Franck Ribery admits that he is flattered to be drawing comparisons with Zinedine Zidane.
French ace is a big hit in the Bundesliga
Franck Ribery admits that he is flattered to be drawing comparisons with Zinedine Zidane.
The Bayern Munich midfielder has replaced Zidane as the playmaker for the French national side and has earned rave reviews following a number of impressive performances for the Bundesliga leaders.
Bayern team-mate Oliver Kahn was the first to compare him to the legendary former Juventus and Real Madrid star, but Ribery insists that he will not deserve such praise until he has matched his compatriot's achievements.
Zidane won the World Cup in 1998, the European Championships in 2000, the UEFA Champions League in 2002 and two Spanish titles while with Madrid.
He was also named World Player of the Year on three occasions and European Player of the Year twice.
Huge player
Ribery has just one German League Cup and a Turkish Cup winner's medal from his time with Galatasary to his name and concedes that he is not even close to emulating his idol just yet.
"It is an enormous honour to be compared to Zinedine Zidane," he told
Die Welt.
"He is a huge player, perhaps the biggest in history.
"I want to try and achieve the same things he did."
Mission
For the time being though, despite a number of Europe's top clubs believed to be keen on acquiring his services, Ribery insists that he is focused solely on being a success at Bayern.
"I want to fulfil my mission and do well, everyone is happy with the way I am playing," he said.
"What happens in the future, we will have to wait and see."
