World Cup: Zidane Bows Out on Top

Zinedine Zidane, arguably the most extravagantly-gifted player of his generation, will showcase his mesmeric skills for the last time in Sunday's World Cup Final. The 34-year-old French captain has enjoyed a remarkable renaissance at this year's tournament, rolling back the years to earn himself a fitting last dance in Berlin's Olympiastadium.

In the historic arena where Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics, France will face Italy with Zizou hoping to lift the World Cup for the second time in his illustrious career. The three-time FIFA World Player of the Year scored twice in the 1998 final, leading Les Blues to their first ever title and confirming his place among the all-time greats of the game.

Born in Marseille, Zidane began his professional career at AS Cannes before moving to Bordeaux in 1992. An elegant midfielder with the ability to create space and ghost past opponents with ease, he accelerated his rise to worldwide superstardom with a move to Italian giants Juventus in 1996. Scoring breathtaking goals and leading the club to two successive Serie A titles, Zizou enjoyed the halcyon period of his career in the late 1990s.

In 2001, the French captain became the most expensive player in history when he joined the galacticos of Real Madrid in a deal worth 66 million Euros. Packed with world famous players such as Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, and Raul Gonsalez, Madrid won the Uefa Champions League in his first season with the mercurial Frenchman scoring the winning goal.

On an international level, the Zidane-inspired French followed their 1998 World Cup triumph with victory in the European Championships of 2000. With huge expectancy preceding their 2002 World Cup campaign, however, Les Blues crashed dramatically from brilliance to mediocrity, losing to Senegal in their opening game and leaving Korea/Japan without scoring a single goal.

After a similarly disappointing outing at the 2004 European Championships, Zinedine Zidane announced his decision to retire from the national side. For a moment, it looked as though his pirouetting footwork and visionary ball distribution had left the world stage forever.

To the huge relief of fans all over the world, however, Zizou decided to come out of retirement in 2005 and help a struggling French side qualify for Germany. "I have gone back on my decision," he said, "one year after I said it was categorical." Everything was in place for the old master to sign off in glorious fashion.

As the French arrived at the finals, expectation levels were low — the team had done little to impress en route to Germany and signs pointed towards an aging squad resting on the laurels of past achievements. Two lackluster draws against Switzerland and South Korea did little to silence the doubters, but the team scraped through to the round of 16 with a 2-0 defeat of Togo.

Having appeared a shadow of his former self in the opening round, Zidane exploded to life as the knock-out stages began. With his swaggering brilliance returned to the French midfield, they stormed past Spain and the old master capped a superb display with a typically subtle strike in injury time.

In the quarter final against favorites Brazil, Zizou gave a virtuoso performance to be ranked among the best in his long career. Controlling the midfield with effortless panache, he managed to overshadow Brazil's host of stars and led France to the semiFinals with a deserved 1-0 victory. Back to their best, the revitalized French had little trouble dispatching Portugal in the semiFinals. Naturally, it was a penalty from Zidane that sealed their deserved 1-0 win.

With Sunday's mouthwatering final approaching, it would take a brave man to predict anything other than a champagne performance from the French captain. Ultimately, an encore on the grandest stage of all would prove a fitting climax to a sparkling career, but whatever the outcome, Zidedine Zidane has long sealed his place among the true footballing greats.