"I love watching Zidane," claims the Kop star. "I've admired him for so long. I followed him when he was at Juventus and watched his games on Channel 4 and Eurosport when I could. I've also followed him very closely since he's been at Real Madrid. He's just a superb player and great to watch.
"It'll be weird [playing against Zidane]. When I associate myself with Zidane, it's usually just watching him on telly and clapping, but now I'll get the chance to stop him from doing all those wonderful things: creating and scoring goals.
"If someone had said to me during the 1988 World Cup, 'You're going to be up against him in England's opening game of Euro 2004,' I'd have said, 'I don't believe you, that's not possible.' For one, I didn't really think I was gonna get to the level I'm playing at now, so playing against Zidane never crossed my mind.
"Now it's just around the corner, which is amazing. To be honest, it'll be a privilege just to be on the same pitch as him. I'll show him a lot of respect but I won't fear him. I'll just be concentrating on my own job and trying to get the best result for England. There's quality throughout the France team, you can't just concentrate on one player. If I come up against Zidane during the game then I'll try and get the better of him - simple as that."