Innehållsförteckning för July 2019 från FourFourTwo UK

FRANCE WOMEN’S WORLD CUP KITS N/A store.nike.com The eagle-eyed among you will remember that we included a France shirt marking 100 years of the country’s FA in our last issue. This month it’s the turn of the women’s team. Les Bleues’ sleek World Cup kits are a sign of Nike’s commitment to women’s football in 2019. Tailor-made for the first time, they are retro-tastic, the polkadot away effort in particular. If you don’t want to see this France side, in these ace strips, tearing up the World Cup this summer, we fear for your sanity. Just look at them... YELRA DOODLES – ADRIANO £5 etsy.com/uk/shop/YelraDoodles Six tinnies for a fiver, an unnecessarily large pizza and one more game of Pro Evo 6 – the best Friday night in the world?…

CLUB LEICESTER CITY POSITION MIDFIELDER Value £20m Age 21 Foot Right Height 1.74m Nation England THE STORY SO FAR: On Leicester’s books since he was nine, Barnes first broke through in 2017, winning MK Dons’ young player of the year award while on loan, the Foxes’ development squad player of the season prize, and the Golden Boot in England’s triumph at the Toulon tournament. A powerful midfielder driving inside from the left wing, he plundered nine goals in 25 Championship games on loan at West Brom, then was recalled in January. IDOLISED: His old man, former York, Burnley and Doncaster forward Paul. “My dad has helped me stay focused,” explains Barnes Junior. “He knows how I must act in and out of football. He knows the commitment needed.” THEY SAID:…

Favourite car? Don’t drive and hate cars. Favourite singer? David Bowie. Favourite food? Fish tacos. First game you ever attended? Hibs 2-1 Motherwell at Easter Road in 1968. Childhood hero and did you ever meet them? Pat Stanton. Yes, he’s now a good friend and played a barman in The Acid House film. Finest moment as a player? Scoring with a header at the same time as being punched in the face by the goalkeeper at Ainslie Park school. I was semi-conscious, but smiling as I saw the distraught keeper try to prevent the ball crossing the line. Favourite thing about going to a game? Meeting the bunch of mad fuckers I’ve been going with for many years. Their demented philosophies have formed all my views on life and I…

What’s your first football memory? Probably Euro 96, when Paul Gascoigne scored against Scotland. I was eight. I had a bet with my Aunty actually. She’s Scottish and said if England won, she’d buy me my first England kit. That’s probably why I remember it, and it wasn’t a bad goal either, was it? Which players did you admire growing up? I supported Sunderland, so Kevin Phillips was pretty much the guy during that time. I was a striker as a kid and he was scoring loads of goals, so I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I was Kevin Phillips on the school playground and one of my best mates was Michael Gray. Sadly I didn’t have any friends tall enough to be Niall Quinn... You have been around…

What’s your first football memory? Probably playing for a boys’ team when I was seven, being named player of the match and getting a trophy with ‘Man of the Match’ on it. They wanted to change the inscription to ‘Girl of the Match’, but I kicked up a fuss and didn’t let them change it – I didn’t want anyone to think I’d only won because I was the only girl in the team. A local paper got wind of it and wrote a story. The headline read: ‘Jill is proud to be a man’, which was pretty embarrassing. Was it tough being the only girl in the team? Yeah. I used to get a lot of stick, and parents shouted things like, ‘Kick that girl.’ There were definitely times…

Arsenal Third, 1998 Arsenal’s home and away shirts both clashed with Lens’ red-and-yellow-striped home threads in the 1998-99 Champions League group stage, so Nike made this one-off special – unavailable to the public – for their game in London. But it wasn’t the only unfamiliar element to this match: Arsenal were hosting their European games at Wembley for financial reasons, but wound up losing two of their three fixtures at the home of English football. Lens beat them 1-0 to kill the Gunners’ hopes for good, and this navy blue number – match-worn by Marc Overmars in the CFS collection. Mexico Goalkeeper, 1995 Need we even have to tell you who wore this tripping kit? Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos was famed for designing his own, and wore this psychedelic monstrosity…

