FanHouse Zinedine Zidane

RECIFE, Brazil (AP) -- Brazil midfielder Kaka finalized his move to Real Madrid on Monday, marking the end of a "soap opera" and the start of a new phase of his career in Spain.

"Now the soap opera is over," said Kaka, decked out in a yellow Brazilian national team jersey after a practice session ahead of Wednesday's Brazil-Paraguay qualifier in the northeastern coastal city of Recife. "The only leftover details were the medical exams, and I've done them. The negotiations are closed and I have sealed my transfer to Real Madrid."

Real Madrid announced the signing of the attacking midfielder from AC Milan earlier Monday. The Spanish club gave no financial details but reports said Madrid will pay Milan 65 million euros ($92 million) for Kaka, making it one of the richest deals in football history.

These Zinadine Zidane-to-LA rumours (in footie we spell like Brits!) just will not die. Alexi Lalas:

Galaxy general manager Alexi Lalas said over the weekend that the Galaxy have made an offer to the 1998 World Cup champion and team president Tim Leiweke told Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport that "we have contacted his entourage about coming to play for us this year. He knows our door will always be open. His contract won't be a problem."

This is a far cry from the lead offered by the LA Daily News ("It looks like the Galaxy is making room in its universe for one more Galactico") or the subhead, for that matter ("MLS team, international star reportedly in negotiations"). It appears that LA has extended their checkbook-laden hand but there's no indication Zidane's has any interest in the Galaxy.

Complicating things further is MLS' new Beckham rule, which allows each team to sign one and only one player who exceeds the league salary cap. These designated player (or DP) slots can be traded and LA has indeed acquired an extra one, but next year several players already in the league will lose the one-year exceptions they have currently and teams will be forced to use their DP slots on them. Landon Donovan is one of these players. If LA actually wants to build some sort of crazy mismatched midfield of the stars, they'll have to find a way to acquire not one but two DP slots.

The chances of this actually happening? Remote. But is this an opportunity to deploy hilarious Zidane animated GIFs? Hell yes!

(Via Sports By Brooks.)

Zinedine Zidane is a charitable fellow. He's got considerable worldwide appeal, and while he does sort of shy away from the spotlight, he's also eager to take advantage of his fame to help those who need it. From Time Europe's "Heroes 2003" edition:

Zidane has also used his fame in other than symbolic fashion. Since 2001, Zidane has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N. Development Programme, and he also represents the European Leukodystrophy Association in its efforts to battle deadly genetic diseases of the nervous system. "There are things in this world that are more important than football," Zidane, 30, says of his charity work. "This involvement is the kind of thing my family, my upbringing and people I love have always encouraged. It's something that is part of you or isn't - but it's not something you embark upon or give up for any amount of fame or success."

It is something you give up, however, if Marco Materazzi is going to be present.

From Sports by Brooks comes this little tidbit: Zidane was invited to play in a big charity game, pitting World All-Stars against Manchester United (Man U ended up winning, 4-3), but declined, presumably because Materazzi was also on the invited list. The game was kind of a big deal. Ronaldinho, Carles Puyol, Steve Gerrard ... they were all there. Zidane wasn't.

Materazzi, if you don't recall, is the Italian defender who provoked Zidane into thrusting his head into Materazzi's chest and, in turn ... sort of ruining Zidane's life.

I can't pretend to know exactly what happened in the seconds preceding the headbutt heard 'round the world, but my guess is that Marco Materazzi should probably have a guilty conscience about it. And if that's the case, he should do the right thing here, and agree to let Zidane beat the hell out of him in front of 70,000 people. That would sell some tickets for charity.

First, the disappointing news for MLS fans ... Zinedine Zidane will not be bringing his legendary bald head to the United States. There had been rumors to that effect, and there apparently were some talks ... reports indicate that Zidane wanted $15 million per year to play in the United States, but no MLS team was willing to pay it.

And rightfully so ... no team can afford to pay Zidane that much. And this is where MLS might have shot itself in the foot with the Beckham deal. It was widely reported that Beckham was getting a 10-year, $250 million deal, and he was ... but that money was coming mainly from adidas, not from the Los Angeles Galaxy (the Galaxy's actually paying him $27.5 million over 5 years).

So a guy like Zidane hears the Beckham's getting $25 million per, and says hey, I want $15 million per, and that kind of money just isn't there. Shame, too, because while Beckham might've made a bigger media splash, Zidane is clearly the better player, even on the downside of his career.

All might not be lost for MLS, though ... there are rumblings that Liverpool's Robbie Fowler would consider the move to America. New England Revolution coach told the media he had talks with Fowler, the 31-year-old goal-scoring machine commonly referred to as "god" by Liverpool supporters.