Underwear Profile #9: Zinedine Zidane

I know we’re seeing a pattern here with the underwear profiles, but Zinedine Zidane deserves inclusion on his own merits.  And to be fair, he’s not a rugby player.  He’s a soccer player, which is all the difference in the world.

Like previously-mentioned underwear and nude scene specialist Salim Kechiouche, Zidane is of French-Algerian lineage.  His parents are ethnic Berbers who emigrated to Marseille before the start of the Algerian War, and in 1972 he joined an already large family with four older siblings.  Zidane is a non-practicing Muslim by his own admission, and his first name roughly translates from Arabic as “the beautiful one of the path.”

Beautiful one, indeed!  Zidane got his start in “football” (soccer) at the age of five, citing Marseille veterans Blaž Slišković, Enzo Francescoli and Jean-Pierre Papin as his heroes.  When he was fourteen he went to the Cannes training center for a six-week program, and ended up staying for four years, making his professional debut in 1989.  He followed up this tenure with successive playing seasons at Bordeaux, Juventus, and Real Madrid (where he played with David Beckham), and rumor has it that he was asked to play for Algerian team although he was ineligible due to his dual citizenship.

Zidane’s signature year was 2006, and it was The World Cup matches that year where he actually made a splash outside of Europe and became familiar to Americans.  He had actually retired from professional play (Real Madrid) earlier in the year, but came out of retirement in order to be a part of France’s championship team, in the process earning Man of the Match and Golden Ball (best player) designations.  But his real moment in history came in the 110^th minute of the match against Italy, when he famously head-butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the chest, knocking the Italian to the ground.  As a penalty, Zidane was red-carded and removed from the game.

Materazzi’s agent, Phil Smith, claimed their exchange went something like this: Materazzi grabbed Zidane’s shirt, which pinched the Frenchman’s nipple.  Zidane snapped, “If you want my shirt so much, then you can f***ing have it after the game,” to which Materazzi responded, “I’d rather have the shirt off your woman.”  According to a Brazilian television channel, which employed lip-reading experts to get their take on the incident footage, the offending exchange involved Materazzi making the same comment twice (referring to Zidane’s sister as a prostitute), before the Italian added an invective aimed at Zidane himself.  Once back in Italy, Materazzi later added he had not insulted the Frenchman’s mother or sister: “It was an insult of the kind you will hear dozens of times and that just slips out on the ground.”  He also denied referring to Zidane as a terrorist, as had been reported by various news outlets.  “I certainly didn't call him a terrorist; I am ignorant, I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is.  I certainly did not mention Zidane's mother; for me a mother is sacred.”

“[I would] rather die than apologize” to Materazzi, Zidane later said, including that “[I] never could have lived with myself” if he’d remained on the field with his teammates.  Italy ended up winning the Cup that year in the penalty shootout, five to three.  Whatever it was exactly that instigated the incident, once off the pitch Zidane was more than willing to complete three days of community service with FIFA children’s charities as a “substitution punishment,” since his retirement precluded the FIFA suspension from three games.  Très gentlemanly, non?

In his post-retirement career, Zidane has assisted the soccer world in numerous posts, most recently assisting with Qatar’s bid to host the World Cup in 2022 and accepting the post of Sporting Director with Real Madrid.  He has continued working the charity activities in the form of exposition games, and has filled in his off-time with endorsements including Adidas, Lego, Audi, Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, among others.  And, in addition to his job, charity work, modeling and spokesperson gigs, he plays one of the most important roles of all – the family man.  He’s husband to extremely lucky Vèronique Fernández, and father to four sons: Enzo, born in 1995; Luca, born in 1998; Theo, born in 2002; and Elyaz, born in 2005.  Enzo, Luca, and Theo are following in old Dad’s footsteps, as all three are currently members of the Real Madrid Academy.

Is it any wonder, after looking at M. Zidane, that he wore jersey number (Perfect) Ten?  Didn’t think so.  (And apparently Marco Materazzi has learned not to f*** with perfection.)  Like most Frenchmen and soccer players to boot, he’s not shy about stripping down to his skivvies in front of the cameras.  Here for your viewing pleasure is the studly Zinedine Zidane in all his underwear and other glory.  Vèronique Fernández is a lucky woman, indeed.