“Zidane is the best player I’ve played against”: Mehdi Mahdavikia

Tehran Times – HAMBURG, Former Iranian international Mehdi Mahdavikia admitted that current Real Madrid head coach is the best player he has played against in his whole career.

“When I was at Hamburg we faced Juventus twice in 2000-01 UEFA Champions League group stage. I will never forget that match which ended up in a 4-4 draw, I scored once, was awarded a penalty and provided an assist. Zidane was at Juventus then and I would like to say that he is the best player I’ve played against. He was unpredictable, in my opinion he was a perfect player,” Mahdavikia said.

Former Hamburg and Eintracht Frankfurt winger also believes that Bundesliga is one of the best leagues in the world

“The biggest advantage of German Bundesliga comparing to the other top leagues in the world is its discipline and that’s the main reason why Die Mannschaft is very successful,” Mahdavikia added.

“Unfortunately there is not much attention to the grassroots football in Iran while we have a lot of young talents who are capable of reaching world class level. We have Sardar Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh who came from Iran youth team and now playing in Europe,” he added.

“After 1998 World Cup in France I had a couple of offers from Europe. I almost joined Tottenham but there were minor issues which blocked this move,” he added.

Mahdavikia is eager to become the Hamburg SV head coach in the near future.

“I love Hamburg and its fans and it is a dream to become the head coach of this club one day,” he added.