Zinedine Zidane and French football are synonymous. He is arguably the greatest footballer of all time in a France jersey. The former World Cup-winning midfielder’s son, Luca Zidane, has decided to play for Algeria.
French media outlet L’Equipe reported that FIFA has cleared 27-year-old goalkeeper Luca to play for the African nation. Luca plays for Granada, a second-tier club in Spain.
He was born in Marseille, France, but holds Algerian citizenship. His father, Zidane, is of Algerian descent. His grandfather, Ismail, and grandmother, Malika, were Algerian.
Luca started his football career at Real Madrid’s academy. He later played for Racing Santander, Rayo Vallecano and Eibar in Spain. He has now joined Granada and has played four matches this season. Luca played for France’s U-20 team in 2018 but was not called up to the national team. Luca has now decided to play for Algeria as the door to playing for the French national team is gradually closing.
However, it will not be easy for Luca to make it to the Algeria squad. He will have to compete with goalkeepers such as Anthony Mandrea (Cane, France), Alexis Guandouze (MC Alger, Algeria) and Oussama Benbot (USM Alger, Algeria). Another experienced goalkeeper in the team, Aleksandar Okidza (IMT, Serbia), is currently injured.
Algeria will play World Cup qualifiers against Somalia and Uganda in early October. The team will take part in the Africa Cup of Nations in December. Luca’s three brothers were also involved in football. The eldest brother, Enzo, was a midfielder who retired at the age of 29. The other two brothers, Theo (midfielder) and Elias (defender), currently play for Real Betis in Spain.