Zinedine Zidane in a game that became art | Flashes

Zinedine Yazid Zidane turns fifty today. He was one of the greatest footballers of the modern era, a symbol of sport in the nineties and a point of contact between two different generations of footballers. His eighteen years of career were marked continuously by great moments: the victory of the first World Cup in France in 1998, the Golden Ball for Juventus, the transfer to Real Madrid for 150 billion lire, the flying goal in the final of 2002 Champions League, 2006 World Cup with goals to Spain, Italy and the header to Marco Materazzi as the epilogue.

To definitively imprint her figure in a certain sporting imaginary, as well as making her reach other areas far from football, there was the documentary Zidane, a portrait of the 21st century, what a documentary it really isn’t. In 2005 two French artists filmed him in the league match between Real Madrid and Villarreal following him in first person with seventeen cameras from start to finish. The result was an hour and a half of footage – accompanied by the original Mogwai soundtrack – which in addition to a recognized artistic value, became one of the most original and effective testimonies ever made of the career of an uncommon player.

As a continuation of a never banal career, even as a coach Zidane managed to stand out. He coached for about six years, again at Real Madrid, and managed to win three Champions League consecutively, like none before him, as well as two Spanish championships. Now he has been out for a year, but he could soon return to coaching, probably in France: if not at Paris Saint-Germain, with the French national team at the end of the World Cup in Qatar.

Zidane, a portrait of the 21st century you can see it in full here.