Scan Magazine

By Signe Hansen

Peter Schmeichel is a man with no regrets, so he says, and as if that is not extraordinary enough he also happens to have been voted the world’s best goalkeeper – twice. The way to get there? According to the man himself, you have to let the safety net go; risking everything is the only way you will, as he practically did, win everything. With the European Championship one of his big triumphs and the Champions League another, Schmeichel seemed every inch a contented man when Scan Magazine met up with him outside London.

Although the 45-year-old retired almost six years ago, many still refer to him as the world’s best goalkeeper, and not just in Denmark. Schmeichel’s eight years with Manchester United probably made him even more popular in the UK than in his home country, where he played his career’s first ten years and 129 games for the national team, and the affection is mutual.

“For me it has always been English football and I don’t think that will ever change. You will not find the same intensity, the pace and commitment anywhere else,” Schmeichel enthuses. “When I was a little boy, every night I dreamt about playing an FA Cup final for Manchester United at Wembley.” His dream was fulfilled by United’s manager Alex Ferguson who spotted Schmeichel when playing for Brøndby in the UEFA Cup semi-finals in 1991. In the UK, Schmeichel quickly became renowned for his ability to start quick counter-attacks, his loud manners and his impressive 1.91m blonde figure with which he vigorously guarded the goal.

The fame and number of titles grew simultaneously. Asked if he had ever reached a point when he felt he had achieved all he had dreamt of and thought “what now?”, Schmeichel answers with a resolved “yes I did” and leans forward a bit to continue. “A year before I stopped in United, I told the club that the upcoming season was going to be my last for the club. I was away all the time, so the pressure on me and my private life had become something I did not enjoy. That, added to the fact that when I put my football boots on, the stakes were always a matter of life and death, which is something you can live with, but only for a certain period of time.”

Schmeichel ended his career after two years in Portugal with Sporting CP, but after only a week of retirement an old-boys’ game changed his mind. “In that game I realised that I was not ready to retire or play old-boys’ football at all. So I called my agent, still in full match kit, and told him: listen I can’t do, this can you find me something in England?”

After two more years in English football playing for Aston Villa and Manchester City, 40-year-old Schmeichel was finally ready to retire. Last year, he and his wife Bente moved back to Denmark with their daughter, while their 22-year-old son Kasper stayed in the UK to pursue his career as a goalkeeper with Notts County.

By then Schmeichel had already taken the first steps in his new career on TV, hosting shows such as Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel and the Champions League show on Danish TV3.

Was it your plan all along to go into TV?

Well, the last two years I was playing, I started preparing myself to stay in football through managing courses and so on. But when I was at Aston Villa, I was asked to be an expert on the BBC’s football panel. At first I declined, but when they asked me again and promised to take good care of me, I tried it. They liked me and I was asked back for the rest of their FA Cup matches, including the final, and other things and then it just kind of slowly went that way. The thought of staying in football just became more and more distant to me. After a year I was asked to host the Champions League show in Denmark and that was one of my personal incitements to move back. Now I just keep going, I don’t think too much about being in football anymore but, of course, never say never.

Would you recommend young sportspeople to take an education to fall back on?

Well, if you have a special talent, I would say just go for it. You have nothing to lose. When you are just 17, you could actually be playing in a Premier League team, and if you give it five years, you will then still only be 22 years old, young enough to start getting an education. And trust me, by the age of 22 you’ll have known for a long time if you will make it or not.

What does it take to become a top athlete?

To become a sports star at the highest level, you MUST be100 per cent committed, and I don’t believe that you can study and have a professional career in any sort of top sport at the same time.

This is also one of the contributing factors why we, in Denmark, only have a handful of top class athletes who really rock the sports world. Our mentality says that you must have a safety net and I don’t think that is good for a top athlete. The effort you put into the moment in sport has to be the most important thing in your life and if you have a safety net, you also have an excuse, and at the very top level of sports, there can be no excuses. Some people will read this as a very hard and cynical statement, but I truly believe that that’s the way it is!

How big a loss is it to Manchester United that Ronaldo left for Real Madrid?

It is a big loss. You take all his goals away, you have to replace them. You take his presence away, you have to replace that. How do you replace the quality of the best player in the world?

Well, any other club would struggle, but United has recovered so many times after loosing great players, and I am sure that they will recover from loosing the best of them all as well.

Was it just a matter of time before he went?

I think deep down Sir Alex Ferguson knew he was going to lose Ronaldo sooner rather than later. Having 80 million pounds to invest in his team over the next three to four years, I’m sure he would take the money at this point, rather than fight what is essentially an uphill battle. I would have loved having Cristiano staying with United, but he always was going to join Real Madrid at some point, and it’s going to be interesting to see how he will do in the Spanish capital.

Was there more loyalty towards the club in your playing days?

Loyalty is slowly disappearing from the game. The top clubs can, in most cases, keep their players because they are the top clubs. But most players will seek the challenge and therefore they will move from club to club to play in better teams. But the money in the game these days also plays a major part, one move can set a player up for life, so in view of that, loyalty then becomes a non-issue.

Do you have any episodes in your career that you regret?

I have nothing, nothing at all that I regret. I have been lucky enough to play for Manchester United and other bigger clubs, played 129 matches for Denmark, and really, except for the World Cup, I have won virtually everything there is to win for a football player.  And more important, I have been lucky enough to play with some of the best players in the world, and that all the way until I was 40. I have had 20 fantastic years as a professional football player, and I have enjoyed every minute of it.

So it seems that even though Schmeichel decided to let go of his safety net to spend a whole career in front of another net, he is not downhearted by the absence of any of them at this stage of his life. And while his current laid-back contentment stands in stark contrast to his loud and energetic character on the football pitch, it did not seem out of place at all at the idyllic golf and country club where we said goodbye to him.

Five quick football facts:

Who will win the Premier League this year?

Manchester United! I am sure they will win again. United has the best team and the best squad, and that is what you need to win the Premier League. I do think, though, that Chelsea will push us all the way.

From the current Premier League line up, your favourite back four?

No doubt that it is Ferdinand and Vidic in the centre, Evra on the left and staying true to my United heart, I’ll pick Rafael on the right…!

Who is the best striker you have played against?

The most poisonous was Robbie Fowler, he is the one who scored the most goals against us – unfortunately.

Does Denmark have a chance at the World Cup next summer?

First we need to qualify, but we are well placed in our group. But we still have four very tough games left, three of them at home, so it is very much in our own hands. So far we have done well and I am sure we will be in South Africa next summer, and once we get there, well you know Denmark, anything can happen!

Will a Danish team ever make it to the knock out phase in the Champions League?

Well, last year Aab did really well and this year I have seen FCK play and it is like they have raised their game to a higher international level. But then it also depends on what the draw will bring. With both Aab last year and FCK two years ago, we saw that when they make it to the group stage, they do get the points.