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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Hector Bellerin has called on men to 'fight' against abortion laws in the United States after the controversial bill passed in Alabama. The Arsenal defender spoke out about the issue and urged more people in football to do the same, insisting it..
Bellerín: Arsenal star praised for speaking out against

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Newcastle's kit leak for the 2019/20 season shows Puma are reverting to a thicker striped home shirt, ⚫⚪ Newcastle United 19-20 Home Kit Leaked the away and third strips from 2018/19
Is this Newcastle's new home kit? Magpies 2018/19 jersey

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How Chelsea COULD have had a world class team by not selling Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Declan Rice and other stars Talksport Domenico Tedesco's future hangs in the balance after latest
The Latest Franco Di Santo News | SportSpyder

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Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba missed training with the club on Wednesday morning and the reason behind his absence has been revealed.
Jose Mourinho takes Manchester United training without Paul

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Montenegro head coach Ljubisa Tumbakovic insisted he did not hear any racist chanting aimed at England players during Monday night's European Qualifier. England's 5-1 victory in Podgorica was
Montenegro sack manager Ljubisa Tumbakovic after he boycotted

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Barry Douglas has made 27 appearances for Leeds this season The defender left Elland Road in a leg brace, with the scans revealing the club's worst fears. Douglas will be out of action for up to 12 weeks, with the recovery period therefore ruling him out of the Championship run-in.
Leeds fans react to Barry Douglas being ruled out for the

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Emery will also no doubt give his take on Arsenal's transfer window, with the club ending January having only brought in Denis Suarez on loan from Barcelona. The Gunners tried to bring in some other new faces, but couldn't get deals done for various targets - including Ivan Perisic, Yannick Carrasco and Christopher Nkunku.
Arsenal 'doing all they can' to make signings, says Emery

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Cardiff manager Neil Warnock and chief executive Ken Choo will attend Emiliano Sala's funeral in Argentina on Saturday. The 28-year-old had signed for Cardiff in a club-record £15million move
Emiliano Sala funeral Cardiff boss Neil Warnock to attend

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Notts County owner Alan Hardy says he has accepted an offer for the club "from a very credible party". They are currently undertaking due diligence to purchase the Sky Bet League Two strugglers
Alan Hardy has 'accepted an offer' to sell Notts County

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Marko Arnautovic is prepared to risk the wrath of West Ham supporters after telling the club he wants to leave and challenge for titles in China. West Ham's star striker is adamant he is ready

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FA Cup: Millwall 3-2 Everton highlights. Murray Wallace scored a dramatic 94th-minute winner to earn Millwall a famous FA Cup fourth-round win over Everton at The Den. Everton led when keeper Jordan Archer failed to hold Richarlison's strike before Lee Gregory's looping header levelled the scores.
Everton's season is on the line ahead of their FA Cup trip to

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