Real Madrid legend Zidane regrets not playing with Messi

French football legend Zinedine Zidane has revealed a regret from his illustrious career, after meeting up with Inter Miami Lionel Messi to express his admiration for the Argentine forward.

Zidane, a veritable demigod in football folklore, enjoyed a splendid career, playing for top sides like Real Madrid and Juventus and a successful era of the France national team.

The Marseille native won the Serie A twice with Juventus and the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid in 2002, as well as the FIFA World Cup with France in 1998, before becoming a manager and leading Los Blancos to three UCL titles in a row.

Despite the resounding success, there is one thing that Zidane still counts as a loss, and that is the fact that he never got to play with former Barcelona maestro Lionel Messi.

Although Zidane and Messi played in the same timeline, it was brief, with the Real Madrid man retiring from professional football in 2006 while Messi made his senior debut for Barcelona in 2004.

Regardless of the generational gap, the two are widely regarded as some of the best players of their generation and share a mutual admiration for each other.

Speaking at a recent event for Adidas and Inter Miami, Zidane was full of praises for Messi, saying, “It's a pity that we couldn't play together. This is the moment for me to pass you the ball.

The French World Cup winner also added, “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.”

Messi also returned the favour, noting that he revered Zidane, despite the on-field rivalry that they briefly shared.

The Argentine World Cup winner said, “I have always admired him and liked him a lot. I followed him a lot in Madrid. And he made me suffer a lot too because I was from Barcelona.”

The pair exchanged pleasantries and national team jerseys as they ended the interview, in high spirits.