What was your first impression of James? That’s going back some years now: he was five or six, very keen, a lot of little tricks, but he always had that drive and ambition. The only thing I told him was, ‘You need to have more than just crossing a ball – you need to take players on and be a bit more physical.’ He seems to have taken that on board... When he came down here a few months ago I asked him how he was doing, and I think that’s what he’s trying to do at the moment, to become a more physical player. He even got a yellow card for a foul against Newcastle recently – I was shocked when I saw that! And he’s still involved with…

The Blond Arrow appeared for three international sides during his career, and could potentially have played for more. Di Stefano scored six goals in six appearances for his native Argentina, then hit 23 goals in 31 Spain games from 1957-62 after becoming a naturalised citizen following his move from River Plate to Real Madrid. He also played four times for Colombia during a controversial spell at Millonarios of Bogota – although neither the Colombian national team nor the country’s league were sanctioned by FIFA at the time. If things had gone differently, the forward could easily have turned out for Italy, who actively recruited Argentine-born oriundi of Italian descent. His paternal grandad was born on the island of Capri and Di Stefano almost moved to Italy twice – first to…

Denis Law played and starred in many memorable matches over a long and distinguished career, but he missed out on a starring role in the greatest game in British cinema history because he was “in the wash” that week. When the gaggle of teenagers in ill-fitting kits lined up to be picked for teams at the start of a PE lesson in Kes, none of the players had the remotest idea they were about to make footballing history, not least as every player was making their (cinematic) debut. Filmed over three or four wet days – no one involved can remember exactly how long it took – on the playing fields of Barnsley’s St Helen’s County Secondary School in the summer of 1968, most of the players on show were…

CLUBS 1998-2004 Leeds 2004-08 Tottenham 2008-15 Blackburn 2016-17 Burnley COUNTRY 2003-07 England Daleks get everywhere these days – even Harrogate. FourFourTwo hadn’t expected to see a Doctor Who villain patrolling the pavement this Thursday morning. Dodging the local antiques shop’s star attraction, we walk on towards the Hotel du Vin and our rendezvous with Paul Robinson, who spent a career trying to exterminate the hopes of opposition strikers. It’s been two years since a back injury forced the former England goalkeeper to hang up his gloves, and he’s looking relaxed as he greets us. He has recently returned from one of his regular trips to Qatar, where he works on beIN Sports alongside Richard Keys and Andy Gray. Retirement has also allowed Robinson to spend more time with his family.…

1 DUTCH COURAGE Denmark Esbjerg It’s seven months since former Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart announced his retirement, but he’s now embarking on a new career as a darts pro. Van der Vaart ended his playing days in Denmark, where his girlfriend plays handball for Team Esbjerg. He’s now made his darts debut at the Denmark Open, emerging victorious against Thomas Andersen before losing in the second round, presumably after pulling up with a hamstring problem mid-match. 2 RISE OF THE SMURFS Bulgaria Plovdiv Lokomotiv Plovdiv won their first trophy for 15 years during 2018-19, but it was off-field officials who took the headlines. First, club owner Hristo Krusharski turned up at a league match in a referee’s shirt and offered to officiate (this was refused, obviously). Then they…

Zonal Marking Michael Cox (Harper Collins, £16.99) “We live in a laissez-faire society, but in a team you need to have discipline,” insisted Louis van Gaal, in a none-too-subtle dig at fellow countryman – and arch individualist - Johan Cruyff in the early 1990s. The tension between the two Dutchmen (Van Gaal was a prime collectivist; Cruyff over-indulged the likes of Gheorghe Hagi and Romario at Barcelona) shaped tactical innovations in Holland and Spain, and Zonal Marking provides a fascinating insight into how European football has developed over the last 30 years. Michael Cox asserts that the success – or failure – of France’s national team hinges upon the contrasting roles of the humble ‘water carrier’ and revered team leader: the combination of Didier Deschamps and Zinedine Zidane in 1998,…

