Two of football’s most iconic names sat down for an interview this week, giving rise to a series of memorable quotes.
Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane are of course widely regarded as two of the game’s greatest-ever players, having lit up Spanish and world football across their respective eras and they took their places in the studio, to talk over some of the memorable moments of their careers.
The chat was full of highlights, with Zidane having admitted at one point that: “It’s a pity that we couldn’t play together.”
“This is the moment for me to pass you the ball,” he added.
The pair’s respective Clásico loyalties evidently did not diminish their admiration for one another, either, with Zizou having absolutely waxed lyrical when asked to describe Messi in three words:
“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. 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’.”
And Messi soon returned the favour, gushing: “I admire you a lot, we were not lucky enough to play together. But we did play against each other a little bit. Always respect and admiration for what you did and continue to do.
“For me he is one of the greatest in history, I always admired him, I followed him a lot at Madrid, I suffered him because he was at Madrid. He was always a player. different, elegant, tall, magic, he had everything. I remember the goal against Leverkusen, the goals in the World Cup, the 360-degree turns…”
Check out Adidas‘ interview in full, which also features discussions about Zidane and Messi’s respective World Cup heroics, favourite no.10s, and more, below:
Conor Laird | GSFN
