Liverpool FC Forum

by **LFC #1** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 4:43 am

Found this article, it's a real insight into Zidane, and particularly the issue of his Algerian heritage, which I have a feeling Materazzi may have said something about.

Article

Thats the link for the full article, but I found these passages to be very interesting and insightful. Again I think Materazzi must have said something about his racial background for him to react so strongly.

The euphoria did not last long. Within days of the famous victory, Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the Front National, was growling in the press about the racial origins of the France team, singling out Zidane for faint praise as ’a son of French Algeria’. His comment was carefully loaded. The term ’French Algeria’ is never neutral in the French media : it returns one inevitably to the colonial state that only ended in 1962 after a long and brutal war. The implication was that as ’a son of French Algeria’, Zidane was either a colonial lackey or a traitor to the country of his father’s birth.

Then one of Le Pen’s henchmen declared that if Zidane was acceptable to the French it was only because his father had been a harki. This Arabic word describes the Algerians who fought for the French during the Algerian war and who were massacred or fled to France in its aftermath. Harkis were the forgotten victims of the colonial war, hated by their own people who saw them as collaborators and despised by the French, who remember them with shame. The insult was calculated to cause damage and hurt, especially in the suburbs such as La Castellane.

One of the most immediate conse quences of this libel was that the friendly match between France and Algeria at the Stade de France in October 2001 proved to be one of the most harrowing moments of Zidane’s career. The event was billed as an historic moment of reconciliation between two nations who could not quite live without each other and who had, since Algerian independence, never met on a football field.

The reality was grotesque. In the lead-up to the match Zidane received death threats. During the game, he was booed and taunted and, he says now, was ’disconcerted’ by the posters that read ’Zidane-Harki’. The match was abandoned after a pitch invasion in the second half, with young French Arabs chanting in favour of bin Laden and against the French state. The multicultural adventure launched by the French team of 1998 was in disarray. The far right was on the move.

Zidane’s response was to this fiasco was finally to break his public silence about his father’s identity. ’I say this once for all time : my father is not a harki ,’ he announced to the press. ’My father is an Algerian, proud of who he is and I am proud that my father is Algerian. The only important thing I have to say is that my father never fought against his country.’

One of the theories about Zidane as a player is that he is driven by an inner rage. His football is elegant and masterful, charged with technique and vision. But he can still erupt into shocking violence that is as sudden as it is inexplicable. The most famous examples of this include head butting Jochen Kientz of Hamburg during a Champions League match, when he was at Juventus in 2000 (an action that cost him a five match suspension) and his stomping on the hapless Faoud Amin of Saudi Arabia during the 1998 World Cup finals (this latter action was, strangely enough, widely applauded in the Berber community as Zidane’s revenge on hated Arab ’extremists’).

Zidane’s first coaches at AS Cannes noticed quickly that he was raw and sensitive, eager to attack spectators who insulted his race or family. The priority of his first coach, Jean Varraud, was to get him to channel his anger and focus more on his game. According to Varraud, Zidane’s first weeks at Cannes were spent mainly on cleaning duty as a punishment for punching an opponent who had mocked his ghetto origins.

By the time he arrived at Juventus, in 1996, he had become known for his self-control and discipline, both on and off the pitch. He had developed these traits during a spell at Bordeaux under Rolland Courbis, a fellow marseillais and one of the craftiest heads in French football. Courbis understood immediately that Zidane was an untamed talent. He described the player’s two years at Bordeaux as a period when he most needed direction. It was at Bordeaux that he acquired the nickname ’Zizou’ and learnt to keep his emotions under tight control. ’You could see he was an extraordinary player straight away,’ says Courbis now, ’but it was a moment in his career when you couldn’t afford to do just anything with him. For example, you couldn’t just give him his head and burn him out in a season.’

And yet in his early days at Juventus, particularly in big matches, some of his temperamental faults would resurface, and there were doubts over his ability to lead from the centre of the pitch. The coming years in Serie A hardened him and it was no accident that during this period he emerged as probably the best midfielder in the world. However the Juventus fans, including the club president Gianni Agnelli, were dazzled by his football but baffled by his reluctance to take advantage of the rewards on offer in Turin - the girls, the nightclubs, the cars. Unlike Michel Platini, who been loved by the Juve fans as much for his flamboyant wit as for his football, Zidane was remote, inscrutable, devoted to his wife, his extended family and his children.

Zidane’s occasional violence may well be a product of this internal conflict : the French-Algerian who is for ever suspended between cultures. But it is equally likely that, although in public he presents a serene and smiling face, he is underneath it all every bit the same hard nut he had to be to survive the mean streets of La Castellane. ’Nobody knows if Zidane is an angel or demon,’ says the rock singer Jean-Louis Murat, who is himself a fan of the player. ’He smiles like Saint Teresa and grimaces like a serial killer.’

by **account deleted by request** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 4:54 am

Great read that LFC#1 a real eyeopener for me as I had never read or heard anything about all of this. I had just presumed he was a wonderful French footballer. I am sure your right about Materazzi using some of this against Zidane.

by **anti-hero** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:30 am

Excellent article.

