Week 1: A Special Meeting

If I could choose one person to meet and spend time with, I would choose Zinedine Zidane. I wouldn’t be surprised if I am the only person in this class that knows him, but Zizou -as he is known- is one of my favorite soccer players who have ever played. He is retired now but he used to play his club ball for powerhouse Real Madrid in the La Liga in Spain. Zizou was a native of France and he played for the French national team.

The aspect of Zidane’s game that is the most praised is how much control he has over the ball. Also it seems as if it is impossible to get the ball away from him. He keeps the ball so close to himself and uses his body to keep himself between defenders and the ball. He is a great passer and has one of the best imaginations in the game. He tries dribbling moves and passes that most people would never even think of.

Zidane retired from professional soccer after the 2006 World Cup. France was in the World Cup championship game against Italy, when the red card happened. In the second overtime Marco Materazzi and Zidane were exchanging words and then Zidane lowered his head and drove it right into Materazzi’s chest! Zizou was shown the red card and was ejected from the game. That altercation could have been the difference in the game because Zidane was not able to take a kick in the shootout after the game.

If I could meet Zinedine Zidane, I would be content to stand in the yard and juggle with him for hours. It would be awesome to see the things that he could do and hopefully learn some new tricks. If I could ask him any question I would ask, “What did Marco Materazzi say that made you so angry?”