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| May 15, 2003 | Thursday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1424 |
Zidane stands between Juve and biggest prize
MILAN, May 14: When Juventus signed Zinedine Zidane from French club Bordeaux in 1996 they had just been crowned champions of Europe and the midfielder was the man they hoped would help ensure more Champions League success.
But it never happened — Juve lost two finals during the ‘Zidane era’ and it has taken until this season’s run to the semifinals for the Turin side to come close to recovering the European title.
Now it is Zidane and his star-studded Real Madrid team mates that stand between Juve and a place in an all-Italian Champions League final in Manchester on May 28.
The winner will face AC Milan, who edged into the final on the away goals rule after a 1-1 draw with city rivals Inter on Tuesday.
Real start as narrow favourites after a 2-1 win in the first game in Madrid last week — inspired as so often by the passing and dribbling of the French international.
Although Zidane helped to win two of Juve’s 27 Italian titles many fans were frustrated that he was unable to inspire the success he enjoyed with the French national side, winning the World Cup in 1998 and the European championships two years later.
Certainly his extraordinary skills were appreciated across Italy and nowhere more so than at Juve’s Delle Alpi stadium but when he was sold to Real Madrid for a world record $66 million, almost two years ago, there were no protests in the streets and no tears at the airport.
Perhaps the reason why he never became a legend in Turin was that Zidane’s qualities were seen only on the field.
Unlike many of his counterparts among the highly-paid stars of Serie A, the Frenchman shunned publicity and opted for the quiet life in the small villa his family made their home in a village on the outskirts of the city.
The midfielder may go down in the history books as one of the greatest French players of all time but his ranking in the all-time favourites of the Juventus fans would be more modest.
His legacy was mainly a financial one — with the cash raised by his sale to Real, Juve were able to buy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and French defender Lilian Thuram from Parma and most importanly Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved from Lazio.
Nedved’s power play has been central to Juve’s two successive Italian titles and he has achieved a level of popularity with the Juve fans that Zidane never reached.
Yet it was clear from Zidane’s behaviour at the end of the first leg that he has maintained good relations with his old team mates — there were smiles, hugs and shirt-swaps and when he spoke to Italian television he had a kind word for his old club.
“The players might change but Juve are always strong — Juve are always Juve,” said Zidane.—Reuters
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