Zidane wants to inspire children around world

[Al-khiyal]

JAKARTA, July 12, 2007 - World soccer legend Zinedine "Zizou" Zidane has said that he wants to inspire children across the globe and show them that dreams could come true through hard work.

"I love children and I want them to be able to learn from me. I want to use my name as a service in the things I'm involved in to send out hope and allow them to believe in dreams," said the three-time FIFA Player of The Year during his visit to Indonesia.

Zidane ended Sunday his three-day visit to Indonesia with French food-producer Danone to promote soccer as part of his role as the ambassador for the company's children programs.

Born in the French city of Marseille in 1972, from an Algerian origin and the youngest of five, Zidane rose from playing at a local club there at the age of 14 to become a legend who led France to its first and so far only World Cup title in 1998 on home soil.

His transfer rate from Italy's Juventus to Spain's Real Madrid in 2001 remains a record at a staggering 66 million euros.

"It's been a huge pleasure to see children playing soccer here and to know they're my fans," said Zidane, who is also the United Nations Development Program's Goodwill Ambassador.

Asked for tips to boost the domestic soccer performance, Zidane said it would require "nothing but hard work".

"There's no secret way to be able to play in the major league. It's just hard work like I did. To see Indonesian kids in the Danone Nations Cup for children shows that there's been progress here and also in Asia," said the former midfielder.

Football is one of the most popular sports in Indonesia, one of four co-hosts of the ongoing Asian Cup, which kicked off in Thailand on Saturday.

"May the best win in the Asian Cup. It's difficult to organize such a tournament, and any chance to compete in this kind of tournament should be made the most of," said Zidane.

On his future plans after retiring last year, he promised to return to the field and continue rooting for efforts to encourage soccer's development.

"I'd definitely go back to the world of soccer, that's my thing. As a coach or anything else, I'll leave that for the future to hold," he said.

Earlier in the day, he took part in a three-minute match of futsal on a stretch of Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta while around 1,000 people cheered his name.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, Vice Governor Fauzi Bowo and several local celebrities joined the game, which was part of a record-seeking event to hold the most futsal games at once.

"Zidane's visit will increase confidence that Indonesia is safe to visit," said Sutiyoso.

Zidane met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday and dined with Vice President Jusuf Kalla the next day.

He traveled with Danone on Saturday to the remote village of Cisaat, Subang, West Java and Cikarang in Bekasi the next day to visit some of the company's new factories.

Zidane wants to inspire children around world

[Al-khiyal]

October 21, 2007 -- Algerian legend Zinedine Zidane is set to visit Egypt on October 31st as he takes part in a worldwide campaign to support handicapped and homeless children.

The three-day event, which will see Zizou come to Egypt for the first time, is organized and sponsored by the Danone Group.

Zidane will also promote for a world tournament for children set to be staged in France next summer.

The former Real Madrid ace will hold a press conference in Cairo and attend a friendly tournament for Egyptian children.

The Algerian-born wizard is regarded as one of the best footballers in the history.

He was named World Footballer of the year three times and won both the World Cup and European Cup with France.

Zidane to visit Egypt for charity campaign

[Bent_Bladi]

how cute! ... the kids will go crazy from happiness. GO ZIDANE!!

[Al-khiyal]

Samedi 3 Novembre 2007 -- L'ancienne star du football mondial Zinedine Zidane a inauguré, jeudi au Caire, un centre d'hébergement pour les enfants handicapés des rues. Le centre national égyptien pour l'enfance a signé un accord avec le géant de l'alimentation Danone, dont Zidane est l'ambassadeur, afin de fournir des logements, des soins médicaux et un accès à l'éducation pour certains de ces enfants. “Cela me procure un immense plaisir d'inaugurer ce centre pour les enfants handicapés des rues en Égypte”, a déclaré Zidane à la presse. Le programme, qui offrira un hébergement à des enfants des rues, devrait aussi se pencher sur la création d'emplois aux familles de ces enfants. Entre 200 000 et 1 million d'enfants des rues sont recensés au Caire, selon l'agence des Nations unies pour l'enfance (Unicef).

Zidane au pays des Pyramides

[Al-khiyal]

November 8, 2007 -- Though he was sent off 14 times during his football life, which would include his notorious headbutt in last year's World Cup final in which his legendary career came to an inglorious end, French superstar Zeinédine Zidane does have a softer side, and it showed in abundance during his three-day stay in Cairo last week.

