This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's June 12 World Fame 100 Issue. Subscribe today!
ZINEDINE ZIDANE NEEDS to have a quiet word, which is the way he has most words. It is late summer 2016 at Valdebebas, Real Madrid's state-of-the-art HQ northeast of Spain's capital, and it is hot outside. In the foreground, dominating the skyline, stand the four skyscrapers constructed a decade ago on the site of Madrid's old training ground. Easily the tallest buildings in the country, they are nicknamed for the original galácticos, the most glamorous collection of footballers ever brought together in a single side: Luis Figo, Ronaldo Nazario, David Beckham and Zidane.