⏳ World Cup rewind: Zidane nearly missed the best match of his life

Every four years, the hierarchy of world football is shaken up. Fallen favorites, inspired underdogs, moments of genius, moments of madness: the World Cup always delivers its share of surprises. This series looks back at those scenarios that defied every prediction.

Today, just minutes before the friendly match between Brazil and the France national team, let’s revisit the little-known story behind Zinédine Zidane’s masterclass in 2006.

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What would Zinedine Zidane’s career be without those legendary clashes between France and Brazil?

Aside from his brace in the 1998 World Cup final, Les Bleus’ number 10 also left a lasting impression in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final against the Auriverde.

Dominant in the air, inspired, untouchable, Zidane probably produced his best performance for France on that occasion.

– Monday, 1 July 2019

And yet, we now learn that ZZ could have pulled out of that match.

Indeed, in the book Zidane written by Fred Hermel, the Real Madrid coach makes a surprising revelation: “I almost didn’t play that match. I had a big lump on one knee in the days leading up to it.”

Fortunately, the swelling went down in time, and the rest became 90 minutes of pure pleasure for football fans.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.

📸 PASCAL PAVANI - 2006 AFP