Zidan Retires ... Launch of a New Generation
Paris, AFP – “We will send Zidane into retirement,” headlined the Spanish newspaper Marca. Nothing could have better stirred the pride of “Les Bleus” at the 2006 World Cup, but just three days later, they sent the entire Spanish national team on an early holiday by eliminating them in the round of 16.
For the second time in World Cup history, France will face Spain tomorrow, Tuesday, in Dallas, this time in the semi-finals. All indicators suggest that the sports newspaper will avoid the hubris error it made on its front page on June 24, 2006.
When that World Cup was held in Germany, Spain was not yet the powerhouse that would dominate world football in the following years, despite topping its group with three wins. Meanwhile, the French national team, experienced but aging, went through moments of anxiety and barely qualified for the round of 16.
“Zizou,” who turned 34 on June 23, 2006, had announced in the spring that his career would end with this World Cup. The brilliant playmaker for Spanish club Real Madrid had first retired from international duty in 2004 after a disappointing European Championship in Portugal, before returning in the summer of 2005 to rescue the national team on its path to the 2006 World Cup.
For Zidane, that match on June 27 in Hanover, his 105th cap, carried a special flavor, as he was a “Madridista by adoption” and had secured a distinguished place in the record books of Real Madrid legends.
The match also featured a new on-pitch encounter between Thierry Henry and the late Spanish coach Luis Aragonés, 20 months after the latter’s racist remarks about the French player, which sparked widespread controversy.
If Marca also lacked tact in its inner pages by attacking the Gallic Rooster (the emblem of the French national team) with the phrase “We will pluck its feathers,” it was not mistaken in speaking of a “clash of generations.”
Alongside Zidane, Lilian Thuram (34), Claude Makélélé (33), and Fabien Barthez (35) appeared out of step with the elegant playing style of the young Spanish players such as David Villa (24), Fernando Torres (22), and Andrés Iniesta (22).
The start of the match confirmed this, with Villa opening the scoring from a penalty kick (28th minute). However, Patrick Vieira (30) was the man of the match: he produced a brilliant decisive pass for Franck Ribéry, who beat Iker Casillas to equalize (41st minute), followed by a crucial header from a Zidane free-kick (83rd minute).
Symbolically, it was Zizou himself who buried Spain’s hopes with a right-footed goal in the 92nd minute.
After the final whistle, he said: “For me, it was clear that this was not the last match. Good criticism should be accepted, that which is constructive. But there are people who don’t touch the ball, yet allow themselves to say anything.”
In a spirit of sportsmanship, Marca retracted its stance after France’s 1-0 victory over Brazil, with its headline reading: “Never Stop!”
The rest entered history: the “Panenka” in the final, the headbutt against Marco Materazzi, and then the loss on penalties to Italy. A defeat hard to swallow.
Spain would reach the summit four years later in South Africa, and also win the European Championship in 2008 and 2012, rewarding a golden generation that Iniesta, who did not participate in the June 27, 2006 match, would later lead.
