Zizou- A loving tribute

It was July, 1998. I had a year or so ago finally unravelled the charms of cricket and was under the strongest conviction that nothing else could ever displace it from the pedestal of my favourite sport. But it was also World Cup time. Football World Cup that is. The hype and euphoria sweeping the city was bound to have an effect. I wanted to be a part of the conversation too!! But...........I didn't even have a team to support! One thing I knew, whatever happened, i would NOT support the universal favourite team of Calcutta, Brazil. Call it gut feeling. I had no reason not to support them. So i said a hasty eenie-meenie-minie-mo and picked the team in red, white and blue. France. They also seemed to have a balding midfielder everyone was going ga-ga about. He seemed to be quite intriguing, Zinedine Zidane. I decided I would follow his career with great interest!
So I did. I was one of the very few weeping tears of joy after the finals where France beat Brazil and Zidane headed in two immortal goals.

That was just the beginning. Since then, my official football hero has been Zinedine Zidane. I followed him from Italy (Juventus) to Spain (Real Madrid) as he changed clubs and his exploits on fields around the world. Though cricket fervour had once more strongly taken over, I managed to follow football in the pages of the Telegraph.

World Cup 2002. Saddest tournament of my life. Will not elaborate. All teams i supported lost. Aha, barely even caught a glimpse of Zidane's magic.

World Cup 2006. Germany.
Who ever gave France a chance?? I admit i didn't. Not after their first round shows. But then. It was like a chastising slap in the face. How could I ever have lost faith in Zizou?? Did my judgement count for nought?? His magic returned for the last time.

For once, let's forget the red card, let's forget the head butt; he gave me atleast not just a footballing icon, but a hero. I never saw Pele, Maradona, Platini, Beckenbauer, But I did see Zidane. I saw him in the making. He is a footballing great from OUR generation, that makes him extra special. I saw him play in the game of his life and also in his last match. I don't care about him head butting Materazzi; fucking pizza boy probably deserved it! He will remain the hero as garlanded around the Arc de Triomphe in July, 1998.

Au revoir, Zizou. Merci beaucoup.
Vous et notre le champion pour eternite!!