Happy Birthday, Zinedine Zidane!

Zinedine Yazid Zidane (June 23, 1972) nicknamed "Zizou", is a retired French footballer. He is currently the manager of Real Madrid. He played as an attacking midfielder for the France national team, Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid.

Renowned for his elegance, vision, ball control and technique, Zidane became the best European footballer of the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll.

Zidane was named the FIFA World Player of the Year three times, in 1998, 2000 and 2003. He also won the 1998 Ballon d'Or. He was a Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 1996, Serie A Footballer of the Year in 2001 and La Liga Best Foreign Player in 2002.

He received the Golden Ball for being player of the tournament at the 2006 World Cup, despite his infamous sending off in the final against Italy for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest.

Zidane was welcomed like a hero in Bangladesh as the guest of Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus on November 7, 2006. He participated in an exhibition match televised to some 25m Bangladeshis.

We wish him a very happy birthday on this special day!