Zinedine Zidane's backheel in 2004 was the crowning glory of humanity

Perfection is a nebulous concept that millions of human beings have spent their entire lives not achieving.

The wisest members of our species recognize that life is essentially a collection of random moments that people give meaning to and invest in to convince themselves that our existence is anything other than futile.

Other humans tragically lack such self-awareness or, more likely, are locked into their own importance. Industries pray on this insecurity, offering material products and limited ideas based on a lie that perfection is within our grasp.

Football, which acts as a sponge for hopes and neuroses around the world, is not exempt from such ideas. That said, surely we can all agree that Zinedine Zidane was inches away from providing the most perfect assist ever at Euro 2004.

The sleepy Portuguese town of Leiria was the setting for Zidane's most compelling entry into the pantheon of human achievement.

Freshly after scoring two late - and hilarious - goals against England's Golden Generation, the kingpin of French football tackled Croatia with assured grace.

After scoring the opening goal from a whipped free-kick, the Croatian defense staring at their bald spot with wondering deference, France began to toy with their opponents like a cat delaying its pounce on a helpless mouse for shit and laughs.

Thierry Henry - who was never a slave to convention - was Zidane's partner in crime for their ultimate ridicule. Lined up a corner in injury time, Henry assessed a packed penalty area before opting to play a killer pass to his captain.

Left bewildered by a Croatian defense begging for trouble, Zidane turned his body away from goal and produced the most pissing flick in the danger zone.

For missing the next header, William Gallas should have immediately left the field and announced his retirement before committing himself to a life of penance for his crime.

Let's forgive Gallas for a second though; in the blink of an eye, Zidane was responsible for an outbreak of dropping jaws and incredulous giggles across a bewitched continent.

Even Mark Lawrenson produced something close to a coo over the BBC commentary. A disturbing, yet understandable, reaction to witnessing a moment of genius.

For all his undoubted greatness, Zidane has always been something of an enigma. A world star for sure, but with the energy of the most conflicted human types; the shy show-off.

At a time when statistics are padded and the criteria for greatness have become more binary, the Frenchman has never been one to bully La Liga's weaklings to inflate his own ego.

Instead, he relied on impeccable ball control and an unerring sense of theater to enshrine himself in folklore.

From his header double in the 1998 World Cup final to his volley that won the Champions League in 2002 to Marco Materazzi, Zizou created an aura that will forever remain out of the Elon Musk's price range.

And, coming within centimeters of the all-time assist, Zidane reminded us that he was human. And imperfect.

By Michael Lee

READ NEXT: Zidane and Madrid's forgotten goal so good even Magic Johnson rejoiced

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Real Madrid's starting XI from the 2018 Champions League final?