Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2021 i FourFourTwo UK

Well, we’ve waited this long – just the 364 days – so now it’s time to enjoy Europe’s greats in one place. Some lucky souls will even get to see them in the flesh, as Euro 2020 welcomes thousands of fans back to its stadiums. And if that’s not worth celebrating alone... Winning wouldn’t hurt either, mind. On that note, we chat to Belgium boss Roberto Martinez about dealing with the expectations of his adopted country, after a weird and wonderful journey to get here himself via ’90s Wigan. There’s no shortage of foes trying to stop Bobby M & Co, though. Kylian Mbappe is carrying French hopes on his shoulders as he hunts a first ever Ballon d’Or; Cristiano Ronaldo has won five of them, meanwhile, but we ask…

Austria 1 Wales 1 April 29, 1992 Friendly “I had three major ambitions as a player: to play for Swansea City, my hometown club; to play for Wales; and to play in the top flight, which I managed to do for the first time when I joined Crystal Palace in 1991. I made my senior Wales debut in the same season that I signed for Palace, coming on as a substitute in a game against Austria at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion. I scored the equaliser with seven minutes left as we drew 1-1 – it was just a tap-in from Lee Nogan’s cross, but I was absolutely overjoyed as you can imagine! I was only 21 at the time.” Crystal Palace 3 Chelsea 1 January 6, 1993 League Cup quarter-finals “I remember…

25 DIDIER AGATHE 24 IAN DURRANT 23 MICHAEL BRADLEY 22 RAUL BRAVO 21 PARK CHU-YOUNG 20 SEYDOU DOUMBIA 19 KOSTAS MITROGLOU 18 DONI 17 MARCO BRANCA 16 MOUSSA DEMBELE 15 DAVID PIZARRO 14 RICHARD WITSCHGE 13 GOKHAN INLER 12 STEPHANE GUIVARC’H 11 ROQUE JUNIOR 10 DANIEL VAN BUYTEN 9 YILDIRAY BASTURK 8 KIM KALLSTROM 7 PAUL LAKE 6 LUC NILIS 5 ALEXANDRE PATO 4 KARIM BAGHERI 3 RICARDO QUARESMA 2 ANDY GORAM 1 ROBERTO MANCINI Peter Taylor said he wasn’t signing a 36-year-old Roberto Mancini for his legs in early 2001 – so it wasn’t ideal that his Leicester team were down to 10 men before half-time in the Italian’s opening two starts. As one former Fox put it, “With the greatest respect about his fitness, it was like having…

What are the expectations back home in Portugal for Euro 2020? When you’re the champions, everyone expects you to compete for it. But we’re not the favourites – we’re just one of the teams that have aspirations to win it, like Germany, France, England, the Netherlands and Spain. But we will be in the fight, that’s for sure. Is this Portugal team even better than the team that won Euro 2016? Quite a few people have asked me that, but I always say that the team that won the Euros in 2016 has to be the best – because we won the trophy. Until we win something with this team, the best one is 2016 – although we have a lot of young players with great ability. In 2019 we…

No nation has spent this long as the best team in the world since all-conquering Spain kept possession of their No.1 rank with the kind of care that defined their purveyors of tiki-taka. Perhaps the most remarkable element of Belgium’s summit stretch, though – going back to October 2018 – is that this is a country of about 11 million people. Or maybe it’s the fact that the man who was widely considered their shining talisman hasn’t actually featured for more than half of that time. In part, that’s due to the 10-month hiatus of international football. But the fact remains: when FFT went to press, Eden Hazard had last played for Belgium in November 2019, in a 6-1 shellacking of Cyprus. Three days earlier, he had scored twice in…

How excited are you about playing at your first major tournament? Massively excited. I only started playing for Wales a quarter of the way through qualification, and it’s been a whirlwind. You were born in Torquay, but have a Welsh grandad. What did it mean to make your Wales debut in 2019? There was some speculation about me being called up, then there was a thing about my grandad’s birth certificate – we couldn’t find it, so at first I couldn’t register. To finally make my debut was a really proud moment and my family was buzzing, particularly my grandad. Had he always been keen for you to play for Wales? Of course – he’s always said it. When you look from an outside perspective, you see the big names…

