Zinedine Zidane (French pronunciation: [zinedin zidan]) (born 23 June 1972) is a retired French footballer. Zidane was the leading figure of a generation of French players that won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship. After a brief international retirement, he returned to the national team in 2005 and captained France to the 2006 World Cup Final where he won the Golden Ball as the tournament's most outstanding player.
In club level Zidane won the La Liga and the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid, two Serie A league championships with Juventus and an Intercontinental Cup and a UEFA Super Cup each with both aforementioned sides. He is one of only four players to have been FIFA World Player of the Year three or more times (Brazilian forward Marta is a five time winner (female award), while Brazilian striker Ronaldo (male award) and German striker Birgit Prinz (female award) have won three each). He also won the Ballon d'Or in 1998. He retired from professional football after the 2006 World Cup.
Straight to the heart of the matter.