Índex per June 2020 a FourFourTwo UK

Normally at this time of year, things start to become a lot clearer. Title races are reaching their conclusion, the relegation battle is coming to an end, and we begin looking forward to the domestic and European finals. But as I write this, things have never been more unclear. The COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the globe and changed life as we know it. Sport – like everything else – is on hold. Arguments over VAR and fretting over injuries ahead of Euro 2020 seem like distant memories. For our part, this issue of FFT has been put together by the team working tirelessly out of the office. And while such a scenario can be tough at times, it can also inspire new ideas. We have found that to be…

Hyundai has put grassroots football first in 2019-20, partnering with Chelsea to offer some unforgettable experiences to young players and coaches. So far, the initiative has provided a variety of unique opportunities for 11 boys’ and girls’ teams from around the UK. On top of new strips and a Stamford Bridge pitch day, Chelsea laid on a special session at their Cobham training base for the grassroots coaches. They were also sent bespoke training plans for the campaign ahead, and received multiple visits from the Blues’ team of expert Foundation coaches. As a result, more than 150 youngsters from under-8 to under-16 levels have been making the most of the project, highlighting Hyundai’s 20-year commitment to putting the fans first. “Chelsea Foundation coaches have travelled up and down the country…

When Panama arrived at the 2018 World Cup, they were the apple of world football’s eye. Two years later, everything has gone not so much pear-shaped as hexagonal for Los Canaleros. In a deeply questionable piece of FIFA planning, the CONCACAF qualifying phase for Qatar 2022 has been turned into something approaching a lottery, and it’s clear that Panama don’t have access to the numbers. In fact, it’s not clear whether they had any access to anything, including the information required to give themselves a chance of advancing to two World Cup finals in a row. Gary Stempel, who took over as interim boss after the resignation of Hernan Dario Gomez following the 2018 tournament, has witnessed the meltdown at first-hand. “It hasn’t been a great couple of years,” Millwall’s…

Portugal may have been 1-0 up in a nail-biting Euro 2004 semi-final after Cristiano Ronaldo’s first-half header, but their slim advantage was under severe threat from an Oranje onslaught as they approached the hour mark in Lisbon. However, just like they had done after losing to Greece in the tournament opener, and during their quarter-final victory over England on penalties, the hosts found a way to get through. And they did it in style thanks to their newly-crowned Champions League winner, Maniche. “Holland came close to equalising as the second half started,” the 42-year-old ex-Benfica, Porto and Sporting midfielder tells FourFourTwo. “We needed to find a way out. The atmosphere in the stadium was getting increasingly tense – but then, out of nowhere, we grabbed a breath of fresh air.…

MET POLICE, BEWARE A colleague and I have just finished setting up the Emergency Services Football League (ESFL) – bringing together the police, fire, prison services and NHS in a UK-wide, 11-a-side league... the only one of its kind. The main aim is to increase well-being among our hard-working staff, promoting a team-building ethic that’s paramount to the roles of emergency service workers. We are often unable to commit to regular leagues due to unsociable hours, so I’m delighted to say that the response so far has been overwhelming! DC Peter Overton, via email…

100 ROY HODGSON To this day, a section of the Eleda Stadion in southern Sweden is lovingly referred to as Roy’s Corner. It’s a tribute to an Englishman who not only changed football in the coastal city of Malmo, but whose ideas left a lasting impression across Scandinavia. At a glance, you’d be forgiven for mistaking Hodgson’s career as an epic save on Football Manager. His journey has taken in everything from the Swedish second division to European finals, stopping off in eight different countries and 20 different outposts, as varied as Viking, Grasshoppers and the England national team. It all started back in 1976 with a telephone call between Halmstad and English coach Bob Houghton, then managing Malmo. Halmstad needed a coach with some fresh ideas to help them…

In December 2012, FourFourTwo met Victor Valdes for the very first time at Barcelona’s new training ground. A month earlier, the Catalan Masia graduate had featured in an away game at Levante when, in another first, the 11 players on the pitch were products of Barça’s fabled academy. The goalkeeper was understandably extremely proud. “You can’t ask for any more than 11 players who have come through the youth system,” he beamed. “It’s something all the other great teams in the world should aim for. Why not? You don’t have to make big signings to have a great club. “This is the result of work that had been done 15 to 20 years before – it didn’t happen overnight. The people they owe this to are not at the club…

