11 October 2004
Ashley Cole press conference

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Cole is already one of football's most-respected defenders in many people's eyes, especially following his sterling performances during Euro 2004.

In fact, England Head Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson recently described the Arsenal man as 'world class' and was hugely impressed with his performance against Wales on Saturday.

But the Three Lions star is surprisingly modest as he prepares to take on Azerbaijan on Wednesday. And he insists he can still learn from Brazilian legend Carlos - teammate of course of David Beckham and Michael Owen at Real Madrid.

"I don't know about being world class. But hopefully one day I would like to be talked about like that," he said.

"I don’t think I’m anywhere near Roberto Carlos, that’s what I’m trying to aim to be. I don’t think I’m as good as him yet.

"You’ve got to like Carlos to be honest. I always try to base my game on how he plays and focus on how he plays. I like the way he attacks and gets back as well so he is the one I’d like to be as good as him one day."

Cole will pay a visit to Robert Carlos' backyard next month when England play a friendly against Spain in Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium.

And the left-back believes he is improving all the time at international level.

He said: "I know I can play better than I have played for England, I know I can still improve. But I do feel more confident after Euro 2004.

"Suddenly after the championships I thought 'Now I can defend and I can attack as well at the same time and not get exposed."

"It’s just confidence, really, that's made the difference. Now I feel a bit more comfortable with the team and I feel more part of it. For me, I’ve always been a confidence player, I needed confidence to play well and I think the manager does give me confidence and I do feel I’m more of a team member for England these days.

"The good thing is that I’m confident in the way I’m playing and happy in the way I’m playing. Playing with people like Sol and Rio with England as well I’m always going to improve."

That's good news for the Three Lions as we try to qualify for the World Cup finals in Germany in 2006. But the amazing thing about Ashley Cole is that he didn't start life as a defender - he started as a striker!

No wonder he is so exciting going forward.

He said: "I didn't really want to be a left-back when I was growing up. In fact I used to base my game on Romario!

"I’ve always liked scoring goals and attacking. But when I got asked to go left-back for the youth team I had to just take it. It was a pleasure for me to play for the Arsenal youth team so, and at the end of the day I don’t think I would have made it as a striker. So I’m grateful for playing left-back and I will never be disappointed that I moved position.

"Don't get me wrong, I love left-back now. That is my position, I always want to play there but, as I said, when you are young you just want to score goals and attack."

RomarioAs England prepare to play in Baku without suspended captain David Beckham, Cole's attacking qualities could actually prove even more useful.

It means Sven has the option to play him on the left of midfield if required, and Cole is happy to play anywhere.

"As I’ve said I love attacking," he added. "I love being up there and if they asked me to go on the left wing then, yeah, I wouldn’t mind!"

Whether Sven will choose to use that option is anyone's guess. But Cole believes England will go into Wednesday's game full of confidence and determined to pick up three points.

He said: "It’s going well at the moment, we are top of the table. So we are happy with that and we’ve got another tough game in Azerbaijan. It won’t be an easy game going there. They will have a lot of fans on their side, obviously, so we’ll have to take it as it comes. But if we win this then it’s definitely going well.

"I think before these two games we would have said to win both was our plan. We're half way there and if we achieve our aim then we'll be in a very good position."