MALLIK WILKS HULL CITY LOWDOWN No wonder Hull hastily made Wilks’ loan spell from Barnsley permanent after their relegation to League One in 2019-20: the forward smashed 19 league goals in 2020-21 as the Tigers celebrated title glory. The fleet-footed Wilks’ background has been troubled – brother Raheem was shot dead three days before his professional debut in 2017, while Mallik himself received an 18-month suspended prison sentence following a carnival attack the same year – but now his football is making headlines. HIGHLIGHT The 22-year-old’s goal against Rochdale in March exhibited his skills: sweet control on the right wing, breezing past opponents and drilling the ball home from 25 yards. THEY SAID “I saw him do it often at Doncaster,” said boss Grant McCann. “Lots of his goals were…

When England begin their Euro 2020 campaign this month, Darren Bent will spare a thought for the players whose dreams were dashed at the last moment. While the squad prepares at St George’s Park, others will be sat back at home, disconsolate after missing out on selection for the tournament. Bent knows that feeling all too well: few players have been quite as unlucky as he was. The marksman netted 106 Premier League goals in his career – 24 of them in a single season, with Sunderland in 2009-10, but even that didn’t earn him a call-up for the 2010 World Cup. It had been a similar story four years earlier, when the top flight’s leading English goalscorer saw a 17-year-old Theo Walcott go to Germany 2006 in his place,…

When Colombia were announced as co-hosts of the 2020 Copa America, sharing the honours with Argentina, it felt inevitable that things were never going to be straightforward. If awarding the event to two nations situated at opposite ends of South America wasn’t already weird enough, Colombia’s attempts to host major tournaments have never gone well. Back in 1986, Diego Maradona’s greatest moment should have been in Colombia, not Mexico. His heroics at the Estadio Azteca remain among the most iconic moments in football history – but 12 years earlier, it was Colombia who had been officially awarded the 1986 World Cup by FIFA. Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Pereira and Bucaramanga were all due to stage games, and maybe Barranquilla too. But then things went wrong. As the country plunged further into…

TRUE GENIUS Wayne Barton (Reach Sport, £20) In the 16 years since George Best’s death, the ‘Belfast Boy’ has been remembered as much for his notoriety off the pitch as his stellar moments with Manchester United. Featuring a liberal sprinkling of anecdotes from many of his old team-mates, True Genius does a fine job of assessing the legacy of Best the footballer. It describes in stirring detail the Ulsterman’s prodigious display at Benfica in the European Cup quarter-finals, which led to him being dubbed ‘El Beatle’ in 1966. After winning Europe’s top prize against the same team at Wembley two years later, Best appeared to have the world at his feet, but his self-destructive nature meant he had veered off the rails by the early 1970s. Barton’s book provides fresh…

THANKS, STEVE For roughly 15 years, I have battled a gambling and alcohol addiction without really believing that I had a problem. Then, 18 months ago, I woke up in hospital after being in intensive care and a coma for six weeks – surrounded by family and friends, not knowing where I was or how I got there. I swore that I would make changes when I got out – but things only got worse. When reading a recent issue of FFT [325], I was halfway through a 12-pack of beer and online gambling session – but thank you, Steven Caulker. After reading your story about how you overcame similar issues, I’ve poured them down the sink and withdrawn my money. There is hope after all. Anonymous, via email GET…

Cristiano Ronaldo was enjoying the fresh air and chatting with his best friend and advisor, Ricardo Regufe, when out of nowhere he stopped the conversation. With a couple of whistles and a swirl of his right hand, CR7 called time and gave the gesture to his Portugal colleagues – turn around, lads, we’re going home. Without a word, they followed him back to the team hotel like a pack of faithful pets. That scene took place on the Cascais coastline near Lisbon, amid a crowd of fans, photographers and cameramen in October 2019. It’s part of a ritual that the reigning European champions have on matchdays: before each game, players and staff go for a morning walk, mingling with locals, posing for pictures and signing autographs. It rarely lasts more…

