Dogs, Dunc and Dave Whelan
Bayern Munich 2 Real Madrid 1 May 9, 2001 Champions League semi- final
“I was 20 – until then, everyone had seen me as this Canadian kid who had come from the academy and cost less than a bread roll. I was playing against Luis Figo, the most expensive player in the world at the time. Before the game I thought, ‘ I’m in trouble here’, but you get onto the pitch and it’s just football. The most powerful thing I ever experienced in a match was when I took the ball off Roberto Carlos and ran by him. This light went off in my head, like, ‘ Wow, you can do this’. It changed my career and it made me think, ‘ I belong here’.”
England 0 Portugal 0 ( 1- 3 pens) July 1, 2006 World Cup quarter- final
“At the time, people in England didn’t get to see me play much, because I was in the Bundesliga and often coming on for only 10 or 20 minutes for England. I was in the squad but got loads of stick, and I remember sitting down with 10 Sunday journalists who grilled me about why I was in the side. I told them, ‘ With the utmost respect, if you guys had done your homework, you wouldn’t ask that question. But because you haven’t seen me, I accept it’. The World Cup gave me the platform that I had at Bayern. When I played against Portugal, everyone said, ‘ You did really well’. In the mixed zone after that game, the journos kind of gave me a round of applause. People in England saw me in a different light after that.”
Man United 1 Chelsea 1 ( 6- 5 pens) May 21, 2008 Champions League final
“We had such a great team, the best I ever played in. Sir Alex Ferguson told us, ‘ This group has the potential to compete for every title this season’. When the final went to penalties, we’d all practised, but you’re only confident until you get up there. It definitely didn’t help that Ronaldo missed just before me – I thought, ‘ Oh cheers, Cristiano!’ You’ve got to think positively. Physically it’s an easy exercise to kick a football from 12 yards, so I tried to trust what I was used to doing... and smashed it in the top bin.”
Man United 2 Wolves 1 November 6, 2010 Premier League
“I was blessed to have so many incredible moments on a football pitch, but when I returned from my knee injury, I knew I was never going to get back to where I was. Even though I had some issues, I really wanted to play against Wolves and get through 45 minutes, which would have been a start. But I had to come off after 10. That moment was significant, as it showed me how far away I was. I realised, ‘ I can’t reach that level, I can’t be that guy any more’. When everything is taken away from you, it’s very humbling.”