History of Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Yazid Zidane was born on 23 June 1972 in La Castellane, Marseille, in Southern France.

Zidane made his professional debut with Cannes on 18 May 1989 in a French Division 1 match against Nantes.

He scored his first goal for the club on 10 February 1991.

Zidane was transferred to Girondins de Bordeaux in the 1992–93 season.

He earned his first cap with France as a substitute in a friendly against the Czech Republic on 17 August 1994, which ended in a 2–2 draw after Zidane scored twice to help France erase a 2–0 deficit. After Eric Cantona was handed a year-long suspension in January 1995 for assaulting a fan, Zidane took over the playmaker position.

Zidane had offers to join Europe's top clubs in the spring of 1996, deciding on a move to UEFA Champions League winners Juventus during the close season.

The 1998 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that was played on 12 July 1998 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis to determine the winner of the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

In 1998, Zidane won the European Player Of The Year award (the Ballon d'Or).

UEFA Euro 2000 Final was a football match played on 2 July 2000 at Feijenoord Stadion in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to determine the winner of UEFA Euro 2000. France won the match, defeating Italy 2–1.

In 2001, Zidane joined Real Madrid for a world record fee of 150 billion Italian lire, (about €77.5 million by fixed exchange rate; a reported 12.8 billion pesetas) in instalments, and signed a four-year contract.

On 7 May 2006, Zidane, who had announced his plans to retire after the 2006 World Cup, played his farewell match and scored in a 3–3 draw with Villarreal.

The 2006 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that took place on 9 July 2006 at the Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany, to determine the winner of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Italy beat France 5–3 on penalties after the match finished 1–1 after extra time. France's Zinedine Zidane was sent off in his last-ever match, for headbutting Italy's Marco Materazzi's chest in retaliation to Materazzi's verbal provocation.

On 1 June 2009, Zidane was announced as the advisor to the president after Florentino Pérez was named president of Real Madrid for the second time.

In July 2011, it was announced that he would become Real Madrid's new sporting director.

In 2013, Zidane was appointed assistant coach to Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid.

In June 2014, Real Madrid announced that Zidane would be the coach of Real Madrid's B team, Real Madrid Castilla.

On 4 January 2016, Real Madrid announced the dismissal of manager Rafael Benítez and on the same day Zidane was appointed the new manager of the club on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

The 2016 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League, the 61st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. It was played at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, on 28 May 2016, between Spanish teams Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, in a repeat of the 2014 final. It was the second time in the tournament's history that both finalists were from the same city. Real Madrid won 5–3 on a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time, securing a record-extending 11th title in the competition.

The 2017 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, the 62nd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 25th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. It was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on 3 June 2017, between Italian side Juventus and Spanish side and title holders Real Madrid, in a repeat of the 1998 final. Real Madrid won the match 4–1 to secure their 12th title in this competition. With this victory, as the defending champions, Real Madrid became the first ever team to successfully defend their title in the Champions League era, and the first to do so since Milan in 1990. On the other hand, Juventus lost a fifth final in a row and a seventh in nine finals reached.

The 2018 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 26th season since it was renamed from the European Cup to the UEFA Champions League. It was played at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine on 26 May 2018, between Spanish side and defending champions Real Madrid, who had won the competition in each of the last two seasons, and English side Liverpool.

On 31 May, five days after the Champions League Final, Zidane announced his resignation as Real Madrid manager, citing the club's "need for change" as his rationale for departing.

Zidane returned as the Real Madrid head coach on 11 March 2019, on a contract until summer 2022.