the talent and ambition to match! All he needed now was the recognition and adulation of Bordeaux's fans, who were becoming increasingly impatient and demanding with their heroes….

Zidane's Bordeaux debut came on the very first day of the season, against a Lyon side featuring Raymond Domenech. He started that day, 8 August 1992, playing out a 0-0 draw. His first goal came on his sixth appearance, 12 September at the Stade Félix-Bollaert in Lens. His goal sealed a 2-1 victory over an RC Lens side coached by Arnaud Dos Santos and featuring a young Francis Gillot. One month for a first league goal from midfield - a good omen! And he was only just getting started. That season Zidane scored 10 goals from 35 matches, making him the 15th top scorer in the league and Bordeaux's most prolific player in front of goal (he also scored once in the Coupe de France)! Bordeaux finished that season in a very respectable 4th place (48 points), just 5 points behind champions Olympique de Marseille. It was a particularly good season for the Girondins' defence, the most watertight unit in the league with just 25 goals conceded.  Between the sticks, Gaëtan Huard set a record which still stands to this day: 1176 minutes of league football without conceding a single goal ! Bordeaux were back in Europe thanks to this defensive solidity and the new attacking threat posed by Zidane.

This first season with Bordeaux lived up to the "promising" tag which had come attached to new recruit Zizou: a solid season, with signs of what was to come that had Bordeaux fans dreaming of big things for the future. This lad seemed bound for glory, everyone could see it: he had that combination of raw talent and flair that defines a true footballing great. The sort of player that thrills the fans while also delivering silverware... And the sort of player that brings fans to the stadium, sells season tickets, pay TV subscriptions, passes for executive boxes... Though he may not have known it yet, Zidane was becoming synonymous with success, tearing apart defences and breathing new life into games. His exceptional touch, his unique reading of the game, his technique on the ball, his marking, his mazy dribbles, his precise control and his rocket-powered free kicks were fast making him an icon of French football. And rightly so! Despite a certain nonchalance excusable at such a young age, he was thriving on the pitch and off, alongside team mates "Liza" and "Duga." That Bordeaux left flank was becoming unplayable, match after match, leaving opponents quivering in their boots.

Make no mistake though: discreet and calm as he was off the pitch, beneath this placid exterior lay a finely-forged character and a fiery temperament! Just take a look at some of the red cards he picked up during his career... By a cruel twist of fate, his first sending off for Bordeaux came in a clash with arch-rivals Marseille. On 19 September 1993 at the Vélodrome, Bordeaux suffered a stinging defeat (3-1) and a dispute with Marcel Desailly left a bitter taste for Zidane. Nonetheless, the team continued to go from strength to strength with the addition of Lionel Perez (goalkeeper), Richard Witschge, Philippe Vercruysse, Marcel Dib, Youssouf Fofana, Stéphane Paille, Yannick Fischer and François Grenet. 6 goals in 34 matches in D1, 2 goals from 6 games in Europe, plus 3 matches in the Coupe de France: another solid season for Zidane. As for the club, that year Bordeaux finished 4th again with 46 points, narrowly missing out on 3rd place to A.J. Auxerre when they lost to P.S.G. on the last day of the season (4-1). PSG won the league that year, with the help of Patrick Colleter, Laurent Fournier, Ricardo Gomes and Alain Roche… But the Girondins still had the second most prolific attack in the top flight, ex aequo with P.S.G. and A.J.A. (54 goals apiece) but just behind O.M. (56 goals). Lizarazu played mostly as an attacking midfielder that season – and sometimes as a forward - while Zizou dropped back into a deeper role.

