Zidane is football

Zinedine Zidane has turned down the opportunity to join David Beckham at LA Galaxy.

The former France international has been pursued by the California-based club but enjoying his retirement, the classy midfielder has no intention of digging out his boots.

Beckham’s arrival in America has prompted fevered publicity for a sport that remains peripheral in a country that has yet to embrace the ‘Beautiful Game’.

While the MLS is expected to keep growing, it will not be graced by the presence of a player largely regarded to have been the game’s finest in his pomp.

“I will not come back, no,” Zidane told Sport magazine.

“When you stop for a year, it’s very hard to start again. What matters to me today is the chance to do everything I couldn’t do before - spending time with my family and my friends, promoting some events and discovering the world.

“There is life after football - or, at least, there has been for me. The past 12 months have been very different, but my life is as full now as it was when I was playing football.”

Zidane may have no intention of moving stateside, but he does wish his former Real Madrid team-mate Beckham well: “I respect his decision and I wish him all the best in his new life.”

AKARTA, July 6 (Reuters) - French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane kicked a ball around with the Indonesian president on the lawns of the presidential palace in Jakarta on Friday cheered on by hundreds of enthusiastic officials and other fans.

Zidane, in Indonesia to hold coaching clinics for children and to open a factory operated by French food giant Danone, presented a French national team jersey with his trademark number 10 to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“I am very pleased to have your visit today. You are a great man, Mr. Zidane,” Yudhoyono said to Zidane, who was dressed in a traditional Indonesian batik shirt and jeans.

“You are very famous here in Indonesia,” Yudhoyono said on the pillared porch of the grand white 18th century building.

Zidane, three-time FIFA World Player of the year, is hugely popular in Indonesia.

His visit coincided with the start of the Asian Cup, which is being co-hosted by Indonesia, Malaysia Thailand and Vietnam.
A team of young Indonesian players were invited to show off their footballing skills.

“I’d also like to thank this young team and I’d like to wish them the best of future,” Zidane said.

Guardian Unlimited

MAGNY-COURS, France, June 30 (Reuters) - Michael Schumacher returned to the racetrack to give retired World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane a taste of Formula One at the French Grand Prix on Saturday.

Formula One’s seven times world champion, who retired in October but still holds the Magny-Cours lap record, drove the former France playmaker twice around the circuit in a black Ferrari FXX sportscar.

The German won last year’s French Grand Prix for a record eighth time. Although he has attended races this season, he had not been back on track since he quit.

The ride was part of a fundraising effort for the ICM brain and spine charity supported by both men.
“It was a strong feeling, in fact I felt a little like getting out of the car,” said Zidane. “But it was a great pleasure to be with Michael Schumacher.”

Asked why neither man had worn a crash helmet for the high-speed ride, Schumacher replied that Zidane had refused: “For myself, I pretty much know what I’m doing and know when I have to have one,” he added.

uefa.com reports:

Having spent five years at Real Madrid CF Zinédine Zidane knows all about bringing European glory to Spain - just as UEFA Futsal Cup final four hosts ElPozo Murcia FS and Madrid-based holders Boomerang Interviú will be trying to do over the next few days.

Popular sport

Zidane, of course, found fame in the eleven-a-side game, but since he retired, he has had time to discover the small-sided discipline. Last month the 34-year-old took part in a well-attended event in Paris, lining up with some of his team-mates from France’s 1998 FIFA World Cup-winning side in a futsal tournament. It was not new to him though. “I had seen it during my stay in Madrid as it is a very well known sport in Spain,” Zidane told uefa.com.

Familiar territory

He is already a fan, the game reminding him of his early days in the Marseille suburb of La Castellane playing on the small improvised pitches. It is how Zidane developed his superb technique - similar to the Brazilians who invariably grow up playing futsal. “I like it very much, that’s the kind of game I played when I was a kid,” he said.

Different technique

Certainly, watching Zidane play at the famous Palais Omnisport de Paris-Bercy arena in the RTL-Futsal event, it was clear Zidane was made for the game. While most of the professional footballers needed time to adapt to the size four futsal ball, Zidane was caressing it with an astounding ease. The way he eliminated two opponents with a one-touch control to score against Paris Saint-Germain FC spoke volumes. Zidane explained: “The technique of playing futsal is different to the eleven-a-side version; there are spectacular things you can attempt in futsal that you would not dare trying in football. It adds more fun to the discipline.”

Enzo Zidane. Zizou’s eldest son.

Zinédine Zidane spoke of his “great pleasure” after returning to action last night in a charity game played at Marseille’s Stade Vélodrome.

The former Juventus and Real Madrid CF playmaker retired after last summer’s FIFA World Cup finals but returned to lead a team against former team-mate Ronaldo. With more than 20,000 fans in the stands, Olympique de Marseille legends Basile Boli, Laurent Blanc, Dragan Stojković and Chris Waddle lined up for Zidane’s team, along with the likes of Arsenal FC and France defender William Gallas. Ronaldo’s contingent had a Brazilian feel with Dida, Julio Baptista and Rivaldo involved, along with Madrid and Spain defender Sergio Ramos.

“It was a great pleasure to be back in Marseille,” said the 34-year-old Zidane after the 6-2 victory. “The pace could have been higher I must say but the most important thing was to raise money.” The ‘Match Against Poverty’, refereed by former Italian official Pierluigi Collina, was played under the aegis of the United Nations Development Program, for which both Zidane and Ronaldo are goodwill ambassadors. “The message is that everyone can do something to make the world a better place,” Zidane said.

And here are the highlights:

and his greatest goal against leverkusen in the champions league final was left-footed.

Zidane’s many great goals were left-footed …