"Zidane is greatest football player"

Posted Saturday, October 01, 2011 by ESPN

Marcello Lippi has cast his vote- Zinedine Zidane is the greatest player in the past two decades.

The Italian tactical legend looked past all the glittering stars and picked the ex-Real Madrid maestro as the best player in recent memory.

Speaking to Il Mattino, the Italian said: "The greatest player of the past 20 years? It has to be Zidane. He had everything. You never needed to tell him anything as he did it all by himself and knew what was expected."

He also considered Diego Maradona superior to the rest in the times before that, interestingly enough making no mention of Pele.

"In the 20 years before him, Diego Maradona was arguably the best. There's no doubt about that in my opinion", the Italian said.

Lippi then gave an insight towards his thoughts on the upcoming Serie A fixture between Napoli and Inter, and believes it will be a firecracker at the San Siro.

"I am sure that the match at San Siro will be a spectacular one," Lippi cheered.

"You need a lot of quality if you are to beat Inter, and Napoli have plenty of class. [Ezequiel] Lavezzi, [Marek] Hamsik and [Gokhan] Inler have plenty to offer."

Lippi and Zidane worked together in Juventus from 1996 to 1999.