International Career
Zidane holds dual citizenship of both France and Algeria, and therefore could have played for Algeria. However, coach Abdelhamid Kermali denied him a position on the team, arguing that the young midfielder was not fast enough.
He earned his first cap with the French national football team on 17 August 1994, coming on as a substitute in the 63rd minute of a friendly match against the Czech Republic. France was behind 0-2 when Zidane came on and scored two goals for a 2-2 draw.
At that time, manager Aimé Jacquet had planned to field the team around Manchester United star Eric Cantona, but after Cantona earned a year long suspension in January of 1995, Jacquet rearranged the team and positioned Zidane as playmaker. Despite criticism from fans and pundits regarding the choice of players, France made it to the semi-finals of the Euro 1996, their best performance in an international tournament since the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
Zinadine Zidane
He earned his first cap with the French national football team on 17 August 1994, coming on as a substitute in the 63rd minute of a friendly match against the Czech Republic. France was behind 0-2 when Zidane came on and scored two goals for a 2-2 draw.
At that time, manager Aimé Jacquet had planned to field the team around Manchester United star Eric Cantona, but after Cantona earned a year long suspension in January of 1995, Jacquet rearranged the team and positioned Zidane as playmaker. Despite criticism from fans and pundits regarding the choice of players, France made it to the semi-finals of the Euro 1996, their best performance in an international tournament since the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
Zinadine Zidane
No comments:
Post a Comment