A stadium built for him
Zinedine Zidane returns to the Stade de France on Friday, this time from the France bench. The Saint-Denis stadium was long his personal playground during his playing career. Here are six dates that defined that history.
On 28 January 1998, for the stadium’s inauguration against Spain, Zidane became the very first player to score there. On a frozen pitch, in front of French president Jacques Chirac and FIFA president Joao Havelange, he turned in a shot parried by Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta to hand France a 1-0 win.
Five months later, on 18 June 1998, things turned sour. In a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia, Zidane was sent off for stamping on a grounded opponent. Captain Didier Deschamps called it “unforgivable” at the time; the two-match ban that followed had no real impact on the rest of the tournament.
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The high point, then the low
12 July 1998 is the date everyone remembers. In the World Cup final against Brazil, Zidane scored two headers in the first half from corners taken by Emmanuel Petit and Youri Djorkaeff. Petit added a third late on: France were world champions, and the Stade de France became his for good.
Three years later, on 6 October 2001, a friendly meant to celebrate French-Algerian friendship went badly wrong. Booed by a crowd overwhelmingly supporting Algeria as France led 4-1, Zidane watched the match get abandoned in the 76th minute after a pitch invasion, a first on French soil.
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A rout, then a farewell
On 27 March 2002, against Scotland, Zidane marked his 72nd cap, equaling Michel Platini’s total, by opening the scoring in a 5-0 win that masked what was coming: a first-round exit at the World Cup three months later.
27 May 2006 marked his final appearance at the Stade de France. On the day of his 100th cap, and Franck Ribery’s first, Zidane’s France beat Mexico 1-0 through a Florent Malouda goal. He never played on that pitch again, until Friday, from the touchline.
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