Salomon Kalou’s camera japes
The Ivorian supersub recalls rubbing shoulders with the stars and popping round one of Abramovich’s many gaffs
What’s your favourite memory at Chelsea?
Winning trophies, because that’s what top footballers always aim for. Throughout my six years at Chelsea, we were always fighting for big titles – if it wasn’t the Premier League, it was the Champions League or another cup. If I had to pick one game, it’d be the 2011- 12
Champions League quarter- final first leg against Benfica, because my goal in Lisbon opened the doors for us to reach the semis.
Did Jose Mourinho phone you to convince you to join Chelsea, or was there no need?
Actually, Jose came to the Netherlands to watch me play. Initially I didn’t know he was there, which was good – otherwise I would have been under pressure. After the game, he got in touch with my agent, and we flew to London and met Jose at a house. Then Roman Abramovich showed up and we had a great chat. They told me why they wanted to sign me and said it would be a fantastic opportunity to win titles. I was told straight away that the club’s main goal was winning the Champions League.
Was that at Mourinho’s house?
No, apparently it was one of Abramovich’s many houses! [ Laughs] We didn’t agree on anything at that meeting, because I still had a contract with Feyenoord. To be honest, in my mind I was going to Spain, as Valencia’s representatives had been to Rotterdam to talk to me previously. I was already taking Spanish classes. But then Mourinho came to watch my last two matches of the season.
Did you really bring a camera to your first day at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground?
No, it was when we travelled to Los Angeles for pre- season. It was my first time in the US and my first training camp with Chelsea, so it was a big thing for me. I wanted to record everything I could over there. As it turned out, I became the team photographer – we had a party after we arrived and many celebrities showed up. My team- mates kept coming up to me, asking me to take their pictures with Snoop Dogg or the Williams sisters. [ Laughs]
You converted your penalty but Chelsea lost the shootout in the 2008 Champions League Final – how tough was that to take?
I think we deserved to win that final – we played much better than Manchester United. We badly wanted to win because it was in Moscow, and it would have been so satisfying for Abramovich to see us lift the Champions League trophy there. Fortunately, we won it four years later in Munich.
How was that night in Munich?
The world was against us – nobody expected us to win. Bayern Munich were a better team than us, but one of the most special things about that Chelsea squad was that we could overcome the biggest challenges together. All of us were willing to go an extra mile for a team- mate. That was one of our secrets.
You made more than 250 appearances in six years at Chelsea – what kept you going in spite of not being a regular starter?
To be at Chelsea for all of those years showed I had importance for the team. Abramovich could have bought another striker, but I was efficient and decisive whenever I did get minutes. I scored and provided assists when the team most needed them. That kept me going. There was Didier [ Drogba], [ Nicolas] Anelka and [ Fernando] Torres, but I brought something different to the table. I could play in various positions. I’d never been a winger before moving to Chelsea – it was Mourinho who first played me there.
Why did Andre Villas- Boas rarely pick you?
The club was going through a change, with new players coming in and everyone trying to secure a place in the team. Also, I was in the final year of my contract, so they were planning a new team and I wasn’t part of it.
Do you wish you could have stayed longer?
No, I was there for six years and we achieved everything we wanted. It was the right time for me to find something new. I arrived at 20 and left at 27. At the end of my last season I had an offer to extend my contract, but it was the right moment to be regular starter somewhere else. I wanted a new experience.
How does the feeling of being a European champion with Chelsea compare to being an African champion with Ivory Coast?
Oh, those are two different feelings. The joy of playing and achieving something big with your country is unmatchable, and winning the Champions League is lifting a trophy at a higher level of the game. Maybe it’s easier for supporters to choose – I can’t pick one.
You tried to get Dutch citizenship while at Feyenoord, only for it to be rejected. Why did you want to play for the Netherlands?
Because it was the country where everything started for me in football. Feyenoord were
my first club when I was 15 – I grew up and developed myself in their academy. Ruud Gullit was my Feyenoord coach and Marco van Basten was the Netherlands manager; the opportunity came through the friendship between them. It was such an honour for me to have two top former players interested in having me in their national team.
You then played for Ivory Coast 93 times...
It was actually 100 times. Some say 93 and others 99, but I also played in the Olympics and I count those games. I think I scored 32 goals overall, which makes me the second or third- highest scorer in my country’s history, and I accomplished that while playing on the wing – never as a striker. My first Africa Cup of Nations was amazing. I scored three goals and it was the start of something special, as I would end up playing at two World Cups. That was incredible.
What was it like to be part of Ivory Coast’s golden generation and win the AFCON?
It felt similar to playing for Chelsea, because we also had a bunch of guys that had played together for a long time. We knew each other so well that we knew exactly what to do in a tough moment. Yaya Touré, Gervinho, Kolo Touré and I came from the same academy [ at ASEC Mimosas]. I spent 10 years in the national team, but we’d already played with each other for four years in the academy. It’s easier to play with someone you know well.
Should the team have performed better at World Cups, given the talent in the squad?
Yes, that’s the only thing we could have done better. In 2010, everybody was at their peak, and I wish we could have gone further at the World Cup. In Brazil [ 2014] it was the same.
After Chelsea, you scored a lot of goals for Lille and Hertha Berlin. Was it nice to be the main man and not an impact player?
