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July 10, 2006   





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The scarred French messiah

At Real Madrid, Zidane shone alongside stars like David Beckham, Raul Gonzalez, Luis Figo, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos. And many will swear the volley with which Zizou scored the winning goal against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2001-2002 Champions League Final in Glasgow's Hampden Park is the best they have ever seen.

Also See: Zidane's farewell party ends in tears

Real Madrid's other successes while Zidane was playing for them included the Intercontinental Cup (2002), the European Super Cup ( 2002), the Spanish League (2002-2003), and the Spanish Super Cup (2001, 2003).

But Real Madrid, some say, gained more from Zidane's popularity in Arab countries than from a team of stars too big to work as a team. No wonder the fans gave him a standing ovation in his last home match.

In a galaxy of his own: Real Madrid stars Zidane (centre), Claude Makelele, Jose Mariaq Gutierres, Ronaldo and Luis Figo celebrate winning the the European/South American Cup in Yokohama in 2002.

Photograph: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images

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