Andrea Pirlo Quotes

Beckham takes free kicks better than me. It is a joy to watch him take free kicks and he has proved that free kicks are not all about power.

There are lots of brilliant free kick specialists in the world. But the technique of Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham fascinates me most of all.

I used to watch Juninho's free-kicks without being able to figure out how he hit them. I tried and tried until, eventually, I came up with my own way to strike them.

As a kid, I looked up to Gazza, and to Wayne Rooney because he came through at Everton. Zidane has been one of my favourite players and I was always watching videos of him.

I don't practise indirect free-kicks, but the technique and how I strike the ball I practise a lot.

As a finisher, there are few players as composed as Messi. When you can score as many different kinds of goal as he can, you have every reason to be confident.

I really like Ronaldinho. He is the player I have watched the most and tried to copy the most, but I am still learning.

Let's be honest: doesn't everyone look at Ronaldo's free kicks? I've looked at a lot of his technique, but I do it in my own way. I have my own style and try not to do the same.

Everybody watches free-kicks, and when you watch them, you enjoy them. You have got to learn how to shoot and connect with the ball and how to move your leg. For everybody, it is different, but if you want to score lots of goals, then free kicks is an extra way to do that.

Ronaldinho and David Beckham, they took free kicks and took them very well, so there are some players I always try to follow and to learn important things from so that I am able to score goals.

Suarez and Neymar play the way they play because of him. They are great players but they are made greater by Messi.

Diego Costa is a good example. He's doing very well, and he's arguably one of the best strikers in the world, so I have to see what he does and add it to my game.

I have grown up as a player watching many champions like Pirlo and Xavi. I have watched them and tried to learn from how they do things.

I can learn a lot from Messi. Watching how he does things will help me a lot in future.

I like to spend time on freekicks after training.

When you think of Bolton you think of the likes of Kevin Davies. He is a captain who leads by example and his qualities got him an England cap.

I used to watch Beckham and Andrea Pirlo. Players like that, they had a fantastic right foot on them; everyone knows that.

I wanted to be Ronaldinho. I studied him a lot. He was my hero.

So much success from set pieces comes from practice. Maybe fans see a well-worked free-kick and think it looks good, but to get that, there has been hours of work that nobody has seen on the training ground.

I always liked No. 10 because I loved Zidane. He was my role model. I always wanted to play like him.

I know how to score goals. That's what I've done all my life, and that's what I'll continue doing.

Ronaldinho was a big influence on me, watching him on YouTube, he used to do things that other people didn't really used to do.

Ronaldinho takes great free kicks and has scored a lot of nice goals from free play.

Whenever we are en route to a game on the bus I am always watching the goals of Ronaldo, Adriano, and Neymar to get some inspiration. Then, when I am on the pitch, I try to replicate what they do.

Growing up, John Terry was my obvious idol. I based my whole game on him.