Finally, the day arrived; Adidas must have been preparing this for years, and the stars had to align for it to happen. At last, the two best players in the history of the brand – Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane – had a lengthy chat with each other on camera.
The French legend, Zinedine Zidane and Argentine maestro, Lionel Messi conversation quickly went viral on various social media channels.
Two Greats: Lionel Messi & Zinedine Zidane
This talk contained a lot of pearls that are worth sharing. They discussed everything from the nearly extinct No. 10 player to Messi’s humility in ranking Diego Maradona higher than the others.
In this half-hour conversation between two of the greatest No. 10 football players in history, there were two moments that stood out above the rest.
At a certain point of the conversation, the off-camera interviewer was instructed to ask both players to use three words to describe the other. Zidane was quick to answer. He said, ‘It’s just one word: ‘Magic’. Because in the end, what I mean is Leo and I are not together every day. So today is an important day for me because I can tell him how much I admire him. All the people who like football and these people are different.’
He continued, ‘And I think it’s magic, pure magic. Magic in the sense. Before receiving the ball, he already knew what needed to be done. And especially for me, as someone who understands football. Watching you on the field, I almost knew what you were going to do, you know? It was like a connection. But when I see him doing what he does, I just go like, ‘That’s it’.’
Zinedine Zidane asked Lionel Messi to choose his most significant goal to date during a brief Q&A session. He was cut off, though, by the Frenchman, who mentioned that his goal in the World Cup final versus France was also important.
Lionel Messi quickly reminded him that they could discuss that emotion together. Leo has only scored once in the World Cup finals, whereas “Zizou” has done so twice (1998 and 2006).
Leo admits missing the #10 in PSG
Zidane concurred with Lionel Messi’s admission that he “missed” playing for PSG while donning the No. 10 jersey. Messi, who played with he No. 10 shirt for Barcelona and the national team, became identified with it, following in the footsteps of Diego Maradona, the Argentinean hero.
Throughout his two years in Paris, Lionel Messi chose the number 30 as his shirt number. The 36-year-old believes he has a special connection to that number because it was the one he wore in his early years with Barcelona’s first team.
Former France and Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane, on the other hand, agreed that everyone wants to see the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner wear the number 10 shirt.
Also Read:
Tax agency initiate probe against Cristiano Ronaldo & wife Georgina Rodriguez
Marcus Rashford requests Manchester United fan to stop spreading false rumours
Real Madrid devise secret weapon to sign Kylian Mbappe & Alphonso Davies
Lionel Messi said, ‘I don’t think today it is as important as it used to be some time ago, but obviously, the number 10 shirt is still special. When I was in Paris, I didn’t wear the number 10 shirt. Well, I was used to always wearing the number 10 shirt from all those years in Barcelona, in the national team.’
He continued, ‘Although it wasn’t a big deal, I kind of missed a little not having ‘my number’, right? Because I have worn it all my life, but it’s ok, then I got used to it. And the number 30 was special for me too. I started playing with the number 30, my first game was with the number 30, so it has something special too.’
Zidane agreed with Messi’s comments too. He said, ‘But it was special just for you. People only want to see Messi wearing the number 10. If I see Messi in the field, I want to see the number 10 on his back.’
Editors pick
