Rivaldo V Zidane

Since the theme of the day is old school 606 threads, (I.e the world xi threads etc), just wanted to compare 2 of best attacking midfielders of in our lifetime, well mine anyway...

Was just having debate with a mate of mine and we were debating who was the better player between Zidane and Rivaldo...

Better question would be, at both of their peaks, who would you have in your team?

My firm belief is Rivaldo was the more naturally talented, whilst Zidane honed the talent he had to near perfection....

Another thing, Rivaldo, whilst playing for Brazil didn't quite had the same spotlight as Zidane had when he played for France...I.e Zidane was Head and shoulders above the French players, which maginfide his talent more so than Rivaldo, whom was surrounded with superstars, with the likes of Ronaldo and the emerging Ronaldinho sometimes over-shoadowing him...(Especially in the 2002 World Cup, were I believe he was very under-rated, compared to Ronaldiniho and ofcourse top Goal-scorer Ronaldo)...

Zidane achieved more, but I would personally have Rivaldo in his peak...

I am sure alot of Barca fans on here see him as a Cult hero for that Hat-trick against Valancia...so they could give me some backing in-terms of who was better, as you can obviously guess....I think Rivaldo win, just...

Who would you choose....?

Zidane for me. Did some amazing stuff with the ball. Scored 3 goals in 2 world cup finals, and one amazing in the champions league.

Good post Zack.

I will have to agree with Alive & Kicking as well however. Both supremely talented, though Zidane would edge it for me. Rivaldo perhaps doesn't get the plaudits he deserves, but he still won WPOTY, obviously something which very few have the luxury of winning.

Zidane won so much in his career, and obviously it wasn't soley down to him as he was playing with some of the best players in the world, but I genuwinely believe he was the reason for France's success in 98 & 2000. And we all seen how ordinary France looked without him in 2002. (in a creative sense)

ill go for zidane

the best since maradona

Zizou, an artist at work.

Calidad wrote:Good post Zack.

I will have to agree with Alive & Kicking as well however. Both supremely talented, though Zidane would edge it for me. Rivaldo perhaps doesn't get the plaudits he deserves, but he still won WPOTY, obviously something which very few have the luxury of winning.

Zidane won so much in his career, and obviously it wasn't soley down to him as he was playing with some of the best players in the world, but I genuwinely believe he was the reason for France's success in 98 & 2000. And we all seen how ordinary France looked without him in 2002. (in a creative sense)

i don't really think Zidane was the reason for success in 98. More down to their back four and very good defensive midfielders.

Euro 2000 he was awesome.

France were unlucky to lose to Senegal in 2002. It was always going to be tough against Uruguay once Henry got himself sent off. Denmark was a similar story to Senegal. If Trez/Henry/Cisse had been more clinical France wouldve easily gone through.

Zidane but Rivaldo was the more effective player - its like comparing Bergkamp with someone like Rooney - Rooney gets more assists and over his career will probably get more goals but Bergkamp was the more naturally gifted of the two.

Zidane was magical, Rivaldo was too but in a different and more direct way

im too biased for this but it would always be zizou. there was magic over him that i dont see anymore. i mean rivaldo/dinho/ronaldo could match his technique but nobody had the elegance that he had. that is why i hold him so high because it was almost arrogance when he had the ball.

Zidane

Rivaldo

Zidane was overrated.

Its interesting and understandable that most people regards Zidane better due to his sucesss, which equates to his consistency.

Zidane was undoubtably talented, but another attribute was his mental side, e.g he rarely makes mistakes in any games and he always rises to the to the occasion...

However, as far as talent goes, Rivaldo still shades it, he virtually could do anything with the ball and was technically brilliant. Maybe he lacked the mental side of Zidane, to be truly the greatest...

But imagine this, IF Rivaldo was playing for France instead of Zidane, would he have the same status (All-time Great) as Zidane has? Could he lifted France as Zidane did to Greatness?

Zack_thfc wrote:But imagine this, IF Rivaldo was playing for France instead of Zidane, would he have the same status (All-time Great) as Zidane has? Could he lifted France as Zidane did to Greatness?

Yes and yes. That's why its so hard to judge between the those two.

90s produced three genuine legends: Romario, Rivaldo and Zidane. Ronaldo & Bergkamp will be remembered as some of the best players ever, but only the aforementioned three deserve to be among the top panteon of greats like Beckenbaurer, Pele, Cruijff, Maradona, Garrincha etc.
Ronaldo and Bergkamp will be among the Van Basten's, Gullit's, Batistuta's etc. (only one tier down, no shame). Still masters of their own domain.

