The French duo Zinedine Zidane, the legend of Real Madrid and the “Roosters” team, and the Argentine Lionel Messi, the all-time top scorer for Barcelona and the “Tango” team, recalled some of their special memories.
On Thursday, the international sportswear company Adidas revealed a special interview between Zidane and Messi on the sidelines of one of the German company's advertising campaigns.
While talking about the importance of the number 10 shirt holder and his role on the field, both of them recalled some special memories related to numbers in their careers.
The beginning was with Zidane, where he confirmed that the club president, Florentino Perez, refused, after signing his contracts to join Real Madrid, for “Zizou” to receive big numbers.
Zidane said: “Perez does not like large numbers such as 25, 30 or 35, because he believes that they are more suitable for American football.”
He added: "After discussing with him, I asked for No. 5, and he agreed to that."
Zizou continued: “I love this number very much because it bears my wonderful story with Real Madrid.”
He added, directing his words to Messi: “Fortunately, you are still playing, and that is why the number 10 remains there.”
Zidane concluded his speech by saying: “The playmaker and number 10 must be ahead of the rest of the players on the field in thinking. I was ahead of the players by a second, but you are ahead of everyone by 3 seconds.”
For his part, Messi said: “When we talk about the number 10, we must mention Diego Armando Maradona, as he is the reference for us in Argentina.”
He added: "But when I was young, I loved Pablo Aimar very much. He was an elegant player and had abilities that I admired a lot."
Lionel Messi concluded his speech, saying: “The number 10 is of great importance, but with the change in plans, coaches have become more dependent on the parties.”
The duo agreed that the most important goal for them was to score in the World Cup final.
Messi scored two goals as Argentina won the World Cup title at the expense of France in the last edition in Qatar 2022.
Zidane had scored a brace against Brazil in the 1998 final, before scoring a goal in France's loss of the 2006 title to Italy on penalties, a match in which he was sent off after assaulting Italian defender Marco Materazzi.
The defeat of Liverpool, Roma and Ajax exciting results in the fourth round of the European League
On Thursday evening, European stadiums witnessed the holding of 16 matches in the fourth round of the group stage of the European Football League (Europa League) for the season (2023-2024).
The fourth round of the Europa League competition resulted in exciting results, most notably Liverpool's defeat against its French host, Toulouse, by two goals to three.
The Dutch club, Ajax Amsterdam, lost at home to its English guest, Brighton, with two unanswered goals.
The Czech club, Slavia Prague, defeated its Italian counterpart, Roma, with two unanswered goals as well.
The following are the results of the fourth round of the Europa League group stage:
First group (A):
Freiburg (Germany) - Bačka Topola (Serbia) – (5-0)
West Ham United (England) - Olympiacos (Greece) – (1-0)
The second group (B):
Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Brighton (England) – (0-2)
AEK Athens (Greece) - Marseille (France) – (0-2)
Third group (C):
Glasgow Rangers (Scotland) - Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) – (2-1)
Real Betis (Spain) - Aris Limassol (Cyprus) – (4-1)
Fourth group (D):
Atalanta (Italy) - Sturm Graz (Austria) – (1-0)
Sporting Lisbon (Portugal) - Rakov (Poland) – (2-1)
Group Five (E):
Toulouse (France) - Liverpool (England) – (3-2)
LASK Linz (Austria) - Saint-Geloise (Belgium) – (3-0)
Sixth group (F):
Rennes (France) - Panathinaikos (Greece) – (3-1)
Maccabi Haifa (Israel) - Villarreal (Spain) – (1-2)
Seventh group (G):
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) - Roma (Italy) – (2-0)
Servet (Switzerland) - Sherif Tiraspol (Moldova) – (2-1)
Eighth group (H):
Karbag-Aghdam (Azerbaijan) - Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) – (0-1)
Hacken (Sweden) - Molde (Norway) - (1-3).