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It must suck having Zinedine Zidane as a father. For Enzo, Zinedine’s son, an enormous hype is growing around his talents. Spain and France‘s international federations are not ignore the 16-year old’s services and are fighting hard to make sure he plays for their respective country. At first glance, I wouldn’t blame them. This video highlights some of the terrific movement and ball control the kid has already has a budding star.
Impressive, right? But can you imagine having this much pressure on you as a 16-year old? Not many players shine in this role and very few live up to the hype. Especially when Enzo is overshadowed by perhaps the most creative, talented footballer of this generation. How many father/son duos have been wildly successful? You can probably count them on two hands, and that’s spanning all sports. In soccer, the feat is even more rare. I challenge you to name more than 2 sons who have lived up to his father’s talents in soccer.
Don’t get me wrong: the video is impressive and Enzo does show flashes of true creativity, just like his father. My problem with the coverage is that once again, the press and French/Spain federations are over-hyping a young talent. I personally feel bad for Enzo. It’s hard enough already to live in the shadows of your father, let alone teams labeling him as a rising star. I hope he doesn’t flop, like so many young talents do when the pressure arises. Enzo has a chance to deal with the pressure with the help of his father, but looking at the simple fact that sons can rarely match their star father’s talents, I’m going to go with the history and say we won’t be hearing as much about Enzo as the world would like to hear.
Written by Chris Behrens, writer for SoccerProse.com
