France ’ s manager , Aimé Jacquet , noting that the Brazilians did not mark tightly on corners , advised him to “ take a stroll towards the front post .” Zidane headed home two corners , and France won 3-0 . Afterward his face was projected onto the Arc de Triomphe , above the words , “ Merci Zizou .” Inevitably he won the 1998 Ballon d ’ Or for European Footballer of the Year . When he then led France to victory at Euro 2000 , he secured his spot as French national icon of his era . He regularly topped the newspaper Journal du Dimanche ’ s periodic vote for most popular Frenchman .
In 2001 Real Madrid paid Juventus a then world-record transfer fee of $ 90 million for him . A year later he finally won the Champions League , sealing victory over Bayer Leverkusen with a legendary volleyed goal . But it was his last game that lives in memory . Zidane almost inspired a flawed French team to a second World Cup , but late in the final , after Marco Materazzi allegedly questioned the virtue of his female relatives , Zidane headbutted the Italian and was sent off .
He ended his career with 31 goals in 108 internationals , but statistics cannot begin to