Innehållsförteckning för June 2019 från FourFourTwo UK

England 1 Japan 1 June 26, 2013 Friendly “Hope Powell was manager at the time and had a reputation for not giving new players much of a chance – so when you got one, you knew you deserved it. Japan were world champions and I came on for my debut. Jade Moore came on at the same time and Hope was giving her loads of instructions: ‘Do this, do that, don’t do that’. She then turns to me, this woman who’s so stern with everyone and hadn’t called me up for ages, and says, ‘Just go out and enjoy yourself’. I was like, ‘Excuse me?!’ It ended 1-1. I scored but it was ruled out for offside – I’ll always remember that.” Liverpool 3 Bristol Academy 0 October 12, 2014…

When FourFourTwo magazine was launched in 1994, there were four players I considered the best in the world: Roberto Baggio, Romario, Bebeto and Hristo Stoichkov. Romario reminded me of Gerd Muller – he wasn’t tall or a great header of the ball, but he was a penalty-box player. Like Muller, he could turn in the box. You didn’t know whether he’d turn left or right. He was short but so strong – you thought that maybe he was overweight, but he wasn’t. His body shape was important for his game. Stoichkov wasn’t a typical player either – not always very elegant like Baggio, but defenders weren’t used to playing against a guy like him. Again, he was just so physically strong and he wasn’t afraid to take you on, one…

FourFourTwo travelled to France to meet Pele and Kylian Mbappe at an exclusive Paris event, and we even got the chance to speak to the Brazilian great. Last summer, Mbappe followed Pele by becoming only the second teenager in history to score in a World Cup final, and the French forward was clearly in awe of the 78-year-old as they met for the first time. “I keep touching him to make sure he’s real!” joked the Paris Saint-Germain starlet as his proud family sat in the front row for the event at the swish Hotel Lutetia. FFT also got the opportunity to have a quick chat with Pele ourselves, and found him in a friendly mood as we told him about the magazine’s 25th anniversary. He was interviewed for the…

Just how different were the facilities in 1994 to the flashy setups we see now? When I first went to Blackburn in 1992 we didn’t have our own training ground, so we would train on a public field next to a cemetery. We had to stop when a hearse drove past. There were no laundry facilities, either, so we had to take all our kit home and wash it ourselves. It wasn’t what I was used to at Southampton – down there, we pretty much had everything done for us. Does it annoy you when people dismiss Blackburn’s Premier League title win because of the money that Jack Walker spent on building the squad? Other than Leicester in 2015-16, who hasn’t spent big money? Manchester United have always been very…

“A TRULY GREAT PLAYER ALWAYS FINDS A WAY TO GET THE JOB DONE” Back in the summer of 2002, after my first night spent training with Scottish Second Division club Dumbarton, my phone rang. A journalist told me that Queen’s Park, who I had left a week previously, had just been demolished 7-1 by David Moyes’ Everton in a pre-season match at Hampden Park. The scoreline wasn’t a complete surprise when you consider the might of an English Premier League outfit going up against a newly relegated team in the lowest tier of Scottish football. What was surprising was the fact that an unknown 16-year-old had run amok. He had scored four of the seven goals. Fast-forward three months and it wasn’t a bunch of part-timers that were being taken…

Given how few times Zinedine Zidane played on British soil, I’m glad I watched Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on December 15, 2001 – the night I saw my favourite player of all time with the naked eye. By Zizou’s standards, it wasn’t a standout display. Following his huge €77.5 million move from Juventus that summer, he’d only been one of Florentino Perez’s Galacticos for half a season and wasn’t yet bossing the show at the club. He didn’t score in the 3-1 win over a Real Sociedad side that boasted a young Xabi Alonso in its ranks, but it didn’t matter. There were enough touches, faints, swivels and perfectly-weighted passes to give the crowd its money’s worth. And Zidane certainly dispelled any doubts that he could co-exist with fellow…

