Footballers and their childhood idols, including Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Paul Pogba’s heroes

Footballers and their childhood idols, including Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Paul Pogba’s heroes
When Matt Le Tissier found out Barcelona iconXavi looked up to him as a child, the Southampton legend had a t-shirt specially, which read: ‘Xaviloves me’.The admiration stems from a Spanish television show dedicated to the weekend’s best Premier League goals shownevery Monday and, naturally, featured Le Tissier on a regular basis.“I’m talking outrageous, sickening goals,” Xavi said of the finishes.

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REVEALED: Footballers who played for their boyhood club’s rivals

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Here, talkSPORT.com looks at other footballers and their biggest childhood idols, including Lionel Messi’s hero, the influence of Tottenham on Dennis Bergkamp and who Cristiano Ronaldo looks up to.You can even find out which Premier League legend’s shirt Dimitar Berbatov slept in. 18

1. Xavi loved Matt Le Tissier scroll through the gallery to see other footballers and their biggest idols – Xavi revealed his household was "obsessed" with Southampton legend Le Tissier when the former Barca midfielder was growing up in Spain.

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2. Sergio Aguero was a huge admirer of Liverpool striker Michael Owen – In his autobiography, Aguero wrote: "City fans might not want to hear it, but when I was a kid I wanted to be Owen. I've always liked Liverpool."

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3. David Beckham's hero was Man United midfielder Bryan Robson – Beckham followed in the footsteps of his boyhood hero by becoming England captain and a legendary Man United number seven.

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4. Lionel Messi liked Pablo Aimar – Aimar was a technically brilliant and skilful Argentina international, so it's little surprise Messi was, and still is, a big admirer.

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5&6. Karim Benzema and Zlatan Ibrahimovic really liked Ronaldo – Ibrahimovic, who has played for Juventus, Man United and Barcelona, once said there "will never be a better player than [Ronaldo]" and Benzema credits the former Brazil and Real Madrid ace as the one who influenced his playing style most.

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7. Dimitar Berbatov looked up to Alan Shearer – Berbatov grew up worshiping the Premier League legend. At first I supported Blackburn because Shearer was there, then Newcastle. My parents got me a Newcastle no.9 shirt because they knew I loved Shearer so much. I would sleep in it. Later I lost it, but I went to see my mum recently and she had a shirt for me. I said, What the f**k? Thats my Newcastle shirt! I was so happy to see it again, he told Four Four Two mag.

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8. Dennis Bergkamp loved watching Glenn Hoddle play for Tottenham – The Arsenal legend grew up inspired by the Spurs great, but has rubbished rumours he was a Tottenham fan.

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9&10. Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta both idolised Pep Guardiola – Both midfielders operate in the same position Guardiola did and model their style on the creative Spaniard.

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11&12. Eden Hazard and Mario Gotze idolised Zinedine Zidane – Both players have been inspired by Zidane since childhood, enthralled by his composure on the ball and elegant playing style.

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13. Carlos Valderrama was an idol to James Rodriguez – Many Colombians see Rodriguez as Valderrama's natural successor as the country's football hero.

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14. Thierry Henry was an idol of Robert Lewandowski's – Goal scorers learn from the best and Lewandowski closely studied Henry during the striker's time at Arsenal where he scored 228 goals.

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15. Manuel Neuer really liked Jens Lehmann – Neuer had plenty of great goalkeepers to follow in his youth, but claims ex-Arsenal no.1 Lehmann was his favourite. "First of all he played for Schalke and I was always impressed by his way of playing and his charisma. He is an attacking goalkeeper. I used to come early to home games when I was little to watch Jens warm-up. He was quite innovative and he did exercises during warm-ups that I hadn't seen anyone else do before."

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16&17. Oscar and Paul Pogba both idolised Kaka – Both midfielders harboured dreams of playing at the highest level in Europe, just as Kaka did. The Brazilian won the Ballon d'Or in 2007 while playing for Italian club Milan. Both midfielders harboured dreams of playing at the highest level in Europe, just as Kaka did. The Brazilian won the Ballon d'Or in 2007 while playing for Italian club Milan. Oscar earned a transfer to Chelsea in 2012 before deciding to leave for the Chinese Super League in 2017, while Pogba won the World Cup with France and became the most expensive player in the world when Man United paid Juve 89m for him in 2016. I had videos of Maradona, Pele, Chris Waddle, Kaka many players. I wanted to have all the virtues of those players," he said.

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18. Marco Reus' football idol was Tomas Rosicky – Reus admired the Dortmund midfielder so much he copied everything about him "right down to his sweatbands."

