Former Inter fan favourite and fantasista, Alvaro Recoba has been interviewed by sports website Sika Sports. He spoke about his feelings for China and its people where he currently finds himself ahead of an Inter Forever legends match against a Chinese All Stars team.

The Uruguayan first recalled a past visit to the Asian country.

“I was invited here a year ago to play beach soccer, then I received a personal invitation from the President Xi Jinping, which for me was a great honour. It’s not normal for the Chinese Government to invite someone to a formal dinner like this. Both the Chinese and Uruguayan governments were present. It really was a great honour for me to be in attendance. I was able to present them with the Uruguay shirt, I even managed to exchange a few words with the President too where, through him, I thanked the Chinese population. Throughout my time here I was always treated excellently. I was made to feel respected even though I retired from football some time ago.”

During the interview he went on to talk about the Inter fans he has come across in China.

“I was very surprised because many years have passed since I played for Inter but the fact is that during the time I was there, I played alongside some great players. The image of these great players & that Inter has remained in the memory of the fans here.”

Speaking about his personal experiences he mentioned some of his favourite moments in an Inter shirt: “My most important goals in an Inter shirt were the first two, because it was my debut & I was still only a young guy. Looking back they were probably my favourite goals. I played out my career to the best of my abilities but in life you never know, it could have gone much better or even a lot worse than it did, but I am content. I gave my everything. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it wasn’t enough.”