The mixed zone is where the quotes come from. The banalities, the platitudes and the 110%s. After a game has finished, accredited journalists have a choice to make: attend the managers’ press conferences, or stand one side of a railing somewhere in the bowels of a stadium, and wait for the players to leave the dressing room and file past.Players aren’t actually compelled to talk to the media. Sometimes a helpful press officer will honour a specific request, leading one reluctantly towards a flurry of iPhones, but more often it’s a case of leaning over the barrier and begging (while trying not to sound too desperate). Essentially, it's all the worst parts of being a teenager – the awkwardness, the...
10 minutes on the clock, 64clubsto guess - Zidane played for Caen, Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid, between 1989 and 2006.Remember to tweet your scores@FourFourTwoand share with your mates.NOW TRYQuiz! Can you name the top 20 rated players from every FIFA game in the last decade? That Champions League final goal. The two goalsagainst Brazil in 98. The masterclass he put on against the Brazilians eight years later.When we think of Zinedine Zidane's magnificent playing career, we tend to think about how it ended. But really, he was one of the most magnificent footballers the world ever witnessed.The things that Zizou could do with a football could take your breath away. He wasn't even a goalscorer either - not really...
Nobby Solano featured over 200 times for Newcastle over two different spells between 1998 and 2008, but admitted that his return to the Magpies in 2005 nearly failed to come about.The midfielder, who moved from the Toon to Aston Villa in 2004 after falling out of favour in Sir Bobby Robson’s side, was mulling over a return to St James’ Park eighteen months later when he received a phone call from Liverpool.Thankfully for the Geordie fans, a couple of Newcastle legends influenced Solano to rejoin the club in 2005, under Graeme Souness’ management.Speaking in the April issue of FourFourTwo, out now, Solano revealed: “I was driving back to Newcastle when I had a call from one of Rafa Benitez’s assistants.“But...
Bolo Zenden may be known for his goal-scoring prowess on the the left-wing, but not many know that he is an adept judoka.Yet his judo antics went one step too far during his playing days whilst challenging ex-Barcelona teammate Xavi to some moves when the pair were playing together in Spain.“It went a bit wrong once at Barcelona,” Zenden revealed in the April issue of FourFourTwo, out now.“I had a little [judo] challenge with Xavi, who was leaning with one hand on a bed. The bed had wheels, though, which made him slip and he dislocated a shoulder. He was out for a few weeks!”The former Chelsea and Barcelona man grew up with a judo-loving family, which stemmed from his...
Ten minutes on the clock, 50 namesto guess - some appear more than once.Remember to tweet your scores@FourFourTwoand share with your friends.NOW TRYQuiz! Can you name the top 20 rated players from every FIFA game in the last decade? The year 2000 was 20 years ago now - hard to believe, but true.Almost every iconic name from that decade has now retired - the likes of Gerrard and Lampard are managing now, with David Beckham owning his own club.It seems like just yesterday that Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson were battling each season, Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez joining them in the middle of the decade.The question we're posing to you today, is which goalscorers lit up the Premier League...