Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney has admitted that he was blown away by the moment of magic that one World Cup-winning icon produced.
The 40-year-old former Three Lions and Manchester United captain is widely regarded as one of the most prolific strikers in the history of the Premier League.
Wayne Rooney lifted five Premier League titles, a Champions League trophy, a Europa League title, an FA Cup trophy and three League Cups with United.
Outside of his legendary exploits at Old Trafford, Rooney crossed paths with different iconic footballers in his career, including France legend Zinedine Zidane.
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Wayne Rooney singles out one eye-catching moment from the career of Real Madrid and France icon Zinedine Zidane
Wayne Rooney was only 18 years old when he famously came up against Zinedine Zidane at Euro 2024 after the Manchester United legend’s emergence for England.
Man Utd’s all-time leading scorer, who is providing punditry for BBC Sport at this summer’s World Cup, held an AMA with Reddit users on the Three Lions’ subreddit.
A Reddit user asked Rooney what the best strike that he ever witnessed from another player was and where the ball had actually landed in the back of the net.
Rooney insisted that Zidane’s worldie strike against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 Champions League final for Real Madrid is forever etched in the back of his mind.
“The goal I’ve always loved was Zinedine Zidane’s goal against Bayer Leverkusen at Hampden Park in the Champions League final,” he said.
“The ball falls out of the sky, the left-foot volley, the technique was incredible. So, I think that would probably be my favourite.”
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Man Utd narrowly missed out on crossing paths with Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid in the 2002 Champions League final
Bayer Leverkusen suffered a 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final at Hampden Park in 2002 after Raul and Zidane scored for Los Blancos.
The German side had reached the final of the competition after overcoming Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils side in the two-leg Champions League semi-final bracket in April 2002.
United had secured a 2-2 draw against Leverkusen in the first leg at Old Trafford before the Premier League side played out a 1-1 draw in the return leg in Germany.
However, the Red Devils crashed out of the competition due to UEFA’s old aggregate scoreline rule, which allowed Leverkusen to face Madrid in the 2002 final.
Sir Alex Ferguson admired France legend Zidane during his historic reign as United manager and had been linked with bringing him to Old Trafford during the 1990s.
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