The Big Interview

JUNE 20, 2007. That was the day England faced their Dutch counterparts in a European Under-21 Championship semi-final and were only sent home after an all-out penalty battle royal. A record was set, with the 25 spot-kicks required to separate the sides still standing as the longest penalty shoot out in UEFA history.

It was also the day that Mark Noble, who scored twice in that shoot out, was left in tears as his side fell just short of the final. But don’t worry, the midfielder was later consoled by a few sympathetic northerners he met on holiday.

He was happy to be put on the spot for his country in Heerenveen, having practised penalties repeatedly in training sessions before the tournament. “Every day after training, every player took a penalty and [head coach] Stuart Pearce stood there with a pad and pen and took notes,” Mark says in the podcast.

“Mark, scored. James Milner, scored. Tom Huddlestone, scored. He went through the line, bang, bang, bang, bang… I never missed.”

It is a habit he has continued throughout his career, with Mark now established as the penalty taker for West Ham United – and in this Big Interview he gives a wonderfully honest account of how he handles that responsibility. But what about the other players involved in that 13-12 epic shootout?

Below is a list of the other penalty takers on that day 10 years ago, how they fared from 12 yards and where they are now:

Ashley Young Got into the fast lane in 2007, starting the year with a club record transfer to Aston Villa and motoring towards his first appearance in the senior England team 10 months later. His career is currently in need of roadside assistance, with the winger out of favour at Manchester United. Converted two penalties in this epic shootout.

Ryan Babel Scored the first Dutch penalty in Heerenveen. His career took off after the European Under-21 Championships, with Babel boarding a flight to Liverpool after the final. Since leaving Anfield in 2010, his passport has been stamped in Germany, Spain, Abu Dhabi and Turkey, where the forward plays for Besiktas.

James Milner Struck twice from the spot in 2007 as England missed out on a shot at silverware. Has since made up for that trophy disappointment by getting his hands on two Premier League titles, the FA Cup, League Cup and Charity Shield. Also made earned over 61 senior caps for England.

 

Royston Drenthe Has gone from headline act to footnote in the 10 years since the championships. Drenthe was voted player of the tournament in 2007 and joined Real Madrid that summer but he would not orbit those stars for long, stopping briefly in Russia, England, Turkey and the UAE on his way to early retirement. He is just 29.

Tim Janssen A substitute in the semi-final who was brought on just in time to add two successful strikes to a 13-12 Dutch victory. Has since returned to the fringes of world football, touring the Danish top flight and Dutch lower leagues before spending last year at United Soccer League side Oklahoma City Energy.

Justin Hoyte Missed his first penalty but took his second chance well, scoring from 12 yards. Lasted just 12 more months at Arsenal before unsuccessful spells at Middlesbrough, Millwall and Dagenham & Redbridge have put the full-back in need of another second chance. Failed to earn a contract following a brief trial at Scottish side Hamilton Academical last year.

Roy Beerens Dependable from the spot in the semi-final, scoring two, and has not put a foot wrong in his career since. Left PSV for Heerenveen after the tournament and found form regularly enough to earn a move to AZ Alkmaar and then Hertha Berlin. Joined Reading last summer to pursue promotion to the Premier League.

Matt Derbyshire Scored his first penalty but missed his second, putting pressure on poor Anton Ferdinand. Has grown into one of precious few British players who have tried football in another country – gaining popularity in Greece (or part of it, at least) by scoring the winner for Olympiacos in a derby with Panathinaikos. Now plays for Omonia in Cyprus.

Hedwiges Maduro Another Dutchman whose resolve from 12 yards in Heerenveen has manifest in a relatively successful football career. Had a year at Ajax after the finals, then moved to Spain to play for Valencia and then Sevilla. A spell with Greek club PAOK has been followed by a return to Eredivisie with Groningen.

Anton Ferdinand Poor, fella. A year before the ill-fated semi-final, Ferdinand missed the decisive spot-kick in a FA Cup final defeat by Liverpool. He took his chance for retribution with a successful penalty kick against the Dutch, before fate turned on him again as the hapless defender scooped his second penalty against to the crossbar. Has been all the way to Turkey and Thailand trying to get over it…

Daniel De Ridder Enjoyed playing against English players so much he decided to go and find more of them, first joining Birmingham City and then Wigan Athletic. His time at the DW Stadium ended acrimoniously and De Ridder has since been seen playing in Israel, Switzerland and during a second spell in his homeland. Now without a club following a trial at Colorado Rapids last summer.