Tweedle wrote:Zidane but Rivaldo was the more effective player - its like comparing Bergkamp with someone like Rooney - Rooney gets more assists and over his career will probably get more goals but Bergkamp was the more naturally gifted of the two.

Zidane was magical, Rivaldo was too but in a different and more direct way

Not for the 1st time I have to take the complete opposite opinion to you !

Rivaldo more talented and elegant but Zidane more effective.

One of the main reasons most people would put Zidane ahead of Rivaldo was that Zidane scored 2 in a WC final.

But these weren't goals that came as a result of some great piece of artistry they were headers from set-pieces which showed he was more of a percentage player.

Rivaldo is more talented and I prefer him but Zidane was better due to his wonderful temperament (I say that in spite of Juve v HSV and Italy v France!).

DD wrote:

Zack_thfc wrote:But imagine this, IF Rivaldo was playing for France instead of Zidane, would he have the same status (All-time Great) as Zidane has? Could he lifted France as Zidane did to Greatness?

Yes and yes. That's why its so hard to judge between the those two.

90s produced three genuine legends: Romario, Rivaldo and Zidane. Ronaldo & Bergkamp will be remembered as some of the best players ever, but only the aforementioned three deserve to be among the top panteon of greats like Beckenbaurer, Pele, Cruijff, Maradona, Garrincha etc.
Ronaldo and Bergkamp will be among the Van Basten's, Gullit's, Batistuta's etc. (only one tier down, no shame). Still masters of their own domain.

For me Ronaldo belongs at the very highest level. Ridiculously good scoring record in every league he has played in (Holland, Italy, Spain, Brasil) and is the probably the greatest all round striker to ever play the game. Header, left foot, right foot; Ronaldo could do it all, and I wouldn't have anyone over him in a 1 on 1 situation. He could do things that no other player (past or present generation) could dream of, and that includes Zidanes.

Ronaldo's career perhaps hasn't been quite as consistent, but at his peak, he reached a level that no other has. His career has been marred by injury, but he always comes back and proves his doubters wrong. He's probably received the most rough treatment of any player, literally being kicked to bits throughout his career, but always comes back.

Rivaldo

Calidad,
I know, I have seen Ronaldo at all his levels, and at his prime there was no striker like him. ever.

However, I consider Ronaldo's career pre inury and post injury. Post injury he might as well have retired, like Van Basten.
Ronaldo didn't furfill his career because of injuries. People always remember Ronaldo's peak but forget that he's been playing way longer post injury than he was preinjury and never mind at his absolute peak.

Ronaldo's peak = top pantheon of greats (greatest striker of all)
Ronaldo's career = one tier down (due to injuries).

I don't want to speculate what could have been, but what has actually unfolded. Van Basten also could have been in the top panteon if he didn't get injured, but alas. Ronalod did get worse however. Let it go. Who wouldn't prefer that Ronaldo?

Impossible decision! If I had a gun pointed at my head...Zidane.

I can't give you a objective answer.

But I can say that Zidane had a better international carreer than in club. I rate what he did for French national team as much as what Maradona did for Argentina.

If Zidane could have added more goals to his record.

But thats the only thing i can thing of, other wise he was flawless as a player

Like Pierre said before, ZZ golden moments at WCs are overrated. They all came from dead ball situations. IMO Rivaldo performances at WCs are much better than his performances.

Rivaldo was the best player in the 99 Copa America player of the tournament, while ZZ was great at Euro 2000. The comparision is unfair because EURO is much harder than Copa America.

At club level I think that both were great. However people forget that Juve couldn´t win the league since ZZ became their main player, when Del Piero got injured.

IMO both are at the same level, it's hard to compare.

[quote="sheva7"]Like Pierre said before, ZZ golden moments at WCs are overrated. They all came from dead ball situations. IMO Rivaldo performances at WCs are much better than his performances.

Yes, right. It's funny to hear that from a Brazilian guy. Lol!
Zidane's moments in the world cup aren't merely his two goals in Brazil, it's more the way he played, the way he orchestrated the game in crucial moments. You have to remember that before the world cup 2007, no one gave a slight chance for France winning it. But when Zidane (and also Makelele) decided to come back to the national team, the team changed their way of playing and were again successful mainly because he had such a big influence on others.

