France has gone to great lengths to showcase all of its symbols at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. And one of its greatest football idols, Zinedine Zidane, could not be missing from that list.
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Twenty-six years ago, France won the World Cup for the first time, with Zidane, then a Juventus player, being the main figure, scoring two superb goals in the final of the tournament against Brazil at the Saint-Denis stadium, the same one that will now be the central venue for the games. He was also part of the Euro 2000 winning team.
Zidane made his professional debut at Cannes in 1989, aged just 16. He then transferred to Girondins de Bordeaux in 1992 and, after finishing runners-up in the UEFA Cup, moved to Juventus in 1996.
In 2001 he joined Real Madrid as the protagonist of the most expensive transfer in history at that time, 77.5 million euros, and he had a brilliant career with the club. He finished as a player in 2006 and then was a coach in two very successful cycles, with three Champions Leagues to his name.
Zinedine Zidane
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The former footballer was in charge of opening the ceremony, which began at 7:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. in Colombia). A video of him captured the attention and the applause of those present at the event.
Zidane is seen touring Paris with a torch, which he receives from comedian Jamel Debbouze, who finds the Stade de France empty because the ceremony, for the first time, is taking place outside.
The former Real Madrid coach then takes the flame down to the metro, where he passes the torch to some children who set off on a boat through the underground canals of Paris. They then appear, accompanied by a hooded figure, live on air on the Austerlitz bridge.
French President Emmanuel Macron then arrived at the Trocadero, where a hundred heads of state and government and leaders of international organisations were waiting for him.
As if that were not enough, Zidane appeared again at the final part of the Olympic flame’s journey: he handed it over to the Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal.
The city of Paris has been paralysed in its entire central part to create several security rings around the Seine, with no traffic, no pedestrians, no public transport and all catering and commercial establishments closed for hours. 45,000 police officers, 20,000 private security agents and around 10,000 soldiers are taking part in the operation, in a ceremony that was later drenched.
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With AFP
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