Making of a Football Fan

Liverpool vs Real Madrid 
Champions League
First leg, Round of 16
Feb 21, 2023

I’ve had the pleasure of watching football matches of various competitions right from my childhood. One of the earliest memories of football on TV for me was from the 1994 World Cup. My father is an ardent fan of the beautiful game and I remember watching with him late into the night (the cup was held in USA and we were watching in Saudi Arabia). His support was for Brazil and he would jump up shouting from the sofa for every chance created near the goal either side. His excitement was infectious and the football bug had got me as well. Saudi Arabia qualified for the round of 16 and the fervour was all around. The school and the streets were full of football craze. 

Fast forward to the 1998 World Cup, where I was supporting Saudi Arabia, France defeated the Saudis 4 to nil. What left a mark on me from that match was Zinedine Zidane getting a red card for a foul play against a Saudi player called Amin. I loathed France and Zidane in that World Cup up till the final. Brazil vs France. The whole world including my family was supporting Brazil and I simply wanted to stand out. I told everyone around who were gathered to watch the finale that I would be supporting the French. Wagers were made and I bet my Casio (solar powered, rechargeable) watch with one of my uncles that France would win. This match was the start of my love for the French football team and Zidane who had scored 2 goals to beat the favourites, Brazil. 

The 2006 World Cup was Zidane’s last and I don’t think I missed a single second of it. During his red card against Italy, I remember almost fracturing my wrist after punching it into a wall in frustration at the unceremonious exit. It was probably around this time, or maybe even earlier, that I had decided that I’ll name one of my sons after him. 

In the year 2016, Zidan was born. I could simply not name him anything else having decided more than a decade earlier that my son will have my favourite footballer’s name. Zidan went through a typical boy’s childhood phases from Construction vehicles, Avengers to Transformers. 

The start of FIFA 2022 changed all that. He became a boy obsessed with football and there weren’t enough YouTube videos post the World Cup for him to watch and take in every aspect of football trivia. He discovered Zinedine Zidan but his ultimate footballing hero became Cristiano Ronaldo along with other favourites like Messi, Mbappe, Salah, Haaland, Neymar, Rashford, Benzema etc. He now knows almost every Saudi player too! 

We enrolled him in football classes from Jan 2023 and the jersey collection started with Saudi, Argentina and AlNassr #7. He goes around the house giving a running commentary on himself while dribbling and scoring goals followed by celebrations done exactly like his football stars. 

The game between Real Madrid and Liverpool was our first father & son viewing of a Champions League match together. The ooohs and aaahs throughout the 90+ mins along with coaching tips coming nonstop from the 6 year old Zidan for the coaches and players on TV was a delightful experience for me! He was supporting Real Madrid and with them being 2 goals down initially, there were tears, squeals of joy, anger for every tackle and later absolute euphoria after Real kept scoring. 

Watching Zidan fully immersed in football at this moment, made me reminisce about my own journey. From 1994, 30 years later, the football obsession transfer across generations was now truly complete. From my father, to me to my son. The beautiful game just got sweeter for me now.