World exclusive: Zinedine Zidane's journey from the rough back streets of Marseille to Madrid has been marked by racism, political controversy and superlative football. The world's best player tells Andrew Hussey of his pride in his Algerian heritage, his rage to be the best - and reveals why his talent can still be engulfed by flashes of violence
The blank, dusty streets and high-rise tower blocks of La Castellane, a council estate in the northern suburbs of Marseille, are what is officially known in French as a quartier difficile, a sensitive zone. Most of the population here are first-and second-generation immigrants. The first wave came originally from Algeria and Morocco, in the Fifties and Sixties, but the inhabitants of La Castellane now come from all other points in the French-speaking world, from sub- Saharan Africa to the Caribbean.
The people in La Castellane have no problem identifying themselves with Marseille, which has always been the toughest and most deprived of French cities. You can make out the bay and old port of Marseille from practically any vantage point in La Castellane and the second generation of immigrants are proud to adopt the distinctive slang and accent of the city as their own. But still almost everybody who lives here refuses point-blank to identify themselves as French.
La Castellane is the home town of Zinedine Zidane, the Real Madrid playmaker who, as he approaches his professional peak at the age of 32, is probably the most complete and gifted footballer of his generation.
This opinion is pretty much universal in football, especially among those who have worked most closely with him. Aimé Jacquet, the French coach whose Interview: Zinedine Zidane | Football | The Observer
No comments:
Post a Comment