A Scudetto winner in his first season with Juventus, striker Paulo Dybala has been speaking to El Pais. He started off by explaining that; “I wanted to look like Riquelme. I also liked Ronaldinho a lot, I saw all his matches and I admire Messi and Neymar. I improved my own ability by looking at many colleagues on the field, in particular Franco Vazquez when I was in Palermo”. He continued; “Now I say I resemble Tevez with the way I operate with the ball. I was selfish as a child but as I grew older I learned to share things and how that makes you feel good”.
 

Dybala spoke of his ambitions: "When I go into the field I’m transformed. I like to joke and go out with friends. They say that I have the face of a child, but inside I want to play football like someone who is 30. When I look in the mirror I see a guy who despite being young wants to grow and become important. I would compare it to a cat that presents itself as a tiger. I trust in myself and I’m determined to grow".  

When the subject moved onto his fellow squad members he explained that; “Buffon is a leader. It struck me immediately how he transmits the will to win. At 38 he continues to improve by working hard every day. He gives us the inner strength and with him it’s easier to win. When I was called up for the Argentine national team for the first time and shook the hand of Tata Martino I fulfilled a dream from when I was a child. The players at Juve teach you that every day you have to engage in battle. There are people here who have won everything and they could relax, but instead they fight to continue to win again. For a 22 year-old there are people to aspire to. I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy here but I have played and scored more than I thought I would. It’s been easy playing with Mandzukic, Morata, Zaza.   

Dybala then explained that: “When I arrived in Italy I worked on my physique. I was not accustomed to the hard tackling. Gattuso has helped me so much; he taught me how to avoid getting hit by an opponent”.


Steve Mitchell @barafundler