Whether you are young, old or somewhere in between, you rarely forget where you were when an iconic sporting moment took place. That would have been the case when Zinedine Zidane eyed an opportunistic moment at Hampden Park in the Champions League final of 2002, time almost standing still as he waited for the ball to drop from the sky. Yours truly was looking through a bar window at a cricket match, previously being surprised that Bayer Leverkusen were on level terms with the so-called Galaticos, but the rest of the contest in Glasgow would soon be forgotten once the French maestro had struck the most majestic, audacious volley with his left foot and found the top corner of Hans-Jorg Butt's net.
As you can watch via Betway, Steve McManaman has certainly not forgotten Zidane's legendary strike. The Englishman was sitting on the Real substitutes' bench as Zidane created a moment which would further cement his legacy as one of the greatest of all time, and the playmaker got to share the pitch with his more illustrious teammate during the closing 29 minutes after replacing Luis Figo. In fact, few were better placed to cast judgment on Zidane's show of excellence than McManaman, who had netted Real's second goal in the 2000 final versus Valencia.
Speaking to Betway, McManaman, who won a total of six trophies during his four-year spell at the Bernabeu, touches upon a period where Zidane was not all that settled with life in Madrid, something which feels scarcely believable given that he concluded his opening year at the club with THAT goal. McManaman also opens up on what it was like to share a dressing room with Zidane and far more high-profile players than himself, as well as taking the moment to reflect on the volley itself.
In the 20 years that have followed, there have naturally been Champions League goals which have stood out from the rest. From Didier Drogba's bullet header at the end of the 2012 final against Bayern Munich to Mario Mandzukic's moment of brilliance for Juventus against Real in the 2017 final. Gareth Bale's miraculous overhead kick in the 2018 showpiece probably stands at the top of the list, and there is an argument that it is on par with Zidane's strike. Only time will tell if people are still talking about Bale's goal in 2038, but for now, the memory of Zidane's crowning moment of his club career is certainly not going to be forgotten anytime soon.
