Seven months of pain, a rare admission
Carrying the Zidane name protects no one. Theo Zidane, 24, made that plain in a long interview with Marca. The Cordoba midfielder, who plays in Spain’s second tier, laid out an ordeal he kept quiet far too long. A slipped disc battered him for months. He played through it on injections before finally going under the knife.
“In my first season, I was starting most weeks, feeling great, no injuries,” he said. The turning point came in March 2025. His back gave way. He gritted his teeth and carried on. The second season turned into a slog.
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Playing hurt, suffering in silence
What stands out is the sheer stubbornness. “Even at the club, some people didn’t know, because I wanted to stay available,” said the younger son of the 1998 World Cup winner. One line says plenty. “I can take a lot of pain, but this time I just couldn’t any more.” A specialist made the call fast. Surgery was the only answer.
He offers no apologies for those seven months of grit. “I never want to look for excuses. Maybe I should have made the decision sooner, but I wanted to help the team.” It is the sort of thing you expect from a family where setting an example is treated like a duty.
A Zidane summer
The confession lands in a busy week for the family. Luca, the 28-year-old elder brother and a goalkeeper, is off to Leganes. Theo wants to relaunch his career away from the Madrid glare, at a Cordoba side well used to the lower reaches of Spanish football. He is already looking forward. “I can’t wait to show what I can do. I’m convinced I can do better than I did in my first year.”
Now comes the hard part. Turning a clean operation into a full season. Training without pain, as he puts it, is only the starting line. The name opens doors. It won’t play the matches for him.
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