The year 2000 was to be that of its absolute consecration. At the top of his art, Zinedine Zidane had just dominated the Euro, leading the French team to a historic double after the 98 World Cup. Voted best player of the tournament, he was the huge, almost unique favorite for a second Ballon d'Or which seemed promised to him. However, on December 19, 2000, it was the name of Luis Figo that was mentioned. A cruel outcome, decided by only 16 small points difference. A defeat down to the wire, the origin of which was a gesture of humor, one autumn evening in Turin, which cost much more than a simple match.
The impulse that changed everything
This gesture is a whim. On October 24, 2000, during a Champions League match between Juventus and Hamburg, Zinedine Zidane lost his cool. Provoked by German defender Jochen Kientz, he responded with a headbutt to the face which earned him a direct red card and a five-match suspension. This incident, which occurred in the middle of the voting period for the Ballon d'Or, had the effect of a bomb. It came on top of another expulsion received a few weeks earlier, painting the portrait of a brilliant player but incapable of controlling his nerves.
The Ballon d'Or 2000: How a Headbutt Cost Zidane the Coronation
Fair play, this criterion which swung the vote
The Ballon d'Or rules are clear: fair play is one of the judging criteria. For the fifty European journalists who made up the jury, this bloodshed was impossible to ignore. As Gérard Ejnes, former editorial director of France Football, would later explain, “It’s a shocking image right during the votes.” Analysis of the ballots will reveal that many jurors sanctioned Zidane for this gesture, either by removing him from their list or by demoting him. Enough to allow Luis Figo, who had not won anything major that year, to win by a narrow head.
“It’s life, there’s nothing I can do about it”
Aware of his mistake, Zidane quickly apologized, admitting to having committed a “gross mistake”. But faced with the Ballon d'Or verdict, he will display a form of fatalistic resignation. “It’s life, there’s nothing I can do about it. I just have to accept it.”
he declared in the columns of France Football at the time. A dignified posture, but which did not mask the frustration of a player who knew that this trophy was reaching out to him. “The judges took my action into account, it’s a shame,”
he added, lucidly.
The first “gift” of an immense career
With hindsight, this episode appears to be the first of the two Ballons d'Or that Zidane has, according to the established expression,
“offered” to his adversaries. The second being that of 2006, lost after another whim, much more famous this one. The year 2000 will go down as one of the greatest injustices in the history of the trophy, but an injustice of which the Frenchman was the main architect. Proof that even for the greatest geniuses, talent is not always enough to erase demons.
