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Zidane hails "immortal" Beckham

17/06/2007

Zinedine Zidane has said David Beckham will be revered as one of the world's greatest footballers in years to come and that Real Madrid should have done more to keep him.

Beckham will play his final match for Madrid today as they look to seal the Spanish league title on the last day of the season.

The 32-year-old will then move to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the United States and Zidane, who played with Beckham at Madrid for three seasons, says the England midfielder will be hard to replace.

Speaking in the Sunday Mirror, he said: "David is immortalised in football history. He is one of the game's greatest players.

"There was never any doubt in my mind that he wanted to end his career at the club. I think Madrid should have done everything in their power to keep him because he's unique. They won't find it easy to replace him - it's almost impossible."

The French legend says Madrid, who left Beckham out of the side at the start of the season, should have realised their mistake sooner and prevented him from leaving the club.

Zidane says Beckham's ability to bounce back from adversity and prove people wrong is his greatest strength.

He claims the Madrid coaching staff have underestimated the value of the former England captain to the side.

He explained: "Look at England. People had written him off and he comes back even stronger. It was the same with Madrid. Even when some people said he would never play for the club again he just put his head down and worked hard to play himself back into the team."

Zidane feels Beckham could have played at the highest level in Europe for a few more seasons and says he will be greatly missed in Madrid.

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