Have you always played in midfield? When I was about eight or nine, I was playing in a boys’ team and our goalkeeper got injured, so I had to go in goal. I actually did pretty well. I played there for quite a bit of the season and then went back to my own position later on. Which players did you look up to when you were growing up? In men’s football I’ve always loved David Silva – I’m a Manchester City fan so I used to watch him all the time. In the women’s game it was French midfielder Camille Abily. I love the way she moves the ball. Playing against her in the Champions League was amazing. We’ve read you’re a bit of a Shaun Goater fan –…

She had played just a handful of times for her country, and was scarcely known outside experts in the women’s game. Then came England’s group match against Mexico in Moncton, New Brunswick. In the 71st minute, the forward pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area, flicking it beyond one defender before jinking past another. She then prodded it into the corner of the Mexican net to hand the Lionesses a crucial 1-0 lead. “I think you can see by my celebration I had no idea what to do,” Kirby tells FourFourTwo with a nervous laugh, four years on. “I just kind of ran around.” Now, thanks to that goal, England’s surprise third-place finish and the huge success that followed her subsequent move to Chelsea, she’s…

Sweden versus USA is the most-played Women’s W in history, with the nations having already clashed five times in the seven previous editions of the tournament. So, there was a sense of deja vu when the Blagult were grouped alongside the reigning champions this summer. In what the American press branded the ‘Olympic soccer shock Sweden eliminated the USA from the 2016 Rio Games aft quarter-final penalty shootout. It was the first time the USWNT had ever failed to reach the last four of a major tournamen skipper Caroline Seger – who first donned the captain’s armband 10 years ago – expects their old enemy to come at them all guns blazing in France on June 20. “It’s going to be a big one,” she tells FFT. “It’s one of…

evered and reviled in varying measures, Diego Armando Maradona is at least still with us now. Unlike the subjects of Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia’s two previous films, Ayrton Senna and Amy Winehouse, victims of a fast and slow car crash respectively. Senna set the bar for what a sports documentary could be, forgoing the usual procession of talking heads in favour of eye-opening archive footage that cut to the heart of the sport and fragile humans obsessed with it. Whether you know or care about Formula One, it is a riveting watch that lingers long after the credits roll. Diego Maradona certainly follows that template, and is a mesmerising two hours that delves into the psyche of the squat Argentine cheat and leaves the viewer with an unfamiliar sense of…

THE TARGETS QUINI 1981 Barça star kidnapped and held for 25 days. PELE 1970 Several attempts, including at World Cup. ALAN PULIDO 2016 Mexico forward escaped armed captors. EUSEBIO 1963 Plot by African revolutionaries foiled. JOHAN CRUYFF 1978 Attempt caused him to skip World Cup. JIMMY HILL 1964 Snatched and held to ransom by students. THE TAKERS RENE HIGUITA 2003 Scorpion-kicking keeper was kidnapping go-between for drug lord Pablo Escobar. OMAR ORTIZ 2019 Mexico shot-stopper jailed for 75 years over his participation in kidnapping ring.…

In 2004, you were named in Pele’s greatest 125 footballers of all time – what did that mean to you? I was proud, because of where I came from. I’m proud of being Colombian and I’ll always fly the flag for my country. To be in that list and for Pele to recognise me was amazing. Who’s the king, though: Pele or Maradona? Well, for me it’s Maradona. I saw Pele at the 1970 World Cup when I was nine years old, but I knew Maradona throughout my whole career. I was able to watch his skill close up. You played at three World Cups for a great Colombia side. What was that like? It was a dream – all I ever wanted to do was represent my country at…

Did you feel for Ben Foster when you scored against him from your own half for Tottenham against Watford? Luke Barrow, via Instagram I didn’t want to run off celebrating in case the referee said, “No, it was an indirect free-kick…” It wasn’t until the lads jumped on me that I realised the goal had been given. I felt for Ben as it was a fluke – goalkeepers very rarely score from their own half and they don’t mean to. It was because we had Mido up there, who didn’t move very far, so it missed him and bounced in!…

