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France is a land of beauty. The Louvre, The Eiffel Tower and the province of Alsace decorate its beauty. The French are a passionate people. There are two main passions in France; the first is an insatiable love for wine, the second is football.
Zinedine Zidane is perhaps the most skillful player most of us have seen. For me, he is the best player I have seen play. He could pass long and short with equal accuracy, fall back when required and, of course, his shots were like directed missiles. He was graceful, slick and a born leader on the field. The Algerian’s success was a typical rags-to-riches story. Born to immigrant parents, Zidane had to earn everything he achieved. The guy who started playing football in the streets of Marseille, ended his career after he had wooed the world. In a distinguished career, he played for Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus, and Real Madrid. Although he did not have as many goals or assists as some other creative men of his time, his strength was his dribbling, running and ball retention. He had a flair for the spectacular and almost always scored big goals in big games.
The three-time Ballon d’ Or winner played in three legendary teams. The first was the Juventus team in the late 90’s. Alongside Nedved, Inzaghi, Del Piero and Davids, Zidane was unstoppable. The next was Real Madrid of the Galacticos era. He played along with stars like Figo, Beckham, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and yet managed to shine the brightest in such a galaxy of stars. But perhaps he was at his best when he pulled on the blue colored French jersey. He was the hero of the 1998 World Cup, he led his team to the finals and scored an unforgettable brace in the finals. At Euro 2000 too, he was amazing and made France the European champions. When he came out of retirement to lead France to the 2006 World Cup final, many thought it would be the fairytale ending that his career deserved, but he ended up head-butting Materazzi and France lost on penalties.
While Zidane was a legend unto himself, there is one man who needs to be mentioned when the success of the French national team is described. The man is Patrick Vieira. If there ever existed a force of nature in the form of a footballer, it was this mountain of a man. He was simply exceptional. He was the perfect midfielder. He had endless reserves of energy, picked the perfect passes and, like his illustrious compatriot, scored big goals. But at a personal level, I feel in terms of pure effectiveness, he overshadowed Zinedine. He won the ball back, foiled counter-attacks and launched them too. He was short-tempered and wore his heart on his sleeve. He was an epitome of commitment and hard work on the field.
Vieira, like Zidane honed his skills at Cannes, but moved to greener pastures soon. After an unproductive season at AC Milan, he moved to Arsenal and this was where he made his name. He won the club a cabinet of trophies, and it is no coincidence that since the departure of their enigmatic club captain, Arsenal have not lifted a single trophy. But his legend did not stop in North London. He moved to Italy again and won the Scudetto with Juventus. After they were relegated in the aftermatch of the Calciopoli scandal, he moved to Inter; here too he won many trophies but with age catching up, he was more a squad player than anything else. He made a last move to Manchester City but he was nowhere near his own high standards and like a true sportsman, he retired.
The combination of Zidane and Vieira was one made in heaven by the gods of football. Though both of them played for Cannes and Juventus, they did so at different times. The only time they played together was when they were representing the Les Bleus. While Zidane was the force that led the French forward, Vieira was the bulwark that secured the base. They shared a telepathic understanding and more often than not found each other by instinct. It is not a mere coincidence that France achieved their international success only when both of these legends played together.
Currently too, they occupy similar positions. While their job titles may be different, they both coach the youth and reserve teams at the clubs they finished their career with. While Zidane is the technical director and unofficial negotiator in transfers for Real Madrid, Vieira is in charge of the youth team at Manchester City. Both are shaping up to be managers in the near future. I, for one, believe that they will succeed. Both are tough guys mentally and understand the niceties of the game. Their ability to inspire was visible all through their careers.
Although they acquired a reputation of being tough guys on the field, they are involved in various humanitarian gestures. Zidane supports half a dozen charities around the world and is a UN Goodwill ambassador and has donated to the UNDP and UNICEF. Vieira too is deeply involved with charity initiatives. He is the goodwill ambassador for the FAO and has supported various charities who work for the upliftment of the African continent.
The French pair are two of the finest I have seen play. Be it together or alone, they were unstoppable. Leaders on the field, now seeking to become leaders off it, and be it for when they become managers or in their charity initiatives they would always be distinguished by their resolve.
On this day, I wish the pair a very happy birthday.
