Zinedine Zidane Picked Who Was 'Key' For England Between Steven Gerrard And Frank Lampard

Zinedine Zidane once picked who he felt 'stood out' for England between Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

France legend Zidane picked up 108 caps for Les Bleus with 31 goals as he won the World Cup in 1998 and European Championships in 2000 with his country.

The former Real Madrid star retired from professional football in 2006 with the World Cup held in Germany that year being his final tournament.

However, his playing days ended with a red card after he headbutted Marco Materazzi in the chest in the final against Italy.

The Italians won their fourth World Cup after a 5-3 penalty shootout victory followed a 1-1 draw in Berlin.

Liverpool legend Gerrard sits fourth on England's all-time appearance list with 114 caps across 14 years and 21 goals.

Lampard meanwhile scored 29 goals for the Three Lions in 106 caps, which places him joint-eighth on England's all-time appearance list along with the late great Sir Bobby Charlton.

Both players were part of England's so-called 'Golden Generation' which also included the likes of Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, John Terry, Ashley Cole and numerous others.

The group is known for having incredible individual abilities which they frequently showed for their clubs and led to success for the teams they played for in the Premier League, but were unable to collectively achieve together with England at tournaments.

Zinedine Zidane and Frank Lampard. (Image: Getty)

Zidane came face-to-face with both Lampard and Gerrard at Euro 2004 in Portugal.

England played France in Group B, with Lampard and Gerrard starting alongside one another in central midfield, while Zidane operated off the left of the French engine room.

The Three Lions took the lead in the first half through Lampard and looked to be on course for claiming three points.

But then Zidane struck a late brace in injury time, the second from the penalty spot, to snatch a 2-1 victory for the French amid disappointment for England.

Both nations qualified from the group but were dumped out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage.

England lost on penalties to host nation Portugal, while France suffered a 1-0 defeat to eventual winners Greece.

Back in 2013, England were busy qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, the tournament which would prove to be Lampard and Gerrard's final for the Three Lions.

Zidane had been retired for several years by that point, but felt that Lampard was still a key player for England ahead of Gerrard, even at the age of 35.

Zidane told the BBC's Match of the Day Kickabout: "The one that is standing out and is really a leader is Lampard."

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