01 WHAT CONNECTS THESE THREE WOMEN’S WORLD CUP WINNERS? 02 Which former Zimbabwe player once appeared in an episode of Brookside? 03 One Asian team reached the last eight of the 1966 World Cup. Who were they? 04 Which club have received the most red cards in the history of the Premier League? 05 Who scored the Soviet Union’s last goal, against Cyprus in November 1991? 06 Who played in goal for the Allies in the 1981 movie Escape to Victory? 07 WHICH FORMER PREMIER LEAGUE STRIKER IS THIS? 08 WHICH GROUND IS THIS? 09 WHICH FORMER PREMIER LEAGUE MANAGER IS THIS? 10 NAME THESE TEAMS FROM THEIR BADGES 11 WHO AM I? I started off as a Peacock, moved to the Mersey and then became a loan ranger in…

Hello Luther! You once declared that, “Anyone can be Luther Blissett simply by adopting the name Luther Blissett.” Can FFT be Luther Blissett for this interview, please? Hi. Of course! It would be my honour. Great. You were pretty much the only famous English Luther, until fictional TV detective Luther came along. How do you feel about that? I’m very pleased. My name is out there. People like the show, and I’m a big fan myself. Idris Elba is really good. It’s not exactly a common name, so the more Luthers the better. My name, Luther, and my middle name, Loide, come from uncles and grandparents way back. Have you met many other Luthers? Yes, including a baby that was named after me. That’s an honour. A Luther’s not a…

✱ STAR LETTER ANDREA PIRLO WAS PLAYING CHESS As a 32-year-old, football has always been a constant part of my life, so it was great to read about 101 of the players I grew up watching in your recent 25th anniversary issue. Some favourites of mine include Fernando Hierro, who was a rock, and Andrea Pirlo, who was playing football chess when others were playing draughts. Claude Makelele was so good at what he did, the defensive midfield position is still referred to as the ‘Makelele role’. To any of the younger readers, please go out and search out the highlight videos for some of these players. Even if you start at No.101 on the FFT list, Matt Le Tissier, you’ll be treated to some ridiculously good skills and goals.…

Which England players did you look up to when you were growing up? Kelly Smith and Rachel Yankey. I also loved to watch Dani Alves, being a full-back. The role has changed a lot over the years and we’re more attacking now. Alves was a big part of that – the way he got forward and created chances broke the mould. Were you a big England fan as a kid? Of course. Do you remember the reversible England top from 2002? I wore that all the time. If I didn’t want to have it washed, I’d turn it inside out. You missed out on the World Cup squad in 2015 – how difficult was that for you? You want to be on the world stage and playing in the big…

24 competing nations, featuring four debutants - Chile, Jamaica, Scotland and South Africa. 27 referees including Germany’s Bibiana Steinhaus (below), who became the first woman to officiate a Bundesliga game in 2017. 4 previous winners – USA (1991, 1999, 2015), Germany (2003, 2007), Norway (1995) and Japan (2011) – all of whom have qualified for the finals again this time around. 9 host cities, from Valenciennes in the north to Nice down on the French Riviera. Lyon will host both of the semi-finals and the final because, to quote Brigitte Henriques, the vice president of the French Football Federation: “In Paris, it is really difficult to make people come to women’s sports events.” 52 matches, all of which will be broadcast by the BBC across television, radio and online. 17…

“I think I’ve seen him do it three or four times in Italy,” reveals the filmmaker about Diego’s famous handball at the Estadio Azteca. “He liked to practise that! In the same way players know how to fall over and win a penalty, they have to practice diving, too. And he had a sneaky way of sticking his head in and putting his hand close to his head. “I remember at the time, when thinking about his mazy run four minutes later, maybe everybody was still in shock from that first goal – maybe that’s why nobody could deal with him. “The bigger issue is he trained at altitude for months before the tournament with fitness coach Fernando Signorini – how many of England’s players had trained at altitude that…

