Revealed: The midfielders who Casemiro admires
“I enjoy talking about such players, it's a pleasure, players who were winners and defined a footballing era. It's an absolute pleasure for me.”
Those are the words of Casemiro during an impassioned interview all about the fellow midfielders who have inspired him as idols, mentors and team-mates.
The exclusive video is available to watch below and, as you will see, our Brazilian no.18 is dropping names… and legendary ones at that!
Here, you can read his words of praise for an iconic group of midfield masters…
PAUL SCHOLES
Casemiro: “I watched a lot of United games as a child. The one who stood out in midfield was Paul Scholes, with his aggression and shooting from outside the area. He's a player who I wanted to play alongside one day. It would have been a pleasure. If I could choose a player from the past to play with, I would choose him alongside me in midfield. His career, the trophies he's won, to have succeeded at a great club like Manchester United deserves applause and admiration. I simply applaud him for the great player he was and the type of player that has left a mark on the history of Manchester United.”
The exclusive video is available to watch below and, as you will see, our Brazilian no.18 is dropping names… and legendary ones at that!
Here, you can read his words of praise for an iconic group of midfield masters…
PAUL SCHOLES
Casemiro: “I watched a lot of United games as a child. The one who stood out in midfield was Paul Scholes, with his aggression and shooting from outside the area. He's a player who I wanted to play alongside one day. It would have been a pleasure. If I could choose a player from the past to play with, I would choose him alongside me in midfield. His career, the trophies he's won, to have succeeded at a great club like Manchester United deserves applause and admiration. I simply applaud him for the great player he was and the type of player that has left a mark on the history of Manchester United.”
Casemiro’s Idols Video
Casemiro’s Idols
Casemiro's Idols | The Brazilian runs the rule over Busquets, Dunga, Kroos, Modric, Scholes and Zidane…
ZINEDINE ZIDANE
Casemiro: “Everyone knows I'm a huge fan of Zidane and it's a huge pleasure to say this, as he's the coach under whom I achieved everything. It's a pleasure to have him as an idol.”
BRAZILIANS
Casemiro: “I could give you five names, defensive midfielders in particular, as Brazil has always had a production line of such players, specialists in their position. Mauro Silva, Dunga, Donato as well who played for [Deportivo] La Coruna. Players from before that were specialists in the no.6 position. More recently we've had Fernandinho who was another great player, Fabinho, another great player. I think Brazil has always specialised in the central midfield position.”
Casemiro: “Everyone knows I'm a huge fan of Zidane and it's a huge pleasure to say this, as he's the coach under whom I achieved everything. It's a pleasure to have him as an idol.”
BRAZILIANS
Casemiro: “I could give you five names, defensive midfielders in particular, as Brazil has always had a production line of such players, specialists in their position. Mauro Silva, Dunga, Donato as well who played for [Deportivo] La Coruna. Players from before that were specialists in the no.6 position. More recently we've had Fernandinho who was another great player, Fabinho, another great player. I think Brazil has always specialised in the central midfield position.”
TONI KROOS AND LUKA MODRIC
Casemiro: “When you win, it's even more enjoyable, without a doubt. It's Luka Modric and Toni Kroos who I most enjoyed playing with. We played together for 10 years, a lot of finals, great games, a lot of training sessions and a lot of laughs in our day to day and in the dressing room. It was really enjoyable. I also enjoyed playing with Paulinho and Renato for the Brazilian national team. I enjoy playing with Bruno [Fernandes] here and now with Kobbie [Mainoo], with [Christian] Eriksen and Scott [McTominay], I enjoy playing with all these team-mates. At Porto, I played with Hector Herrera, another player I really enjoyed playing with. Obviously when you win as much as I did at Real Madrid, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are two players who will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
Casemiro: “When you win, it's even more enjoyable, without a doubt. It's Luka Modric and Toni Kroos who I most enjoyed playing with. We played together for 10 years, a lot of finals, great games, a lot of training sessions and a lot of laughs in our day to day and in the dressing room. It was really enjoyable. I also enjoyed playing with Paulinho and Renato for the Brazilian national team. I enjoy playing with Bruno [Fernandes] here and now with Kobbie [Mainoo], with [Christian] Eriksen and Scott [McTominay], I enjoy playing with all these team-mates. At Porto, I played with Hector Herrera, another player I really enjoyed playing with. Obviously when you win as much as I did at Real Madrid, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are two players who will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
'Modric and Kroos will stay with me forever' Video
'Modric and Kroos will stay with me forever'
Casemiro's Idols clip | Our no.18 has played with great midfielders, but Toni Kroos and Luka Modric are special to him…
SERGIO BUSQUETS
Casemiro: “I'm a great admirer of Busquets. Though we play quite far apart from each other, he plays as a first midfielder like I do on the other side, so we don't have that many battles, he tried to command his team and I try to command my team. I enjoy talking about such players, it's a pleasure, players who were winners and defined a footballing era. It's an absolute pleasure for me, especially to speak about Busquets, with whom I had great battles for a long time. He was a player who defined an era. For me, alongside [Lionel] Messi, he was the team's most important player. All due respect to the others, in my opinion, alongside Messi, in Barcelona's most successful spell, Busquets was the most important player alongside Messi. So it's great that football has produced such admirable players.”
Casemiro: “I'm a great admirer of Busquets. Though we play quite far apart from each other, he plays as a first midfielder like I do on the other side, so we don't have that many battles, he tried to command his team and I try to command my team. I enjoy talking about such players, it's a pleasure, players who were winners and defined a footballing era. It's an absolute pleasure for me, especially to speak about Busquets, with whom I had great battles for a long time. He was a player who defined an era. For me, alongside [Lionel] Messi, he was the team's most important player. All due respect to the others, in my opinion, alongside Messi, in Barcelona's most successful spell, Busquets was the most important player alongside Messi. So it's great that football has produced such admirable players.”
Casemiro: I wanted to play with Scholes Video
Casemiro: I wanted to play with Scholes
Casemiro's Idols clip | "If I could choose a player from the past to play with, I would choose Paul Scholes"...