I waited for another one to respond. For France Zidane has 23 assists in 108 caps. He scored 31 goals, 6 of them are penalty kicks. The assist number has been collected by babaorum, who looked at the match reports on the French Football Federation (FFF) website. At Champions League level he has around 27 assists in 80 games (preliminary phase not included). There is a margin of error (say: ~3 assists) but overall it is very good: Hopefully the question is sufficiently and correctly answered.
This is very good sum up to at least back up Zidane's greatness. (yes wee seen this in other post) Someone might add Messi's number into this list (he coudl be up there with Zidane?) Surprisingly to see Nistelrooy had a very good assist stats
Zidane for me is one of most overrated player of all time. He has never had a year where he was the best player in the wolrd. He never had a tournament absolute ruler. his stats are funny 156 goals in 798 apps and only 92 assists Rivaldo I think it is a very underrated player but for me better and most decisive of those useless players without the ball called by people "artists" like Zico, Zidane and others. The people claim that Zidane has remained at high levels for many years. Bullshit, the truth is that much easier to judge a striker than a midfielder Rivaldo and Zidane in wolrd cup Rivaldo _____________________Zidane 14 games ____________________15 games 9 goals_______________________5 goals 4 assists______________________2 assists its noticeable that zidane gave less assists and scored less goals some could say zidane is not a forward or attacking midfielder, but an organizer. what kind of organizer gives only 2 assists in 15 games? __________________________________________________ if we ignore penalties, corners and free kicks, zidane participation decrease to ZERO ASSISTS 1 goal in 15 games. i'll repeat. if we ignore penalties, corners and free kicks zidane participation decrease to ZERO ASSISTS and 1 goal in 15 games. what kind of playmaker gives zero assists in 15 games? zidane only had 2 assists, the freekick to henry, quarters 2006 and a corner to _________________________________________________ if we ignore penalties, corners and free kicks rivaldo participation decrease to 4 ASSISTS and 8 goals in 14 games. _________________________________________________ i am not saying free kicks, corners and penalties are irrelevant but its another different skill. nobody can ever be consider a genius bcoz he was a good freekick or header after corners its just a plus. but playmaking, and goalscoring its the most important thing for players in the position of zidane/rivaldo _________________________________________________ BY THE WAY what was zidane's position? some could argue rivaldo played very much more ofensively than zidane in those 14 games but its not true. in 1998 rivaldo had ronaldo and bebeto upfront him in 1998 zidane had only guivarch and djorkaeff upfront. so its the same position in 2006 france had 4 5 1 zidane was in the center very ofensive while malouda and ribery would comeback a bit
I would say Zidane would be called "overhyped" if he was placed into TOP10 best all time. Agree with your stats ... for same reason. Other than that (goals and direct assists) Zidane was a truely fine player with superb techniques and grace. Zidane could be compared to Laudrup, Xavi, Gerson, Didi , Hagi , Rivelino, Valderama , Rui Costa , Riquleme ... in the category of " classic PLAYMAKER" . Their style is NOT about scoring but "controlling midfield , distribute passes, and producing attack scheme" to the team. On the other hand, Rivaldo was more of an AM than a true playmaker. Some games (like copa99, WC02 and Barca at UCL) he was playing as a forward (off behind main striker) At peak form (99-01) Rivaldo > Zidane but overall consistency and achievement 96-06 Zidane > Rivaldo
in 1998 rivaldo had ronaldo and bebeto upfront him in 1998 zidane had only guivarch and djorkaeff upfront. so its the same position in 2006 france had 4 5 1 zidane was in the center very ofensive while malouda and ribery would comeback a bit Rivaldo has a higher proportion of chances created to Zidane in the World Cup Zidane did not made a better career than Rivaldo, it's just overrated by journalists Rivaldo has better performance in the Champions League. Zidane is a very overrated player, has been very uneven, the first of the 24 was a little-known player considered less than Djorkaeff, Del piero and other. In Serie A has shone little, he was always overshadowed by Ronado Rivaldo world cup 98> Zidane 98 Rivaldo wolrd cup 2002> Zidane 2006 Zidane is nothing, good for circus
Nahhh ... to be fair ... Rivaldo got Ronaldo in front (WC98 and WC2002) while Zidane had a Guivarch (a so-so striker) at WC98 and Henry at WC06. big difference , and imagine if Rivaldo played with Guivarch or Henry? Yes they both were AM at WC98, but For the team Zidane 98 > Rivaldo98 surely I agreed that Rivaldo 02 > Zidane 06 ========================================== In SerieA 97-98, Zidane was overshadowed by Ronaldo, true, but no shame since that was the "best of Ronaldo" in those years (he earned the nick Il Fenomeno as the best since last Maradona). Zidane won foreign player in SerieA 97 with his 2 times UCL final there. Zidane best form was in 2000-04
Hi everyone ! Does anyone know the source used by PuckVanHeel with regard to the ranking of the best assist-ratio in Champions League?