Mark Goldbridge is nursing a lager shandy in a pub near his Solihull home. He’s suffering from a bout of man flu. He doesn’t mention it, but I know because he announced it on my television last night – streamed from my phone – before embarking on a rant about Manchester United. How thoroughly modern. He may not embrace the term ‘YouTuber,’ but that’s undeniably what he is, broadcasting his thoughts to the wider world as a presenter of The United Stand channel. That said, Goldbridge doesn’t really fit the clichéd YouTuber profile. He is, in the parlance, a grown-ass man, old enough to remember hooliganism, Teletext and Italia 90, and as such, he considers The United Stand as the natural progression of a more traditional form of fan interaction.…

MALTA’S SPANISH INQUISITION With Spain needing to beat an admittedly poor Malta by at least 11 goals to reach Euro 84, qualification is seemingly nailed on for the Netherlands in December. “Eleven goals?” spits Maltese goalkeeper John Bonello before kick-off. “Not against me, not against anyone.” Spain concede an equaliser at 1-0, but four-goal hauls from Santillana and Poli Rincon, plus Juan Senor’s late strike, help to seal a 12-1 win. Years later, two Maltese players accuse the Spanish of doping because “they had foam in their mouths”, also claiming they’d been drugged themselves by tainted lemons at half-time. PAISLEY’S PIPE, SLIPPERS AND CARDY In May, Liverpool manager Bob Paisley brings an end to 44 years at Anfield as a player, physio and coach, having lifted 21 major honours including…

When Bursaspor decided to build a new stadium, they had a brainwave. Why not make it look like a massive crocodile? The Turkish outfit are called the Green Crocodiles and their 43,000-capacity Timsah Arena was opened in 2015, although construction of the signature crocodile’s head was actually completed only a year or so ago. Sadly, the stadium has proved less than daunting for visiting sides. Despite using a small army of loanees, including Premier League greats Diafra Sakho and Henri Saivet, Bursaspor have been in a relegation battle this term – a far cry from their days as Turkish champions in 2010 when they took on Manchester United, Valencia and Rangers in the Champions League. Admittedly, that group stage campaign didn’t go massively well. Bursaspor were pumped 4-0 and 6-1…

“How young do I look there?” Eddie Howe is gazing forlornly at a picture of his former self, taken 25 years ago, the first time we met. Commissioned by FourFourTwo to interview a youth player, I discovered that my cousin had been at school with the young Howe, so simply phoned his house and arranged to meet him at Dean Court. It’s a very different approach today. Following high-level negotiations I’m summoned to the Vitality Stadium, which is gleaming in the south coast sunshine. The pitch is immaculate, and it’s a hive of activity. I’m even impressed that it has a reception. Last time, I just hung around by the entrance until he appeared. Pleasingly, Howe has equally vivid memories of that fateful day, although he initially thought the whole…

Paul Gascoigne was so good, so exceptional, so eager, so dominant, so admired by all – looked up to by all – that very often he could be a liability. Not by making a mistake, mucking things up or just mucking around, which often he did and as even the very best players do, but by the force of his personality. He would demand the ball, attract it like a magnet from his team-mates, even when they were in better positions. So they would pass the ball back or sideways to him when he was in a stupid or unpromising position and, heavily marked, he would lose it. Watching him at Spurs, I used to shout and scream at them not to pass back to Gazza, when they were all…

HIS STATS STAND UP THE MAN PERENIALLY LAUDED AS THE LEAGUE’S FINEST STRIKER: THIERRY HENRY In his recent book Nothing Is Real, music writer David Hepworth argues that The Beatles, the most highly-praised band in history, were underrated. It feels similar putting forth the case that Sergio Aguero doesn’t get a fair crack of the whip when it comes to acclaim. Now, the Argentine maestro, who has already been called “a legend” by no lesser judge than Pep Guardiola, isn’t exactly suffering from low self-esteem. But we still reckon there’s a case to be made that Manchester City’s No.10 is better than people think he is. Sergio is oddly uncelebrated. The striker has never troubled a Ballon d’Or top three. His mantlepiece is unencumbered by either a PFA or FWA…

