Zinedine Zidane: Analysis of Deviant Behavior in World Cup

This essay explores the deviant behavior of French footballer Zinedine Zidane, focusing on his infamous headbutt during the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final. The paper provides background on Zidane's illustrious career, highlighting his achievements and accolades, before detailing the specific incident and its impact. It examines the consequences of his actions, including his expulsion from the match and the subsequent loss for the French team. The analysis considers the broader implications of Zidane's behavior, emphasizing the importance of responsible conduct for athletes who serve as role models, especially to young aspiring footballers around the globe. The essay concludes by reflecting on how this single act of recklessness marred what could have been a crowning moment in Zidane's career, leaving a lasting impact on his legacy and the world of football.

Running head: ATHLETE KNOWN FOR DEVIANT BEHAVIOUR
Athlete known for deviant behaviour
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ATHLETE KNOWN FOR DEVIANT BEHAVIOUR
Introduction
This biography will focus on a famous athlete known for deviant behaviour. The chosen athlete
of this document is French footballer Zinedine Zidane who is famous for his unusual behaviour
in the 2006 Fifa World Cup Final in Germany.
Explanation of the behaviour
Deviant behaviour is a type of negative instinct violating an informal norm in less offensive than
a voluntary violation of a formal norm. Zinedine Zidane one of the most decorated players in the
history of world football had a terrifying moment on such a night which was supposed to be his
best night in his career. He was the skipper of the French team; they looked a formidable team
throughout the tournament defeating big teams like Brazil, Spain and Portugal. Zidane was on
the verge of adding his second World Cup feat in three tournaments to further glorify his career
but had to defeat a very strong Italian side in the final to lift the world cup trophy. The evenly
contested match was round off after the regulation time 1-1. Zidane scored for the French side
with an audacious penalty and the equaliser was scored by Materazzi himself. During the second
period of the extra time he head butted Italian Defender Marco Materazzi and was straight away
given marching orders from Argentine match official Horacio Elizondo (Gneezy & Imas, 2014).
After that incident Italy lifted the world cup trophy for the fourth time in their history.
Background of the Athlete
Winner of FIFA world player of the year three times Zinedine Yazid Zidane was born on
23rd June 1972 in Marseille, France. 14-year-old Zidane started his football career as a trainee in
the Cannes youth division before getting transferred to Bordeaux where he scored in his debut
match. Coming on in a substitution in a friendly match against Czech Republic Zidane made his

2ATHLETE KNOWN FOR DEVIANT BEHAVIOUR
debut in the France national team with two second half goals. Italian giants Juventus signed him
in 1996 where he won an Italian Super Cup, a UEFA Super Cup, an Intercontinental Cup and
two Series A titles over the next two seasons. Fifa world Cup 1998 was hosted by France after 60
years and Zidane helped France to lift their first ever world cup by defeating Brazil in the Final.
He also won the Ballon d'Or in the same year. He played a substantial role in winning the
European Championship in 2000 by defeating Italy. In the summer of 2001 Spanish giants Real
Madrid signed him for a world record transfer fee of $66 million. He won his first UEFA
Champions League in his first season with the Galacticos and Spanish League in the following
season. Zidane started his second phase in football as a front office consultant in 2010 and was
named club’s sporting director in 2011(Sport, 2016). After that he started managing club’s B
team in 2014. In January 2016 Zidane took over as manager of Real Madrid where he won three
consecutive UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups, two Fifa Club world cup,
one Spanish national league title and one Spanish Super Cup before stepping down in May 2018
(Diario, 2017).
Summary of the behaviour
July 9th 2006 France was on the verge of winning their second Fifa world cup in the
Olympic stadium in Berlin. Defeating Portugal in the semis, France was favourites to lift the
trophy. Both the teams were squared after the regulation time. Conmy (2013) stated that during
the 110th minutes of the extra time Zidane lost his composure and head butted Italian Defender
Marco Materazzi in the chest. According to reports he was provoked by Marco, which might be
one of Italy’s tactics to stop him accomplishing his goals. His behaviour was totally unacceptable
by the match officials who gave him marching orders after much discussion (New Real Madrid
coach Zidane infamously known for this headbutt, 2018).

3ATHLETE KNOWN FOR DEVIANT BEHAVIOUR
Impact
The great Zinedine Zidane ended his career which was an act of recklessness in the
second half of the extra time sending shockwaves across the footballing world; France played
with 10 men for the rest of the scheduled time and ultimately lost in the penalty shootouts as they
lost their most reliable penalty kick taker. It was really painful to see one of the game's legendary
figures walking down the pitch with heads down (Dauncey & Hare, 2014). Entire football
fraternity was at shock and one of the greatest ever footballer’s international career ended with a
huge controversy. It was a moment of recklessness and he was heavily criticised for his
irresponsible act on such a global platform. It was found that during his entire career he was
given 14 marching orders and out of which 12 of them were due to deviant behaviour. What
could have been an outstanding coronation of the football career of the French captain Zinedine
Zidane became a disgraceful and scandalous departure.
Conclusion
The exceptional and elegant class of Zidane created a great fuss among the young
aspiring footballers around the globe after that incident. A global superstar like him should not
be highlighted for wrong reasons as millions of people look up to him and tries to follow his
footsteps.

4ATHLETE KNOWN FOR DEVIANT BEHAVIOUR
References
Conmy, B., Tenenbaum, G., Eklund, R., Roehrig, A., & Filho, E. (2013). Trash talk in a
competitive setting: Impact on self‐efficacy and affect. Journal of Applied Social
Psychology, 43(5), 1002-1014.
Dauncey, H., & Hare, G. (2014). France and the 1998 World Cup: The national impact of a
world sporting event. Routledge.
Diario, A. S. (2017). Real Madrid clinch their 12th Champions League. Leonardo, 6(2), 6.
Gneezy, U., & Imas, A. (2014). Materazzi effect and the strategic use of anger in competitive
interactions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(4), 1334-1337.
New Real Madrid coach Zidane infamously known for this headbutt. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/new-real-madrid-coach-zidane-infamously-
known-for-this-headbutt/
Sport, E. N. (2016). Key quotes from Zinedine Zidane's first press conference at Real.