He was always overshadowed by Totti. Look at Totti's quality stats and just imagine what his genius would have done if he was supplying the greats Zidane got to play with. Real at the time had wanted Totti as first choice, Roma accepted the bid as it was far surpassed what Zidane ended up going for but Totti stuck with his club. Zidane was a classy player on the ball but incredibly over rated.
Every time they played against one another, Zidane was smacking him around. Got the better of him in every AS roma match. Totti is criminally underrated and I always thought few players IN HISTORY could rival his passing range/creativity, but he doesn't have Zidane's level for a number of reasons. Ability-wise, Zidane was clearly faster, more mobile, a better dribbler, and had a much greater presence on the field, to list a few.
Smacking him around in every game? Lol no that's didn't happen. Sure Zidane was smooth on the ball, mobile is debatable. Totti while never the fasted was pretty mobile in his younger years. You also look at the number of positions and systems Totti has played and mastered. Zidane never had that versatility. To say he had a much greater presence on the pitch is also not really true. Put Totti around Zidanes teammates and his numbers would get even more sick.
Outshone him is a more apt term. The only game I can think of that could go either way because Zidane was somewhat criticized for it is the Euro 2000 final. I have followed Totti throughout his career. Of course, he was more mobile when he was younger. I was simply talking relative to Zidane. I agree that Totti demonstrated greater versatility than Zidane and him sticking around at such a late age is only a testament to that as well as his professional work ethic. But in terms of presence on the pitch, I don't think Totti can come close to rivaling Zidane's shift whether in terms of width or box-to-box, and I can't think of many players who could tbh. And yes, absolutely, though speculation ebcause we do not know how they would work together, Totti with better teammates would put up bigger numbers. No doubt. I don't think my rating/or judgment of players especially Totti is based on stats though, nor should it. You can only truly appreciate Totti if you watch him.
13 since 2009/10 in 60 games (0.216) Source - http://www.whoscored.com/Players/11119/History/Lionel-Messi
I've seen Totti outplay Zidane at least three times. Two times in Real Madrid vs Roma games (Roma winning one game by a 1-0 margin, with Totti scoring the goal; the other game, with Roma loosing by a 4-2 margin, but with Totti doing better than Zidane, and with Figo doing better than either Totti or Zidane). One time in the Euro 2000 Final, which Totti played better than Zidane, and which Thierry Henry also played better than Zidane. Your claim that Zidane "smacked him around in every AS Roma match" is false. I have watched a total of three Real Madrid vs Roma games, and Totti outplayed Zidane in two out of the three games that I've watched. Maybe Zidane got the better of him in most of their encounters, I wouldn't know as I've only watched Zidane vs Totti a total of four times, but I'm just saying, that out of the four Zidane vs Totti games that I have watched, Totti outplayed Zidane in three out of those four.
Zidane was the brain of a team. I see many are writing here like "Kaka/Ronaldinho/Rivaldo/e.t.c at his peak was way better than Zidane" and then as an arguement bring individual stats. statistically, they may have better statistic but who was better?! KAka, ROnaldinho, R9 combined played against him in WC06 and Zidane ruled that match. that was the best years of that two so called way better players (Kaka and R10) unfortunately, they were nothing against Zidane. yes ZIdane did not score vs small teams like Messi or Rivaldo did but he did when he needs. 2. just look at their importance, compate brazil with Rivaldo/kaka/r10 with without Rivaldo/kaka/r10. it was unknown whether they had impact or not, but about france?! with Zidane they were WC and EURO champ once Zidane was absent they got eliminated in group stages. then again they were runner up in WC once ZIdane did not exist in a team with them they again eliminated in group stages. feel the difference. Zidane was the brain, R10/Kaka/Rivaldo was a blow or hand, I think brain is more important.
Agree about Zidane, but don't shortchange Rivaldo. With him, Brazil was a juggernaut at WCs 98 and 02, without him they were utterly listless at WC06.
Strongly disagree with the logic above. Football is a team sport. In 2006, Ronaldinho utterly outclassed Zidane, at club level. At the World Cup, Brazil played with a system that favored neither Ronaldinho nor Kaka, and the fact that fat R9 was thrown into the mix made matters worse. On the other hand, Zidane played the same system he always played, surrounded by many of his old comrades. When players like Makelele and Vieira contain Ronaldinho, that doesn't just happen because "Zidane ruled that match" -- that happens because Zidane's teammates are closing down the rival. Although, indeed, Zidane was the best attacking player of that match. May I ask -- why was Zidane not better than Andrea Pirlo in the final? Or let me rephrase that... How does a player who was better than Kaka + Ronaldinho + R9 combined, not completely outclass a player like Andrea Pirlo? A) Why didn't Zidane scored in neither of the two Champions League Finals that he played with Juventus? B) What happened to Zidane at the 2004 Euro? C) What happened to Zidane at the 1996 Euro?
That is factually incorrect. Zidane and the players had public disagreements with Domenech over the system employed. Zidane wanted a 4-4-2. Everybody had massive defensive responsibilities, and you are absolutely right that Makelele and Vieira allowed Zidane to play a more free-roaming role. Euro 2000 represented a team built for Zidane, not WC06.