I still say if the ball is there to be won I will go for it, whether with my head or whatever, and if it means us scoring or stopping a goal, I won't think twice.

I had a little teddy bear called Gordon the gopher. I took him to bed with me, he'd come to school with me cos he was my favourite.

Some of the money from the senior players goes to helping out the younger kids. It is from the players' pool, the fines for being late and so on. Some will go to something like the tsunami appeal and some to helping out young players.

My mum dated a guy from Liverpool. The Liverpool fans made up a song that she 'loves Scouse c*ck'

I have played against (Michel) Platini, (Diego) Maradona, (Johan) Cruyff and played with George Best — a lot of big names, but none of them has been able to do what Messi does. Two years ago I said that the best player I played against was Maradona and the best player I have played with was Bestie. But I can now say I have never seen a player as good as Messi. He’s in a league of his own.

You don't have to be captain to have an opinion.

I like to play snooker, golf as well.