The Huyton hammer admits that he has idolised Zidane's mercurial talents from the comfort of his own home as the 31-year-old has shined for both the Spanish giants and Italian side Juventus in recent years.
Now the Liverpool captain will get a much closer view of Zidane's unrivalled skills in Portugal, and it is a challenge he is eager to take on.
Gerrard said: "I've admired Zidane for years and I love watching him. I followed his progress when he was at Juventus, watching his games on Channel 4 and Eurosport. I've continued to follow him since he's been at Real Madrid. He's just a superb player, great to watch.
"If someone had said to me during the 1998 World Cup, 'You're going to be up against him for Euro 2004', I'd have said I didn't believe them and that I didn't think it was possible. I didn't really think I was going to 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. It will be weird. It used to be a case of watching him on the telly, and clapping, but now I'll get the chance to stop him doing all of those wonderful things."