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Luca Zidane has received his first senior international call-up for Algeria.
Less than a fortnight after he switched his national allegiance from France, a team once synonymous with his father Zinedine Zidane, the 27-year-old Granada goalkeeper has been named in Vladimir Petkovic’s squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Somalia and Uganda.
‘Luca Zidane deserves his call-up’
“Luca Zidane deserves his call-up,” said Petkovic, the 62-year-old Bosnian who manages Algeria. “We’ve been following him for a long time. He can bring other qualities to the squad.”
It remains to be seen whether Zidane can wrest the gloves from Alexis Guendouz, the 29-year-old incumbent, who has a dozen caps and currently plies his trade with the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 side MC Alger.
Oussama Benbot, who plays for USM Alger and has played twice for his country, has also been called up. Petkovic refused to be drawn on which of the trio would get the nod.
Who will start in goal for Algeria against Somalia and Uganda?
“Discussing who will be the number one goalkeeper right now is not an issue to be addressed at the moment,” said Petkovic.
In terms of experience, the odds would appear to favour Zidane, who began his career as a youth player with Real Madrid and went on to make his professional debut with the club after his father picked him to face Villarreal in May 2018.
He would play only one more match for Madrid, but went on to gain further top-flight experience with Rayo Vallecano before joining Segunda División side Eibar. Zidane has been at Granada, currently languishing at the bottom of that division, since the summer of last year.
Zidane, the second of four brothers, was born in Marseille and featured regularly for France at youth level. However, having failed to earn a senior call-up, Zidane applied to Fifa for permission to represent Algeria, which was granted last month.
How does Luca Zidane qualify for Algeria?
He qualifies for Algeria through his paternal grandparents, Smaïl and Malika, who left the village of Taguemount Azouz in northern Algeria in 1953 to start a new life in France.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Zinedine Zidane became the face of a nation when he scored twice to help France win the World Cup final against Brazil on home soil in 1998.
He played a similarly influential role in the country’s European Championship victory two years later, and remains a revered figure in France despite the infamous headbutt on Italy’s Marco Materazzi that led to his dismissal in the 2006 World Cup final.
Algeria lead their World Cup qualifying group and are widely expected to qualify for next year’s finals in North America.