There are hat-tricks, and then there are hat-tricks. On Sunday, June 17, 2001, Barcelona had to beat Valencia to salvage Champions League football from the wreckage of a disastrous campaign that had begun with Luis Figo crossing a bitter divide to Real Madrid, and got worse from there. Los Che just needed a draw. Step forward Barça’s totem: Rivaldo. The Brazilian’s treble – a 30-yard free-kick, a long-range smash and, in the 87th minute, a scarcely credible overhead kick from the edge of the penalty area – were goals of such skill that each finish deserves monuments, paintings and operas dedicated to their visionary beauty. The Catalans won 3-2. The Camp Nou erupted. “I dedicate the winning goal to all the players who have fought so hard all season and…

On one of his first days at Manchester United in the summer of 2003, an 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo strolled into the club’s gym and approached one of their fitness coaches, Mick Clegg. “I was sat there on my own, and he walks in dead early, around 8am, way before anyone else is there,” recalled Clegg. “He came up to me and said, ‘I want to be the best player in the world… no, I am going to be the best player in the world. I want you to help me.’” Ronaldo was determined to make this happen by whatever means necessary; staying for hours in the gym, wearing weights on his ankles during sessions and taking ice baths in the middle of the night, all to create a physique to…

Illuminated by blue police lights, pumped up and packing flares, Malmo fans looked to their leader, their capo, to orchestrate their chants and leave their mark on Stamford Bridge during a Europa League encounter with Chelsea in February. Tall and blond-bearded, wearing a black three-striped sweater and a baseball cap, the capo starts the call, spreading his arms as if to catch the response. He’s being filmed, and when he turns towards the camera he’s grinning from cheekbone to cheekbone, the way he did on the terraces in Malmo when he was a boy. But this isn’t just another fan. This is Pontus Jansson, Leeds United’s Swedish international centre-back. “I came up from the Tube station,” Jansson tells FFT a few weeks later when we meet to discuss some of…

One of football’s most enduring and universal qualities is its ability to connect people, which is the basis of the Sporting Memories Foundation. Back in 2011, Tony Jameson-Allen co-founded the organisation with his fellow director, Chris Wilkins. Their aim was to engage people in meaningful activities to help manage the onset of dementia, loneliness and social isolation. “We’ve grown up with the idea that you retire, you stop working, you sit down and you just relax,” says Tony. “And that’s the worst thing we can do. We need to stay cognitively stimulated, socially active and physically active. So we developed the idea of Sporting Memories, to tap into the fantastic heritage of sport in this country.” Using tablets, film projectors and audio clips, Sporting Memories hopes to stimulate passions for…

1 “WE’VE WON THE LEAGUE! GET THE SKULL…” When Argentine side Racing Club wrapped up the Primera Division title recently, one fan celebrated in the only way he knew how: he went and fetched his grandfather’s skull, then held it aloft as supporters partied on the streets. Fans gathered by Buenos Aires’ obelisk to cheer their team’s 18th league title, secured thanks to a 1-1 draw against Tigre. Captained by former Porto forward Lisandro Lopez, Racing won the league by four points, beating Defensa y Justicia into 2nd spot, with behemoths Boca Juniors and River Plate down in 3rd and 4th respectively. It was all too much for Racing fan Gabriel Aranda, who brought the family skull to the celebrations. Holding it up to the camera, Aranda explained to TV…

Have you ever been to dinner with the Manchester United squad? Thought not, but we have. On a wet and windy midweek evening, we headed to Harvey Nichols in Manchester for a dinner marking the North West launch of Football Beyond Borders, as Chris Smalling became a patron for the schools programme. FFT took our seat in a place reserved for Jesse Lingard – the England star couldn’t make it, so instead we had the privilege of sitting next to Nemanja Matic. “How are you tonight, Jesse?” chuckled the Serbian midfielder. We saw Smalling give an impassioned speech about the charity, which uses football as an engagement tool to support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. “Football Beyond Borders is changing lives,” he explained. “I’m excited to be in a position…

