FourFourTwo UK February 2023

Weeks since that incredible final between Argentina and France, the World Cup is now in the rear view mirror, and we’re back to the hustle and bustle of domestic football. One of the stars of the tournament was Roy Keane – OK, just like the previous World Cup in Asia, he wasn’t on the field, but he was one of the standout pundits on ITV, just as he’s been during Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage for some time. In this issue, we look back at the career of a no-nonsense midfielder who never took any prisoners – on or off the pitch. Cesc Fabregas sits down for a chat with FFT, explaining why Serie B side Como is likely to be his last club before he hangs up his boots…

“A SLUMPED ARGENTINA FAN’S DREAMS HAD ALL JUST COME TRUE – AND LEO MESSI’S HAD, TOO” Out of nowhere, they appeared. “Sir, filming isn’t allowed in this area,” one of the two security men said, insisting that FourFourTwo delete the 10-second video that we’d taken on our phone, or else. We’d arrived at our accommodation in the Zafaran Portakabin village, and staff didn’t want word to spread that a queue of 100 angry folk were stood at reception past 3.30am, not being allowed to check in to the venue they had booked for £165 a night. These were the very early days of the World Cup, when fans flooded into Qatar from 32 different countries. Everywhere you went, people darted in different directions, singing, blowing horns, enjoying life to the…

Kevin-Prince Boateng arrives for his interview with FourFourTwo having just played one of his Hertha team-mates at table tennis. “Did you win?” we ask. “Of course,” he replies, wearing a wry smile. That natural self-confidence hasn’t dimmed in his final season as a professional. At 35 years of age, Boateng feels he still has another chapter to write in his story. That’s not to say he has regrets, however, after a playing career that’s taken the midfielder to a dozen clubs across Europe’s four biggest leagues, from the giants of Barcelona and Milan to a pair of hipsters’ favourites in Sassuolo and Las Palmas. Now it ends where it all began as a seven-year-old, in the blue half of Berlin. Boateng has been drawn to some of football’s most colourful…

1 THE PARIAH LEAGUE Russian football has been cast far into the wilderness since last February’s invasion of Ukraine, and it seems like it’s been putting players on edge. The national team have struggled to set up fixtures – Bosnia’s squad refused to play them, so they took on Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan instead. Title winners Zenit were barred from this season’s Champions League groups, while Spartak Moscow were again not welcome in the Europa League after being thrown out of the last 16 in 2021-22. Spartak won the 2022 Russian Cup Final with Victor Moses in their side after the Premier League denied him permission to sign for Burnley outside of the transfer window, but frustration got the better of everyone during this season’s cup clash with Zenit, resulting…

“IT WAS A MISTAKE TO LEAVE VILLA WHEN I COULD HAVE SIGNED FOR FOUR MORE YEARS” Italy 5-2 Scotland October 13, 1993 European U21 Championship qualifier “This was one of the best matches of my life – I scored a hat-trick. I was playing for Torino at the time and everyone was talking about me as one of the finest young players around, so there was huge pressure on this game in Ferrara because sporting directors from all of these different clubs came to watch me. I was very happy after the game; it gave me more confidence for the future. We went on to win the tournament by defeating France, who had Zinedine Zidane, and Portugal, who had Rui Costa, Joao Pinto and Luis Figo. Our team was amazing:…

01 Arsenal signed future club legend Thierry Henry from which Italian side in 1999? 02 Cristiano Ronaldo just became the first man to score at how many consecutive World Cups? 03 Who were the first nation to be eliminated from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar? 04 Who were the only country at the 2022 World Cup whose squad didn’t include anyone playing for a team in that nation? 05 Which former Wycombe and Gillingham striker was named as the strongest footballer on several editions of the FIFA franchise? 06 Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema bagged the 2022 Ballon d’Or – who collected the Ballon d’Or Feminin the same evening? 07 After England and Scotland, which nation has produced the most managers to win the English top division? 08 After Real…