ACTUALITE |
23.08.2001
Real Madrid look to Zidane to prove his worth
MADRID
In truth, there is only one question in the mind of every Spanish soccer fan on the eve of the new season.
"Is Zinedine Zidane really worth 12,500 million pesetas (65.8 million dollars)?" is being asked not only by Real Madrid supporters but those of every other club as well.
If the World Player of the Year proves to have been good value for his world record transfer fee from Juventus earlier this summer then many pundits feel that Real Madrid will stride effortlessly towards their 29th Spanish title.
Should he fail to impress though, then the last laugh could well be on the defending Spanish champions and eight times kings of Europe.
After an indifferent pre-season, the jury is still out on Monsieur Zidane.
The Frenchman still looks less than match fit and has been substituted in most of his outings.
However he showed intermittent flashes of brilliance in his debut game at Real Madrid`s Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Wednesday, the Spanish Super Cup second leg against Real Zaragoza, which the home side won 3-0 to take the trophy 4-1 on aggregate.
"Give him a month then I think you will see the real Zidane," commented his Real Madrid team mate Roberto Carlos this week.
"It always takes a little time to adapt to a new club and I can remember myself what it was like coming from Serie A, after the season I spent with Inter Milan," added the Brazilian defender.
Zidane`s condition may be in doubt but his commitment to the Real Madrid cause is not.
"I`ve come here to win trophies, many more than I won with Juventus," he said, in a rare comment in his still-rudimentary Spanish.
Regardless of how he performs on the field, Real Madrid marketing director Jose Angel Sanchez is already convinced that Zidane will repay the huge outlay.
"It bolsters the finances of this club just by having a player of this calibre here," commented Sanchez.
"To have Zidane here is like having Tom Cruise in your picture, you can`t lose money."
The spotlight has inevitably fallen on Zidane but Real Madrid coach Vicente Del Bosque has done his best to refute the idea that his team has suddenly become a one-man outfit.
"I keep saying that there is ten other players. How we play does not depend just on Zidane and it`s too soon to say exactly how he will be utilised," said the ever lugubrious coach.p
"We are still testing things out but Zidane will be normally playing in the same position that he occupies for the French national team," he added.
Aside from that Del Bosque faces two areas where he will have problems in selection - up front and in goal.
Del Bosque has said that sometimes he will use a lone target man, usually Spanish international Raul or his compatriot `Guti` but, when the occasion demands, he will adopt a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation.
In goal the prodigious Spanish international Iker Casillas, who is still only 20, was the first choice goalkeeper for much of last season but a loss of form saw him replaced in the final month by fellow international Cesar Sanchez.
They have alternated in games during the summer and Del Bosque has still given no clue as to who will get the nod to put on the gloves.
Apart from those two areas, Real Madrid will have a similar look to last season with the back four still being marshalled by club captain Fernando Hierro.
Competition for places in a 25-man squad that contains 21 internationals will inevitably be fierce but Portuguese winger Luis Figo is one man assured of his place on the team sheet, perhaps even more so than Zidane.
Last season he was outstanding, despite the pressures of moving for a world record transfer fee from bitter rivals Barcelona in the summer of 2000.
This year might be better still, according to the player himself.
"I`m going to be a lot less nervous now that I am no longer the most expensive player in the world.
"I am happy to pass that honour onto Zinedine. Who knows, maybe they will even be a little bit nicer to me when I go to Barcelona," joked Figo recently.
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