Zidane Speaks. And Jumps out of Airplanes

January 14th, 2008 | by: Laurie | View Comments

Zidane can go for months and months without talking with the press, and then BOOM. A very long an interesting interview.

The last big interview I saw with Zidane was close to a year ago, and he sounded unsettled. Now he sounds happy with life, thrilled to be spending time on charity and with his family, and ready to move on to the next phase. Which, with luck will involve soccer in some form. But, alas, not on the field. (And no, sadly, he’s definitely not coming to MLS.)

Original article is here. Google translation to English is here. The google translation is a much better one than usual. I didn’t even need alcohol to understand most of it.

A few of my favorite parts:

He spends the first part of the interview talking about the parachute jump he did for the ELA charity show. (Remember, last year, he learned to ride dressage.) Video of the jump is at the bottom. And then we get this:

I have no regrets about my decision [to retire]. But today, it is true that I miss the pitch. I practiced seventeen years the highest level … Inevitably, when you stop … There is a break that is pleasant, the urge to cut, but, at a given moment, you feel a lack. The adrenaline that you want and need. Not necessarily with competition. Rather with all these diffuse sensations: the pressure of the game, the victory … That lack. Today, I take it easy, quiet. I live my life, I spend more time with my family. Everything that I did not do before. I recovered something and lost something else.

This state of grace where you taste your freedom ends when? Now. The lack manifests itself a year and a half later. Athletes admit they feel “wrong” or even “dirty” when they do not train … Not dirty, but it is true that when I was playing, after two or three days of rest, I was not well. I needed to train every day. Inevitably, when you no longer move… I made the cut a good time: two months of vacation to do nothing physically. Not even a ten metre race! But after that, I needed to recover myself, to not [vegetate.]

And:

When I make a trip to Bangladesh on behalf of Dannon, I take a real pleasure in doing it. It’s the same when I prepare a match with the United Nations for “friends of Zidane and Ronaldo.” When I go to Niger as roving ambassador of UNDP (UN Programme for Development), it delights me! (With conviction, he support his words with hand gestures.) It give me pleasure to be back on the field, for example, in front of this woman who gave birth to triplets. We put up a clinic, where before the same woman had given birth at home. To see that, or to see a literacy school frequented by women 50 years of age who cannot read, that gives me pleasure. And, more than that, I can share it with my children.

You were in Niger with your children? Yes, I brought my three children. For three years my son Lucas has had a pen-pal in Niger. For a long time he wanted to go visit him. We worked it out with his teacher. It’s good that they see lives different from their own. I feel very lucky to share it with my children. I have also been able to take them to Egypt, Indonesia. It’s extraordinary!

Be sure to read the rest of the interview, because it’s very interesting. And if you’re a Zidane fan, you’ll come away happy that he seems to be enjoying his life.

(Thanks to Talia and Doumé and Alexander for the links)

And now for that sky-diving video: