Mohamed Zidan

In 2014, Zidane worked as an analyst at beIN SPORTS channel for matches involving German clubs.

Weeks before the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, the Egyptian Football Association sent a fax on 23 December 2005 to Mainz, asking for an international call-up for Zidan. There was no answer from Mainz or the player for that matter, and as a consequence he drew much criticism from the Egyptian fans and officials. He had allegedly chosen not to represent Egypt, as he felt he would lose his starting spot with Mainz. However, in an interview, after Egypt had won the African Cup of Nations in 2008, he stated that he did not play in 2006 was caused by a leg injury. In a January 2006 interview with the Danish tabloid newspaper BT, Zidan criticized the Egyptian Football Association for contacting Mainz during Christmas time when everybody was on holiday, and said that the Egyptian national team should have talked to him personally, as they had with Tottenham Hotspur striker Mido. He also said that the Egyptian head coach Shehata had not treated him well, and that the whole thing seemed too unprofessional for him. In April 2006, Hassan Shehata declared he would never again invite Mohamed Zidan to join the national team. He stated, "Zidan refused to join the team when we needed him most, before the Nations Cup. You can never count on these kind of players". During this time there was also talk about Zidan wanting to play for the Denmark national team, if Egypt did not want him. However, on 5 August 2006, just 11 days before Egypt's friendly match against Uruguay, Shehata backed…

Early career

Mohamed Zidan was born in Port Said to an Egyptian family. His career started as a striker for his hometown club El Masry in 1998. Al-Masry dropped Zidan because of a perceived lack of passing ability, leading to his family moving to Denmark. In his first year in Denmark, while training with B93 for a contract, he played a few games for the Danish-Turkish club FC Anatolien, now Kokkedal BK, in Nivå in Northern Zealand. Zidan was scouted by the Danish Superliga club Akademisk Boldklub (AB) while he was juggling a ball at a Danish park in 1999. In June 2003, he moved to the league rivals FC Midtjylland (FCM), as AB experienced financial hardship. At FCM, he became the league's top scorer in the 2003–04 season, and won the Rookie of the year award, becoming Player of the Year the following season. In all, he scored 30 goals in 47 appearances for FC Midtjylland, and especially his nine goals in the first three games of FCM's newly built SAS Arena stadium, made the stadium colloquially known as "Zidan Arena".

Werder Bremen and Mainz 05

Zidan's performance in the Danish League had resulted in interest among several top European clubs in signing the striker. In the winter break of the 2004–05 season, he was loaned by German club Werder Bremen for the remainder of the 2004–05, with an option to buy in the summer. In the summer of 2005 he was bought by Werder for a fee believed to be around €3.5 million. On 31 August 2005, Zidan was loaned out to Mainz…

Zidan also holds German citizenship. He was married to his long-time girlfriend Stina, who holds Danish citizenship, in 2014 in Germany. They have two children together, born in 2009 and 2014. In 2015, Zidan moved back to Cairo. In 2017, he married his current wife, Menas. They have a son born in 2018.