Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane was an attacking midfielder who seemed to have more time on the ball than anyone around him. He came through at Cannes, starred at Bordeaux, won two Serie A titles with Juventus and joined Real Madrid in 2001 for a world-record fee. His natural home was the number 10 role behind the strikers, but he could also drop deeper and organise attacks from midfield with his passing and vision. He won the 1998 Ballon d'Or and three FIFA World Player of the Year awards. Kevin Keegan put his gift well: "What sets Zidane apart is the way he manipulates a football, buying himself space that isn't there." His first touch was exceptional, and tricks like the La Roulette pirouette and step overs let him slip out of pressure. He was not the quickest player, and a rumour once claimed an Algeria coach had judged him too slow, a story Zidane dismissed. What he had instead was agility, acceleration and a sharp sense of where space would open. Naturally right-footed, he used both feet freely, and one of his greatest goals proved it. In the 2002 Champions League final against Bayer Leverkusen he scored the winner with a volley on his weaker left side, hit from the edge of the penalty area. He could hit shots with real power from distance and was a dead-ball specialist: at Euro 2004, with France heading for defeat against England, he struck a free kick and then a penalty in stoppage time to win 2–1. He was not known for heading, yet his height and strength brought big goals in the air, including two headers from corners in the 1998 World Cup final against Brazil. Other players talked about how he lifted a side. Alessandro Del Piero, who played just ahead of him at Juventus, said: "He was not a selfish player." Zlatan Ibrahimović said that once Zidane walked on, "the ten other guys just got suddenly better." His managers also praised his defensive work rate. He could still be shut down, though. Paul Lambert's close marking kept him quiet in the 1997 Champions League final, which Juventus lost to Borussia Dortmund, and critics sometimes accused him of drifting in and out of games. Temper was the other side of him. ESPN called him a "flawed genius", and he was sent off 14 times in his career, later admitting that "my passion, temper and blood made me react." The last red card came in the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin, his final match. He had already scored a Panenka-style penalty off the crossbar and seen an extra-time header saved by Gianluigi Buffon when he headbutted Marco Materazzi. He was still handed the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player, which tells you how well he had played that summer.