I would say Rivaldo. Zidane at the WC 98 played in the group stages and the final, that's it. Plus he played at home. Rivaldo in 2002 impresed me. He played for the team and didn't try to do everything himself. People said he and Ronaldo can't play in the same team but they did it. At the club level Rivaldo was more important for Barcelona then Zidane was for Real. Just look at his stats for his first season at Barca.

And one more thing: Rivalo didn't end his career with a head but.

[quote="Alive and Kicking"]

sheva7 wrote:Like Pierre said before, ZZ golden moments at WCs are overrated. They all came from dead ball situations. IMO Rivaldo performances at WCs are much better than his performances.

Yes, right. It's funny to hear that from a Brazilian guy. Lol!
Zidane's moments in the world cup aren't merely his two goals in Brazil, it's more the way he played, the way he orchestrated the game in crucial moments. You have to remember that before the world cup 2007, no one gave a slight chance for France winning it. But when Zidane (and also Makelele) decided to come back to the national team, the team changed their way of playing and were again successful mainly because he had such a big influence on others.

Zidane was suspended in the GS and only played the final.

[quote="Alive and Kicking"]

sheva7 wrote:Like Pierre said before, ZZ golden moments at WCs are overrated. They all came from dead ball situations. IMO Rivaldo performances at WCs are much better than his performances.

Yes, right. It's funny to hear that from a Brazilian guy. Lol!
Zidane's moments in the world cup aren't merely his two goals in Brazil, it's more the way he played, the way he orchestrated the game in crucial moments. You have to remember that before the world cup 2007, no one gave a slight chance for France winning it. But when Zidane (and also Makelele) decided to come back to the national team, the team changed their way of playing and were again successful mainly because he had such a big influence on others.

Alright, he was brilliant in a match against a ridiculous Brazil squad that sooner or later would concede a goal and would lose to any single squad that reached the quarter finals, except England.

Let's remember his decisive moments at WCs...two goals from cks in the final, fk assist agaisnt brazil, penalty against Portugal, penalty against Italy.

Now think about Rivaldo decisive moments at WC...I will give you a little help...Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, England and Germany. Just compare.

gone wrote:

And one more thing: Rivalo didn't end his career with a head but.

No. He ended it with a pathetic injury faking against Turkey, a horrible season with Milan where he was voted "worst player in Seria A" and then 2 seasons in Olympiakos

That being said, I think it's hard to compare both players because they played in different positions. Most of his career Rivaldo was more of a striker, rather than a midfielder. Zidane was a midfield maestro, and the teams he played in ran through him. He dictated the tempo of the game. Rivaldo would be the guy that would work magic whenever he got the ball close to the area.

Both players are on a similar level and I wouldn't hold anything against anyone who would put Rivaldo over Zidane, however, I think Zidane edges it for 2 reasons. First, Rivaldo was a bit too one-footed for my liking. I know his left foot was magical, but he did virtually nothing with his right foot. Also, I simply loved watching Zidane on the ball much more than Rivaldo. There was just something about Zidane that's too hard to describe. He was so elegant with the ball, so subtle yet so flashy, you felt like he could do anything with it. And he made it look so easy!!! He could have 3 guys marking him, yet Zidane wouldn't even flinch. It almost looked lazy, as if he knew he was never gonna lose the ball so he didn't have to put much effort into it.

So Zidane for me, but it's a close call.

At least he didn't end his career after 3 straight trophyless seasons at the so called "biggest club in the world"...

sheva7 wrote:At least he didn't end his career after 3 straight trophyless seasons at the so called "biggest club in the world"...

No, but Rivaldo ended it with 2 straight trophiless seasons in Barcelona, then making a fool of himself in Seria A where Zidane was king, and going to a pathetic league because no big team could be bothered with him.

And of course, Zidane won the CL, unlike Rivaldo

Zidane for me!

Torrente wrote:

sheva7 wrote:At least he didn't end his career after 3 straight trophyless seasons at the so called "biggest club in the world"...

No, but Rivaldo ended it with 2 straight trophiless seasons in Barcelona, then making a fool of himself in Seria A where Zidane was king, and going to a pathetic league because no big team could be bothered with him.

And of course, Zidane won the CL, unlike Rivaldo

So ZZ was the king of Serie A? Maybe that's why Juve couldn't win the league and even played in the Intertoto when he became their main player.

You can't blame Rivaldo for Barca's lack of sucess. Even being sorrounded by mediocre players he played very, very well. In fact he scored a hat trick at Bernabeu but the referee disalowed a legitimate goal and the game end tied.

Rivaldo also had excellent performances in the UCL. But there's a difference between playing with players like Roberto Carlos, Raul and Figo at their prime and average players.