Zinedine Zidane picked England legend as 'best in the world' ahead of Messi and Ronaldo

knows a thing or two about football. A , and winner during his illustrious career as a player, Zidane went on to win a further three European Cups during his stint as manager.

As if that wasn't enough, the midfielder was also part of France's successful -winning team during their home tournament in 1998. When it comes to an understanding of the game, Zidane is second to none.

It's why eyebrows were raised back in 2009 when Zizou claimed the best player in the world wasn't or , but instead an Englishman. When quizzed on the mystery man, Zidane replied: "Is he the best in the world? He might not get the attention of and Ronaldo but, yes, I think he just might be."

The Marseille-born star was referring to Liverpool legend , who Zidane's former team, Real Madrid, had recently been on the end of a tonking from in the 2009 Champions League. Gerrard scored twice at Anfield as Liverpool thumped Los Blancos 4-0 in the second leg of the pair's round-of-16 tie, which Liverpool went on to win 5-0 on aggregate.

Granted, Ronaldo had only just arrived in the Spanish capital on the back of his mega-money move from Manchester United, whereas Messi might've scored the winning goal in the 2009 Champions League final, but he was still some way off his final form. By contrast, Gerrard was at the peak of his powers in the late 2010s, with Zidane keen to pile the praise on the Three Lions star.

When pushed on what makes Gerrard's game so impressive, the 1998 Ballon d'Or winner explained: "If you don't have a player like Steven Gerrard, who is the engine room, it can affect the whole team. When we were winning league titles and European Cups at Real, I always said Claude Makelele was our most important player. There is no way myself, [Luis] Figo or Raul would have been able to do what we did without Claude and the same goes for Liverpool and Gerrard."

In a way, it was somewhat downhill for Gerrard from there. While he remained one of the most talented midfielders in the world, Liverpool would enter a mini-barren spell that at one point saw the Reds drop out of Europe altogether.

On the international front, England's fortunes didn't change either, with the 2012 European Championship quarter-final the furthest Gerrard got with his national team from that point on before deciding to hang up his boots.