WORLDPELE • CRUYFF • RONALDO • CUPZIDANE • GAZZA •ICOnS BAGGIO • SOCRATES The games, goals and glory that dei ned the greatest show on earth EDITORIAL EDITOR’S Tel 020 8267 5848 Fax 020 8267 5725 Email [email protected] – or to contact an individual, email fi[email protected] WAnT For work experience requests, please email [email protected] Editor Hitesh Ratna Art editor Anthony Moore MORE? Deputy art editor Tom Chase Features editor James Maw FInD US Staff writer Andrew Murray LETTER Staff writer Chris Flanagan Chief sub editor Gregg Davies HERE... Junior picture editor Tom Clazie Flynn @FourFourTwoEd Head of video Ben Welch Performance writer Alec Fenn FourFourTwo videographer Jalal Ali Global digital editor Gary Parkinson My first World Cup was Italia 90 UK digital editor Joe Brewin Digital features editor Alex Reid and my abiding memories of it FOURFOURTWO.COM Social media editor Harriet Drudge are a hotchpotch of randomness: Social media apprentice Hunter Godson Editorial secretary Cathy Wythe Cameroon’s Benjamin Massing trying Thanks to Haymarket Pre-Press (Repro), Steve Latter, Ulisses Neto, Dean Eldredge, Joshua Browne, Matt Cecil, to kill Claudio Caniggia in the opening Ross Quigley, Stuart Gower, Martin Hagele, Adam Baker, Danny Potter, Tom Rubashow, Keith Brookman, Josh Power match (and losing a boot in the process); Ciao – the rubbish Pictures Press Association, Getty, Offside, Instagram, Twitter, Alamy, Shutterstock, Chris Gee, Denis Doyle tricolour stick-figure mascot; Pavarotti bellowing beautifully @FOURFOURTWO Global brand director Andy Jackson over a montage of some truly awful matches. And of course Business director Claire Griffiths Brand executive Benjamin Clark there was England, with Gazza’s tears, David Platt’s volley and Senior direct marketing executive Faith Wardle Global partnerships director Ian Porter Chris Waddle’s mullet and miss. It was around this time that Head of production operations Trevor Simpson I bought my first Panini World Cup sticker book, inspired by Group production manager Ailsa Donovan Deputy production manager Suzanne Wiseman England’s run to the semi-finals. @FOURFOURTWOUK Subscriptions & back issues Haymarket Consumer, 3 Queensbridge, Northampton, NN4 7BF Tel: 0344 848 8811 or +44 (0)1604 251 455 And that’s why we kick off the first of three World Cup issues Licensing and syndication email [email protected] with a load of iconic footballers and stickers. As you will have ADVERTISING Tel +44 (0) 20 8267 5159 Email [email protected] noticed, this issue is bagged with the official Russia 2018 Partnerships & advertising director Kevin O’Byrne Panini sticker album, which must mean the build-up to Commercial group head Stephen Windegaard Senior account manager Emma Blick the tournament is truly underway. Anyone want to swap FACEBOOK.COM/ Team leader Ben Hardy FOURFOURTWO Key account manager Sam Evanson a Jake Livermore for an Egyptian shiny? Account manager Keiron Batchelor As if that wasn’t enough, our cover feature this month Account manager Lindsey Dobson Account manager Joshua McGonigle reflects on the players who have come to define our World INTERNATIONAL Cup memories, from Pele and Maradona to Cannavaro and International business director Jamie Wilson Zidane. We also visited Brazil legend Ronaldo at his house in Global account director Jason Brown FOURFOURTWO Global account manager Nicola Darkin Madrid to discuss coming back from Circulation enquiries Frontline Ltd, 1st Floor, Stuart House, St John’s Street, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE1 5DD. Tel: 01733 555161 the heartache of France 98 to score Repro by Haymarket Pre-Press Printed by William Gibbons & Sons Ltd. P.O.Box 103, the winning goal in the final four 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XT. Hitesh Ratna FFT is pub lished by Haymarket Media, Bridge House, 69 London Road, years later. If you weren’t excited for Twickenham, TW1 3SP. Tel: +44 (0)20 8267 5000; haymarketgroup.com. Editor FFT cannot accept any responsibility for unsolicited contributions, and no part of this magazine may be re produced, stored in a retrieval system or the World Cup, you will be now... transmitted without permission. 