I stole David, Ronaldinho’s secrets: Pirlo
Former Italy international Andrea Pirlo said he stole exteammates David Beckham and Ronaldinho's secrets while playing for Serie A football club A.C. Milan.
The former England midfielder Beckham and exBrazil star Ronaldinho played alongside Pirlo at AC Milan in between 2008 to 2011.
"At Milan we had (David) Beckham, Ronaldinho, (Clarence) Seedorf .... a lot of good kickers. We talked to each other, we watched each other and we stole each other's secrets," the 38-year-old was quoted as saying by goal.com on Tuesday.
Pirlo, who made 284 appearances for A.C Milan from 2001 to 2011 also said he used to learn adapting Brazilian Juninho's free-kick style but failed to understand his execution technique.
"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," the former midfielder said. Manchester United jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Watford in an English Premier League (EPL) match at Vicarage Road but conceded two late goals before getting an insurance tally from Jesse Lingard to secure a 4-2 victory.
The outcome on Tuesday brings United to within five points of EPL leaders Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
Ashley Young, the hero of last weekend's home win over Brighton and Hove Albion, put the visitors up 1-0 with a strike in the 19th minute -- his first goal away from Old Trafford since March 2015.
Six minutes later, the 32year-old Young made it 2-0 for the Red Devils with a brilliant free kick after Paul Pogba was fouled.
A poor clearance by Watford put the ball at the feet of Lingard, whose fine pass set up Anthony Martial to boost United's lead to a seemingly insurmountable 3-0.
But the picture changed suddenly in the final 15 minutes of regulation, starting with a foolish foul by United's Marcos Rojo against Roberto Pereyra.
Troy Deeney converted from the spot and Abdoulaye Doucoure scored from close range minutes later to narrow the deficit to 3-2.
Watford flew forward in pursuit of the equaliser but Lingard closed the door, getting the fourth goal for United with a great individual effort.
Man City, undefeated after 13 matches, will host Southampton in the next match at the Etihad with a chance to restore their lead over United to eight points.
In Tuesday's other games, Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-2 at Leicester City to fall out of the top four as the Foxes, who were in the drop zone a month ago, climbed to ninth place on the strength of goals by Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy.
Brighton managed a scoreless draw at home against Crystal Palace, while visiting Newcastle United came from behind to finish 2-2 with West Bromwich Albion. United chief coach Jose Mourinho took a dig at his side and said they should have been smoking cigars after scoring the initial three goals and conceding one but got into trouble in the English Premier League (EPL) tie against Watford.