Genius and role model

The distinction was the latest in a series of honours for the Marseille native, who has also been named FIFA Player of the Year three times and who won the Ballon d8217;Or as best European footballer in 1998.

The son of Algerian immigrants, Zidane has also played a fundamental role in the social well-being of his country, serving as a model of integration for hundreds of thousands of minority youths living in decaying city suburbs.

And his influence has become almost as widely known as his skills. Indian-born author Salman Rushdie has said that Zidane 8216;8216;has done more to improve France8217;s attitude toward its Moslem minority8230; than a thousand political speeches8217;8217;.

And yet the man known here affectionately as Zizou has done so with a soft-spoken modest manner and by eschewing overtly political speeches 8211; except on one occasion.

In May 2002, after anti-immigration extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen made a strong showing in the first round of presidential elections, Zidane appealed to people go to the polls and cast their ballots 8216;8216;against a party Le Pen8217;s National Front that does not correspond at all to the values of France8217;8217;. His call inspired many young people to vote, and helped produce a humiliating landslide defeat for Le Pen. gms/dpa 2004