Zinedine Zidane is not one of those who like to draw attention to his person. While Thierry Henry walked triumphantly around the stadium after the French won the semifinals of the World Cup, Zidane, who brought his national team a victory with an accurate shot from the penalty spot, tried to quickly slip through the mixed zone and avoid any communication .
Realizing that his idea was not feasible, Zidane turned around and began a friendly conversation with his teammate. It is noteworthy that they turned out to be Frank Ribery, who joined the national team not so long ago, but French fans have already told the player to replace Zidane saying goodbye to football.
At first glance, such unlike each other, belonging to different football eras, Zidane and Ribery complement each other quite well on the football field, and this has a positive effect on the game of their team.
Ribery was the first to congratulate Ziza on the ball, which the French captain held at the goal of the Spanish national team in the last minute of the 1/8 finals of the World Championship. By the way, it was the twenty-second number of the French team that equalized the score in that game and made it possible to further advance his team to the final match.
Football players also hugged right after the final whistle, and many thought it was symbolic: the “old man” Zidane was ready to transfer the powers of the leader to the young and frisky Ribery. One of the commentators on French television noted that this was one of the best matches in Zizu’s career, but Ribery left behind Zidane with his actions!
Thus, the fans who complained about the inclusion of Ribery in the national team for the World Championship did not fail. During the three friendly games of the French that they held before the start of the World Cup, in the stands only chants of the name of Ribery, and not of Zidane, were heard. In all three games, the Marseille footballer replaced and markedly enlivened the game. When Frank earned a penalty for his team in the match with the Mexicans, which made the debut of a football player, his teammates invited him to break from the penalty spot himself. Ribery, respectful of his more experienced teammates, provided a chance to distinguish himself to Sylvain Wiltord. Many liked this act of a young Frenchman.
"I think that I am attractive to people first of all by my nobility, because I never cheat," Ribery explains. "I always give all my best when I go out onto the field. And that is all I am. What happened to me proves once again "Anything can happen in football. Sometimes you have to go a long way and make titanic efforts to fulfill your dream. I think people will like my thesis."
Frank had a difficult childhood: he barely survived after a car accident and grew up in Boulogne-sur-Mer, in an area with cruel mores, located in the north of France. “This is the worst city in the whole country,” said one French journalist.
At an early age, Ribery was expelled from the Lille Football Academy for not succeeding in teaching football art.
However, having returned to his hometown, Frank got a chance to rehabilitate himself: he began to play for the youth of the local Boulogne club. After some time, Ribery became a player in the starting lineup of the first team. After that, the footballer played in the third division, playing for very modest clubs. It was at this time that the footballer got on the note of the head of the “Metz” Jean Fernandez.
“Jean was the only person who paid attention to me when I played in the third division: Fernandez took me in his car to the other end of France to convince me to go to Metz,” says Ribery. Frank made his debut for the Metz in August 2004. Soon, after enjoying the game of scouts “Galatasaray”, the footballer went to the camp of the Turks and helped them win the cup of the country. However, after some time, the player had disagreements with the club regarding salaries, and Ribery was forced to look for a new club.
Frank thanks fate for giving her a meeting with Fernandez. Indeed, immediately, as Ribery was left without a team, Fernandez called him to his "Marseille". The last season the football player spent in Marseille. Three times he was recognized as the player of the month in the French league, was recognized as the best young player of the year, and his amazingly beautiful ball into the goal of “Nantes” was the best goal of the season.
Good performance for a player who was not completely sure of his successful performance in the first division of the French championship, right?
“Frank has always been a very modest and responsive person, although he himself needed help at that difficult moment in his life,” says Fernandez. "However, he coped and is now showing a fantastic game."
“Today Frank, playing in a club as big as Marseille, has worldwide recognition. However, I am not surprised. I knew that Ribery would succeed. ”
Two years ago, the footballer had difficulty paying rent for his apartment, and six years ago he celebrated, together with the rest of the French, the victory of his national team over the Brazilians in the 1998 World Championship finals. The fact that he spent the last matches on the field next to Zidane himself, the football player still can not believe.
“When Zidane scored two goals against the Brazil national team in 1998, I idolized him. I never thought that I would play with him in the same team, ”Frank shyly.“ I was 15 years old when I celebrated the victory of our team with my peers, and now I can bring victory to my country! Not so long ago, when I played for the youth team, Zidane shook my hand - I was happy! And now I play with Zizu on the same team - it's just fantastic! ”
Ribery’s success can be partially explained by the fact that he is amazingly honest and behaves like a simple guy. On the day that Frank was declared for his country to the world championship, Ribery played football in the garden with his brother. “I remained as I was before. Star disease doesn’t threaten me, ”the footballer says. "If I start to act arrogant, my wife immediately lowers me from heaven to earth." Like Zidane, Ribery married a Muslim woman and converted to Islam. The footballer is grateful to his wife for bringing harmony to his life.
Fans love Ribery for his distinctive playing style. “I play as my soul tells me. I do not have a specific set of actions that I must perform in a given situation on the football field. When I get the ball, I try to make a decision as soon as possible and create sharpness at the gates of others. ”
His popularity with his teammates helped him adapt faster. His senior teammates know that Frank has a great desire to fight on the football field and (perhaps more importantly, because they may lack it) high speed. More experienced football players understand that Ribery is the most important component of their team. “He is always active at the gates of others, which terrifies the defenders of the opponent,” says Thierry Henry. “He plays quite simply, but he can always deliver the ball wherever needed. For this, my partners and I love him. Frank can change the course of any match. ”
It was Ribery who turned the tide of the match with Spain, and it was he who helped his teammates excel in matches with France and Portugal.
“I am happy to play at the World Cup for my country. We must win, ”Frank said before the final. "I play with great football players, and we really deserve the right to play in the finals."
The World Cup Final will be the last match of Zinedine Zidane's career. Will Frank Ribery become the new leader of the French team, namely the new Zidane? Time will tell.
"Scotland on sunday".
(Translation by Igor Klimov)