Fox Sports poll names Zidane as 'Footballer Of The Decade'

London, Dec. 18 (ANI): French football legend Zinedine Zidane has been chosen as the footballer of the decade by voters on Foxsports.com.

The former French skipper left the second placed Ronaldinho far behind, even though the Brazilian star was named as the player of the decade by World Soccer magazine earlier this month.

In a week-long poll on this website that attracted 2850 votes, Zidane got over 900 votes - almost a third of voters. And the third place went to Zidane's countryman, 'Hand of the Frog' striker Thierry Henry.

The website writes :"There was nothing Zidane could not do on the football pitch. He was an exquisitely two-sided, creative midfielder with skills to die for: either at his feet or on his head, it seemed Zizou had the ball on a string."

The prolific goal scorer had scored 95 goals in 506 senior club games and 31 goals in 108 appearances for France.

When Real Madrid signed him from Juventus for 126 million dollars in 2001, Zidane became the most-expensive player in the world.

After winning a FIFA World Cup for France in 1998, Zidane became a superstar. He also won the FIFA World Player of the Year award in the same year.

It was at the 2006 FIFA World Cup that Zidane made arguably his most memorable contribution to the game.

Zidane, who was named player of the tournament prior to the final between France and Italy, scored a penalty in the seventh minute, but was sent off deep into extra-time for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest.

France went on to lose to Italy in a penalty shootout, leaving Zidane to fend off fervent criticism for the episode. It tarnished his reputation to an extent, but not enough to overshadow his deeds as a player of rare talent. (ANI)