da fezbet： Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk revealed how LeBron James and Tom Brady inspire him to "get the maximum" out of himself in his quest to become the best.
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Van Dijk taking inspiration from JamesFollows other top athletes such as Djokovic & FedererDefender determined to keep quadruple hopes aliveWHAT HAPPENED?
Van Dijk, who recently collaborated with James for the launch of his new fashion line ‘LFC x LeBron,’ received a motivating message from the basketball icon. In the message, James expressed his confidence in Van Dijk's ability to achieve "amazing things" for Liverpool and encouraged him to "strive for greatness" – which is also the name of James’ documentary.
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Van Dijk embraced James' words, recognising the significance of pushing oneself to the maximum potential in every aspect of life and sports to reach the zenith of success. And there is little doubt that he will use the mantra for the best cause against fiercest rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup on Sunday.
WHAT VAN DIJK SAID
“That phrase (Strive for Greatness) he uses is perfect and it could be used for a lot of things,” said the Liverpool skipper.
“We have had messages passed between us. For me personally, I definitely try and follow that because I want to achieve the most I can in life and get the maximum out of myself, the team and the position we’re in. We’re in a good place to do that this season, again. Every season is always a challenge, but this season we’re in a special situation.
“I look at all the top athletes because I feel they all have a big role, either as a role model or for their team and community, and there are so many things you can learn. There’s LeBron, [Novak] Djokovic, Roger Federer, Tom Brady – I could name so many. I like to listen to these guys and learn how they dealt with being at the top and dealing with difficult moments, but also good moments.”
DID YOU KNOW?
In adopting aspects of James' lifestyle, Van Dijk has incorporated personalised recovery methods, including having his own physiotherapist and chef, to ensure optimal preparation for each game.
“Those two parts are very important,” he said. “I do my recovery stuff so I can be optimally prepared for the next challenge, especially when you’re having three games a week. It was already fine, but I want to be better and make the most out of it, and that hard work nobody sees is the key to success.”