Paul Scholes' super display against Zidane & France at Euro 2004 remembered | OneFootball

Zidane thought so highly of Scholes that he named him as the toughest opponent he ever faced in his career.

Speaking ahead of the 2010 World Cup, Zidane told the Mirror, per the Daily Mail: “Paul Scholes is still in a class of his own. He’s almost untouchable in what he does. I never tire of watching him play.

“You rarely come across the complete footballer, but Scholes is as close to it as you can get.

“One of my regrets is that the opportunity to play alongside him never presented itself during my career.

“He was an extremely tough opponent to play against. You didn’t get any time on the ball when he was around. He would close you down and make your life terribly uncomfortable.

“He is the type of player you want on your side, not in opposition because he could do so much damage.

“He is very gifted. He makes the game look easy because he’s so much natural ability.”

One of their many battles came in the opening game of Euro 2004.

Scholes started on the left of midfield for England vs France on June 13, 2022. But, despite being shifted into an unnatural decision, he ran the show.

His highlights from the game were compiled by YouTube user markg541 and they are a joy to watch. View them below…

Scholes was brilliant that day. There were so many brilliant midfielders on show, including Zidane, Patrick Vieira, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

But it was Scholes who stood above the rest.

He controlled the tempo of the game while also doing his fair share of defensive work.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it to the end of the game as an ankle injury forced him off in the 76th minutes.

And it fell apart in stoppage-time as Zidane scored a free-kick and a penalty in extra-time to secure a dramatic victory for France.

Had Scholes not had to go off, the scoreline may have been very different.