David Beckham hailed AC Milan clubmate Pippo Inzaghi after 'Superpippo' struck twice at Siena to reach the landmark of 300 goals in Italian soccer.
''He's the best pure finisher I've seen since Gary Lineker,'' the England midfielder enthused.
''What's more, he's the perfect professional.
''It's amazing how he keeps himself so sharp at his age,'' said Beckham, 33, of the ex-Juve hitman, who is two years older than him.
Inzaghi is now the fourth-highest marksman in the all-time Italian rankings behind legends Silvio Piola, Giuseppe Meazza and Roberto Baggio, whom he trails by 18.
The next best active goal-getter is Juve's Alessandro Del Piero with 287.
Asked why his rapier skills were still sharp at 35 and a half, Inzaghi said: ''I just feel like a kid, light-hearted and happy''.
His most fondly remembered goals, he said, were ''probably the ones I got in the Champions League Final against Liverpool in 2007,'' when he stole in twice behind the Merseysiders' famously disciplined defence.
Some have put the secret of Inzaghi's success in his famed diet of simple pasta and bresaola, a dried-meat specialty from his northern Italian home.
He himself attaches some importance to lucky charms like the flour he sprinkles inside his jersey before each match.
But Inzaghi-watchers around the world credit him with having the finest-ever instincts for beating the offside trap.
''Inzaghi was born off-side,'' Sir Alex Ferguson once quipped, capturing how the Rossoneri poacher lives so close to the line of the last defender.
