Soccer: Zidane revient !! (Zidane is back!!)

[ASNL77]

Great news for the France soccer team as Zinedane Zidane one of best football players of all time has announced his return. France are in danger of not qualifying for the World Cup and Zidane returns is a big boost for the struggling French team with only one goal scored in the last six games! Zidane announced his international retirement in 2004 but he has decided to help his mates to qualify for the next World Cup in Germany. Apart from the 'Mosaic future projects' this is the BIG news for me today!! Allez les bleus!

[B. Goren.]

brownie??? Any comments on that???

[brownie]

Afraid I'm not sharing ANSL's enthusiasm

The fact that Zidane is being hailed as the Messiah who will save the French national soccer team is sad. Just shows how low the national team has sunk since its days of glory in 1998 and 2000.

It will take Zidane - as great as he is - plus a miracle to carry the team through the next World Cup! If it qualifies....

[J.A.W.]

Afraid I'm not sharing ANSL's enthusiasm 

The fact that Zidane is being hailed as the Messiah who will save the French national soccer team is sad. Just shows how low the national team has sunk since its days of glory in 1998 and 2000.

It will take Zidane - as great as he is - plus a miracle to carry the team through the next World Cup! If it qualifies....

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I share brownie's pessimism, Zidane is way past his prime and I haven't seen him play a good game for ages. Still, he will always remain one of the all-time great soccer players.

[ASNL77]

I kind of agree with you two, Brownie and Hans but France have been so poor in the qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup that it is hard to imagine things getting any worse. One goal for six games played! What matters right now is to qualify for the world cup and no doubt that the comebacks of Zidane, Makelele and Thuram (Yes Zizou is not the only one!!) will have an impact. It is too soon to predict a happy ending but it is worth trying. The next 2 games in Dublin and in Switzerland will be crucial and the experience of such talented players may turn out to be beneficial. If things don't work out, well........ we'll be back to the drawing board. Anyway football, like anything else, is a question of cycles. France had an amazing run from 1997 to 2002 (before the world cup!) and it will take a lot of time to rebuild! Bonne chance a nos trois revenants quand meme!

[J.A.W.]

I really hope France will qualify, but my first concern is the Dutch national team, which has had a great run under new coach Marco van Basten, getting good results with sometimes mediocre football. They stand a good chance of qualifying, but the quality of their football has to improve dramatically to get anywhere in the finals in Germany next year.

[ASNL77]

I would love to see the Netherlands win the World Cup at last! If France doesn't win it, the Dutch team will have my support. The first world cup game I watched was the final between Argentina and Holland in 1978. What an atmosphere!

For the Dutch it can't get any better than winning the world cup in ...... Germany!

After the defeats of 1974 and 1978, will it be third time lucky? Good luck anyway. My favorite dutch player was Marco Van Basten. What an amazing goal he scored in 1988 to win the Euro against Russia!

[B. Goren.]

The Dutch team always have my support. And please dont remind me the 1978 final. 27 years later it's still breaks my heart when I think about it.

[Jim R]

Zidane is a great player indeed, and I just hope that his decision plays out well for him (and for the French team).

I wish everyone here a happy trip through qualifiying and (hopefully) into the finals for their respective favorite teams. After following the progress of the U.S. team since their darker days of inferiority before the 1990's, I was of course thrilled with the showing we made in 2002. Can't wait for next Summer! Germany will be tough... or shall I say, "tougher"

[brownie]

Looks like Zidane was pressured to take that decision by the Adidas brass! Zidane is one of Adidas top star! Zidane's decision came on the day it was announced that Adidas had struck a deal with Reebok an bought their rival!

[scottb]

Hopefully Zidane can help them out. It would be a shame if they didn't qualify and get a chance to redeem that dismal 2002 showing.

Still can't figure how that side didn't even score a goal with the likes of Zidane, Trezeguet, Viera, Henry, Cisse, Makelele and Dugarry. Impossible is nothing.

