MAGICAL ZIZOU

 Image Credit- Fifa.com

 In the last post I discussed about the very first football match I saw. However in this post I will be talking about my first favorite football player. The England v Portugal match was done and the Portuguese marched into the semi-finals of the World Cup.

 After taking break for a few minutes, I switched on my TV Set again to watch the 4th Quarter-Final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. It was Brazil v France at Frankfurt. The winner was to play Portugal in the second semi-final. 

However when the match started the only player to whom my eyes were glued was Zinedine Zidane. There were other big players on the ground like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Thierry Henry etc... But, magical Zizou overshadowed them all. 

The dribbling skills, the ball control and the amazing assist of Zidane to Thierry Henry made me his fan. Eventually the French won the game 1-0 and qualified for the World Cup semi-finals. Zinedine Zidane continued his magical run in the semi-final as well and the French made it to the 2006 World Cup final. 

In the final, Zidane scored the opening goal for France. Marco Materazzi soon scored the equalizer and the score read 1-1. However in the extra time we witnessed something which should never have happened. Marco Materazzi verbally provoked Zidane which ultimately resulted in a headbutt and Zidane was sent off. 

With this red card, a legendary career came to an end. Eventually the Italians won the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However it was Zizou and his French side which won the heart of a 10 years old watching football for the very first time.