Childhood Of Celebrities : Zinedine Zidane

Zidane was born in Marseille on 23 June, 1972 as the youngest of five children, and was raised in La Castellane, a government-sponsored housing project in the city’s northern suburbs (the Quartier Nord). His parents, Ismail and Malika were originally from the village of Aguemone, Algeria, from where they had immigrated to France.

Zidane got his start in football at a young age when he joined the junior team of US Saint-Henri, his local club in the La Castellane district of Marseille. At the age of 14, Zidane left Septemes and participated in the first year junior selection for the league championship, where Jean Varraud, AS Cannes’ recruiter, took notice of him. Zidane went to Cannes for what was intended to be a six-week stay, but remained at the club for four years to play with professionals.Showing the determination of an athlete who wanted to exceed expectations, Zidane played his first game in First Division at the age of 17, and it was from then that football went from an ambition to a passion. The Cannes midfielder scored his first goal on February 8th, 1991 (he received a Clio as a promise from the Cannes President, who promised him a car when he scored his first goal as a professional), and his first season with the club was marked by a qualification for the UEFA Cup. Zidane’s second season with Cannes was not as promising, but on the non-professional front he met his future wife Veronique, a Spanish dancer. Afterwards, Zidane spent four years with FC Girondins de Bordeaux, leading them to victory in the 1995 Intertoto Cup and to a 2nd place in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup tournament. In Bordeaux, he met Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry, with whom he played a set of midfield combinations that would become the trademark of both Bordeaux and the 1998 French national team. In 1996, he was transferred to Italy’s Juventus F.C. for a fee of £ 3 million.

Credit : Wikipedia

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Childhood Of Celebrities : Vinnie Jones

Jones was born in Watford to a father who worked as a gamekeeper. He started his football career at non-league Wealdstone in 1984, before moving to Wimbledon in 1986. He was part of the ‘Crazy Gang’ team that won the FA Cup in 1988, arguably the club’s greatest achievement. He subsequently played for Leeds United, Sheffield United and Chelsea, before moving back to Wimbledon again in 1992. He played over 250 games for the Dons, before briefly becoming player/coach of QPR in 1998. When overlooked for the vacant post of manager of QPR, he announced his retirement from the game.

While a footballer, he became quickly infamous for his brutal “hard man” image, which frequently brought much criticism of his style of play. He was sent off 12 times in his career, and once was booked after only 3 seconds of play. In one notorious incident he distracted Paul Gascoigne by grabbing his ‘goolies’, ie:testicles. During another match, he ended the career of Tottenham defender Gary Stevens with a vicious tackle. However, during his season at Leeds United, he proved that he could prosper and play well without the illegal side of his game, and under the stewardship of Howard Wilkinson only received 3 yellow cards in the whole season.

Credit : Wikipedia

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Childhood Of Celebrities : Ricardo Kaka

Kaká was born to Simone Cristina dos Santos Leite and Bosco Izecson Pereira Leite. He has a younger brother, Rodrigo (known as Digão), who has followed in Kaká’s footsteps by playing football in Italy.

In September 2000, at the age of 18, Kaká suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spine fracture as a result of a swimming pool accident, but remarkably made a full recovery. The next year, Kaká made his comeback on the pitch, when he came in as a reserve-substitute in the Torneio Rio-São Paulo final match and scored two goals, among them the match-winner, in less than five minutes. He attributes his recovery to God and has since tithed his income to his church.

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Childhood Of Celebrities : Pavel Nedved

Pavel Nedved was born in the town of Cheb, near Prague, the capital of former Czechoslovakia. Parents Vaclav and Ana raised Pavel along with his older sister and encouraged him to become an accountant. By the age of 19, Nedved debuted with Dukla Praga and less than a season later he was recruited by rivals Sparta. At Sparta, success also came promptly and the club took three consecutive league titles between 1992 to 1995. Nedved’s consistent performances earned him a spot in the national squad of the Czech Republic and in June 1994 he debuted at a 3-1 victory over Ireland.

At Euro 1996, Nedved was instrumental in his country’s silver medals. This gave him the international exposure needed for transfer in a big club. After the tournament, he was purchased by Lazio. In Rome, Nedved won the Coppa Italia in 1998 and the 1999 Cup Winners’ Cup against Mallorca. By 2001, Nedved’s presence was significantly felt in Italy as well as across Europe. The Czech scored regularly in club competition and his work rate was startling even at the international level.

Credit : http://expertfootball.com

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