[ASNL77]

Hopefully Zidane can help them out.  It would be a shame if they didn't qualify and get a chance to redeem that dismal 2002 showing. 

Still can't figure how that side didn't even score a goal with the likes of Zidane, Trezeguet, Viera, Henry, Cisse, Makelele and Dugarry.  Impossible is nothing.

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This is football for you! Nobody seems to remember though that they hit the post 4 times in 3 games, that Zidane was injured and that Trezeguet, the main striker, got sent off after 5 minutes in the second game. True, France were poor in 2002 but luck was definitely not on their side unlike in 1998.

France has had a lot of ups and downs in the last 20 years. Wins in the Euro in 1984 and 2000, the world cup in 1998 and a few abysmal moments too when they failed to qualify for the world cup in 1990 and 1994. With France it's often all or nothing.

[scottb]

Didn't Henry get carded and miss the last group game as well?

[marcoliv]

all of you are aware that the French squad is my beloved team and one of the most important things in my life.

i have to agree with many opinions here but i have other feelings about his comeback.

when a team has a fantastic player like him it is nice but it's always a hard task to replace him. sometimes on a bad day the other players just wait for "the guy" to solve the problem and when this player quits, others are not ready to carry on with all the pressure and responsability.

my recollection of Zidane on major competitions with the Bleus is:

.Euro96 - non existant since he had a car accident a few days before of the competition

.WC98 - his red card on the 2nd game was sooooooooooooo stupid....he scored twice on the last game but Aime Jacquet told him "it's your time to play..we're waiting for you the whole competition"

.Euro2000 - at last he was at his best. on the last game against italy he never managed to create something dangerous but he was the key player of the team

.WC2002 - he got injured and couldn't play decently on his single game

.Euro2004 - NON EXISTANT!!!!!!!!!! i'm not sure he was that tired...to retire after such poor performance wth no effort at all was very very disappointing

so my expectations were that he would leave the mational squad after the WC2006 based on a decent performance. he decided to leave because of Domenech or whatever so ok, we should move forward

all of our best squads such as 58, 77-86 and 94-02 were assembled after a dark period so i'm not that happy.

if we qualify to the WC2006 i'm gonna have mixed emotions. we don't have the right man to build something (Domenech) and other key players never took the role of leading the team such as Vieira & Henry. France should be on a WC to play a key role and i'm not confident at all that this is gonna happen

his last season with Madrid was not good and if he wants to come back he should do it with energy. soccer is a game where you can be defeated but at least you should give all you have to try to win

of course on the next game i'm gonna forget everything and i'll be suffering a lot as usual.....Allez les Bleus!!!

De Oliveira Marcus

[Brad]

As others have noted, I can't see how he can help as he is past his prime and the French team must be in a woeful state for this to happen. How the mighty have fallen. It's time for other countries to take up the banner in Germany. I can only hope it's England or Spain for Europe but overall Brazil still looks like they will be tough.

Marcus, I'm surprised at you pulling for the French, when you are from Brazil. But then I'm American, pulling for Espana, so vive le difference.

[B. Goren.]

French team must be in a woeful state for this to happen. 

They are.

[scottb]

I too pull for Spain. I'm not sure why. They frustrate me to no end with their inconsistent play. One game beautiful the next dismal.

[B. Goren.]

Is Makelele also on his way back to the national team???

Edited August 6, 2005 by B. Goren.

[brownie]

Makelele's name has also been mentioned to reinforce the French team. Don't think it's a good thing!

They might as well bring back Michel Platini if they're trying to revamp the team

[B. Goren.]

They might as well bring back Michel Platini if they're trying to revamp the team

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[brownie]

I erred when I posted that I suspected Adidas pressured Zidane into making his comeback with the French national team. The call for action came from way beyond...

From AP:

     

Zidane: 'inner voice' called him to return

PARIS (AP) - French soccer star Zinedine Zidane says he decided to come out of international retirement after hearing a mysterious voice in the dead of night.

"One night at three in the morning, I suddenly woke up and spoke to someone," Zidane said in an interview with France Football magazine published Tuesday. "I had to obey this voice that advised me."

The 33-year-old Real Madrid midfielder, who retired from international soccer last summer, announced last week that he would rejoin the national team to help France qualify for the 2006 World Cup.

"I don't want people to make too much out of this, or for what I've confessed to be misinterpreted, but what's happened to me is quite mystical and even escapes me a bit," Zidane said. "I didn't tell anyone about this - not my wife, not anyone."

Asked about the identity of his mysterious interlocutor, Zidane vowed to remain silent.

"Until my last breath, I won't say," he said. "It's too intense."

Zidane - FIFA's world player of the year in 1998, 2000 and 2003 - will start his comeback in an Aug. 17 friendly against Ivory Coast and is available for crucial 2006 World Cup qualifiers beginning in September.

"If we qualify for the World Cup in Germany, I will participate in the my third World Cup," he said. "In reality, when I stop playing for the French national team, I will stop everything - my career - quite simply."

Zidane, the new Joan of Arc

Just what France needed!

[ASNL77]

I erred when I posted that I suspected Adidas pressured Zidane into making his comeback with the French national team. The call for action came from way beyond...

From AP:

     

Zidane: 'inner voice' called him to return

PARIS (AP) - French soccer star Zinedine Zidane says he decided to come out of international retirement after hearing a mysterious voice in the dead of night.

"One night at three in the morning, I suddenly woke up and spoke to someone," Zidane said in an interview with France Football magazine published Tuesday. "I had to obey this voice that advised me."

The 33-year-old Real Madrid midfielder, who retired from international soccer last summer, announced last week that he would rejoin the national team to help France qualify for the 2006 World Cup.

"I don't want people to make too much out of this, or for what I've confessed to be misinterpreted, but what's happened to me is quite mystical and even escapes me a bit," Zidane said. "I didn't tell anyone about this - not my wife, not anyone."

Asked about the identity of his mysterious interlocutor, Zidane vowed to remain silent.

"Until my last breath, I won't say," he said. "It's too intense."

Zidane - FIFA's world player of the year in 1998, 2000 and 2003 - will start his comeback in an Aug. 17 friendly against Ivory Coast and is available for crucial 2006 World Cup qualifiers beginning in September.

"If we qualify for the World Cup in Germany, I will participate in the my third World Cup," he said. "In reality, when I stop playing for the French national team, I will stop everything - my career - quite simply."

Zidane, the new Joan of Arc

Just what France needed!

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In which case France must avoid playing ..... England in the world cup if they qualify! .

[P.L.M]

.Euro2004 - NON EXISTANT!!!!!!!!!! i'm not sure he was that tired...to retire after such poor performance wth no effort at all was very very disappointing

De Oliveira Marcus

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Well, I'd like to see such "non existant" player more often.

If I remember well, he scores twice against ENGLAND in the last minutes or so and one more against SWITZERLAND.

About his return:

He may help the team, he may not but FRANCE will be better with him than without.

About his performance for the two last years, let's first consider that the MADRID team was build like a total absurdity.

ZIDANE was playing on the left side of the field what was competely stupid.

The first year with MADRID, when he was playing in his natural position with a team more balance, they win the CHAMPION'S LEAGUE.

In the FRENCH team, under the misguidance of JACQUES SANTINI, he was also playing on the left part of the field because this absurd and rigid 4/4/2 tactic that the blind SANTINI worshipped.

I think that we will see a "new" ZIDANE, this year, with MADRID.

And, perhaps, with the FRENCH team.

Edited August 9, 2005 by P.L.M

[marcoliv]

Marcus, I'm surprised at you pulling for the French, when you are from Brazil.

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