The Girondins' European campaign that season (C3) came to an end in the second knock-out round against a Karlsruher S.C. team featuring Oliver Kahn, Slaven Bilić and Wolfgang Rolff. But the team's ambition burned brighter than ever. Zidane occasionally had trouble playing the full 90 minutes, and the home fans - who did not know the full story - sometimes whistled derisively... Not that that stopped him picking up the UNFP award for Best Young Player of the year! An award that he dedicated, with typical class and generosity, to his friend Dugarry; "Christophe deserves this trophy just as much as I do, or even more so." Despite a recurring hamstring niggle - which is why he played that deeper role, and often didn't finish games - he worked selflessly to help the team shine. At the end of that season Courbis was replaced by António José Conceição Oliveira, better known as "Toni," who joined the club from S.L. Benfica off the back of a title-winning season. Having won multiple titles with his hometown club, as both player and coach, he was supposed to bring a wealth of winning experience to Bordeaux.  Meanwhile, the Girondins continued their ambitious recruitment policy: William Prunier, Daniel Dutuel,  Anthony Bancarel, Jean-Yves De Blasiis, Geoffray Toyes, Raphaël Camacho and Franck Histilloles all signed up, with more opportunities given to Academy graduates too. Now playing in "Bordeaux" red shirts, the Girondins started brightly before slipping away… The Portuguese coach could not quite find the right formula, bemoaning the "lack of confidence and consistency" and hoping to overcome these obstacles with sheer hard work. The elegant, stylish Zidane was by now established as a man to watch, which meant increasingly tight marking and plenty of fouls to contend with. These new constraints only served to unleash his creativity and instinctive flair on the ball, finding new and unexpected ways to slip his markers and put his genius to work for the team.

That season Bordeaux exited the UEFA cup one round earlier, knocked out by G.S.K. Katowice. ZZ shared the frustration of his team-mates, who had been hoping for a better showing in the cup competitions. They also went out in the last 16 of the League Cup and the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France! Even Châteauroux (Super D2) and R.C. Strasbourg did better… Disappointment, setbacks, humiliation: things were looking bad! Bordeaux finished the season in 7th place, 5 points adrift of European qualification in the year that saw the return of the "3 points for a win" rule. Old rivals F.C. Nantes were crowned champions. Zidane scored 6 goals in 37 league matches that year – his lowest tally in his time at the club – as well as 1 goal in Europe and 1 in the 4 Coupe de France. Toni got the sack in March after a thrashing in Monaco (6-3), with Éric Guérit named as his surprise caretaker replacement.

Slavoljub Muslin, a former D1 player and manager of near-neighbours F.C. Pau, took over for the following season. The Serbian was tasked with rallying the troops and getting this talented squad back on the right tracks. And there was still a glimmer of hope... Although they missed out on direct qualification for the UEFA Cup, they could still fall back on the Intertoto Cup for some welcome international experience. Not the most glamorous of competitions, but a glimmer of hope nonetheless. Otherwise known as the "Mickey Mouse Cup" – the Intertoto really did not have a good reputation among football fans – there was still an opportunity to be seized here. A chance to demonstrate the club's ambition, win back their reputation and, above all, put the "wasted" previous season behind them.

Zidane, meanwhile, was back firing on all cylinders after some tough times over recent months.

he explained in 1994, as the matches really did begin to pile up. With three years left on his contract, and having shown himself to be more than capable of moving up to the next level, the recently-capped French international already had the 1998 World Cup in his sights as a "long term" goal…   In the meantime, there was a European campaign to deal with. The 1995-1996 season started incredibly early, with opponents much more motivated and competitive than the usual pre-season fare. On 1st July 1995, I.F.K. Norrköping travelled to Parc Lescure for the first match of the Intertoto Cup. Zizou scored two and new boy Didier Tholot got three (with Prunier adding one more) on a gala night for the Girondins… 6-2 ! The following week, the Girondins travelled to Ireland to face Bohemian F.C.; a 2-0 victory, with goals from Zizou and Duga ! He scored again a few days later against O.B. Odense, with another superb free kick in an emphatic 4-0 victory (Prunier, Tholot and Lizarazu got the other goals). The final match in the group stage was a draw with H.J.K. Helsinki (1-1/ Bancarel) in Finland. A minor stumble which did not stop Bordeaux finishing top of the group and qualifying for the knock-out stages. That meant a visit from Eintracht Frankfurt, swiftly dispatched with a 3-0 victory which included another sublime free kick from the maestro (and goals from Lucas and Dutuel). The quarter-finals beckoned, and Bordeaux made short work of Dutch side Sportclub Heerenveen (2-0)! Next…

