By Elsa Girard-Basset | Web journalist
Of all the teammates that Zinédine Zidane has had during his career, Roberto Carlos is one of the most emblematic. It must be said that in addition to experiencing great moments together at Real Madrid, the two men also faced each other twice in the World Cup in matches that have become cult. Beaten twice, does the Brazilian retain any bitterness towards “ZZ”? He answered cash.
In the almost century-old history of the Football World Cup, France has often played bad tricks on the Brazilians. Of course, there was the defeat in the 1958 semi-final, during which the young Pelé, 17, scored a hat-trick to send the French back to France (5-2). But with the exception of this match, the Blues have always triumphed over the Seleção.
In 1986, Michel Platini and his team emerged victorious from their legendary quarter-final in Guadalajara, after an unbearable penalty shootout. But it was above all Zinédine Zidane who made the talk twice, first in 1998, then in 2006. Enough to arouse resentment among South Americans, and in particular Roberto Carlos? Absolutely not.
Roberto Carlos praises Zinedine Zidane
In an interview given a few years ago, the left-back bowed to his former teammate in Madrid, praising him with very strong words:
He's the best player I've seen. Ronaldo was a phenomenon, but Zizou was something different. Playing alongside him was crazy! Fans were arriving early at the Bernabeu just to watch him warm up.
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The greatest shared memory of the two men is obviously the Brazilian's decisive pass for the Frenchman in the final of the 2002 Champions League. And Roberto Carlos, obviously, is rather happy with himself:
Quite a few people said it was a bad center. For me it was perfect. High enough for Zizou to have time to land with his left foot. He couldn't have taken it back straight. He scored a superb goal but, but let's not forget the pass.
Solari (the penultimate passer, editor's note) sent me a brick at the base, you know. Horrible. I had no other choice, because there was a Leverkusen player chasing me, I didn't have time to control. So I volley and, frankly, I don't know where Zizou is. Then I just see a white jersey coming, I send the center, and one of the best players in the world was there.
For your viewing pleasure, we can't resist offering you this famous legendary goal below… which also allows us to see that Solari's pass was not that horrible:
Although Zinédine Zidane twice ended his World Cup dreams, Roberto Carlos remains in immense esteem. Convinced of having played with the best player he has seen in his lifetime, ahead of his compatriot Ronaldo, the man with the foot supersonic left never misses an opportunity to pay homage to him. And we can understand it.