Striker Andy Cole scored 24 goals in helping Manchester United win a glorious Treble in 1998-99, but arguably his best goal for the club came a season later. The Red Devils were leading the league once again in February 2000 when Coventry came to visit. Six minutes before half-time, with the score 0-0, Cole climbed high into the air to win a header from Gary Neville’s throw, then spun to find the ball dropping at his feet on the edge of the box. From there, he jinked inside Gary Breen, then flummoxed the Irishman by checking back onto his right foot. With Breen turned inside out, Cole had bought himself half a yard to brilliantly beat an unsuspecting Magnus Hedman with a chip that clipped the bar and found the…

Congratulations, Henrik – you’re in FourFourTwo’s list of the best players from the past 25 years. Lovely! I’m extremely proud because there have been a lot of players, so being one of the best is fantastic. This December it will be 10 years since I stopped playing at the highest level, and when you’re playing you don’t have time to look back on your career so much. But now, when I look back at things and see the old footage, I’m proud of my career. As a kid you dream of many things – almost all the things I dreamed of came true. What were the highlights? My seven years at Celtic, and winning the Champions League with Barcelona. I can’t stress enough how important it was for me to…

Michel Platini once said that, “a player can make an entire career out of one game – if it’s the right game in front of the TV cameras.” Clarence Seedorf never really had that career-defining match which may be why, despite being the only player to have won the Champions League with three different clubs – Ajax in 1995, Real Madrid in 1998, and Milan in 2003 and 2007 – his quality is often overlooked. The Dutch star’s genius was too inconspicuous for his own good. In person and on the pitch, Seedorf exuded calmness, eschewing the theatrics with which so many players endear themselves to fans. He was shown a red card only twice, and given his laid-back demeanour in interviews, it’s a surprise that he was ever sent…

You were a ball boy for Bayern Munich before joining the club as a player. What was that like? Oh, that’s a long time ago! I got lucky, because you normally had to be a member of the club. My first game was actually my biggest, and it didn’t even involve Bayern: the 1997 Champions League Final between Borussia Dortmund and Juventus. What a way to start! It was amazing – I was part of top-class football from an early age. I stood on the sidelines only a few metres away from the action, and the pace of the game was incredible. It was a lot of fun, even when a player would get annoyed if he thought we took too long in returning the ball. How important to your…

It’s not easy to interview Lionel Messi. He’s very well protected, for one, by people who know the strongest image of him is what he does on a pitch, not what he says off it. Use the same principle to see why you never hear Kate Moss speak or David Beckham offer controversial opinions. It’s better for them to let their image and talent talk and let others fill in the blank canvas. Messi is probably the most ungenius-like genius that has ever graced this sport. He doesn’t strut like Ronaldo or swagger like Best, and doesn’t have the cool magnetism of Cruyff or the compelling allure of Maradona. Yet he does something spectacular week after week. He turns games and leaves you gasping. Messi also knows that in today’s…

After his first match at Liverpool, a 4-0 defeat by Cardiff at Anfield in 1959, Bill Shankly knew the team was not good enough. He immediately made up his mind that the spine of the team needed strengthening. He had inherited a large squad of over 40 players, but he had to streamline the team and then introduce youngsters like Roger Hunt. Players liked Shankly’s new training methods and emphasis on five-a-side games, and were impressed that he was coaching them rather than simply doing exercises without the ball. He based his methods on the Preston North End model. Shankly said he didn’t want marathon runners or circus artists – he wanted footballers. Shankly made a list of 24 players who didn’t fit into his ‘footballing’ plans, but the clear-out…

› Troy Deeney’s impassioned speech after Watford beat Wolves to reach the FA Cup final. Anyone who says the cup doesn’t matter any more should be forced to watch that. › The Maradona documentary from the people who made Senna and Amy. Such is the film industry’s paranoia, they’ve made us sign a legally-binding document saying we mustn’t tell you how good it is. Needless to say, go and see it when it comes out in mid-June. It’s fantastic. › When you’re hammering the opposition 6-2 in a seven-a-side game and the organisers decide to swap players after 10 minutes to even up the sides, but inexplicably make your team even better. Result. › Preston police force’s football crowd-related tweets. Very droll. › The new white Brazil kit (above), celebrating…