Football enthusiasts were shocked yesterday by Zinedine Zidane’s resignation less than a week after leading Real Madrid to clinch the UEFA Champions League for the third consecutive year. ADEYINKA ADEDIPE peeps into the legend’s career as a player and coach.
The news of Zinedine Zidane resignation as the coach of Real Madrid six days after winning the coveted UEFA Champions League for the third time in a row (beating Liverpool 3-1), no doubt, came to many as a big shock. While the coaching job is all about hiring and firing, it is unthinkable that a man, who just won his ever-demanding club its 13th European title, will just walk away from one of the most juicy but uncertain job in world football.
The fact is that, no one, not even the top hierarchy at Madrid, saw this coming. They must have been planning a meeting with Zidane on how to move the club to the next level. The Madrid bigwigs must have been waiting patiently for the former French international to return from holiday and discuss transfer issues that will bother on players that will dump the club and those that will be signed to bolster the team’s arsenal.
As recently as March 30, the former Los Blancos coach was repeatedly asked about his future at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, but he maintained he wasn’t going anywhere despite working under pressure occasioned by not-too-pleasant results.
“I would like to continue as coach of Real Madrid,” he explained in his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash with Las Palmas.
He went further: “I like football, and I like the job I’m doing. I know the club I’m at very well, but you know how football can be, if it was entirely up to me, then I’ll still be with Real Madrid and I’ll be here as long as possible.”
Despite Zidane alluding that he had to leave for the club to move in a different direction, speculations were rife that his inability to have control over players’ transfer could have been a major factor that contributed to his exit.
There are also insinuations that he could have been sacked despite winning his third consecutive Champions League due to his team’s struggle throughout the season. Madrid finished third in La Liga, 17 points behind Barcelona, winners of the Spanish League, while his team was nearly knocked out by Juventus in the quarter final with Bayern Munich stretching his expensively-assembled side to the limit in the semis.
Announcing his resignation, Zidane stated: “The time is right. It’s not a decision I’ve taken lightly. I thought about it carefully and it’s the right decision, even though I imagine many may not agree.
“After three years, Real Madrid needs a change, another way of working, another idea, if we are to continue winning. I feel it’s going to be difficult to continue winning. And because I’m a winner, I’m going.”
Worthy of mention is the fact that the mercurial midfielder left the team as a player a year before contract elapsed. He is also quitting as manager two years before the expiration of his contract.
The Man Zidane
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, the 45-year-old Zidane was a leading playmaker, renowned for his elegance, vision, ball control and technique, and played as an attacking midfielder for Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid.
At club level, Zidane won two Serie A league championships with Juventus, which garnered him a move to Real Madrid for a world record fee of 77.5 million Euros in 2001.
In Spain, Zidane, as a player, won the La Liga title and the UEFA Champions League, with his left-foot volleyed winner in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final, considered as one of the greatest goals in the competition’s history. He also won an Intercontinental Cup and a UEFA Super Cup with both teams.
Capped 108 times by France, Zidane won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice in the final and being named to the All-Star Team, while also winning UEFA Euro 2000, being named Player of the Tournament.
The World Cup triumph made him a national hero in France, and he received the Légion d’honneur in 1998. He also received the Golden Ball for Player of the Tournament at the 2006 World Cup, despite his infamous sending off in the final against Italy for head-butting Marco Materazzi in the chest. He retired as the fourth-most capped player in France history.
Zidane acclaimed many individual accolades as a player, being named the FIFA World Player of the Year three times, in 1998, 2000 and 2003, while also winning the 1998 Ballon d’Or.
He was Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 1996, Serie A Footballer of the Year in 2001 and La Liga Best Foreign Player in 2002.
In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the World’s Greatest Living Players compiled by Pelé. Zidane ranks as one of eight players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Ballon d’Or. He was named the Best European Footballer of the Past 50 Years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll in 2004, and he was the ambassador for Qatar’s successful bid to stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the first MENA country to host the tournament.
After retiring as a player, Zidane graduated into coaching, becoming assistant coach at Real Madrid under Carlo Ancelotti for the 2013–14 Season. After a successful year in which the club won the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey, Zidane became the coach of Real Madrid’s B team, Real Madrid Castilla.
He remained in the position for two years before taking the helm of the first team in January 2016. In his first two seasons as manager, Zidane won the UEFA Champions League twice, a La Liga title, a Supercopa de España, and both the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup twice. His success saw him named Best FIFA Men’s Coach in 2017.
In 2018, Zidane led Real Madrid to another UEFA Champions League, his third in a row, becoming the only coach in the history of football to win three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles.
But, a few days after the victory, he resigned as Real Madrid coach.
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