FourFourTwo UK September 2022

Will they be in form when the magazine comes out? Will they be a player people want to read about? Will they suffer a bad injury when we hit the shelves? We have no control over those answers, but this month we reckon the first two will be yes and yes. Fingers crossed that number three is no. Erling Haaland was already a superstar when he signed for Manchester City this summer – if his start to life in the Premier League was anything to go by, he could move to stratospheric levels at the Etihad Stadium. We sat down for a chat with the Norwegian to discuss his move to England, and how he celebrated Sergio Aguero’s title-winning goal a decade ago. Spoiler: includes shirt-twirling. Haaland wasn’t the only…

GROUP A ENGLAND 1 AUSTRIA 0 “When the tournament got underway, you could sense that something special was in the air. There were 68,000 fans at Old Trafford – it felt like a Manchester United matchday, with the quantity of people around the city before kick-off, wearing shirts and singing. Something big was about to happen. The match itself was very tense – the crowd were waiting for a goal. When it finally came, it was beautifully crafted by Fran Kirby, who was magnificent that night, and finished by Beth Mead. It lit up the whole stadium – the way fans celebrated was really special, and it started to capture the imagination of people around the country. It was a great way to start the tournament.” GROUP A ENGLAND 8…

A single moment can alter everything – it can change perceptions, break new frontiers and attract a whole new generation of fans. Alessia Russo’s semi-final backheel against Sweden was that kind of moment. I watched that incredible goal with my daughter, and suddenly had the feeling of being in a car dropping over the crest of a hill. My stomach turned over. I just thought, ‘Wow, something special is happening here’. Nobody mentioned ‘women’s football’ when that goal went in – it was just football. The barriers were down. “ENGLAND BROUGHT FOOTBALL HOME. NOW IT’S UP TO US TO KEEP THE LEGACY BURNING” Euro 2022 provided a whole summer of extraordinary moments like that. England supporters had the privilege of seeing the Lionesses lift the trophy on July 31, but…

Few people have had a life quite as eventful as Bruce Grobbelaar. Born in South Africa before growing up in Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe, Grobbelaar fought in a civil war, headed to Vancouver to take on Pele & Co, then made his home in Liverpool via a spell as a goalscoring goalkeeper at Crewe. The jelly-legged hero of Liverpool’s 1984 European Cup Final victory over Roma also won six league titles, three FA Cups and three League Cups in his 13 years at Anfield, which produced a total of 628 appearances, the ninth highest tally in the club’s history. After making his debut in 1981, he didn’t miss a game for five years, playing 310 consecutive matches. All of that followed a bizarre journey from Vancouver to Merseyside, then…

1 “I KNOW IT’S TERRIBLE – JUST SMILE AND CLAP POLITELY” When Argentina’s under-20 team arrived in Spain for a friendly competition, they got way more than they had bargained for. The annual COTIF youth tournament has been held in L’Alcudia near Valencia since 1984, featuring a pleasingly random assortment of sides – the USSR and Algeria tussled with Aberdeen in 1988, a year before East Germany battled Athletic Bilbao. This time an Argentina outfit managed by Javier Mascherano travelled to take on Uruguay, Valencia and Levante, and the locals had prepared a special surprise – Argentine FA president Claudio Tapia was presented with a bust of Diego Maradona, lovingly created by local artist Rafa Ferri. One problem: er, it looks nothing like Diego? “This only strengthens the ties COTIF…

What was the first game that you ever attended? My dad took me along to Leicester vs Liverpool at Filbert Street in 1986. Back then you could get close to the players – he took me close to the tunnel, and I shook Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish’s hands. Meeting Rush was a big deal, as my family is Italian and he was going there to play for Juventus, which was very rare back then. We lost and I was only five, but I knew then that the team in blue had hooked me, and I was in it for life. Do you have a matchday routine? If it’s a big game, I’ll probably meet a few pals I’ve been going to matches with for 25 or 30 years, but…