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On the eve of Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane's 48th birthday, a biography on the Frenchman was released. Compiled and written by his compatriot Frederic Hermel, the biography sheds light on the Real Madrid and France icon's personal life. Most notably, Zidane reveals his extraordinary love for his wife, Véronique Zidane.
Véronique first met the future Real Madrid club legend at the age of 18 back in 1989. The pair began a relationship and got married five years later at the Bordeaux town hall, as Zidane was playing in Bordeaux at the time.
The story behind Real Madrid boss Zinedine and Véronique Zidane
Recollecting the first time they met, Hermel wrote in Zidane's biography;
"[They] first crossed paths in 1989, in the cafeteria of the youth worker residence where the two lived. Véronique was 18 years old and taking dance classes at the Rosella Hightower school. Zinedine was 17 and preparing at the Cannes training centre."
Zidane has expressed his love for his family in the past, and the book touches upon this matter. The biography maintains that apart from football, his wife and kids mean the world to the 48-year-old. A particular except of the journal about the Real Madrid icon and his relationship with his wife reads,
"Without Véronique, Zidane would never have been Zidane. Anyone who has frequently [spoken to] the star minimally is aware of this."
Hermel also adds that Véronique left everything she was doing at the time upon their marriage. He wonders if it was perhaps the 49-year-old who "had thrown herself from the top of a building" as opposed to being the other way round.
Back in 2006, when Zidane called time on one of the most spectacular careers in football history, he revealed to Hermel the extent of his immense love for Véronique. Speaking to the Frenchman at the Valdebebas, Zidane confessed;
"When I met her [Véronique], I would have thrown myself from the top of a building for her to love me."
Véronique hasn't indulged too much in interviews in the past. On the rarest of occasions where she did so, she spoke about her love for the Real Madrid legend. She said;
"It [meeting Zidane for the first time] was a crush, like a fairy tale, but it was also and from the I start an honest relationship, a normal relationship. I married him, he is and will be forever the man of my life."
The pair have been married for over 25 years now and have four kids together. Their eldest son, Enzo Alan Zidane Fernandez, was a former player at Real Madrid but now plies his trade for UD Almería. Their second son, Luca Zinedine Zidane Fernández, is currently on Los Blancos' books as a back-up goalkeeper.
Zidane would have celebrated his 48th birthday in style as Real Madrid currently sit at the top of the LaLiga Santander table. With a relatively more comfortable run of fixtures in comparison to Barcelona's, Real Madrid are in a superb position to clinch the Spanish crown.
