Zidane must surely go down as the most balanced, classy player in the history of the game. He may have lacked certain attributes that the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Pele and Diego Maradona have, but none were as elegant as the brilliant Frenchman. Having been one of the greatest players of the 90s, scoring two goals in the 1998 World Cup final and becoming the most influential player at Juventus, 'Zizou' made a world-record transfer to Real Madrid in the summer of 2001. In his five years at Santiago Bernabeu, he was always one of the world's greatest players, and he became one of Los Blancos' best ever players. His volley in the 2002 Champions League Final was surely the best ever in a European final, and he was producing moments of genius week in, week out. People mainly spoke about his unbelievable quality on the ball, which is fair enough, but he had everything as a player. He was tall, strong as an ox, hard-working and chipped in with goals. His career may have ended in disgrace, following his chest-butt on Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup Final, but in the long-term, people only really remember Zidane for the once-in-a-lifetime, three-time World Player of the Year that he was.