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For more information, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk Group director Alastair Lewis Chief executive Kevin Costello SUBSCRIPTIONS Save money by subscribing to FourFourTwo 0344 848 8811 Email: [email protected] Overseas: +44 (0)1604 251 455 Calls cost 7p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge Ulisses Neto: FFT’s videographer Fernando Munoz: The Panini Will Cornelius: The lensman found Ronaldo in the mood to bare sticker aficionado let us loose on snapped Arsenal’s Armenian ace his soul. “Hearing O Fenomeno’s his World Cup archive. “I started in north London. “Four of us were story of redemption – from 1998 in 1986, somehow getting Diego trying to figure out how to spell World Cup heartbreak and knee Maradona in a pack, but Italia 90 Mkhitaryan. He walks in and says, Haymarket is certified by BSI to environmental standard ISO14001 and energy management injury heartache to scoring the and our Colombian superstar Carlos ‘Most people just call me Micki’. He standard ISO50001. goals that won Brazil the 2002 Valderrama was the big one. I can’t was an absolute gent and the most World Cup – was inspirational.” wait to start on the 2018 edition!” intelligent baller I have ever shot.” FourFourTwo.com May 2018 3 12 28 36 UPFRONT FEATURES 6 The Beautiful Game 34 World Cup icons 12 One-on-One: Arjen Robben Hurst’s hat-trick, the magic of 18 Around the world in 12 stories Maradona, Gazza’s tears and 19 This month’s must-see matches the pure genius of Pele – each 20 Jerzy Dudek’s greatest games of the 20 World Cups to date 40 22 Quiz: Name the World Cup star has made heroes and historic 23 Scouted: Roma’s Cengiz Under moments. We hail a host of the 25 Chilling with nice Chris Powell tournament’s idols since 1930 27 Schalke 04’s miner celebrity 58 Between The Lines: Ronaldo 28 Landon Donovan on life at Leon The Brazilian No.9 relives the 29 Oscar’s fi rst-start stunner day his World Cup dream died 30 Lothar Matthaus on 1990 glory and how the tears fl owed after 31 Your letters and tweets his ‘miracle’ return in 2002 102 SECHZIG FOOTBALL 64 38 44 46 SOCRATES AND CHAOS THEORY FEATURES ACTION REPLAY 64 Mucking in at 1860 Munich 91 Denis Law and the milky way We visit the fourth-tier team 92 Fergie’s big trip to Mexico 86 who quit the Allianz Arena for 94 Panini sticker treasure trove their dilapidated old stadium 96 Rivera: Italy’s 1970 golden boy 70 “You can call me Micki” 100 World Cup build-up disasters THE TOP Armenia’s best-known export tells FFT he aims to write his PERFORMANCE name into Arsenal’s history 76 Football League Top 50 102 Masterclass: Fernandinho Fans from all 72 clubs help us 104 Tips from players’ training pics P76 decide the best players plying 105 Could a drone be a tactics aid? their trade in the Championship, 106 Meet a super-fi t shot-stopper League One and League Two 107 Stay loose with band routine 70 RONALDO’S REDEMPTION FOOTBALL LEAGUE PLAYERS 58 THE BEaUTIFUL GAME FLIPPInG HECK, AUBA! Not helped by Arsenal’s faltering form and being cup-tied for the Europa League, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may have endured a slow-burning start to his Gunners career, but the Gabonese forward certainly knows his way around a spectacular celebration. After rounding the goalkeeper to roll home the second in a 3-0 home win against Watford in March, the 28-year-old let fly with a trademark front flip. It’s probably for the best Olivier Giroud never attempted it. Picture Eddie Keogh/Reuters THE BEaUTIFUL GAME “ER, I nEED THE TOILET...” The worst thing about a hot tub – even if you’re in the Bahamas in mid-August – is having to brave the cold and get out. With temperatures hitting -10C as Hobro hosted FC Copenhagen, the mind boggles at quite how freezing these competition ‘winners’ were at full-time. Hopefully they were away fans, with Hobro losing the Danish Superliga showdown 2-0. As FFT found out to its cost recently, beware the silent hot tub assassin who seems to have handily developed an iron bladder... Picture Lars Ronbog/FrontzoneSport/Getty THE BEaUTIFUL GAME DAVIDE ASTORI 1987-2018 For more than 700 years, Florence’s Basilica of Santa Croce has hosted the canonisation of saints and the last goodbye for those who earned a place in the Tuscan city’s heart.