Meanwhile, the Girondins got off to a flying start in D1, winning their first two games. Morale was running high, aided by the fact that the team was little changed from last year. The midfield was really clicking, with the magic triangle of Liza-Zizou-Duga wreaking havoc on defences up and down the land! Their short, rapid, incisive passing style worked wonders. Dutuel, Witschge and co. also made a big contribution to this successful set-up, forming a tight-knit group with a warrior mentality. This sense of confidence extended to the attacking line, who were scoring for fun as Bordeaux approached their UEFA Cup qualifying play-off with old enemies Karlsruher S.C. The Girondins travelled to Baden-Wurttemberg for the first leg. It was only 8th August, and Muslin's men had somehow already played 9 games (including one defeat in Bastia). But they still got the best of Winfried Schäfer's side, winning by 2 goals to nil. In the gap between the two games, Zidane scored two against F.C. Nantes (and Dugarry added one more) in a stylish victory (3-0) at the Stade Municipal. The Girondins then slipped to a narrow defeat in Guingamp (1-0), but that did not stop them from sealing the deal in the second leg against Karlsruher: 2-2 ! A brace from captain Liza and… a red card for Zizou !       It didn't matter. Bordeaux were hot and Zidane, with 5 goals in 8 games, was on fire! Their UEFA Cup campaign kicked off in earnest on 14 September, with a 2-0 victory over Macedonian champions F.K. Vardar Skopje. The return leg was a tame draw (1-1); Zidane sat out both encounters. He also missed the two victories in the next round, with home and away wins against Rotor Volgograd in October (2-1 and 0-1). But he was back in action for the next round against Real Betis on 21 November: a 2-0 victory for the Girondins! In the return leg in Seville, Zizou scored what was surely one of the most stunning goals of his career, and definitely his most jaw-dropping strike for the Girondins…

In a moment of pure inspiration, the number 7 brought tears to the eyes of the 40,000 Betis packed into Estadio Benito-Villamarín, and had Bordeaux fans jumping for joy! In the 4th minute of the game he spotted the opposition keeper off his line and – with mischievous calm – fired off an unstoppable lob that sailed past poor Pedro Luis Jaro Reguero ! Such a brazen idea, such a precise execution, a genuinely perfect goal! Bordeaux went on to lose that game (2-1), but the job was done and they marched on to the next round. Now fans and players alike were beginning to dream big, and anything seemed possible in the second half of the season.

A strange paradox: while the Girondins were on sparkling form in Europe, they were somehow stuck in 16th place (out of 20) in the league. Worse still, they were only five points above the relegation zone, with League Cup and Coupe de France games to think about two. They rapidly crashed out of both domestic cups, eliminated by lowly S.C. Toulon (from the National 1 division) in a game which cost Muslin his job; 3 February 1996 was his last day in charge of the team. Gernot Rohr, a club legend and no stranger to caretaker period, returned to take charge of a first team squad energised by its European exploits but struggling in the league. Some were beginning to talk of relegation fears... And then Bordeaux got drawn against the legendary AC Milan in the quarter-finals! Owned by Silvio Berlusconi and managed by Fabio Capello, Milan were gunning for victory and had a squad stuffed with some of the best players in the world. Their quality shone through in the first leg at the San Siro (5 March), where they won 2-0 without really breaking a sweat. Few observers gave Zidane and co. much chance of overturning that advantage in the return leg. They certainly had a mountain to climb, but still - there was a chance...  