Football is about enjoying yourself. Whether I’m the main man or not, I want to help my team and have fun on the pitch. I joined Lille from Chelsea in order to play more. Better still, I played in my favourite position: upfront. I scored loads of goals and it was amazing.
How do the French and German divisions compare to the Premier League?
They are different and I enjoyed all of them. I’d say the Bundesliga is something between the Premier League and Ligue 1, physically and tactically. In Germany the teams wait, wait, wait until the best moment to attack. In France, teams are physically stronger. In England, teams attack from the first minute to the 90th, with so much box- to- box action.
Why did you join Botafogo in July 2020?
I’ve always liked an adventure and I’ve been through many of them in my life. You learn so much by being in another country, mixing with different people. I came to Brazil to see and play football in a different way. When they approached me, I thought, ‘ I’m 35 and coming to the end of my career, so why not accept this new adventure?’
What would you say to anyone who claims your reputation as a midfield hard man – 77 bookings and eight red cards – isn’t the background of a future manager?
[ Laughs] That’s one reason I don’t Google my own name! I had a tough spell between the ages of 22 and 26, when any tackle I made got away fans off their seats and opposition players surrounding the referee. My record did improve, and those statistics aren’t any reflection on me as a person. If cynics accuse me of not being managerial material, I’d say that to be a good manager, you have to care, and even my biggest critics would recognise I was a footballer who cared.
Your first captain at Middlesbrough was Gareth Southgate, and he also became your manager. Did the two of you get on?
Very much so. I’ve a list of people I want to see in the coming months, and Gareth is at the top. I’d love to spend quality time with him. He was a fantastic skipper and a really good man- manager. When I told him that I wanted to leave Boro and join Steve Bruce at Wigan, he understood.
Even at 18, it must have been hard to take being on the bench for the 2006 UEFA Cup Final, the biggest game in Boro’s history...?
Steve Mcclaren did an awful lot for me and we still speak regularly. Of course I was very disappointed, but I could understand why he chose to go with experience. Mind you, I was absolutely fuming when he brought me on at 4- 0 down. I thought, ‘ What does he expect me to do? Change the game?’ Now I can see that with the match already lost, he wanted to reward me with an appearance in a huge final – and 15 years on, it remains a highlight of my career. That was a superb Boro team, including [ Jimmy Floyd] Hasselbaink, [ Mark] Viduka, [ Bolo] Zenden... I just wish I’d played with them when I was a bit older.
Does being on the losing side in four finals, winning none, haunt you today?
There was a lot of heartache at the time, but at least I was involved in those finals. The one I enjoyed most was 2014’ s League Cup final, when Sunderland faced Manchester City. We were deservedly leading 1- 0 at half- time and came desperately close to an equaliser when 2- 1 down, before eventually losing 3- 1. Gus Poyet prepared us brilliantly for the game. We left nothing on the pitch and could feel proud of our performance.
Why didn’t you feature much in the Netflix series Sunderland ’ Til I Die, documenting the club’s relegation to League One?
In short, I didn’t want to. I don’t really want to be centre of attention. I’m not into social media or stuff like that, so when the cameras came, I was happy to stay in the background. Those fly- on- the wall documentaries are all the rage now, but they just don’t interest me.
You must have stories to tell, mind, having played under 10 managers at Sunderland...
I got on with nearly all of them, too. Everyone assumes that I hated Paolo Di Canio’s guts because he froze me out, but that’s not the case. To have a relationship with somebody, you have to know the person first of all, and I never had anything to do with Paolo. There was nothing to like or dislike about him. I was injured when he arrived, then at the start of the next season, I wasn’t part of the squad. I almost moved to Fulham, which would have been great because I could have played for Martin Jol, but it never went through. Instead, I spent eight weeks training on my own, even having to put my own cones out. It wasn’t a bad time in my life, though, because I met my future wife, Claire. After we’d been going out for a while, she asked me when I actually played matches. I told her that was a very good question, but we’d have to stop going out for meals on Friday nights when I was.
How did you get on with Dick Advocaat? He substituted you after half an hour once.
And he was right to do so! I was in a very bad place, because I’d lost a cousin and my best mate that summer. My head was all over the shop and I was in no fit state to play football. But I really enjoyed my time with Dick, who was a very, very good manager. I met up with him again during my time at Venlo when he was Feyenoord boss. I’d love to have worked with him at the peak of his powers.
Was it disappointing not to win a full cap after 16 outings for England Under- 21s?
These days, there’s a pathway towards the full squad – that wasn’t the case back then. Of course, I kept half an eye on it, especially when I was playing well, but I never saw it as a natural progression. How can you, when there’s Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Scott Parker ahead of you?!
You’re quite the golfer now, and one or two people may be quite surprised by some of your golf buddies. Spill the beans!
I play a number of courses near my home in Northumberland. Alan Shearer’s a member at one club, so we’ve had a few rounds. He’s a top man and no mean golfer. Even when I was at Sunderland, he’d ask how it was all going. John Carver’s another black- and- white who’s been helpful. He heard I was moving into coaching and offered to sit down to talk about his time working with Sir Bobby Robson. I often bump into my old gaffer Steve Bruce as well. He gets some stick, but there aren’t many more popular figures in football. I’ve never heard anybody who’s played for Steve have a bad word to say.