‘I’ve always admired him’ – Ronaldinho on the one player he regrets not playing with | OneFootball

Throughout his illustrious career as a footballer, Ronaldinho has played alongside some legendary figures, from Ronaldo to Lionel Messi (37), Xavi, and Andrés Iniesta, to name a few.

However, there’s one player he wished he could’ve been teammates with, and interestingly, it was a longtime rival.

Speaking to L’Équipe, the 2002 World Cup champion with Brazil said he always had great respect for French superstar Zinedine Zidane.

“I’ve always admired Zizou. I’m sorry I never played with him; that’s something I missed [out on]. He’s a perfect guy. I also admire the manager that he is a lot.”

The Ballon d’Or winner, who played two seasons in Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain, never played with Zidane but often had to go up against him. The Brazilian played five seasons at FC Barcelona while Zizou was with their bitter rivals Real Madrid.

Ronaldinho’s side beat Zidane and Real Madrid to the La Liga crown on two occasions in 2004-05 and 2005-06, while he helped them win the Champions League in that latter campaign. Those victories came during perhaps the height of tensions between Barca and Los Galacticos with Luis Figo joining Madrid from the Camp Nou not long before that.

One of the most famous meetings between Zizou and Ronaldinho went Zidane’s way, though. The French midfield maestro put on a masterful performance for Les Bleus in the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals, as France eliminated Ronaldinho and the reigning world champions Brazil by a 1-0 score.

Zidane was virtually untouchable throughout that match, with many claiming afterwards that he was the only Brazilian on the pitch that day. Zizou was not only magical with every touch of the ball, but he also set up Theirry Henry’s winning goal.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre