With Eric Cantona turning 50 on Tuesday, we look at some lesser-known facts about the former Manchester United maverick.

- Cantona's penalty technique involved watching the goalkeeper, waiting until the bend of their knees revealed which direction they would dive in, and shooting the opposite way. He was considered among the finest penalty takers of his generation.

- The forward's first appearance for Manchester United came in a friendly against Benfica, in Lisbon, that had been organised to mark Eusebio's 50th birthday.

- When asked to select his dream team, Cantona chose the late Johan Cruyff as his manager for the Dutchman's "tactical brain", even over Sir Alex Ferguson who inspired his finest football. Roy Keane was the only United team-mate he included.

- His family home, having been born in the Caillols district of Marseille, was originally a cave in the foothills of the Massif de la Sainte Baume. The cave was used by the Nazis as a lookout post during World War Two before Cantona's grandfather transformed it into a home in 1955.

- According to Roy Keane, when Cantona's name came out of a hat to win a total of £16,000 taken from £800-contributions from several United players, he gave £8,000 to both Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt. David Beckham and the Neville brothers, then in their youth, felt they could not afford to risk the £800 so chose not to participate; Butt and Scholes also could not but Cantona was rewarding their courage for taking the risk.

- Cantona is a prolific reader, and his three favourite books are Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Hermann Hesse's Narcissus & Goldmund, and a collection by Antonin Artaud.

- His career began at S.O. Caillolais. While there, most of Cantona's appearances came as a goalkeeper.