Italy and Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi has named Manchester United legend Roy Keane as his “absolute hero” and revealed that he dedicated the birth of his daughter to the Red Devils icon.
In an interview where he also revealed his admiration for British music bands Oasis, Coldplay, Mumford and Sons and The Rolling Stones, De Rossi said his hero is the now-retired Irishman.
“Keane is my absolute hero. The 16 on my shirt is, along with the birthday of my daughter Gaia, dedicated to him,” said De Rossi, as reported by Football Italia.
Furthermore, the Roma star revealed he just had to ask Keane for a photo when he met him two years ago: “He is the only person in the world I asked for a photo with, two years ago. I was too embarrassed to ask Diego Maradona, but with Keane I couldn’t resist.”
The pair are both at Euro 2016, with De Rossi starting both games for the Azzurri so far, while Keane is working as an assistant manager for the Republic of Ireland.
The former Manchester United and Nottingham Forest star retired from football in 2006 after a season with Celtic in Scotland. He has since gone on to manage Sunderland and Ipswich Town, as well as being Paul Lambert’s assistant at Aston Villa.
De Rossi also revealed he decided to wear the number 16 shirt for both club and country because Keane donned the same number at Old Trafford.
The Italian 2006 World Cup winner has had an indifferent start to Euro 2016, despite his side winning all of their games. Rossi has made three clearances and one interception, but he hasn’t created any chances for his teammates and has won just 29% of his duels.
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