With Luis Figo launching his bid for the Fifa presidency at Wembley today, here are some facts you probably didn’t know about the Barcelona and Real Madrid legend.
1. Growing up, his heroes included Diego Maradona, Zico, Fernando Chalana and Paulo Futre – most famous in Britain for refusing to play at West Ham unless he was given the number 10 shirt.
2. He cites his goal against England in Euro 2000 as his favourite. And well he might – it’s pretty good, even if it does hurt us to watch it…
3. Despite never having played in England, Figo speaks excellent English – and with good reason. He told Four Four Two: “When I was living in Barcelona, I had to improve my English to seduce my wife, who is Swedish. I think that was the crucial moment.”
4. Figo once celebrated winning the title with Barcelona by dyeing his hair purple and red and having a dig at rivals Real Madrid by shouting: “White cry-babies, salute the champions!” He later signed for Real. Awks.
5. Figo and his wife Helen used to own a Japanese restaurant in Barcelona.
6. He collects watches and reckons to have about 40. That’s a lot of watches.
7. Figo says he has never been drunk. His favourite drink is Sprite. Which explains why he’s never been drunk.
8. He loves Mary J Blige and his favourite film of all time is The Champ.
9. Figo had a brief appearance in a Portuguese film called Second Life in 2009. It’s a bit saucy – plot keywords on IMDB include “topless female nudity”, “red panties” and “threesome”.
10. Another of Figo’s big loves is art. He cites Picasso, Goya and Velasquez among his favourite artists. Not many footballers can say that.
Source: SNAPPA
