Former Football Star Zinedine Zidane Painfully Embarrassed Spain at the World Cup

At the time, the Spanish squad was considered the new powerhouse of international football. With talents like Xavi Hernández, Cesc Fàbregas, Fernando Torres, and David Villa, confidence was sky-high. Conversely, France was dismissed as a team past its prime. Zidane's generation was deemed past its sell-by date, a narrative eagerly exploited by the Spanish media.

Zidane, in particular, bore the brunt of the criticism. The French star was told by Spain that his time was up and he was ripe for footballing retirement. The most famous headline came from sports newspaper Marca, which boldly declared: “Vamos a retirar a Zidane” – loosely translated as: we're sending Zidane into retirement.

Those words, in hindsight, only fueled the Frenchman's fire. Zidane played his best match of the entire tournament, single-handedly guiding France past Spain. Les Bleus won 3-1, largely thanks to a masterclass from their captain. Zidane sprayed passes, provided an assist, and scored the decisive goal himself just before full-time.

While the Spanish media had prematurely written off the Real Madrid player, the tone completely shifted after the match. Suddenly, there was widespread admiration for Zidane's resurgence. The Frenchman himself visibly relished the revenge and responded to all the criticism: "I will retire when I want to, not when Marca tells me to," said the former world star.

The match against Spain is still regarded as the moment Zidane began the final masterpiece of his career. France defeated Spain and then stormed into the 2006 World Cup final, thanks in part to an unleashed playmaker who suddenly seemed like the best player in the world once more.

The final against Italy ultimately had a dramatic ending. Zidane started phenomenally with a successful penalty, but things went awry in extra time. After an altercation with Marco Materazzi, the Frenchman lost his composure and delivered a legendary headbutt to the Italian. Referee Horacio Elizondo immediately showed a red card. France subsequently lost the final to Italy on penalties, while Zidane's career ended in the most bizarre way imaginable.

The incident became one of the most talked-about moments in World Cup history. Precisely because of this, that earlier clash with Spain remains so memorable: it was the tournament where Zidane was initially written off, only to show the entire football world one last time just how good he truly was.

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