Zidane Highlights 2006 World Cup

[Marthe Bernskoetter]

Onesuch quote has been attached to its attributed source like a faithful dog since 1995, becoming the catch-all reference that highlights the insularity of English football. Blackburn Rovers were the champions of England, with Kenny Dalglish making provisional plans to bolster their squad in defence of their title.

Instead, Zidane hopped on an elevator going in the opposite direction to Cannes. FC Girondins de Bordeaux had been a dominant force in French football in the mid-80s, winning three championships in four seasons, before a financial scandal overwhelmed the club and saw them automatically relegated to Ligue 2 in 1991.

Now, they were back after winning promotion at the first attempt and had already plundered the demoted Cannes squad for Eric Guerit and Jean-Francois Daniel. When Marseille unexpectedly baulked at signing Zidane, Bordeaux coach Rolland Courbis took a low-priced punt on him instead.

Bordeaux quickly realised that they had a serious talent on their hands, albeit a sensitive one. Zidane cut a broodingly intense figure, who took in the world with the deep, piercing eyes of a people watcher. Coaxing him out of that shell was a long-term project.

France were two goals behind when Zidane replaced the Auxerre playmaker Corentin Martins in the 63rd minute. With the game drifting towards full time, Laurent Blanc sent a long, sweeping low pass to Zidane, who let the pace of the ball beat the lunging challenge of his marker.

He then went through the Czech defence with an ease that was almost contemptuous. A quick stepover left Lubos Kubik in his wake before he shuffled the ball quickly between his feet to avoid an attempted tackle by Tomas Repka. From 25 yards out, Zidane then lashed a left-footed drive past Petr Kouba into the far corner.

UEFA initially distanced itself from the competition and refused to organise it due to its origins in the vice of gambling, but eventually took the reins in 1995. Sixty teams entered the tournament, which would have group stages followed by knockout rounds, with two separate finals and thus two champions. There was an added boon for both winners: they would both qualify automatically for the UEFA Cup the following season.

Bordeaux entered the 1995 Intertoto Cup, which kicked off on 1 July. They breezed through their group unbeaten after victories over Norrkoping, Bohemians, and Odense BK, followed by a draw with HJK Helsinki which Zidane missed due to international duty.

In the second leg, he caught one perfectly with his left. In just the third minute, Zidane silenced a fervent crowd at the Estadio Benito Villamarn by walking on to a knockdown from a Bordeaux goal kick and launching a preposterous dipping volley over Betis goalkeeper Pedro from 40 yards out.

In the return, the atmosphere at the Parc Lescure had all the anticipatory buzz of one of the great European nights, but it still looked the longest of shots. The team that Bordeaux would have to beat to progress was an absolute p*ss-take.

Milan might have had reserve goalkeeper Mario Ielpo in nets, but the back four in front of him was Christian Panucci, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta, and Paolo Maldini. The midfield that Zidane would have to negotiate contained some kid called Patrick Vieira, his national team-mate Desailly, Stefano Eranio, and Roberto Donadoni. Up front, there was George Weah and Roberto Baggio.

Bordeaux had to combat this with the likes of journeyman striker Didier Tholot, the horizontally laid-back Dutch midfielder Richard Witschge, and Danish defender Jakob Friis-Hansen. But they also had Christophe Dugarry, the tireless Lizarazu, and the rising force of Zidane.

An early goal is usually key to most seemingly impossible second-leg comebacks, and with 15 minutes gone, Tholot slotted one in for Bordeaux after brilliant work from Lizarazu down the left. As the game progressed, one thing became clear: Zidane was bossing it. He had ascended. Everything we came to know him for was evident that night: the deft touches, the footwork, those understated flourishes that confirmed just who was in charge.

Shortly after Zidane had nutmegged Desailly near halfway, he received the ball on the left wing and then cut diagonally through the heart of the Milan team. His attempted through ball to Tholot was blocked; when the rebound fell into his path, he prodded it to Dugarry, who bludgeoned the ball high into the net. The Parc Lescure utterly lost it.

An unsigned band from Coburg, Melbourne, Vaudeville Smash, has put themselves $20,000 in debt to produce an infectious football-themed pop song and cheekily asked Murray to sing the lyrics. Murray, 68, accepted but what happened next has shocked everyone involved.

