Philippe Coutinho says he and Liverpool pal Luis Suarez learned their football playing street soccer.
Coutinho and Uruguayan goal king Suarez honed their talent in six-a-side matches on the potholed roads outside their homes.
And An?eld No.10 Coutinho said: "Playing with a ball made out of old socks, or even a bottle top, made you learn to love a proper football.
"It was the same for Luis and playing street football has definitely helped our understanding together at Liverpool.
"There is not much space to play in the Premier League and teams try to stop us, especially at An?eld.
"It helps if you can see the little bits of space we learned to exploit on the streets."
