After just seven months, Real Madrid have relieved manager Rafa Benitez of his coaching duties and replaced him with 43-year-old French legend Zinedine Zidane. Benitiz's fate was determined after an emergency board meeting on Monday following a 2-2 draw against Valencia on Sunday. The move was expected for some time now, with growing displeasure in club results—including a 4-0 drubbing from rival Barcelona in November—and reports that Benitez was not getting along with some of the bigger names on the club.You are no doubt familiar with his replacement, who notoriously head-butted Italy's Marco Materazzi in the chest during the 2006 World Cup Final. That was his final act on a soccer pitch. Funny enough, he received the Golden Ball award as player of the tournament during that World Cup. Zidane is considered one of the greatest players of his generation, and was a member of Real Madrid's famed Galacticos. In 2001, Madrid paid a then-record 75 million euros to acquire Zidane from Juventus.Since retiring in 2006, Zidane has remained with Real Madrid, first as an advisor and then as an assistant coach. In 2014 he became manager of Madrid's "B" Team, Castilla.
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