The Czech Republic are setting up base camp at Scotland’s regular training ground during Euro 2020 – forcing Steve Clarke’s team to practise in England. The 20 sides that qualified automatically for the tournament were allowed to pick their headquarters in January 2020, before Scotland had taken part in the play-offs to determine whether they would feature at the Euros themselves. The Czechs’ first two group games are at Hampden Park, so they chose Edinburgh’s National Performance Centre for Sport, where Scotland normally train. Croatia also play twice in Glasgow and will be based at the University of St Andrews. That left Scotland with limited options after they beat Serbia to reach Euro 2020 – instead, they will be situated south of the border near Middlesbrough. Well, it worked out…

The first time I had to deal with death threats came nine months before Euro 2004. It was a qualifier between Denmark and Romania, where the visitors needed a win in their last game to qualify. Romania were the better team by miles too, and 2-1 up as the game entered four minutes of injury time. But they started time-wasting to an obscene level, with players walking really slowly for substitutions. I had to book one of them for taking so long over a corner, and kept telling them that I’d be adding that time onto the end, but they carried on. You can guess what happened next: after 94 minutes and 36 seconds, Denmark scored to all but qualify at Romania’s expense. They had nobody to blame but themselves,…

EDGAR DAVIDS BARNET (2012-14) CREDENTIALS A European Cup winner with Ajax aged 22, Davids later bagged a trio of Serie A titles at Juventus in a trophy-hoarding career. The midfielder’s trademark goggles made him a household name as he joined Ryan Giggs and Roberto Carlos on the cover of FIFA 2003, while his tour of megaclubs – throw in Milan, Barcelona and Inter – guaranteed quite the CV. Stints at Tottenham and Championship Crystal Palace raised eyebrows, but the most jaw-dropping move was to come for Holland’s 74-cap hero: a player-manager role at his local side Barnet, bottom of League Two. HOW’D IT GO? Well at first: Davids’ tenacious displays helped the Bees out of the danger zone in 2012-13, but they were eventually relegated. The 1998 World Cup semi-finalist…

1 BARÇA’S TERROR United have a 100 per cent record against Barcelona – played four, won four. That’s in competitive matches, too: the Terrors beat their Catalan rivals home and away in the 1966-67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, and met once again en route to the UEFA Cup Final in 1986-87. This time, Mark Hughes and Gary Lineker lined up for Barça – but again, United humbled the giants at Tannadice and the Camp Nou. 2 BAD REPUTATION ‘Dundee United’ is a common insult in Nigeria, akin to calling someone an idiot. Its origins are hazy, but might well stem from an ill-fated 1972 pre-season tour in which United lost to amateur teams and cheesed off the locals with their honking displays. 3 NORDIC GODS The first players…

Growing up, you had issues with gambling, alcohol and drugs. How did you overcome those problems? I had a difficult time as a teenager. I stopped playing football until I was 16 – I’d be on the street and getting into trouble. At 16, I went to church with my dad. I gave my life to Jesus Christ, and from that moment I felt like a new man. I started playing again, went to school and became a good person. I lived my life as a Christian. If I didn’t change there and then, I had no chance of becoming a footballer, so I’m very grateful for that. Did you think your opportunity was gone? I knew I had a talent for football, but I said to myself, ‘I’m finished,…

You joined Rangers in April 1999 after two spells in Germany – how did you find the switch to Scottish football? Moving to Rangers from Wolfsburg was very exciting, because I got a chance to play in the Champions League and win league titles. At the time we had a really strong squad of internationals, with top players from places like Argentina and France. Which Old Firm matches stand out? I remember the game when we clinched the title, a month after I arrived. We won 3-0 at Celtic Park and the atmosphere was insane. At one point the referee, Hugh Dallas, got hit by a coin and his head was bleeding. I asked a team-mate, “Is this normal? Is this how the derby normally is?” He said, “No, this…