Scott Carson Saved three, scored one – not a bad score for a goalkeeper in a penalty shoot out. Was contracted to Liverpool during the tournament and afterwards joined Aston Villa on loan, before moving to West Brom on a permanent deal. Has been at Bursaspor in Turkey and is currently trying to find his way back to the Premier League with Derby.

Gianni Zuiverloon Converted both spot-kicks, his second deciding the shoot out 13-12. A veteran of the Under-21 scene, the defender’s club career has led him to flit between the Netherlands, England – where he played for West Brom and Ipswich – and Spain. Is now in the third tier of the Spanish game where he plays for Cultural Leonesa.

Liam Rosenior Only took one penalty in the semi-final. Scored it, too. His career has continued just as steadily, with the full-back swapping Fulham for Reading in 2007, before spells at Hull City and Brighton, his current club.

Maceo Rigters Converted his penalty and finished as top scorer in the European Under-21 Championships in 2007. His career since then has been an alarmingly steep fall from grace. There was a short spell at Blackburn Rovers, where Rigters made only a handful of appearances amid reports of poor fitness, before loans at Norwich, Barnsley and Willem II. A proposed move to New Zealand broke down but the striker did not go far, signing for Australian side Gold Coast United. Has now returned to the amateur team where he first started, ZSGO/WMS.

Nigel Reo-Coker Captain in the tournament but unable to lead his side into the final, fluffing his penalty, England’s ninth. Reo-Coker left West Ham for a few weeks after he got home and spent the next six years as a regular in English senior football, also playing for Bolton and Ipswich. Last played in Major League Soccer with Montreal Impact, before departing in January 2016. Hasn’t played competitively since.

Arnold Kruiswijk Could not beat Carson from the spot but that has not prevented him from developing into a dependable full-back. Groningen, Anderlecht and Heerenveen are among his former clubs, while Kruiswijk now plays for Vitesse.

Steven Taylor A regular defender for the Under-21s, Taylor showed a striker’s instinct to score from the spot under pressure. Spent 13 years at hometown club Newcastle United – where Taylor won the Intertoto Cup and Championship title – before taking off for MLS and Portland Timbers. Has recently returned to England after signing for Ipswich.

Boy Waterman Anything you can do… the Dutch goalkeeper got his own back on Carson by scoring from 12 yards. Remains a career highlight, with the title followed only by Johan Cruyff Shield in 2012 and Cypriot league title in 2016. Waterman is first choice goalkeeper at APOEL Nicosia.

So, after speaking to Mark Noble, the West Ham captain kindly signed a shirt for us. And you have the chance to win it! Here’s what you have to do…

Just scroll down and put your email address into the ‘Subscribe’ box directly underneath this post. That means you’ll be on the Big Interview mailing list (if you’re already on the mailing list you don’t need to do anything).

On Thursday, we’ll email you a Noble-related question. Hit ‘reply’ to Thursday’s email with your answer, and we’ll announce a winner on Friday.

And if you don’t win, don’t worry. You’ll now be on our mailing list and will have the chance to win more goodies in the future, submit questions to our guests and get the latest podcasts sent directly to your inbox.

Good luck!

Graham

OUR latest clip show follows on from a previous episode, when The Big Interview zeroed in on those very special footballers: the mavericks.

Harry Redknapp has known more than his share of those players during his career and he talks about the likes of The Ghost John White, George Best and Paolo Di Canio.

Harry also coached two true mavericks at Portsmouth: Paul Merson and King Kanu. Listen out for the story about how the Nigerian was taken home from the airport – it’s one of the funniest anecdotes I’ve ever heard while recording these podcasts.

Of course, we Scots also know a thing or two about idiosyncratic footballers, and in this podcast you will hear about two of the best. Listen as Joe Jordan reminisces about the genius of Jimmy Johnstone, while Graeme Souness talks about Alan Gilzean, the king of White Hart Lane.

They were all special players. And this is a special Big Interview.

Enjoy!

