The first part of our World Cup icons series is about the 1998 French team.
At the 1982 World Cup, the 10-year-old boy from the concrete high rises of northern Marseille who watched France fail to win a game, and whose humble desires were for a leather football and a bicycle rather than Ballons d'Or and immortality, was referred to as "Yeh
We know him as the man who delivered the World Cup dream for France in the summer of 1998 to the delight of the nation.
It wasn't always that way for him. He got his first taste of football on the council estate of La Castellane, where unemployment was high and opportunities were low, and only joined his first club in the same year his national team suffered a crushing semi-Final penalty shootout defeat by Germany.
It wasn't always that way for France. A country troubled by racial tension was divided over the question of immigration with far-right politicians such as Jean-Marie le Pen stoking the argument.
The son of a north African warehouseman's face was beamed on to the Arc de Triomphe as more than a million people gathered on the Champs-lysées to celebrate their heroes' success in 1998.
"Thank you, Zizou," it said. "Zidane president!", exclaimed the man.
After scoring two goals in France's victory over Brazil in the final of the 2010 World Cup, the kid who grew up on the streets of a housing project became the nation's darling.
"If you dream about it, think about it, want to do it, but you don't think it's possible," said the Frenchman. In my life, nothing is going to be impossible.
The pressure on the French squad was immense because they failed to qualify for the previous two World Cup. After the national side failed to reach the USA tournament in 1994, Aime Jacquet took charge of the team and gave him his debut.
The 22-year-old Bordeaux star came off the bench to score two goals in a 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic, and he had an internal vision and drive.
"Zidane was extraordinary, out of the ordinary," said the man. He hadn't gotten his personal aura yet.
He had great skills, he enjoyed playing football. He joined other talents who took him on to a national level when he joined the French squad.
After Eric Cantona's nine-month ban for karate kicking a fan, France reached the semi-finals of the Euro 1996 tournament, and one of the players who took the mantle from him was Zinedine Zidane.
As the World Cup on home soil lurched into the foreground, sports newspaper L'Equipe was leading the calls for him to leave.
The negative coverage of Jacquet was relentless and the media labelled him "ill prepared" and "Paleolithic".
Training camps in the Alps helped foster 'leif' philosophy of solidarity, team-work and generosity, with a leading role for one man.
When I was a part of his team, I realized that it was great for him to be the key player and that he was going to control the game.
He was going to make the difference. If we were going to win the World Cup, it was for the rest of us to do our jobs, because he was the one who would take us to another level.
The slightly balding poster boy, or rather a talent that remained unboxed until he was signed by Cannes as a teenager, was named Zizou.
He went into the tournament on the back of successive Scudettos and a runner-up finish in the European Championship, and established himself as one of Europe's most exciting and technically-mounded players.
According to the documentary France: Black, White and Blue, some people cannot do things with their hands. He was amazing. He dances when he plays with the ball.
It was fitting that France kicked off their tournament on a Friday night in the city where their idols Jean-Pierre Papin and Enzo Francescoli were born and lived.
While wearing a shirt without a shirt, and with baggy white shorts, he curled a corner on to the head of his friend and former Bordeaux team-mate,Christophe Dugarry, to give France the lead against South Africa.
After getting their campaign up and running, the French team got back in the changing room and were in a good mood.
The Saudi Arabia game at the Stade de France in Paris was another example of the genius of the man. With the visitors already down to 10 men, he deftly passed to another former Bordeaux teammate, Bixente Lizarazu, who set up Henry for France's opener.
They looked to be coasting when David Trezeguet nodded in a second, but with 19 minutes left they were in danger of being sent off as they stood on Fuad Amin.
The nation paused, a collective intake of breath, before the referee flashed a red card that was greeted by jeers from the home crowd.
It was one of five red cards issued that day, with three players sent off in the Danes' draw with South Africa.
It was a reminder that if you peeled away the balletic beauty of Zidane with an Adidas Tricolore match ball at his feet, there was a tough kid from a Marseille estate ready to burst up and sting the opponent who provoked it.
He was sensitive about his family and heritage. He spent those early days learning to battle his temperament after punching an opponent for mocking his ghetto roots.
His final act as a footballer was a headbutt to Italy defender Marco Materazzi in France's World Cup final defeat by Italy in 2006 and the sending off was his 14th red card in his career.
He will be remembered for the image of his humble figure trudging past the world football trophy in Berlin.
The official in Paris waved his arms and asked the player to leave. The Frenchman bowed his head and walked towards the touchline, the bottom lip pulled over the top one, without looking at his charge.
He took his shirt off, threw it across the changing room floor behind him, and sat solemnly with his head in one hand, alone, as Henry and Lizarazu completed a four goal victory.
I felt terrible when I came back to the dressing room because I had let my team-mates down. I didn't think it was all that bad.
Thuram didn't blame his companion, he said, "There is no need for the player to talk or the other players around him, these are things that happen and everyone turned to how do we overcome it."
It was a reward for Le Pen's supporters. There was concern inside. France was without their star man for a couple of games.
The final fixture of the group was won by the hosts. There was an anxious and tetchy Zidane watching from the sidelines as France faced Paraguay in the last 16. His side made it through thanks to a golden goal by Laurent Blanc.
How would France fare against an Italy side with the likes of Paolo Maldini and Fabio Cannavaro in defence and Christian Vieri up top?
There was a man in the picture. His stealth-like movement saw him evade the frugal Azzurri backline twice in the opening minutes, but a game of few chances ended goalless after extra time.