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19. Wayne Rooney was a big fan of Goodison favourite Duncan Ferguson – Everton fan Rooney has always said Ferguson was his childhood hero. As a child he had posters of him on his bedroom wall.

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20. Luis Suarez was a fan of Gabriel Batistuta – Suarez has described Batistuta as the "ultimate" striker and closely studied his playing style to better his own performances.

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21. Fernando Torres' idol was Kiko – Kiko spent most of his career at Atletico Madrid, so the striker was a natural idol to the young Torres, who began his professional career at the club and took over his mantle as club icon.

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22. Cristiano Ronaldo had no particular idol – When Ronaldo was asked to name the person who had influenced him most, he said he had no specific idols and instead motivated himself to be the best.

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Troy Deeney has urged Watford fans not to boo Marco Silva, but rather let the players 'kick the s**t out of' Everton on Saturday. The Portuguese boss returns to Vicarage Road for the first time since he was sacked last season.
Troy Deeney says Watford will 'kick the s**t out of Everton
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SIEGE OF TROY The Portuguese boss returns to Vicarage Road after his controversial move to Merseyside in the summer Troy Deeney has urged Watford fans not to boo Marco Silva, but rather let the players 'kick the s**t out of' Everton on Saturday.
Premier League clubs vote to keep £30 cap on away tickets

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How far every Premier League club's fans travelled this season Some supporters face long treks across the country but which set have been on the road the most this campaign? By Anton Stanley
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Watford Football Club are deeply saddened to learn that club legend Duncan Welbourne passed away this morning, aged 78. Our thoughts are with Duncan's family and friends at this difficult time.
Watford: Oliver Phillips pays tribute to Duncan Welbourne

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Jason Cundy believes Burnley boss Dyche would do better job at Old Trafford Goldstein then asked: "Are you telling me Sean Dyche would be better at Manchester United manager than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer?" Cundy's reply was emphatic: "Yes! "Sean Dyche is a better manager than Solskjaer. He'd get more effort and commitment out of the players.
'Dyche would do better than Solskjaer at Man Utd' - Football365

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Tottenham Hotspur secured a memorable 3-0 win against Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their last 16 Champions League tie. A well-taken finish from Heung-Min Son and a flying volley from the impressive Jan Vertognhen set Mauricio Pochettino's men on the way.
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Borussia Dortmund - Football Match
insider.espn.com/soccer/report?gameId=530635
Tottenham Hotspur will take a commanding lead to the Westfalenstadion next month after beating Borussia Dortmund 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 clash at Wembley. Son Heung-Min, who has scored so many important goals for Spurs this season, netted just after the break
Tottenham 3-0 Dortmund: Spurs take commanding Champions

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Liverpool predicted line up vs Wolves as Jurgen Klopp makes changes for FA Cup clash. Under-23 players Curtis Jones and Camacho, both of whom have been training with the first team for more
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National League side Hartlepool have appointed Richard Money as their new manager. The 63-year-old, a European Cup winner with Liverpool as a player, replaces Matthew Bates who lost his job a
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Jan 31, 2019 · LONDON (AP) — The Latest on transfer deadline day in European soccer (all times local): 1:35 a.m. Fulham signed winger Lazar Markovic from Liverpool in a late move as the January transfer window
Håvard Nordtveit News, Stats, Photos - Norway - Football

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Charlie Austin to leave Southampton this month with Wolves and Aston Villa leading the chase for striker Striker plans to depart St Mary's with game time under Ralph Hasenhuttl proving hard to come by
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Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic responds to punter who lost out on £855 winnings due to missed penalty in FA Cup defeat by Oldham Posted on March 1, 2019 Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has responded to a punter who called him out for missing a penalty in Fulham's shock FA Cup defeat by Oldham.
Fulham's Mitrovic reacts to costing a punter a small fortune

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Chelsea vs Arsenal: Petr Cech insists focus is on winning Europa League with Gunners after reports of Stamford Bridge return Petr Cech maintains his 'sole focus' is to help Arsenal win the Europa League following a report the goalkeeper is to return to his former club Chelsea in a
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Site Archive. Below you will find helpful links to all of the fantastic sections of the Daily Star site. If you're looking for a specific story, you can use our search system which is located in the top-right corner of the site.
Soccer 360 Magazine Issue 72 November / December 2017

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Exciting youngster Christian Pulisic joined at the beginning of the window for £58million, but was immediately loaned back to Borussia Dortmund, but Blues fans will get to see him when he arrives in the summer and he could add a new dimension and spark into Chelsea, who have been overly reliant on Eden Hazard for far too long.

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