I never knew Zidane was half Algerian.

Reading that, you could really gain a small glimpse into what made Zidane.

There is Zidane the footballer. And Zidane the ordinary person. We, always saw Zidane the footballer. But I guess we just forgot that he was an ordinary person, just like us, who has his own problems to deal with.

I guess the fact that Zidane was just a man, just like any other, was lost in the memorable moments that made him a footballing god.

Its unfair for us to say that he should have shown more composure and class. Sure it was wrong for him to headbutt the guy. But the fact that everything happened on the spur of the moment is overlooked. After all, he is human. No amount of training or preparation could've stopped Zidane from doing from what he did.

Call me a hater.

Sure. But I think the one who was really wrong in the incident was Materazzi. You thought the guy could have shown a little more respect. It was THE Zidane's last game. A ploy by the Italians that worked to perfection? Maybe. But that would be a terrible thing to suggest. Or is it?

Maybe I'm just bitter.

by **JC_81** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 10:29 am

Great article. Knew about Zidane's Algerian background but didn't realise he'd got so much stick for it.

As for last night, Materazzi could well have insulted him saying something along those lines, or Zidane could have finally just snapped because of the persistent off the ball fouls by Materazzi on himself and the other French players. I'm pretty sure I saw Materazzi giving him a nipple twister off the ball at one point :laugh:

by **Big Niall** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:59 pm

the italian is the guilty one? grow up. There is no evidence that he said anything of that lines.

To be honest, regardless of what he said Zidane let himself and his country down.

Even if he did say something racist- if name calling resulted in Zidane losing it and being sent off and Italy winning the world cup, the the Italian outsmarted him and I'm sure he'd be congratulated by many fans and teammates.Sport is phsycological as well as physical and any weakness in an opponent should be exploited.

I don't think people should be discussing a racist incident when there is no evidence of one.

by **darwisigila** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:20 pm

italian are known for their dirty tactic and they good at that.....

by **48-1119859832** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:45 pm

darwisigila wrote:italian are known for their dirty tactic and they good at that.....

Yes unfortunately they are, wouldn't surprise me if they paid to win it.

by **babu** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 2:11 pm

0asis wrote:
darwisigila wrote:italian are known for their dirty tactic and they good at that.....

Yes unfortunately they are, wouldn't surprise me if they paid to win it.

would surprise the shit out of me.

by **ConnO'var** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 2:25 pm

Let's not be naive.... great as he is, he was wrong to do what he did... regardless the provocation...

Must have been pretty horrendous though to make him assault the kunt Materazzi like that.

by **48-1119859832** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:08 pm

ConnO'var wrote:Let's not be naive.... great as he is, he was wrong to do what he did... regardless the provocation...

Must have been pretty horrendous though to make him assault the kunt Materazzi like that.

He was wrong, yes, but where's the murder scence? That's what so many of you sound like, you're going into such dramatics, that someone skim reading this thread would confuse Zidane for a murderer. :no

by **ConnO'var** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:12 pm

0asis wrote:
ConnO'var wrote:Let's not be naive.... great as he is, he was wrong to do what he did... regardless the provocation...

Must have been pretty horrendous though to make him assault the kunt Materazzi like that.

He was wrong, yes, but where's the murder scence? That's what so many of you sound like, you're going into such dramatics, that someone skim reading this thread would confuse Zidane for a murderer.

Really? You got that from my post?

Sh!t man.. I'm gonna have to work on my communication skills a bit more if you misunderstood my post..

I thought I made it clear that he's the one footballer right now that I come close to idolizing....

Doesn't mean that he was right though....

by **48-1119859832** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:19 pm

No it doesn't but you and most play are over-reacting about the whole situation, he headbutted someone so what? Roy Keane deliberatly injured Haaland a few years back and that was far worse than what Zidane does, and yet Roy Keane has a lot of respect, footballers are humans as well, they do stupid things but the way you and others are droning on you'd think he has murdered someone. There's a complete over-reaction by ppl, that's all.

by **clik** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:21 pm

a player who heard wnat Matterazzi said to Zidane will be making a statement later today according to Phillippe E'clair [talksport] it is believed the comment wasn't rascist..

by **account deleted by request** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:35 pm

0asis wrote:No it doesn't but you and most play are over-reacting about the whole situation, he headbutted someone so what? Roy Keane deliberatly injured Haaland a few years back and that was far worse than what Zidane does, and yet Roy Keane has a lot of respect, footballers are humans as well, they do stupid things but the way you and others are droning on you'd think he has murdered someone. There's a complete over-reaction by ppl, that's all.

I think surprise has a lot to do with it Oasis. Roy Keane had a history of aggression and violent conduct , I was unaware of any such history regarding Zidane so I was shocked and surprised at his actions. He always looked composed and in control, to suddenly lose it like that just shows that everybody has their breaking point.

by **clik** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 4:25 pm

clik wrote:a player who heard wnat Matterazzi said to Zidane will be making a statement later today according to Phillippe E'clair [talksport] it is believed the comment wasn't rascist..

sorry was rascist.

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