{"id":298938,"date":"2023-11-11T22:59:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-11T22:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=298938"},"modified":"2023-11-11T22:59:11","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T22:59:11","slug":"lionel-messi-is-awestruck-as-he-swaps-shirts-with-zinedine-zidane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/lionel-messi-is-awestruck-as-he-swaps-shirts-with-zinedine-zidane\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi is awestruck as he swaps shirts with Zinedine Zidane"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Lionel Messi is awestruck as he swaps shirts with Zinedine Zidane after the superstar duo reflect on their glittering careers&#8230; and the former Real Madrid manager reveals his toughest ever opponent<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane looked back at their incredible football careers<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><span>The pair briefly crossed paths during their playing days in the Spanish top-flight<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>&#8216;It&#8217;s Erik ten Games&#8217; \u2013 surely he has to beat Luton now &#8211;\u00a0It&#8217;s All Coming Up<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lionel Messi\u00a0and\u00a0Zinedine Zidane\u00a0looked back on their incredible careers in a wide ranging interview in which the Frenchman revealed his toughest-ever opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The legends reflected on their time in the game before swapping their iconic No 10 jersey&#8217;s in a heartwarming moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Messi was unable to conceal his delight upon receiving the gift and said &#8216;What a shirt&#8217; as Zidane penned his signature on the France jersey the former midfielder wore when leading his nation to the final of the 2006 World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The chat, facilitated by Adidas and filmed in Miami, covered plenty of topics including the question of who Zidane found it hardest to go up against.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The toughest player? Well, not the toughest player, but the hardest one was Paolo Maldini,&#8217; he said. &#8216;Because he was very smart, intelligent on the field.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77648997-12734365-image-a-4_1699619229013.jpg\" height=\"354\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Messi was caught in a heart warming gaze at the former Real Madrid and France star Zidane<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77617159-12734365-Zidane_and_Messi_exchanged_signed_international_shirts_at_the_en-a-3_1699619173056.jpg\" height=\"372\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Zidane and Messi exchanged signed international shirts at the end of the conversation<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=CQ8wOnnZiEg%3Frel%3D0<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77648853-12734365-image-a-2_1699619069598.jpg\" height=\"555\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Zidane named two of the eras greatest defenders in AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini (left) and his former France team-mate Lilian Thuram (right)<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;And [Lilian] Thuram. He was tough. When he is on your team, you are happy. But if he is playing against you, you are not.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Zidane played for Real Madrid from 2001 to 2006, while Messi debuted for Barcelona&#8217;s first team in 2004 and spent 17 years at the club.<\/p>\n<p>The pair faced off in El Clasico in 2005, while Messi also frequently went against Zidane as a coach.\u00a0The 51-year-old was the manager of Los Blancos from 2019 to 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The duo shared their regrets at never getting the chance to play alongside one another, with Zidane saying: &#8216;It&#8217;s a pity that we couldn&#8217;t play together.\u00a0This is the moment for me to pass you the ball.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>He added: &#8216;Today is a very important day for me because I can tell him how much I admire him. I think it is magic, pure magic.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The eight-time Ballon d&#8217;Or winner returned the praise, replying: &#8216;I have always admired him and liked him a lot. I followed him a lot in Madrid. And he made made me suffer a lot too because I was from Barcelona.&#8217;<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12734365\/Lionel-Messi-awestruck-swaps-shirts-Zinedine-Zidane-superstar-duo-reflect-glittering-careers-former-Real-Madrid-manager-reveals-toughest-opponent.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lionel Messi is awestruck as he swaps shirts with Zinedine Zidane after the superstar duo reflect on their glittering careers&#8230; <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lionel Messi is awestruck as he swaps shirts with Zinedine Zidane - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/lionel-messi-is-awestruck-as-he-swaps-shirts-with-zinedine-zidane\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lionel Messi is awestruck as he swaps shirts with Zinedine Zidane - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lionel Messi is awestruck as he swaps shirts with Zinedine Zidane after the superstar duo reflect on their glittering careers&#8230; 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