Bollocks is he greater than Zidane.
Sorry but only people over the age of 26 can really truly understand the beauty of Zidane as a player and people will always regard him as alongside such players as el diego, pele, cruyff and puskas.
Messi is a modern day great I am not denying that nor am I denying he one day will probably surpass Zidane but he needs to make a major impact on the world cup to do so imo.
puskas never made a major impact on a world cup.
kocsis, meanwhile, was earth-shattering in '54, equally prolific at club level, and isn't regarded on the same level as puskas at all.
so pop goes your theory.
I can't rank zizou alongside pele, garrincha, maradona, di stefano and cruyff. he's on the level below them (zico, baggio, kocsis, puskas, best, platini, maldini, giggs, etc.). the only player in the modern era who stood a chance of matching the top level guys was original ronaldo. poor guy had injuries deny him, though, which leaves him in that second group.
zizou was inconsistent in '98 and france needed a lot of luck, some granite-balled defenders, and a convinient epileptic fit/dissenting team doctor controversy to the best player in the world at the time in the 24 hours leading up to the final.
not that zizou wasn't majestic in the final, but my point is to illustrate that circumstance can greatly influence how a player can impact on the world stage (di stefano, brilliant club player, was shit on the international stage for all 3 countries he played for). hopefully messi's circumstances will allow him to succeed, as zizou's did in '98.