Zinedine Zidane stands on the brink of history. Again.
With a coaching career spanning barely 18 months, the Frenchman is on the brink of guiding his Real Madrid side to a 12th European Cup and only Juventus, his former side, stand in his way to prevent Los Blancos becoming the first team to retain the Champions League since it was rebranded in 1992.
Despite a heady spell in the Bernabeu dugout performing a job that Sergio Ramos admitted was “complicated”, Zidane remains better known for his time on the pitch. Indeed, it says much about ‘Zizou’ the player that his coaching achievements remain in the shadow of what he achieved on the field.
With a vast backlog of stunning goals and skills behind him, here are five of his most iconic moments.
#5 Panenka in the World Cup final - July 9, 2006
Given what followed later in the evening, it is hard to imagine that Zidane executed one of the most ice-cold moments in the history of the game. France were locked scoreless in the World Cup final of 2006 against Italy when they were awarded a penalty when Florent Malouda went down under a challenge from Marco Materazzi.
Zidane stood 12 yards from former Juventus team-mate Gianluigi Buffon, renowned then, as he still is now, as one of the best shot-stoppers on Earth. With the whole world watching on, however, the Frenchman sent a deftly chipped penalty down the middle of the goal, evading the diving keeper, and off the underside of the bar into the net.
It was one of the most audacious Panenka penalties ever scored.
#4 Makes Europe take notice - December 6, 1995
Bordeaux’s run to the UEFA Cup final of 1996 was what really propelled Zidane to the forefront of the game on a European stage. He would win Ligue 1’s Player of the Year award that season as a 23-year-old, but it was his exploits on the continent that really saw teams sit up and take notice of the prodigiously talented youngster.
The quarter-final encounter against AC Milan, when Bordeaux fought back from a 2-0 deficit in the first leg to progress 3-2 on aggregate, was undoubtedly his best individual match, as he provided two assists to help his side to perhaps their greatest ever result. His best moment, however, came against Real Betis in the last 16.
A goal kick promised little when it was flicked to Zidane on the periphery of the centre circle, yet the prodigy took aim and sent a shot over the visiting keeper.
“It happened very quickly, but I remember having the impression the goalkeeper was off his line,” the No.10 later admitted.
This was an example of the sixth sense that would make him a worldwide superstar at Real Madrid and Juventus.
#3 A stunning goal against Norway - February 25, 1998
Zidane’s best goal for France may pale in comparison to the importance of many of his other 30 goals for his country, but there is no doubt that it was his best – and it was scored in his hometown of Marseille to make it all the more special.
Four months before the World Cup was due to begin, Les Bleus were struggling for form, yet their playmaker showed them a glimpse of what was to come in the summer as he scored a goal of quite outrageous quality.
Rather than bringing down a long ball forward from Youri Djorkaeff, the attacker clipped the ball over Manchester United defender Henning Berg before it had even touched the ground. One more touch was required to get the ball sufficiently out of his feet before he clipped a deft finish past goalkeeper Frode Grodaas.
France drew the match 3-3, but all the talk was of Zizou’s special strike.
#2 Masterclass versus Brazil – July 1, 200
In 1998, Zizou famously headed France to their first World Cup title thanks to a 3-0 win over Brazil. His two strikes in that game were both well taken and served to display an often unheralded aspect of his skill set, yet for sheer artistry, his performance at the same competition eight years later will take some beating.
This was peak, Zidane. Each time he gained possession of the ball, it looked impossible that he would give it away. His touch was silky soft, his elegance almost unnatural as he almost single-handedly picked apart one of the favourites.
In a performance that was a highlight reel of ridiculous, almost torturous, skills, it was rather unjust that Zizou did not get the winner. Rather, it was Thierry Henry who had the honour in a 1-0 victory, but the Madrid boss did set him up – the only assist he ever gave France’s record marksman.
#1 Scores a Champions League-winning volley – May 15, 2002
The most iconic Zinedine Zidane moment will remain his goal against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League final of 2002 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. Not only was it the most important strike of the season, it was a volley of the most glorious technical quality.
Roberto Carlos had charged down the left wing just before half-time, but his delivery into the box seemed to be of no great quality as the ball was lobbed high into the evening. Zidane, though, had watched it perfectly.
Having stationed himself on the edge of the penalty box, he pivoted his hips brilliantly to get into position to execute the perfect left-footed volley. The ball, which had seemed so impossible to time given the height it was dropping from, sprang off his foot and hammered into the back of the net.
It was the goal that sealed Madrid’s ninth European title and there has never been a strike quite like it in all the Champions League showpieces.
Zidane was already a player who was destined to go down as a legend of the game, yet this strike ensured his place in the Parthenon of the all-time greats.