The football icon was in Cairo starting 31 October to launch a home for handicapped street children as part of a worldwide programme aimed at helping the most disadvantaged youngsters.

The former Real Madrid ace held a press conference conducted by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) last Thursday and participated in a mini- championship match with Egyptian children the following day, in which the midfield maestro showed off some of his skills. Zidane related to the children his life journey in football and about the life of professional players.

During Zidane's visit, the NCCM signed a protocol with a French dairy product company, for which Zidane is world ambassador, to grant Egypt LE1 million within the framework of a renewable two-year agreement to provide more than 80 handicapped and homeless children with shelter, healthcare and education.

"It gives me immense pleasure to inaugurate a home for the handicapped street children of Egypt," Zidane said. Should the project prove successful, more such homes can be built to house as many disabled street children as possible.

At the press conference, Zidane refrained from taking any football-relevant questions. The press corps had been ready to fire at him several questions about his attack on the Italian Marco Materazzi which earned Zidane a red card in the 2006 World Cup final. Zidane later said, and Materazzi admitted, that the Italian had said something derogatory about Zidane's sister. France ultimately lost the World Cup to Italy on penalties.

Both Zidane and Materazzi were suspended and fined for their infractions by FIFA. Despite the incident, Zidane was controversially voted the best player of the World Cup.

The care home, set up in the Dar Al-Salam district, will provide children with physical, psychological and educational support, with an end objective to re-unite them with their families. Face for Children in Need, a charity NGO, in cooperation with the NCCM, will equip the premises with furnishings and equipment necessary for housing children. The NGO will also operate and manage the shelter as well as hire and train the staff.

"The shelter specifically targets handicapped street children because they are more vulnerable than healthy children since it is more expensive for a family to look after handicapped children than those who are able-bodied," Mushira Khattab, secretary-general of the NCCM, explained. Part of the funding of the protocol will go to research studies to implement microfinance schemes for poor families. "Fighting poverty is not done by providing people with only food and shelter. It is much better to help them work in order to earn money to be able to support their families," Khattab said.

It is hard to tell how many children are living on the streets of Egypt, but one thing is clear; the numbers are huge and certainly growing. With the difficulty of quantifying the phenomenon, studies estimate that there are anywhere between 200,000 and two million homeless children in the country, most of them in Cairo and Alexandria governorates. The children lead an unhealthy and often dangerous life that leaves them deprived of their basic needs for protection, guidance, and supervision and exposes them to various forms of exploitation and abuse. "Undoubtedly I will be gratified when all the children of the world enjoy care, safety and protection," Zidane told journalists.

The NCCM began developing the National Plan of Action for Street Children involving all concerned partners. During the press conference, Khattab said that the focus will be on children already living in harsh conditions, ensuring that they receive access to the basic services they are deprived of. The rehabilitation and reintegration of street children back into society will be the focus, along with changes to the 1996 child law that will describe street children as victims and at risk rather than as deviants and criminals, as is currently the case.

Zidane, who says he is proud of his Algerian origin, has travelled extensively since he hung up his soccer shoes to help in solving the social problems affecting children around the world. He recently participated in laying the foundation stone of schools for children in Indonesia and inaugurated a microfinance project to provide families with job opportunities in Bangladesh. "Here we are today with you to contribute to dealing with an issue, which I am totally aware is considered a high priority to the Egyptian society, namely street children," Zidane said. "I am calling upon the private sector and all concerned authorities to exert more effort to realise the welfare of children, solve their problems, and significantly participate in providing them with the proper means which can help them in leading a decent life."

Zidane also announced Egypt's participation for the first time in the Danone Nations Cup for children aged between 10 and 12. The competition brings 600 children from 40 countries across the world. The competition is to be launched in France next year in July under the supervision of FIFA and the French Football Federation. Zidane, along with two of his three sons, played a friendly match in Wadi Degla in Maadi with Egyptian children who had the time of their lives playing with one of the sport's all-time greats. Needless to say, the match ended 9-3 in favour of Zidane's team.

Zidane led France to the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championships. A central figure for Juventus and more so for Real Madrid, Zidane was selected world Footballer of the Year three times.

He retired from club and international football after the 2006 World Cup.

Zidane visited Egypt once before, in 2001, when he played against Cairo club Ahli which beat Real Madrid 1-0 in a friendly. Zidane had just signed for Real from Juventus for what was then a record transfer fee of almost $90 million.

Zizou kinder and gentler

[Bent_Bladi]

awww ... freakin' hottie