because he wasn’t! He could give you a right
good bollocking, and I once heard that he’d
whacked another player, Billy Baxter, who’d
given him some lip.How much do you regret snubbing a part in
classic film Escape to Victory?
Every Christmas when it comes on television,
I watch it and think, ‘You prat!’ I was asked to
be in it with some other Ipswich players like
John Wark, Russell Osman and Kevin Beattie.
They got to play prisoners of war alongside
Pele, Bobby Moore and Sylvester Stallone, but
I said no. The reason was I’d just played for
Scotland in Poland and Hungary. I was tired
and wanted to go home, but obviously that
was a big mistake.After your early success, why did you want
to leave Ipswich in 1983?
The team was starting to fall apart. It wasn’t
the same after Bobby left to take the England
job. He was succeeded by his assistant, Bobby
Ferguson, who I didn’t get on with. We’d had
a great run, winning the 1981 UEFA Cup Final
after coming second in the league, but I think
the club ran out of money and players had to
be sold, including me.What do you recall of your 15-month spell
with Tottenham?
I scored six goals in my first 12 matches and
was desperate to carry it on, but something
didn’t feel right. I’d lost about 15 per cent of
my game and couldn’t put my finger on why.
It puzzled me but I was still playing OK, then
Manchester United came calling. You don’t
turn them down, so I was on my way again.Why didn’t it work out for you there?
I’d been team-mates with Arnold Muhren at
Ipswich, where I used to destroy him in the
pre-season running, but I got to Old Trafford
and suddenly he was beating me. I thought,
‘What’s wrong with me?’ I had injections in
my groin, my arse, all over, but it didn’t make
any difference. I didn’t feel the same player.You’ve said that the United fans hated you?
I just didn’t do well there, and some of them
weren’t happy. I remember a game at home
to Everton: I played a one-two with Jesper
Olsen, he crossed it back to me and I struck
a great half-volley. The ball flew past Neville
Southall, hit the crossbar, landed on the goal
line and bounced out. At full-time, I walkedtowards the tunnel and two fans spat at me.
If my shot had gone in, maybe things would
have been different. Who knows?What were your team-mates like?
I was under pressure from younger players
such as Mark Hughes and Norman Whiteside,
but everyone was great to me and I became
very good friends with Bryan Robson. There’s
a great story about when Trevor Francis was
playing for Sampdoria, but staying with Bryan
in Cheshire. We all met up one Sunday to play
some snooker and have a few beers. Trevor
had given Bryan an expensive Italian jumper,
which he was wearing. Anyway, as we head
home Bryan begins to feel sick, so I pull over,
he runs into the woods and we can hear him
vomiting. He comes back, but Trevor realises
that he’s no longer wearing the £200 jumper,
which he’d been sick on and chucked away.
We wanted to leave it, but Trevor demanded
that we go back – he went off into the woods
and returned with this sick-stained jumper in
his hands. That always makes me chuckle!How did your time at United end?
Ron Atkinson said, “It isn’t working out” and
sent me to Coventry, then I found out what
was wrong with me – I had a degenerative
spine. The discs had gone in my back. You’d
discover it quickly with an MRI, but I carried
it around for years and was in so much pain.How tough was it for you to retire at 27?
It was a relief, because I’d finally found out
what was wrong with me. I wasn’t in tears at
all – I didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for me.How do you look back on your career?
With great pride. I was lucky to do what I did.
I scored at Old Trafford and Anfield. I bagged
five goals against a top Southampton side to
help Ipswich win 5-2. I was a good finisher
and scored some crackers. My only regret is
that I netted just once for Scotland, but that
was such fun, getting to play alongside Kenny
Dalglish, Alan Hansen and Graeme Souness.Of your thousands of guests on talkSPORT,
who has been the most compelling?
Just recently, Tyson Fury. But years ago Trevor
McDonald came on to speak about meeting
Saddam Hussein and Nelson Mandela, which
was fascinating. The actor Dan Ackroyd was
good, too. I was warned that magician David
Blaine would be weird, but he was really nice.What’s been your worst slip-up on air?
There have been a few, often based around
me not realising someone had died. A guest
once said there had been a BAFTA tribute to
Bob Monkhouse. I said, “How’s Bob’s health
these days?” There was a pause before they
replied, “He died at Christmas.” Then prior to
the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa,
I chatted to a commentator who was talking
about all the icons working with him. I asked,
“Will Hansie Cronje be on?” He paused, then
replied, “Hansie died in a plane crash, Alan.”Alan’s book ‘Only Here For A Visit’, published
by Bantam Press, is released on October 29You spent the early years of your career in
Brazil, then won the 2002 World Cup. What
did that mean to you?
The funny thing is that until 1992 I was just
a futsal goalkeeper in my home of Cascavel.
That was the year I had a successful trial at
Cruzeiro – 10 years later I was representing
my country at the World Cup, which is crazy.
I began my career as an attacking midfielder
and became a full-back only in 2000. My role
in the national side was to not allow Cafu to
feel comfortable as a regular starter, as he
knew there was a shadow right behind him.
It’s an honour to be among the 94 Brazilians
who are world champions, in a nation whose
population is more than 200 million people.Your only appearance at the tournament
was as a holding midfielder. Did Luiz Felipe
Scolari tell you he was playing you there?
The day before the semi-final, I was up in my
hotel room and someone knocked hard on
the door. I jokingly shouted, “Do you want to
destroy the place?” It was Felipao! Then he
said he was considering playing me against
Turkey. I was the only outfield player yet to
get any minutes, but with five minutes left
Kleberson had cramps and Felipao called me.What was your time at Villarreal like, and
just how good was Juan Roman Riquelme?
A lot of people felt I was making the wrong
choice when I left Sao Paulo as a World Cup
winner to join Villarreal, a club that wasn’t
well known in Brazil then. But it was the club
that opened the doors of European football
for me. We used to joke in the dressing roomInterview Caio CarrieriAfter winning the 2002 World
Cup, the Brazilian was a hero
for Barcelona against Arsenal
before impressing at ChelseaJULIAnO BELLETTI
“MY DAD SAW ME
HIT THE WInnE R
I n A CHAMPIOn S
LEAGUE FIn AL –
I CAn ’T DESCRIBE
HOW THAT FEELS”
94 November 2020 FourFourTwo