Tottenham ace Rafael van der Vaart admits he grew up idolising Romario.

Van der Vaart will be at Newcastle United today and reveals how he grew up in awe of Romario.

He told Absolute Radio: "Romario was always my idol, I don't really know why but he was playing for PSV, and I was supporting Ajax but I liked his style of playing and he made a lot of goals, so he was my idol."

Asked if he felt he was the 'Romario of Tottenham', Van der Vaart laughed: "Yeah, maybe, I don't know, I'm just a normal person who can play good football, and I played good in Madrid and now I play good here, but here I like it more because it's more like a team, its team spirit is good, so I enjoy it here."

  Listen to Newcastle v Spurs on Absolute Radio extra - on DAB Digital Radio, 1215AM and online in the UK from 1.30pm as programming kicks off with Russ Williams for pre-match build up, followed by full live commentary from Jim Proudfoot at 3pm, while Arsenal legend and Ian Wright takes care of post match analysis at 5pm featuring player and manager interviews, fan phone ins and a healthy supply of banter. Tune in to listen to the Van Der Vaart interview. For more go to absoluteradio.co.uk/football

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