THE Big Interview with Neil Lennon was a wonderful evening and we gave those who attended a chance to get involved, holding a Q & A with the Hibs manager at the end. Remember that you can still play your part in this podcast by donating to Ardgowan Hospice – who we were helping to raise money for on the night.

Neil held court brilliantly as he fielded questions from the floor, talking frankly about player development and giving his views about where clubs and coaches are going wrong.

He was also asked about the most talented managers in football today and reveals which one he would most like to have worked under as a player.

And there is a wonderful tribute to a coach from his past: the late Tommy Burns. Neil recalls how the former Celtic coach once “refereed” a training ground confrontation between Derek Riordan and Gary Caldwell.

Enjoy!

HE shifted uncomfortably in his seat, turning his head quickly to find an exit. It had only been 20 minutes and already Neil Lennon was ready to leave. About half an hour earlier he had idled outside to watch the crowd gather, amused by the excited chattering of those around him. But now that he was inside and the evening was underway, Lennon suddenly felt uneasy.

This was the scene the Northern Irishman described during his Big Interview just before Christmas last year – the first we have recorded in front of a live audience. Fortunately, Lennon had not been referring to his experience that night at Greenock Town Hall, but had instead been offering an insight into an evening four years earlier, when he had flown to Spain to scout FC Barcelona.

He was Celtic manager then and his team were due to play the Catalan giants in the group stages of the Champions League.

Lennon, accompanied by his assistant Johan Mjallby, had chosen to attend a Liga match between Barcelona and Deportivo La Coruna at the Estadio Riazor, hoping to witness something rarely seen in that Barca team of 2012: weakness.

After just 18 minutes the Celtic coaches had already considered calling off their expedition – with Jordi Alba, Cristian Tello and Lionel Messi putting the visitors three goals up. But Lennon kept his vigil and was rewarded when Deportivo hit back, scoring in either half as they fell to a 5-4 defeat.

Lennon watched carefully each time Barcelona conceded a goal. He had seen a chink in their armour which his Celtic players might be able to exploit it. “Of the goals Deportivo scored, one was an own goal, one was from a corner, one was a penalty and the other was a free-kick. So, straight away, you are thinking: set plays,” Lennon says in the podcast, which we recorded live to help raise funds for Ardgowan Hospice in Greenock.

He took that little idea and turned into a tall order for Barcelona, with Celtic scoring from a set piece in both of their group matches against the Catalan side. In the Camp Nou, Charlie Mulgrew clipped a free-kick towards the front post for Georgios Samaras to nod in, while Victor Wanyama scored from a corner kick at Celtic Park.

Samaras’ goal at 1:08 in the video above shows how Celtic exploited Barca’s zonal marking in Spain, allowing the Greek to use his superior height to beat Javier Masherano in the air. “We had studied them zonally and they had  Mascherano, Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta, Jordi Alba – they didn’t have a big team,” Lennon recalls. “Take Gerard Pique out of the equation and we knew we had a chance.”

Celtic made sure that size mattered when they were defending too, closing the gaps through the middle and forcing the ball wide, leaving Barcelona to fall back on crosses to their diminutive attacking players.

That tactic had been used successfully against Barcelona in the Champions League before. Lennon found the evidence following a not-so-anonymous tip – a phone call from a certain Sir Alex Ferguson.

“Sir Alex rang me and said: ‘Look, if you want to know how to play against them then watch Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan,’ the match in 2010,” Lennon says. “They were 3-1 up from the first leg and Mourinho had world-class players like [Marco] Materazzi, [Wesley] Sneijder, [Samuel] Eto’o, Diego Milito . . . but, basically, they camped in the first third of the pitch and made Barcelona play wide. Inter forced them into crosses.

“Inter hung on and hung on – they lost 1-0 – but in the first 20 minutes the possession stats were 72 per cent to Barcelona and 18 per cent for Inter Milan. I thought that if it’s good enough for these guys, then it’s good enough for us.”

It was certainly good enough for a special night in Glasgow, inspired by their performance in Barcelona two weeks earlier. “After he lost narrowly at the Camp Nou, I told them to hold on to that feeling about how close they had been and use it as their motivation for the next game,” Lennon says.

“They had shown they were good enough to take something off that Barcelona team and, a fortnight later, they did.”