Zinedine Zidane's son speaks out after switching allegiance away from France

Zinedine Zidane's son, Luca, has finally spoken out after changing his international allegiance from France to Algeria. The goalkeeper's father is a legend of the French national team, having won both the World Cup and the Euros during his illustrious career as a midfielder.

However, Luca, who is the second-eldest of the Ballon d'Or winner's four sons, all of whom are footballers, recently made the decision to represent Algeria. The shot-stopper represented France at youth level, playing for every age group from 15 to 19, but has never received a call-up from the senior team. Born in the south of France, the 27-year-old holds dual French and Algerian nationality, with his father being of Algerian descent while his mother, Veronique Fernandez, is of Spanish origin. Now plying his trade for Granada in the Spanish second division, he has been selected by the African nation for their World Cup qualifiers against Somalia on Thursday and Uganda next Tuesday.

Given the prestige associated with his surname, Luca's decision has understandably sent shockwaves through Algerian football. He was met by hordes of fans at Houari Boumediene Airport in Algiers this week, where he took selfies and signed autographs.

Speaking to the Algerian Football Federation's media, Zidane Jr. said: "I'm happy to be in Algeria, it's an honour to be here for my first call-up. We hope to win the next match to qualify for the World Cup. It's an important match. We hope the people from Algeria will support us."

Luca spent his youth career at Real Madrid from 2004 to 2018. He made his debut in Los Blancos' first team when his dad was the manager and remained on the periphery for several seasons, making only two La Liga appearances before moving to Segunda Division side Rayo Vallecano in 2020.

He continued to play for the club after their promotion to the top flight but took the step down once more by signing for Eibar, where he became the first choice goalkeeper for two seasons prior to his move to Granada.

Zidane has made seven appearances this season and has kept one clean sheet, conceding 13 goals with the 18th place side.

It remains uncertain whether he will make his debut in the coming days, though there is certainly an expectation among the fans who never got to see 'Zizou' don the green and white jersey.