Chong: I pretended to be Giggs as a kid

TAHITH Chong says he used to pretend he was United legend Ryan Giggs when he grew up playing football.

The 20-year-old admits he never had an interest in football prior to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but was left in tears when he saw France lose to Italy in the final.

That tournament sparked a fascination with the game and ever since the youngster has looked to study the sport at every opportunity, and a fondness for Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous 2007/08 squad soon followed.

Although the Dutch youngster cites Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney as two idols, he admits it is current Wales manager Giggs who he used to imitate.

“When I was young, it helped that on a typical school day, your classes would finish around midday and you’d be done for the day,” he said. “I would go back and do my homework. Quick, quick, quick. Then I could go out into the back garden to play football.

“Just me, by myself, pretending to be players and saying things like: ‘It’s Giggs on the ball.’ I loved it.

“There were loads of big players at the time but Giggsy was definitely the one who comes to mind straight away. It was just a fun thing to do as a kid. I would see them on the TV and try to copy their skills. It was really cool.

“Of course, I watched United. It’s crazy to think back in the day when I was playing on the Xbox and I would pick United a lot of the time. They had Ronaldo and Rooney. I’d create myself as a player, bring myself on and that is just crazy when I think about it now.”