It’s a “pity” that Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane never lined up together, the Frenchman said to the Inter Miami star during their lengthy talk.
Back in September, Zidane attended a Miami game where he was reunited with David Beckham, a former Real Madrid colleague and Miami co-owner.
However, the former Juventus and Real Madrid player reportedly now laments not having the opportunity to play with Messi.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to play together,” he stated in the Adidas-facilitated discussion. “I’m going to pass the ball to you now.”
“Today is a very important day for me because I can tell him how much I admire him,” he remarked at a different moment. I believe it to be absolute magic.
“I have always admired him and liked him a lot,” Messi said in return. In Madrid, I kept a close eye on him. Because I was from Barcelona, he also caused me a great deal of suffering.
Later, the two traded autographed shirts from France and Argentina.
While Messi made his Barcelona first team debut in 2004 and played for the team for 17 years, Zidane played for Los Blancos from 2001 to 2006.
As a coach, Messi also regularly disagreed with Zidane, and the two faced off in the 2005 El Clasico.
From 2019 to 21, the 51-year-old managed Real Madrid.
The Argentine also talked about his childhood idol, the late Diego Maradona.
“Those of us who played football as kids wanted to be like him our entire lives,” he remarked.
“That was our dream and desire, and we tried to emulate what Maradona did, even though no one could be like him.”
Returning to the present, Messi talked about how his sons, Thiago, 11, Mateo, 8, and Ciro, 5, are already completely enamored with the game.
My kids adore it. They all three adore it. “They have a strong interest in football,” he remarked. “All day long, the three of them.”