The Sunday Times - UK (2021-11-28)

The Sunday Times November 28, 2021 25

Sport

footballing brain, Peter

Taylor. In this breezy

documentary from

2015, almost all of the

players who took that

journey explain with

overflowing affection

just how extraordinary

the whole unlikely

business and Clough’s

regime was.

Frank Clark

remembers being fined

for training on his day

off, Garry Birtles

regularly missed

training so that he

could play squash with,

yes, Clough, and one

team-bonding

speciality involved

running through

patches of stinging

3

assists

8

goals

15

assists

41

goals

10

assists

64

goals

assists

goals

The winner of the award for the

best male footballer in the world

will be announced tomorrow.

Among the 30 shortlisted nominees,

Lionel Messi is favourite...

THE BALLON D’OR

DREAM TEAM

In October 2020, France

Football conducted an

internet poll to select a

greatest of all-time team

from previous Ballon

d’Or winners. The final

team was selected by

140 of the magazine’s

correspondents based

on the poll.

Lionel Messi

The six-time Ballon d’Or

winner finally secured his

first senior international

trophy for Argentina,

lifting the Copa America in

July as the competition’s

Player of the Tournament.

For Barcelona in 2021,

Messi scored 28 goals in

as many games in all

competitions to help his

side win the Copa del Rey

and finish third in La Liga.

Jorginho

As a defensive midfielder,

Jorginho obviously cannot

compete with the goal and

assist records of some others

on the shortlist. However, this

did not stop him winning Uefa

Player of the Year in August.

After successfully steering

Chelsea to a Champions

League title in May and Italy to

European Championship glory

in July, Jorginho heads into

tomorrow’s ceremony as one

of the favourites.

Robert Lewandowski

The undisputed favourite to

win last year’s award,

Lewandowski was deprived of

the 2020 Ballon d’Or when it

was controversially cancelled

by France Football during the

Covid-19 pandemic. However,

despite the setback, he

continued his exceptional

form into 2021, scoring in

buckets for Bayern Munich to

help add the Bundesliga, Club

World Cup and DFL-Supercup

to their trophy cabinet.

ANATOMY OF

...THE BALLON D’OR

Matthäus

(Ger)

Pelé

(Bra)

Maradona

(Arg)

Yashin

(Rus)

Xavi

(Sp)

Messi

(Arg)

Ronaldo

(Bra)

C Ronaldo

(Por)

Cafu

(Bra)

Beckenbauer

(Ger)

Beckenbauer

(Ger)

Maldini

(Ita)

3-4-3

MOST BALLON D’ORS WON

FIRST WINNER

By country By club

12 Barcelona (6)

11 Real Madrid (7)

8 AC Milan (6)

Juventus (6)

5 Bayern Munich (3)

4 Man Utd (4)

6 Lionel Messi

2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019

5 Cristiano Ronaldo

2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017

3 Johan Cruyff

1971, 1973, 1974

Michel Platini

1983, 1984, 1985

Marco van Basten

1988, 1989, 1992

7 Germany (5 players)

Holland (3)

Portugal (3)

6 France (4)

Argentina (1)

5 Italy (5)

Brazil (4)

England (4)

3 Soviet Union (3)

Spain (2)

HOW IT WORKS

Presented annually by French

magazine France Football,

the award was launched in

1956. For the first 50 years,
      the winner was decided on
      votes cast by leading football
      journalists. Since 2007,
      coaches and captains of
      national teams have been
      given a vote.

Stanley Matthews (1956)

The former Blackpool and

Stoke City winger edged out

Real Madrid’s Alfredo di

Stefano to win the inaugural

Ballon d’Or at 41 years of age.

THE 2021

FRONTRUNNERS

By player

LESSONS FROM

A LIFE IN SPORT

GLENN HODDLE

The former England

player and manager on

Wenger, Jägerbombs

and being a cheap date

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Football was in my DNA. Even

when I could only crawl, I

would never throw a ball, I’d

put it at my feet. I even slept

with a ball. My mum and dad

did think that was a bit

strange.

MY BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT

My career was almost over

before it began when I nearly

lost an eye. I had to have my

whole cartilage out too,

which was horrendous. I

began to think I’d break

through when I went into

men’s football at 15 and found

I could cope. When I became

an apprentice at Tottenham

Hotspur, it was easier playing

against the men.

THE COACH I LOOKED UP TO

Arsène Wenger at Monaco.

He opened my mind. In

France, No 10 was the biggest

position, but it was

something we never had in

England. Arsène was ahead of

the game and did everything

different to how we were

doing it in England, not least

how you prepare a team in

pre-season. Nobody had

more influence on me.

MY CHILDHOOD HERO

Don Henley. I was an absolute

Eagles nut and he would be

the first person I would invite

to dinner if I could.

FOOTBALL NEVER GOT ANY

BETTER THAN...

My first goal on my first start

for Tottenham when I was 17.

It was at Stoke City, it was a

25-yarder past Peter Shilton.

It’s a moment I’ll treasure.

MORNING I HAD THE HANGOVER

TO END ALL HANGOVERS

At my daughter’s 30th

birthday, they got me on

Jägerbombs. I’d never heard

of them. The hangover lasted

for two days.

MY FAVOURITE GROUND

It took a long time to get a win

there, but I did like Anfield. It’s

a special place with a special

atmosphere.

MY LEAST FAVOURITE GROUND

MiIlwall. The concrete slab

being thrown at me as I took a

corner was quite something. I

took it as a compliment

though: it meant I was making

a difference.

MY TOUGHEST OPPONENT

In the first leg of a 1984 Uefa

Cup tie against Bohemians

Hoddle: Finished at Chelsea

Praha, Jiri Sloup attempted to

do me so many times it was as

if he was out to kill me, but I

got through it. In the second

leg over there, one assault led

to 26 stitches and a torn groin.

I LEARNT MOST FROM...

Getting my first Tottenham

contract. There were no

bottles of champagne or

celebrations from my dad. He

just said, “Congratulations,

the hard work starts now.” I

never forgot it.

MY FAVOURITE MEAL

You won’t beat calamari or

tiger prawns with garlic to

start, then a pasta with salmon

and tiramisu for dessert, plus

a nice glass of red wine. I’m a

cheap date.

I KNEW THE GAME WAS UP

WHEN...

I was warming up as

substitute for Chelsea against

Real Zaragoza in the 1994-95

Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final. I

was mentally and physically

exhausted by the pressure of

being manager and player.

The expectation of me going

on overwhelmed me.

MY ONE REGRET

Not winning the league at

Tottenham. We should have

done it twice when I was a

player and I didn’t get the

squad or the money as

manager.

BEST ADVICE FOR A YOUNG

SPORTSPERSON

Don’t rely on talent. You have

to have a burning desire, your

pride and your standards have

to be so high. If you haven’t

got that mental strength and

desire you will not get 100 per

cent out of yourself.

John Aizlewood

Playmaker: My Life and the

Love of Football by Glenn

Hoddle (Harper Collins, £20

hardback) is out now.

nettles while carrying a

team-mate.

It worked, though,

and the footage from

famous triumphs in

Athens and Cologne

bears out Clough’s

managerial ethos,

which was: work hard,

then you’ll play well,

then you’ll enjoy it.

Such a journey

won’t happen again. It

had never happened

before either.

John Aizlewood

YOUR NEXT

DOWNLOAD

I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES

NETFLIX

It was truly a football

miracle when

Nottingham Forest’s

journey from lying

in the middle of the

old Second Division

to becoming the

champions of Europe

took only two

giddy years.

The catalysts, of

course, were Brian

Clough and his