The song, Zinedine Zidane, has become a YouTube hit since being released just over a week ago and has had more than 470,000 YouTube views as at Tuesday afternoon, in part due to a well-produced video clip. The song has attracted global attention, being reported and shared by the likes of the BBC, and European daily sports newspapers L'Equipe and Marca. It has also been mentioned by television networks ESPN and Fox Sports in Spain and in Brazil and embraced by soccer fans worldwide.

"I am a bit surprised to be honest," Murray said. "I've heard a lot of football songs in the past and most of them flopped. I thought [Zinedine Zidane] was a terrific track. It is the best of the [World Cup songs] I've heard.

"[The band] approached me and ... just said you have to rattle off a lot of names. But when I got to the studio I realised that had to be done to rhythm, to a certain time sequence. They trained me up on that and luckily because I've been a professional musician I've got a bit of a sense of timing.

"In the late '60s and the early 1970s I was in the Rubber Band. I was the lead singer, it was a cover band ... I was upfront, screaming my little head off. [I had] long hair, no ponytail, platform shoes, flared pants."

Fans have made their own videos to go with the song, featuring clips of highlights from Zidane's career. Ted Tosidis from the blog part-time pundit asked: "Could it be that these humble lads ... have produced the greatest football song in the history of World Cup songs, ever?"

Vaudeville Smash's regular lead vocalist, Marc Lucchesi (who works as a substitute teacher), says the band spent about $20,000 in total on the song - for studio time, a small payment to Murray, paying for Zidane masks to be made (for the video clip), hiring actors and shooting and producing the video. But there have already been dividends: the band has been approached by a Belgian company with the offer of a European distribution deal and YouTube income is already flowing.

"From what I've heard you get about $4000 for every million [YouTube] plays," Lucchesi said, adding that a replacement van would be high on their shopping list, if they could make enough from YouTube and iTunes sales. "The van we have now is on the way out, the suspension has just gone. If we can get out of debt and make some money to pay ourselves, which we never do, and make enough to produce some more music, I'd be happy."

Lucchesi said Vaudeville Smash were keen for Murray to join them on stage for the song. "We've been emailing quite a bit. I reckon if it's a big enough show I'm hoping he will, who knows, maybe the ARIA [awards] or something. He just might do it."

Murray's picks for a World Cup winner? "Brazil. They're on home turf and they are terrific at the moment. There's always dark horses, like maybe Belgium, maybe even Switzerland, but unlikely. The World Cup is usually won by one of the big guns and that's going to be between Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Spain.

The song, Zinedine Zidane, has become a YouTube hit since being released just over a week ago and has had more than as at Tuesday afternoon, in part due to a well-produced video clip. The song has attracted global attention, being reported and shared by the likes of the , and European daily sports newspapers and . It has also been mentioned by television networks ESPN and Fox Sports in Spain and in Brazil and embraced by soccer fans worldwide.

\\\"I am a bit surprised to be honest,\\\" Murray said. \\\"I've heard a lot of football songs in the past and most of them flopped. I thought [Zinedine Zidane] was a terrific track. It is the best of the [World Cup songs] I've heard.

\\\"[The band] approached me and ... just said you have to rattle off a lot of names. But when I got to the studio I realised that had to be done to rhythm, to a certain time sequence. They trained me up on that and luckily because I've been a professional musician I've got a bit of a sense of timing.

\\\"In the late '60s and the early 1970s I was in the Rubber Band. I was the lead singer, it was a cover band ... I was upfront, screaming my little head off. [I had] long hair, no ponytail, platform shoes, flared pants.\\\"

Fans have made their to go with the song, featuring clips of highlights from Zidane's career. Ted Tosidis from the asked: \\\"Could it be that these humble lads ... have produced the greatest football song in the history of World Cup songs, ever?\\\"

\\\"From what I've heard you get about $4000 for every million [YouTube] plays,\\\" Lucchesi said, adding that a replacement van would be high on their shopping list, if they could make enough from YouTube and sales. \\\"The van we have now is on the way out, the suspension has just gone. If we can get out of debt and make some money to pay ourselves, which we never do, and make enough to produce some more music, I'd be happy.\\\"

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