Five times Zinedidne Zidane dazzled us with his brilliance
Zinedine Zidane stands on the brink of history. Again.
With a coaching career spanning barely 18 months, the Frenchman is on the brink of guiding his Real Madrid side to a 12th European Cup and only Juventus, his former side, stand in his way to prevent Los Blancos becoming the first team to retain the Champions League since it was rebranded in 1992.
Despite a heady spell in the Bernabeu dugout performing a job that Sergio Ramos admitted was “complicated”, Zidane remains better known for his time on the pitch. Indeed, it says much about ‘Zizou’ the player that his coaching achievements remain in the shadow of what he achieved on the field.
With a vast backlog of stunning goals and skills behind him, here are five of his most iconic moments.
#5 Panenka in the World Cup final - July 9, 2006
Given what followed later in the evening, it is hard to imagine that Zidane executed one of the most ice-cold moments in the history of the game. France were locked scoreless in the World Cup final of 2006 against Italy when they were awarded a penalty when Florent Malouda went down under a challenge from Marco Materazzi.
Zidane stood 12 yards from former Juventus team-mate Gianluigi Buffon, renowned then, as he still is now, as one of the best shot-stoppers on Earth. With the whole world watching on, however, the Frenchman sent a deftly chipped penalty down the middle of the goal, evading the diving keeper, and off the underside of the bar into the net.
It was one of the most audacious Panenka penalties ever scored.