What if: Zinedine Zidane had decided to play for Algeria

#3 Rise of next generation stars

Algeria have some talented players but the progress could have been faster

It is only natural that the best players inspire a generation of youngsters to emulate them. When Zidane was an active player, he motivated millions of kids around the world to follow in his footsteps. The likes of Mesut Ozil and Isco always mention the Frenchman as their point of reference while growing up.

Zidane retired in 2006. About a decade later, France have assembled the most talented group of players in their history. There is so much talent in the French pool that one could carve out four different competitive teams from it.

This is no coincidence, it just happens. People always want to follow their dreams and if the king of their dreams is a wizard in the mould of a footballer like Zidane, then it is only a natural stimuli to see such an upsurge in quality.

And it would have been no different with Algeria. As it is, there has been a rise in Algeria’s standard of football with the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Nabil Bentaleb, Islam Slimani and Sofiane Feghouli becoming the faces of the team.

Even without representing them on the pitch, he has inspired so many Algerians to reach for the stars. So just imagine what could have been had the former Juventus maestro actually represented them on the pitch.