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In part two of my uplifting interview with Brian Laudrup, we get into the detail of Denmark’s Euro ’92 fairy tale.

A disappointing draw with England was followed by defeat to hosts Sweden and the Danes prepared to pack their bags. But a star-studded France team underestimated Laudrup and Co, who clinched a semi-final place against the Netherlands. The Dutch were the competition’s most fancied side, featuring talents such as Rijkaard, Bergkamp and Van Basten. Yet Denmark won a penalty shoot-out to face Germany in the final in Gothenburg where Peter Schmeichel was a hero between the sticks and John Jensen scored an unlikely beauty. Perhaps Destiny also played her part for the Danes that summer.

The lesson, friends, is to never stop believing.

Graham

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Brian Laudrup was part of the Denmark side who were last-minute additions to Euro ’92. They would have been happy to have taken a point… but they only went on to win the tournament!

Brian and his brother Michael weren’t keen on coach Richard Moller Nielsen’s ideas and both quit the national side. But Brian and Neilsen managed to sort things out only three months before the Euro finals began. When Yugoslavia were disqualified and Denmark invited to take their place just eight days prior to their first game, Brian didn’t think he was recovered enough from a recent injury. But he soon warmed to the idea of proving that Denmark weren’t the ugly ducklings everyone thought they were.

Enjoy,

Graham

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In part two of my chat with John McGinn, we pick up just after hearing about how the midfielder’s beloved Celtic’s inexplicable dithering meant that Villa swooped for his signature. He relates the thrill of beating rivals West Brom in a penalty shootout to set up a play-off victory over Derby.

John also describes Scotland’s showdown in Serbia to clinch a place at the Euros. A simple but powerful team-talk from Steve Clarke had set the players up psychologically. John, who had been substituted, describes the agony of watching the penalty shootout from the stand. He needn’t have worried, because glory awaited.

Enjoy,

Graham

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

It was a real pleasure catching up with Scotland and Aston Villa midfield maestro John McGinn.

John is a graduate of the academy at St Mirren where he was taught technique by progressive coaches – and also learned how to dodge fireworks! Let’s just say that training took place in Ferguslie Park, the more… boisterous end of Paisley. Hibernian came calling and John describes the Scottish Cup triumph of 2016 over Rangers, replete with a pitch invasion and a stirring rendition of the anthemic Sunshine on Leith.

Enjoy,

Graham

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

Welcome back to my chat with Pete Jenson and Neil White in which we consider if Real Madrid’s Three-peat side are underrated.

As we heard in part one, certainly Real’s run-up to the first final was underwhelming and they had to take city rivals Atlético to penalties. But the 4-1 thrashing of Juve and then the beating of Liverpool surely deserve more credit. After all, this is a team which featured the likes of Isco, Benzema, Casemiro, Modric and Kroos, as well as talisman Cristiano Ronaldo. Having Ronaldo was like having a goal start, and it is a distinct possibility that he himself was underrated and misunderstood. Just ask any of his team-mates.

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

With Neil White in the chair, myself and Pete Jenson discussed a brilliant question from one of our Socios: Will time bring more respect to Real Madrid’s Three-peat team?

We’re talking, of course, about the side who clinched successive Champions Leagues in 2016, 2017 and 2018, all under the auspices of club legend Zinedine Zidane. There is a perception that somehow they stumbled their way to these titles, and they aren’t as lauded as the other Three-peat clubs, Ajax and Bayern, who both achieved the feat in the 1970s.

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

Welcome to our Big Interview Icons series where we shine a light on a legend whose name has lit up some of the conversations I’ve had with my guests over the last six years of The Big Interview. This episode focuses on Roberto Mancini.

At Sampdoria and Lazio, Mancini was Sven-Göran Eriksson’s artist, an elegant, Rolls Royce of a forward beloved by his manager and the club chairman. But he could also be a hothead, a man who lost the rag with team-mates or officials when things went wrong.

As for Mancini the manager, Micah Richards speaks about working under him at Manchester City. He found Mancini to be a brutally honest perfectionist who players either loved or hated. Micah just loved him. He improved him immeasurably as a player, made him fitter and more tactical aware, and, of course, delivered that incredible 2011/2012 Premier League title win in injury time.

Enjoy

Graham

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

Here’s another chance to hear my interview with Ander Herrera from season three.

Classy midfielder Ander is now at Paris Saint-Germain where he was recently a Champions League finalist. I caught up with him when he was still a Manchester United player and he waxed lyrical about his earlier footballing life helping his beloved Real Zaragoza survive in Spain’s top flight. He liked his time at Athletic Bilbao under the footballing romantic Marcelo Bielsa, but he describes losing two cup finals due to the team’s sheer exhaustion. There’s also great stuff about why Ander wouldn’t become a manager, and he makes his case for David de Gea being the best goalkeeper in the world.

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

Welcome to part two of The Big Interview with Rainer Bonhof, in which the World Cup winner reveals a secret about his nationality. Let’s just say that his grandfather wouldn’t have been pleased to have seen him help defeat Holland in the 1974 final!

We hear about Rainer’s time as Scotland Under-21 coach when he worked with talents like Shaun Maloney and Darren Fletcher – now Belgium assistant coach and Manchester United technical director respectively. We also chat about who should be the next Germany manager and why Gerd Müller’s greatness will never be surpassed.

Enjoy

Graham

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

Today we welcome our first German World Cup winner onto The Big Interview: Rainer Bonhof.

The elegant midfielder enjoyed his prime during a golden era for Borussia Mönchengladbach. We’ll hear about team-mates Berti ‘The Terrier’ Vogts and Günter Netzer, the side’s bona fide rock star.

It was also a golden era for West Germany, and Rainer made his breakthrough at the 1974 World Cup, scoring against Sweden and then setting up Gerd Müller’s winner in the final against the great Netherlands side starring Johan Cruyff.

Enjoy

Graham

Subscribe to The Big Interview YouTube channel

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com