Fernandinho Quotes

My all-time hero for Sunderland was Kevin Phillips. He was the one I looked up to.

Ronaldinho is the biggest idol in football for me. I like him a lot.

Zico was my idol. He was a very good player from Flamengo, and I was a Flamengo supporter from Rio de Janeiro. I was always looking for him and saying I want to be like him. He's my big hero.

My idol has always been Thierry Henry.

Obviously, Thierry Henry is someone I have looked up to ever since I started playing football.

Del Piero is a player who I have always enjoyed watching. Del Piero has been an inspiration for me throughout my career.

Maradona has done a lot for his clubs, as Messi does, and for the Argentina national team.

Thierry Henry is one of my heroes; he is one of the players I watched when I was younger. When I was 17, I changed position to be a forward, and he, along with the Brazilian Ronaldo, were the two players I tried to mirror my performance on, so I would watch how they scored goals.

I think Charlie George was one of Arsenal's all time great players. A lot of people might not agree with that, but I personally do

Football without Messi and Messi without football are not things that go together.

Best player I ever played against? I mean, I played against many, many good players, so I don't know who to keep. I would say Ronaldo the Fenomeno.

When I started supporting Man United, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole were my heroes growing up.

I saw United matches on TV as a kid in Sao Paulo. I loved watching Ruud van Nistelrooy. He was a hero for me because of the way he scored goals in all competitions.

Some young players think that they want to be like Manuel Neuer.

Who doesn't want play with Thierry Henry?

Growing up watching the Premier League, the person with the most presence was Gilberto Silva. He was everywhere in Brazil. His matches were always televised. He was the main figure I was following in the Premier League.

Rooney's a legend. He's one of my favourite attackers of all time. He's a guy I really do look up to.

Even Gerd Muller, the top scorer in our nation's history, was not perfect.

Schweinsteiger has always been an important player for the national team.

I always had much respect for Rudi Voller.

Harry Kane is one of the best strikers in the world.

People like Paul Scholes were in my way at United - what are you going to do with that? You just look at him as an idol. I have watched him since I was a little kid. I couldn't have had a much better teacher.

At the academy the coaches would show us Arsenal games on TV and my idol was Thierry Henry. He inspired me. That's why I became an Arsenal fan.

Playing with Messi, who is the best player in the world, would be great.

It's just such an honour to be spoken about by Steven Gerrard in such a way, that I might also become such a great player for Liverpool. He is an icon, one of my personal football heroes.