Zidane was born in Marseille and raised in La Castellane, one of the housing projects (cité) in the northern suburbs of Marseille (The "Quartiers Nord"). Though born in Marseille, Zidane has never played for Olympique de Marseille. His time in the French league was spent with AS Cannes and Bordeaux, before he was bought by Juventus for £3 million. Zidane was a member of the French football team in 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring two headed goals in the final against Brazil, and helping France to a 3-0 victory. Earlier in the competition he received a red card and two-game suspension in a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia; he stamped on an opposing player for no apparent reason. Reports from people close to Zidane state that the Saudi player in question had provoked him verbally[citation needed]. Two years later, Zidane and France won a second major championship, Euro 2000. He has been elected three times as FIFA World Player of the Year (1998, 2000, 2003) and one time as European Footballer of the Year (1998).

In 2001 Zidane transferred from Italian team Juventus F.C. to Spanish club side Real Madrid on a four-year contract. The transfer fee was £47 million (approximately $81 million USD, €66million), making him the most expensive player in football history. His fellow 'Galacticos' at Madrid included Raúl González, Luís Figo and Roberto Carlos. He scored the winning goal in a 2-1 win over the German team Bayer Leverkusen in the 2001-2002 Champions League Final in Glasgow's Hampden Park.

Injuries prevented him from performing at his best in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. France's defense of their title was spectacularly unsuccessful; the team was eliminated in the First Round without scoring a single goal. Zidane rushed back from his injury in time to play in France's last game, but could not produce his best form.

On August 12, 2004, after the Euro 2004 display of France, the team getting knocked out in the quarter-final by eventual winners Greece, Zidane retired from international football. He announced on February 4, 2005 that he would retire from the game at the end of his current contract with Real Madrid, at the end of the 2006-07 season.

After France experienced serious problems in attempting to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Zidane announced on August 3, 2005 to come out of international retirement to make a comeback for Les Bleus. He stated on his official website: "I have gone back on my decision, one year after I said it was categorical." On the same day French teammate and Chelsea midfielder Claude Makélélé, who also quit the French team following Euro 2004, said he wanted to come out of international retirement as well. The same week, Lilian Thuram announced he, too, would come back. The trio made their competitive return in the 3-0 FIFA World Cup qualifier win against the Faroe Islands on September 3rd, and France went on to win their qualifying group.

However, on 25th April 2006, after an injury plagued season at Real Madrid, Zidane announced that he would retire from professional football after representing France in the 2006 World Cup finals to be held in Germany.

On May 27, 2006, Zidane earned his 100th cap for France with a 1-0 victory over Mexico at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on the outskirts of Paris. It was his last match in that stadium and he became only the fourth Frenchman after Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps and Lilian Thuram to earn a century of national caps. He was substituted early in the second half.

In the closing minutes of France's second match of the 2006 World Cup, Zidane was given a yellow card for running into a player late. As a result, he was suspended from the third and final match of the group stage.[4] France nonetheless won that match against Togo 2-0,[5] allowing Zidane to play in the knockout round against Spain.

In the Second Round knockout match in the FIFA 2006 World Cup, Zidane assisted on the second goal and scored a third during France's 3-1 victory over Spain, on June 27, 2006. This win booked Zidane and France's date with defending champions Brazil in the Quarter Finals of the tournament.

On 1st July, 2006, France beat Brazil 1-0 in Frankfurt to set up a Semi-final meeting with Portugal. Zidane provided the free-kick assist from which Thierry Henry scored the winning goal, and was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group

--Wikipedia