Zizou doesn’t mean “white cat”. I don’t know how often I have heard this but it’s not true. Believe you me, I’ve asked every French person I know and they all agree, that Zizou has no meaning in French. There are still several stories on how he got the nickname but it’s clear it was given to him by Roland Courbis, the former coach of Girondins Bordeaux. (and not his mother *lol* You can even hear in the videos from the beginning of his career that the public shouts “Zidane, Zidane” and not “Zizou” like they did later) One story is that he was named after another player whose nickname used to be Zizou. Another one is that the French usually give nicknames like Titi (Thierry Henry) to their peers, but Zizi means something naughty in French, so they added the “ou” which is a minimization. Another theory is that it simply comes from the nickname he has had since he was a child “Yaz”, which comes from his second first name, Yazid. His family and close peers still call him Yaz.

Zidane is not an altogether horrible person who just pretends to be nice in public. I know that’s one of these conspiracy theories people have, especially since Besma Lahouri wrote her “scandalous” book, but I highly doubt this. Why would almost every player who has ever met him say he’s the nicest guy on and off the pitch? Why would they say in every fan story how nice he is? Why would he be so loved in the football/soccer community, if he was in fact a horrible person?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think he’s perfect and I know he can be complicated at times, but aren’t we all? I know what’s inside Lahouri’s book for instance and if you have an at least partly realistic picture of the person behind “Saint Zinedine”, you won’t be shocked. This book caused a huge outcry before it was published but now it’s barely ever mentioned. Why? Well because it didn’t turn out to be that scandalous at all. Those who think Zizou is an angel walking around on earth, never does wrong and is altogether the most perfect human being ever created, should definitively reconsider their opinion, but everybody else can calm down. A guy can’t act nice for years and years and years, and in reality be that horrible. ;)
The same goes for the Zidane mafia that executes everyone who says something that doesn’t paint a picture perfect version of Zizou. Zidane Diffusion is a company run by his family to manage his career. And like every sane management they pay attention that their protective is seen in a good light. This is done for and by every celebrity out there that cares for his image. (Well, let’s forget Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty and Lindsay Lohan for a while…their representatives have a hard job)

Zidane did not invent the Marseille Roulette/Zidane Turn. Of course it’s his most famous move and it’s widely agreed on that no one has mastered this move in a more elegant way than he did, but the move was already used by the likes of Diego Maradona. The inventor is said to be a certain David Rocastle who played for Arsenal F.C. Zizou however invented different versions of the move. He for instance sometimes uses his instep instead of his sole to drag the ball.

Here I want to correct very common wrong beliefs people have regarding Zinedine Zidane to the best of my knowledge. Please remember that I am not Zizou and thus many of these things could be wrong also. But at least this is what I currently believe to be true.

First and foremost: Zidane did apologize after the World Cup final incident! It doesn’t matter how many people claim that he didn’t. There’s even an interview online on youtube that shows the interview he gave one day later. This interview was shown on television WORLDWIDE. There he apologized to everybody who witnessed what he did, especially the children. He also said sorry to the teachers and parents of these children, because he was a bad example. He also apologized to his teammates in the locker room just minutes later. It is indeed true that he didn’t say sorry to Marco Materazzi as far as I know but I guess this is an issue between the two men and shouldn’t be discussed in public.

Zinedine Zidane is not an Arab. I know many people would love him to be, but I am sorry to disappoint you. He’s a Kabyle, i.e. a Berber whose origins are the highlands of Kabylie in northeastern Algeria.

Zidane was never refused by the Algerian National Team for being too slow. This is another one of these legends. I don’t know what it’s supposed to prove, either that the then coach was an idiot or that Zidane considers himself Algerian, but it’s simply not true. Zizou himself denied this rumor in an interview, saying that it was impossible for him to play for the Algerian National Team at that time anyway, because he had already played for France.

Zinedine Zidane is French. Yes, he also is an Algerian and very proud of his roots, but he also considers himself a Frenchman, played only for the French National Team and is a national hero in France. Of course he’s also a hero in Algeria and his celebrated visit to the country in 2006 is probably legendary but he was born and raised in France. So to these stupid people who scream “He’s not even French!”- shut up! He IS French.