THE GAFFER JOSE MOURINHO “Jose’s still a top boss and his record speaks for itself. I won four trophies with him at Chelsea. Don’t be surprised if he makes a big comeback at Roma and does something really special.” THE SUBS 01 RICARDO CARVALHO 02 WAYNE ROONEY 03 JERMAIN DEFOE DAVID SEAMAN “I remember watching Euro 96 as a kid, and Seaman was a hero of mine. Getting to come through the ranks and actually play with him for England was an honour. He was a terrific goalkeeper: great in the air and an excellent shot-stopper. A national treasure.” PAULO FERREIRA “Paulo is one of the most underrated players in Chelsea history – he was so secure in and out of possession. He never gave a pass away and could…

What’s the first game you attended? I think it was in the 1979-80 season: Bochum vs Braunschweig. My father worked in the steel industry – just like everyone back then – and had clients in Bochum, so I’d watch them quite regularly with his work colleagues. My first Germany game was when I was eight: an under-15 match against Holland in our local stadium. I’ve tried so hard to get a team-sheet from that game because I’ve got no idea who played in it – there may have been the cream of German and Dutch football, or maybe all of them went forgotten without turning professional. Consider this my appeal… Who was your childhood hero? Did you meet them? Like most Germans my age, it’s Lothar Matthaus [right]. My life…

Chelsea’s under-18s have just finished training ahead of their first FA Youth Cup match of the campaign against Cardiff. A gaggle of kids gather round their manager, Jody Morris: Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James, Tariq Lamptey and Mason Mount are there, hands on hips, listening intently. A trinket box of uncut gems. Morris turns to Mount, his captain – but what follows isn’t something the midfielder has become accustomed to hearing. There’s no praise; instead, it’s an almighty rollicking. Chelsea had lifted the FA Youth Cup for three years on the trot, but their latest session just hadn’t been good enough for Morris’ liking. He needed much more from his skipper if the young Blues were going to make it four. So much for being a coach’s favourite. “It was almost…

AHMED HASSAN 184 EGYPT, MIDFIELDER CAPS The four-time AFCON winner made his Egypt debut aged 20 in December 1995, then remained a squad regular for nearly two decades. Hassan, an attacking midfielder, averaged a goal every three games at club level with Anderlecht and Al Ahly (among others), and finally called it quits on 33 international strikes in May 2012 – aged 37 – after a cameo against Togo. BADER AL-MUTAWA 181 KUWAIT, FORWARD CAPS* The pandemic may have delayed Al-Mutawa’s bid to overtake Hassan, but the 36-year-old has made up for lost time in 2021 with three friendly appearances and counting. He’s fired 56 goals in 181 games since debuting in 2003, and nearly joined Nottingham Forest in 2012 after the Al-Hasawi family took over. Alas, work permit problems…

XI BEST: Jim Platt, John Craggs, Willie Maddren, Tony Mowbray, Terry Cooper, Graeme Souness, Wilf Mannion, John Hendrie, Juninho, John Hickton, Mark Viduka. WORST: Andy Dibble (1998 spell), Alan Wright, Phil Whelan, Mick Saxby, Joe Bolton, John Eustace, Allan Johnston, Bobby Thomson, Alex Nimely, Rudy Gestede, Mido. MOMENT B: Massimo Maccarone’s diving header that brought us back from the dead in our 2006 UEFA Cup semi-final against Steaua Bucharest. Lightning had struck twice, as the Italian also scored late to rescue the quarter-final against Basel. W: Entering liquidation in the summer of 1986. It’s hard to get any lower than the idea of not having a club any more. GAME B: Our 2004 League Cup Final win over Bolton finally landed us a trophy after 128 years. It felt like…

What did it mean to you to emulate Diego Maradona by playing for Napoli very early in your career? Throughout my career I had a photograph of Maradona on my left shinpad, and Roberto Baggio on the right. I was the last person to wear Maradona’s shirt number – they retired it after that. It was a huge responsibility, but I tried to do my best to honour his shirt. The fans loved me and treated me phenomenally. Then you joined Inter... I’m a fan of Inter – it was really hard to leave Naples, but having the opportunity to join the team I supported was like a dream. Ottavio Bianchi was the manager, then Roy Hodgson took over when he was sacked. Roy is a very good person and…