"He did not have the scoring of Platini, or the vision," said Just Fontaine,
a former France striker whose 13 goals in the 1958 are still a record for a
World Cup. "But Zidane was more skillful and could beat a man better."
Not lately. The French broke a four-goal World Cup goal-scoring drought
against Togo, but the lack of offense has been a trademark recently. In
qualifying, they scored 14 times in 10 matches, with Zidane getting only one
goal in four games. They were shut out three times.
With Thierry Henry and Zidane in the lineup, that's some serious
underachieving.
Of course, France could still qualify for the second round, and "Zizou" could
return and spark a turnaround. He's done it before.
Zidane grew up in a housing project in Marseille's impoverished La Castellane
district. The son of an Algerian immigrant, he honed his balance and technique
on unforgiving concrete pitches surrounding the immigrant neighborhood.
It was a soccer culture where the strongest stood out, and cheap fouls were
met with retribution.
At 16, he was spotted by a scout from French club Cannes. Jean Varraud
telephoned youth team coach Jean Fernandez.
"Jean, I've just found you a genius," Varraud said.
Zidane made his Cannes debut in 1989, and marked his first season with a goal
of rare audacity. Taking the ball at midfield, he dribbled past six players
before scoring.
He led Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup final in 1995-96. During a match against AC
Milan, scouts from Serie A watched a fine Zidane performance _ and Juventus
signed him.
He won two Serie A titles with Juventus, but lost two Champions League
finals. Then Zidane joined Real Madrid for US$65 million. Zidane wanted the
Champions League crown, the only trophy missing after he sparked France's win at
the 2000 European Championship.