Relaxed but determined, and guided by an old hand in the shape of Rohr, Bordeaux pulled off the seemingly unthinkable: they fought back to victory over AC Milan! The same AC Milan that would go on to win Serie A that season, for the 15th time in their history.   On 19 March, pitted against Ielpo (goalkeeper), (Franco) Baresi, Desailly, Costacurta, Panucci, Maldini, Donadoni, Weah, Eranio, Vieira, (Roberto) Baggio, (Tomas) Locatelli, Albertini and Di Canio, the Girondins played out of their skin in a country, a city and a stadium that were pulsing with pure energy. 3-0 to Bordeaux!  Grazie e arrivederci ! Zizou had the fans entranced, setting up two goals and generally tormenting Milan at every turn. Tholot and Duga (twice) fired Bordeaux through to the semi-finals, and into footballing lore.

he recalled, some years later. Oh yes indeed! This was the "first great memory" of a career which was to have so many… Starting with victory over S.K. Slavia Prague in the semi-finals, with excitement still at fever pitch. Bordeaux won the first leg in the Czech Republic (1-0), with Zidane teeing up Dugarry for the only goal of the game. Bordeaux repeated that feat in the return leg (1-0, this time it was Tholot with the goal) on 16 April, leaving Radek Bejbl, Karel Poborský and Vladimir Šmicer in their wake. The first European final of Zidane's career had all the makings of a classic - against no less an opponent than Bayern Munich. The final was still played over two legs back then, and both Zidane and Dugarry were suspended for the first game in Bavaria. Kahn, Kreuzer, Ziege, Babbel, Helmer, Hamann, Sforza, Scholl, Klinsmann, Matthäus, Frey, Witeczek and (Jean-Pierre) Papin made the most of it, winning that leg 2-0 on 1 May…

Zizou and Duga were back for the return leg two weeks later, but Franz Beckenbauer's side rapidly seized control of the game and ran out 3-1 winners in a Parc Lescure which, over the past few months, had witnessed some of the most joyous moments in the club's history. Despite their exceptional talent and unbelievable hard work, this Bordeaux squad finally met their match in Munich. The Girondins were proud of their epic season, but physically exhausted. Bayern lifted the trophy as Zidane looked on forlornly. Nevertheless, this was an adventure they would never forget. Things were less rosy on the domestic front, with Bordeaux finishing the season in 16th place (42 points), just 4 points above F.C. Gueugnon in 18th… Zizou played 33 matches in D1 that season, plus 15 in Europe and 3 in the domestic cups, scoring a total of 12 goals. His efforts earned him the U.N.F.P. Player of the Year award for 1995-1996. After 179 matches for Bordeaux (and 39 goals scored), the Intertoto Cup was somehow the only collective silverware Zidane had to show for his efforts. Nevertheless, in spite of some tense moments in the early days, the playmaker lit up Parc Lescure with his immense talent, aura and attacking efficiency. Bordeaux provided the stage on which he first began to shine. After this incredible, epic season, Europe's biggest clubs came knocking in the summer of 1995. The Girondins' golden generation was coming to an end…

Zidane, meanwhile, signed for Juventus and moved to Turin, before going on to even bigger and better things at Real Madrid five years later, becoming the iconic player and successful coach the footballing world knows and loves.   (1) Between 1996 and 2001, to name only the most prestigious trophies, Zinedine Zidane won two Serie A titles with Juventus (1997 and 1998), the Supercoppa d’Italia (1997), the U.E.F.A. Supercup (1996), the Intertoto Cup (1999) and the Intercontinental Cup (1996). At Real Madrid, between 2001 and 2006, he won La Liga (in 2003), two Spanish supercups (2001 and 2003), the Champions League (2002), the U.E.F.A. Supercup (2002) and the Intercontinental Cup (2002). As manager of Real Madrid, he has won La Liga (2017), two Spanish supercups (2017 and 2020), three consecutive Champions League titles (2016, 2017 and 2018, plus one as assistant manager in 2014), two U.E.F.A. Supercups (2016 and 2017) and two F.I.F.A. Club World Cups (2016 and 2017). (2) The Intertoto Cup was a tournament previously played over the summer, featuring the best-placed European clubs who had failed to qualify for the Champions League or U.E.F.A. Cup. The winners of this preliminary tournament were given a place in the U.E.F.A. Cup. (3) In 1995-1996, the U.E.F.A. Cup final (now known as the Europa League) was still played over two legs, making it the only European competition still using this format (the Champions League and Cup Winners' Cup had already switched to one-off finals). Since the 1996-1997 season, the U.E.F.A. Cup final has also been played as a single match on neutral ground.