Who is Louisa Necib Cadamuro? The 'Female Zidane'

• Louisa Necib Cadamuro won 18 titles with Olympique Lyonnais Feminin during a nine-year stint

• Like Zinedine Zidane, Louisa also grew up playing football on the streets of Marseille

• She was a regular in the French teams which competed in the Women's Euros 2005 and 2009, and 2011 and 2015 FIFA Women's World Cups

Jayanta Oinam

"There aren't many players like Louisa," Bruno Bini, then French women's national team coach said in 2011 during the FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany. "She can do things you wouldn't even find in an instruction manual for the perfect footballer. Quite simply, she's an artist." Well, that's about Louisa Necib Cadamuro, who goes by "Ziza", the 'Female Zinedine Zidane'. The former midfielder was one of the finest during her playing days, and won a whopping 18 titles with the all-conquering Olympique Lyonnais Feminin during a nine-year stint that started in 2007. She was a regular in the French national teams which competed in the Women's Euros 2005 and 2009, the 2011 and 2015 editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup, and also the 2012 Summer Olympics. But Louisa Necib Cadamuro’s greatest achievement, probably, was the comparison to the legendary Zinedine Zidane, the midfield maestro who ruled the world during his prime. A two-time FIFA World Cup winner, and the mastermind behind some of France's greatest wins, Zidane is the epitome of elegance with the ball. An incomparable artist, who also found unparalleled success with iconic clubs like Juventus and Real Madrid.

Unlike Zidane's success with Les Bleus – another popular name for the French men's national team – Louisa Necib Cadamuro failed to win a major title with the Les Bleues, correspondingly the nickname for the women's team. She, however, managed to win Cyprus Cup -- the prestigious annual competition – twice, in 2012 and 2014. There were also fourth-place finishes in the 2011 World Cup and 2022 Olympic Games. All in all, one underwhelming achievement with the national team for a generational talent. Nonetheless, watching that talent in play, according to many, including Bruno Bini, was like watching Zidane in full flight. Besides being Number 10s of their respective national teams, the parallels between Zidane and Louisa are not merely all football. Like Zidane, Louisa also grew up playing football on the streets of Marseille, and both have Algerian roots. So, comparison comes easily, and Louisa Necib Cadamuro "wouldn't say I'm tired of it." "Zidane is a role model for me. He was always the player that I most enjoyed watching," Louisa told FIFA.com in 2012. "The comparison was made frequently when I was starting out, and now, as the years pass, it happens less and less often. But I wouldn't say I’m tired of it.”

Louisa, already a popular name in her hometown, joined the Pole France feminin de Football, the iconic training centre popularly known as CNFE Clairefontaine, in 2004 as a 17-year-old. It was established in 1998 on the lines of INF Clairefontaine (for men), one of the 13 elite academies in France. At CNFE Clairefontaine, Necib found new friends and many of her future national team-mates, and there she also got a signed jersey from Zidane. Within a year of being at CNFE Clairefontaine, while also playing age-group tournaments, Louisa was called up for the national team. Louisa made her senior debut in February of that year in a friendly against Norway. She retired in 2016 with 36 international goals in 145 outings. And her last match was France’s 1-0 defeat by Canada in their Rio Olympics quarter-final. Louisa Necib Cadamuro’s club career, however, was one littered with trophies. At Montpellier, where she spent less than a year, she won the Coupe de France feminine (2006-07), then became one of the driving forces in probably Lyon's most successful era. She won nine Division 1 Feminine titles, from 2008 to 2016, a period that coincided with Lyon's league-winning spree of 14 seasons. The spree ended in the 2020-21 season when Paris Saint-Germain Feminine won the French top-flight title by one point, ahead of Lyon. But Les Lyonnaises recaptured the title the following season for a record-extending 15th title.

"We're going to miss her, there's no doubt about that," France captain Wendie Renard, who has played alongside Louisa at Lyon for almost a decade, told FIFA.com the match. "From a personal point of view, she's a very close friend; from a footballing point of view, I'm a big admirer of her play. What she's constantly been able to do with the ball is exceptional. She's one of the best players in the world." Necib, who is married to Algerian footballer Liassine Cadamuro, had already made her decision to retire prior to the start of the Games in Brazil. "I made the decision when I realised that I couldn't juggle my private life and my sporting career any more," she was quoted as saying by the French newspaper L'Equipe. "If I have to make the choice between my career, which has been wonderful, and my husband, it’s not going to take very long. Many people make long-distance relationships work perfectly well for them, but that’s not the way I view life." Louisa Necib Cadamuro was also part of the Lyon team which won three UEFA Women's Champions League titles, in 2011, 2012 and 2016. Then there were also six Coupe de France Feminine wins, in 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. During her nine-year spell with Lyon, she played 173 matches and scored 64 times.