Real Madrid youngster Enzo Zidane caught the eye of the world last night by coming on and scoring in a 6-1 win for Real against third-division club Cultural Leonesa in the Copa Del Rey. Zinedine Zidane gave his 21-year-old son a chance to impress and the youngster grabbed it with both hands by scoring just 18 minutes after coming on.
Enzo had earlier impressed in a pre-season tour for the Los Blancos, but this was his first senior appearance for the club, and he left a mark in it when his right-foot shot from the edge of the area found the back of the net in the 63rd minute.
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Enzo is currently considered as one of Real’s promising youngsters alongside the likes of Martin Odegaard and Mariano Diaz. In this segment, we take a look at Enzo’s strengths, weaknesses and where his future could lie in the coming years.
Background
Enzo Alan Zidane Fernandez was born in Bordeaux in France. He is the eldest of Zidane’s four sons and attained Spanish citizenship in 2006. The youngster was eligible to play for France, Spain or Algeria, where his grandparents are from, but he has now decided to represent the Les Blues like his father and has already made two appearances for the France U-19 side.
Enzo joined the Real youth academy in 2004 after his time at a few other clubs including Juventus. He was invited to train with the first team in 2011 by the then manager Jose Mourinho and was promoted to the Juvenil A team, the U-19 Real Madrid side, in 2013.
He made his first appearance for Real Madrid Castilla, the B team after he came on from the bench in a 2-1 win over UB Conquense in the Spanish third division.
He scored his first senior goal in a 5-1 rout of CD Ebro in the 2015/16 season. Enzo was promoted to train with the first team regularly last month by Zidane and made his first appearance in last night’s win. Till date, Enzo has made 61 appearances for Castilla also scoring five goals.
Strength
Enzo is a creative player, just like his father, and has a strikingly similar playing style and technical quality. His ball control and phenomenal ability with both feet are particularly impressive. Enzo is also capable of unsettling opponents in one-on-one situations; he offers a lot going forward, supports attacking moves and possesses a good strike of the ball from distance.
Although his position of expertise is Centre attacking midfield, Enzo also possesses the skills and pace to play down the left when required. Fortunately for the young man, his father’s skills seem to have rubbed off on him, and the similarities between the pair’s playing styles are uncanny.
Weaknesses
Like any other youngster, Enzo also is far from a finished product and has a lot of room for improvement. He will have to work on his defensive duties if he wants to stay at the top level for a long time but with a little hard work and time on his side, we believe that Enzo is on his way to achieving the same.
Another arguable weakness for Enzo could be his father’s reputation across the world. Even though the player has drawn comparisons with Zidane, his recent rise to the spotlight is sure to add to the weight of expectations surrounding the 21-year-old.
Where does his future lie?
We believe that it is too soon to make a call on Enzo’s future, but if he is to live up to his father’s reputation, he is sure to spark interest from a number of clubs in Europe. Zidane’s reign at the helm will be instrumental in Enzo’s development. A loan move away from the Bernabeu could be on the cards because he would fancy plenty of first team football at this age.
All of Zidane’s four sons are talented, and the Zidane dynasty could become a reality at the Bernabeu, Enzo’s breakthrough is the first step towards it but huge responsibility rests on his shoulders now. If he keeps working hard and if things go according to plan this could end up being the perfect script for the father and son duo. Looking at his potential, we believe that he is bound to hog the limelight at some part of his career.
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More Football news, transfer rumours, analysis and features at Sportskeeda.com. Also if you are attending a football game anywhere in the world and/or have a news tip for us drop us an email at football (at) sportskeeda (dot) com.