You got a late call-up for the March internationals, due to injuries. How did you find out? I’d gone out for a jog with Fraser Forster and then got a call from our physio, making sure I was 100 per cent fit. I was panting, ‘I’ve just got in from round the block!’ It was a bit of a strange way to find out, but an amazing opportunity to be around such a young, vibrant, talented group. And I finally got a competitive England cap, which was nice. You know Southgate well after skippering the U21s. Is he any different with the senior side? He’s the same. A lot of methods he used to bring the whole team together off the field are exactly the same, in terms of activities…

Di Stefano was notoriously cantankerous, but he could also be very personable. Ian Hawkey, the author of 2016 biography Di Stefano, got to know the iconic Real Madrid man during the last decade of his life while based in Spain as the Sunday Times’ European Football Correspondent. “Di Stefano was a combative character,” Hawkey tells FFT. “He didn’t suffer fools and he could be very, very brusque. If he thought a team-mate was letting the side down, he used very distinctive vocabulary to express that! I don’t think it was egotistical. I just think he had an absolutely ferocious will to win and demanded that everyone did everything they could for the cause. “Alfredo remained combative as he got older. In his last role, as honorary president of Real, he…

A shaggy mop of curly hair lies in the dirt, barely able to see a thing as there’s so much gravel in his eyes. Blood trickles down from his nose, his cheeks grazed as he pounds the rock-hard floor with his fist. He gets to his feet, brushes as much dust and grit from his clothes as he can, and holds out one hand, beckoning across a self-assembled foot-tennis court. “Come on, serve!” he bellows, breaking the sleepy Saturday morning tranquility in La Pobla de Segur, a small Catalan town in the foothills of the Pyrenees. “And you’ll see what I’ve got.” Four teenagers, plus their football coach Jordi Mauri, have been playing for an hour. So desperate was the face-planter to stay in the previous point from a seemingly…

You’re England’s record appearance holder with 168 caps. What does that mean to you? It’s 170 actually! I don’t know why that hasn’t been updated online. I’ll update you now, it’s 170. [Laughs] I wish it could go on – you speak to people who are coming to the end of their career, and they wish they could play forever. I went to every big tournament with England and played every game at every tournament. When people ask me what it’s meant to play for England, it’s a difficult thing to explain, but I hope people who’ve followed the team over the years can look back at my career and see what it meant to me from my performances. You’re only six goals behind Kelly Smith’s goalscoring record. Was that…

› Illustrator Pete O’Toole coming up with designs for retro Huddersfield Town shirts (pictured above), featuring sponsorship from old brands. “I was talking to my brother about the old Ben Shaw’s branding and how nice it would look on a 1980s-style shirt, kind of like the Belgium ’84 kit. Then I got thinking about other famous Huddersfield businesses and just went from there!” › Eddie Howe taking time to read FFT writer Steve Hill’s excellently funny football travelogue The Card, about life as a Chester fan. Bournemouth survived relegation to non-league 10 years ago, at Chester’s expense. › The Twitter thread comparing David Bowie’s extravagant outfits to the strips of various League One clubs, compiled by @HannahAlOthman. An idea so smart that Bowie’s son retweeted it with an approving comment.…

RAY CLEMENCE “I handed Iker Casillas his debut at Real Madrid and managed big Neville Southall for Wales, but I’ve got a soft spot for Ray – we won so much together at Liverpool. Everyone speaks about how terrific that Liverpool team were going forward, but Ray saved us on many occasions. He was like a modern keeper, a sweeper-keeper. Bill Shankly invented that!” CARLOS XAVIER “He was one of the most skilful players I ever managed, and I managed a few! He first played for me at Sporting, then I took him to Real Sociedad. Carlos was a joy to watch, and some of his passing was incredible.” JOHN CHARLES “To train with John as a young player at Cardiff was such an honour. He’d advise me to head…