Like father, like son? That’s not the case in the Zidane household in Madrid. Luca Zidane, the second oldest of Zinédine’s four sons, has followed in the footsteps of his father but not in the same way. In the semi-final of the Under-17s European Championships for France against Belgium, he tried to prove to his old man that he could be just like the World Champion from 1998.
Whilst Zinédine Zidane chipped a penalty off the underside of the bar in the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin against Italy, his son also hit the bar but his penalty went over. But no one placed any blame on Luca Zidane. The 17-year-old isn’t a gifted midfielder like his father but instead a goalkeeper. He also saved three penalties, including the decisive penalty after missing his own, as France beat Belgium 2-1 on penalties.
“What matters to me is his match winning contribution,” said manager Jean-Claude Giuntini. “He tried the penalty and missed it – I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.” Instead the manager is looking ahead to the final against Germany on Friday (19:00 CEST). The goalkeeper will be looking to give their opponents a tough time, as Zidane junior had not conceded a goal until the game against Belgium.
“The youngest has to go in goal”
The story of how Luca Zidane became a goalkeeper is pretty simple, as his 42-year-old father explained: “To play football you always need an outfield player and a goalkeeper. And my oldest son decided when we were playing in the garden that the youngest had to go in goal. He actually enjoyed the role after always playing there and he had a lot of ambition too.”
His position as number 1 instead of number 10 has an advantage as Luca cannot be compared with his father. That is not the case with brother Enzo, who has played in midfield for France’s Under-19s so he has therefore taken his mother’s maiden name of Fernandez. Both brothers play for Real Madrid, which is where their father missed out on the chance of promotion to the second division as manager of the reserves. One thing is clear: the name Zidane will not die out in the footballing world for a long time.
Like father, like son? That’s not the case in the Zidane household in Madrid. Luca Zidane, the second oldest of Zinédine’s four sons, has followed in the footsteps of his father but not in the same way. In the semi-final of the Under-17s European Championships for France against Belgium, he tried to prove to his old man that he could be just like the World Champion from 1998.
Whilst Zinédine Zidane chipped a penalty off the underside of the bar in the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin against Italy, his son also hit the bar but his penalty went over. But no one placed any blame on Luca Zidane. The 17-year-old isn’t a gifted midfielder like his father but instead a goalkeeper. He also saved three penalties, including the decisive penalty after missing his own, as France beat Belgium 2-1 on penalties.
“What matters to me is his match winning contribution,” said manager Jean-Claude Giuntini. “He tried the penalty and missed it – I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.” Instead the manager is looking ahead to the final against Germany on Friday (19:00 CEST). The goalkeeper will be looking to give their opponents a tough time, as Zidane junior had not conceded a goal until the game against Belgium.
“The youngest has to go in goal”
The story of how Luca Zidane became a goalkeeper is pretty simple, as his 42-year-old father explained: “To play football you always need an outfield player and a goalkeeper. And my oldest son decided when we were playing in the garden that the youngest had to go in goal. He actually enjoyed the role after always playing there and he had a lot of ambition too.”
His position as number 1 instead of number 10 has an advantage as Luca cannot be compared with his father. That is not the case with brother Enzo, who has played in midfield for France’s Under-19s so he has therefore taken his mother’s maiden name of Fernandez. Both brothers play for Real Madrid, which is where their father missed out on the chance of promotion to the second division as manager of the reserves. One thing is clear: the name Zidane will not die out in the footballing world for a long time.
