Even the Big Players Get Star-Struck

It’s almost time to start posting about the March internationals, but…not quite. (Also, I still owe you a post on Champions League and UEFA Cup. Stay tuned.)

But for now, I just stumbled on an adorable quote from Zidane’s early idol, Enzo Francescoli.

And though his time on the Old Continent perhaps did not garner the silverware his gifts deserved, he left an indelible mark on those who saw him in action, including a young Marseille fan by the name of Zinedine Zidane. “He was my favourite player and I used to hang around to watch him train,” says Zizou, who named his son Enzo in honour of the former OM star.

“I was stunned when I found out about that,” says Francescoli. “I heard about it just prior to facing him in the final of the Intercontinental Cup in 1996, and that’s why I gave him my shirt after that game. Later on I heard that he used to sleep in that shirt both in his Juve days and with France during the 1998 World Cup.”

Makes me want to go, “Awwwww.”