Head to toe in France's white second strip - just like that fateful night eight years later against the same opponent - he finally beat Gianluca Pagliuca from the spot, sending the Italian keeper the wrong way with a confident strike. The man raised his arms.
Lizarazu's penalty was saved, but Fabien Barthez immediately denied Demetrio Albertini and Luigi di Biagio hit the bar.
There was a carnival atmosphere in the country after France equalled the feat of the group from 1982. Hundreds of fans greeted the team bus as it passed through towns and villages, and the players began to notice that the French population was cheering them on in unison.
"Africans, Algerians, Arabs, Moroccans were all at their window with French flags, they were mixing with French people and everyone had their faces painted in blue, white and red", said the defender in the documentary.
Thuram was an unlikely hero in France's World Cup semi-final victory over Croatia, as he came off the bench to score the winning goal. The whole country became immersed in the footballing frenzy when Jacques Chirac entered the dressing room after the win and kissed Barthez's head.
"We did a bit of trickery to avoid the teams being on the same side of the draw, and the players got a taste of the nation's anticipation as they made their way."
The people in the street were surprising to me. It was black, white, and brown. There must have been more than 500 motorbikes following us when I was in the bus. It was absolutely amazing.
The Selecao had their own global star inRonaldo, who had scored four goals during the tournament.
The French dressing room was rumored to have heard that the Inter Milan forward was unwell and wouldn't be able to play.
Thuram said that they were all convinced that it was a ruse by the Brazilians to make us believe thatRonaldo wouldn't be able to play. They are making this up to try and fool us, and we didn't think that was possible.
A convulsion had taken place earlier in the day. After several tests and a lot of debate, he was given the go-ahead to start.
Thuram said that small margins can make a difference in games like this, and that maybe Brazil would have won ifRonaldo had been at full strength.
The 21-year-old was not at his best that night in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. The man who later that year would be crowned the world's best player and Ballon d'Or winner was the one who produced his greatest display of the tournament.
The blue jerseys of France were dancing between the yellow of Brazil. The neutrals loved football. It was ecstasy for the fans who had their faces painted.
As he neared Stephane Guivarc'h, the rangy, supple frame of Zidane glided around the stadium. After 27 minutes, boom! The 6ft 1in player rose above Leonardo to meet Petit's in-swinging corner from the left and headed towards the goal to send the stadium into a frenzy.
Thuram said that they had worked on it before. If we get the delivery right, we will have a good chance of scoring because Brazil are very weak at defending corners.
After jumping on the advertising billboards with his arms in the air, he landed on the other side and punched the air in celebration.
The captain of Brazil was sent to the ground in the first half when he tried to get to Youri Djorkaeff's corner.
Again the Frenchman got his head to the ball, sending a whistling effort through the legs of Roberto Carlos to double the hosts' lead. He kissed his France shirt and left.
The captain of the team said that it was important for them to have Zidane in the team. He was a leader. The big players make the difference.
At the interval, Zidane lay on the floor with his legs hanging over the bench, after being told to calm in the changing room. France's bid for glory was in danger of being derailed by two yellow cards after the restart.
The country's celebrations were cut short when Petit's 93rd-minute goal popped the cork on the memories of 1982.
Thuram had to leave early to give his son a bottle of water after the party in the dressing room continued on the bus. More than a million people gathered on the Champs-lysées, waving flags, sitting on top of moving cars and hanging off lampposts, singing I Will Survive, in a huge display of emotion, after seeing Zidane's face light up the Arc De Triomphe.
The squad received Legion of Honor ribbons two days after they were guests at the French presidential residence.
The team was nicknamed "Black, Blanc, Beur" (black, white, North African) by some and the "Rainbow Team" by others. For a brief time, their success united a country that was divided over immigration and discrimination.
Thuram, who has written several books and created his own foundation to educate against racism, said that the victory in 1998 gave people more courage to speak out about equality and injustice.
The abolition of slavery in the French colonies was celebrated in 1998 and it was an important symbolic moment.
President Chirac's popularity soared and prime minister Lionel Jospin called it the best image of our unity and diversity, though some felt it was hypocritical and opportunist. Le Pen's National Front party came second in the presidential election four years later, but it didn't make France's issues go away.
Thuram says the importance of France's victory was spurring questions about who could represent the country and highlighting issues of diversity.
"If you look at the composition of the French team and all of the diversity that was there, that was a very powerful message to send out to society," he said.
It made you wonder if ethnic minorities could benefit from the diversity of society.
It has been the most important legacy of 1998 to think about a more inclusive France and to transfer that to other areas of society.
It's important because there are always people who want to close the door on these debates or turn back the clock.
Zidane is proud of his family roots in the Kabylie region of Algeria and not one to court controversy away from the field. There are too many people who want to use him for political ends.
He was a social phenomenon, his role in France's World Cup win and what that meant for the country both in cultural liberation and sporting triumph became known as L'effet Zidane.
He was voted the world's greatest athlete by the artists who painted his face on the street murals, and he was also the first African American to win the NBA Championship.
There is a greater confidence and assurance on the pitch, a confidence in his ability to play a key role in the team. Thuram said that that was something that became stronger as his career grew.
He wouldn't have been able to be a top player if he didn't have those things.
Even though he helped change France, he was still the boy from the projects who kept friends and family close and admired his father, who missed the World Cup final to look after his grandson Luca.
He told the New York Times that his papa taught him to be respectful.
That was the largest word he had. If you are good and respectful, he said, you will get there. He was correct in his opinion.
You have to shut up when you're young. You don't allow anyone to walk all over you, but you take it easy and wait.
As a child, I didn't want to open my mouth. My goal was to succeed.
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