MC) Zinedine Zidane
The Frenchman retired in 2006, but it’s impossible to leave him out. Zidane became the world’s most expensive ever footballer when Real Madrid signed him from Juventus in 2001 for almost £50m, having won three Serie A titles with the Italians. In his first season with Los Blancos, Zidane won the Champions League, scoring the winner against Bayer Leverkusen in the final with arguably the best goal the competition’s ever seen. The Frenchman oozed class and guile, and aged 35, carried France through to the World Cup final in 2006, which earned him the tournament’s Golden Ball. Infamously of course, he was sent off in the final for a ridiculous headbutt on Italian defender Marco Materazzi – but is luckily still remembered for everything brilliant he did on a football pitch.