1“DOES MY HARE LOOK ALL RIGHT?” The Belarusian Premier League was the only European division to continue into April – and didn’t just let fans in to see games. Giant rabbits got in, too. Rather than shutting the country down, president Alexander Lukashenko countered that citizens could ward off coronavirus by drinking vodka, also declaring that ‘tractors will cure everyone’. He described sport as ‘the best anti-virus remedy’, so football ploughed on – bringing the bonus of overseas television deals from countries eager to screen live football... any football. The Belarusian Premier League delivers such delights as FK Minsk vs Dinamo Minsk (El Minskico for short), plus Dynamo Brest vs FK Slutsk (no sniggering). Fans of many clubs opted to stay away for their own safety – at BATE Borisov,…

ROUND ONE 01 Who is the only Swedish footballer to hit a Premier League hat-trick, against Sunderland in May 2003? 02 Will Grigg, Andre Gray and James Tarkowski all appeared for which Football League club during 2014? 03 David Beckham played alongside which current Premier League boss on loan at Preston in 1995? 04 In August 2000, Robbie Keane left Coventry and joined which European giant for £13 million? 05 Which Oscar-winning actor plays the lead role of Paul Ashworth in 1997’s adaptation of Fever Pitch? 06 Only three men have scooped both the Premier League Player of the Month and Manager of the Month awards – name two of them. 07 Which former Premier League gaffer entered the 2018 Dakar Rally and ended up in hospital? 08 Name either…

Blackburn Rovers paid £25,000 to sign me from Dundee back in 1987. To be honest, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you where Blackburn was at the time. Don Mackay brought me in to be a centre-back, but sometimes I’d play centre-forward in the early days. Not long after I arrived, I scored the winner in the Full Members’ Cup final against Charlton. Not many Scottish players have scored a winner in a Wembley cup final. We were a mid-table side in the Second Division, and never in my wildest dreams did I believe we could be champions of England one day. There were so many bigger clubs than Blackburn. Soon, though, I became aware of Jack Walker. At first, he had more of a behind-the-scenes role. He had…

Leicester 3 Norwich 2 December 17, 1995 First Division “I was 17 and this was one of my first games. We were 2-1 down, but I came off the bench and set up Iwan Roberts, and then scored myself with 10 minutes left to make it 3-2. Rob Ullathorne played a back-pass, and I nicked it off him to score. About a year later, he joined us! I always backed myself to make an impact as a substitute, especially when I was younger – I was bursting with energy to play and didn’t feel any pressure. We were in between managers and Martin O’Neill was watching in the stands [having quit Norwich that morning, before taking over Leicester], but it didn’t matter to me.” Leicester 1 Middlesbrough 1 April 6,…

How have things been for you during the lockdown? It’s been really strange, just stuck in the house 24/7. Players are so used to going outside. It’s like being injured – you don’t know what to do with yourself. I’ve got a couple of kids so we’ve been trying to keep them occupied, doing schoolwork, spending more time in the garden and playing loads of board games. When did things halt at Anderlecht? We went into lockdown in the middle of March – Belgium was probably a week or so ahead of England. Schools in Belgium closed on the Friday, then we came back to England that weekend as our parents are there. The club have done video calls most days that are group sessions with the fitness coach. He’ll…

GORDON STRACHAN “The music he chose for the team bus was bad – some pub singer. The players decided the tape had to go, and we threw it out of the window. Fergie wasn’t happy – he threatened us all. Everyone laughed when we got off. We weren’t laughing in front of him on the bus, mind...” RYAN GIGGS “When I first got into the team, someone told me that when you make 25 appearances, you were allowed a club car. Bryan Robson and Steve Bruce said, ‘You should ask the gaffer – he’ll get it for you, no problem’. When I asked him, I could see his face turning purple. He said, ‘Club car? You’ve got more chance of getting a club bike!’ I walked out and the lads…

Jorginho is reflecting inside a room at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground, with only a table separating him and his thoughts from FourFourTwo. It’s been a long journey for him to reach this stage – much longer and more difficult than anyone would be able to tell from the outside. These days, the 28-year-old is a cheerful, smiling Italy international in the midst of his second season at Stamford Bridge. But he knows exactly when it all started for him. He doesn’t even blink before saying the date: November 27, 2007 – the day he set foot in Europe for the first time. Back then, the Brazil-born youngster was just another 15-year-old chasing his footballing dream, far away from family and friends – more than 10,000 kilometres away, to be precise.…

As a youngster, you played for Senrab with John Terry, Ledley King, Jlloyd Samuel and Paul Konchesky. Did you ever lose a game? It was a brilliant team. I remember being told maybe one of us had a chance of making it as a professional, but four of us ended up playing for England, which is absolutely astonishing. If the club had just a one per cent clause on our future transfer fees, they’d have made a killing. Who was the star of that team? I wouldn’t say there was one star, because we could all play. I can only remember losing one match and that was to a side with Scott Parker in midfield. I still see Konchesky, JT and Ledley sometimes, too. You made your breakthrough with Brighton,…