Hommage to a master

The Global Game blog offers a nice hommage to retiring French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane.

(He also cues up an image of Zidane's strike in the 2002 European Champions League final, which remains the most breathtaking goal I've ever seen live)

I will say without any hesitation that in the 12 years I've followed professional soccer, Zidane is far and away the best player I ever had the honor of watching.

He was never the fastest or strongest player. He never had the hardest shot. But he was a maestro with the ball at his feet. For a man his size (6'1", 175 pounds or 1.85 m, 80 kg), his agility was beyond comprehension. He could make a 30 yard pass stop on a dime. He did things with the ball that simply took your breath away. He could gracefully glide through multiple defenders like a slalom skier going down a ski course. And that's the sign of a true sporting genius: someone who makes extremely difficult plays against world class competition look effortless.

In fact, the chief of the Scottish Arts Council described Zidane's style as 'pure ballet.'

In a game where negative tactics, sheer speed and brute force are given increasing primacy, Zidane, with his World Cup and European Championship winners medals, showed that the Beautiful Game played with skill and grace can still net results.

Additionally, Zidane's class as a human being was striking. In an era where sporting stars spend more time with the cameras than with aball, Zidane was always intensely uncomfortable with the spotlight. He quietly help out in and gave back a lot to the Marseille suburb where he grew up.

A world class player. And, by all accounts, a world class person. The soccer universe will miss his genius.