John Arne Riise - How did you score that goal?

Image by Arnie Baldursson - Copyright LFChistory.net

John Arne Riise made an exceptional start to his Liverpool career at just 21 years of age, becoming a regular starter under both Gérard Houllier and Rafa Benítez. He enjoyed a prominent seven-year spell at the club, with his final season coming in 2007/08, after which he moved to AS Roma. Norway's most-capped player with 110 appearances played a pivotal role in Liverpool's remarkable comeback in the Champions League final in Istanbul. His perfect pass set up Steven Gerrard’s header, sparking the unforgettable six-minute turnaround that became one of the most iconic moments in the club's history. Riise scored 31 goals and provided 36 assists in 348 appearances for Liverpool. His time at the club spanned an era full of highs and lows, from Houllier’s treble-winning side, which capitulated following the manager's health problems, to the arrival of Benítez, who led Liverpool to both Champions League and FA Cup glory. LFChistory met recently up with Riise who was refreshingly honest and open about his life and a delight to talk to.

Your athletic ability has always been your key strength driven by a relentless determination

When I was young, I was bullied a little bit and I wanted to be good at something, in school or sports or whatever. I could see that people who are popular were good at something, so I decided that I wanted to be good at football. I wanted to do whatever I could to be the best. I started when I was 12 years old. I trained 21 times a week. That is very unusual for a 12-year-old to be so focused on training and hard work. What I wanted to do was just be the best. I trained six in the morning before school, always, every day. I ran for one hour. Then I trained either in school or right after school, and then in the evening before I went to bed. In between that, I was shooting a lot, like three, four hours a day. I was practicing my shooting by myself. I only had one ball. Me and my dad built a wooden goal outside in the area where we lived, and I would stand there hours by myself shooting. There was no net in the goal, so I had to go and get the ball every time.

I found my passion and I could see from twelve that I was quite good compared to where I lived. I loved training. I was never tired. I woke up before my wake-up call in the morning. The worse the weather, the better I enjoyed it. Because I knew nobody else does the same thing. If I did this every day, that was at least 365 sessions more than others did in 365 days. I didn't dream of to become professional, but I just wanted to be the best where I lived, in my city. I just wanted to make a name for myself, and I couldn't even dream of what happened after. It didn't take long before I was professional, but my dream was always just to be the best at football, so I was liked by other people. Accepted. And it just stuck with me because obviously I saw that the better I was at football, the more attention I got, the better I felt, the harder I wanted to work. If you look at all the clubs I've been to, I think the fans really accepted me for always giving 100% no matter what. I can miss a pass or I could do shit games. But if you look at the hard work and giving everything every game, I'm quite happy with how I did it at every club.

At 17 you made the move to Monaco. You cried when you moved there. It was an unexpected move for you because you didn't have played lot of games for Aalesund.

I only had 20-odd games in the second division in Norway. The reason I cried was because I had finally got my life in shape locally. I had friends, I felt really good in my daily life where I was staying and now finally felt really good about myself. I'm moving to Monaco, they don't speak English, I don't speak French and I was young so it was a difficult decision to leave, not football wise but more or less for myself, but there was no doubt in my mind. If I say no now to Monaco I can break a leg tomorrow and the chance might be gone. I've always been like that in my life, take the chance, I believe in myself. I work harder than anybody else, but the difficult thing was that even though I was good by Norwegian standards, I had no clue how good I was at professional level. I was playing with world champions now; Barthez, Trezeguet, Henry at Monaco, they had just won the World Cup in '98, a month before. I'm thinking, 'Are they really that much fitter than me? Stronger than me?' I didn't know this. I won the fitness test on the first day. This gave me proof that, okay, I have something. That's the confidence I needed just to keep going. I was never a Messi when it comes to technique but I had passion and I had determination, I had hard work and I had a left foot. I had something every manager needs in his team.

How did your move to Monaco come about, from the second division of Norway?

They found me playing for the U18 national team. I played in Sweden for the U18s and I had three assists in the game. The same night, an agent called my hotel room, because I didn't have a cell phone at that time, a Swedish agent working for Monaco, saying they want me now. Jean Tigana who was the coach of Monaco was a big fan of me. They gave me one day to decide if I wanted to do it or not. I signed three days later! I went like from being unknown to just boom boom done! 

In 2001 you were set to reunite with Tigana at Fulham. Then something happened at the last minute.

The deal was done. I was at Jean Tigana's house in France with my agent, sat at the dinner table, the contract was in front of me, all the details were done, agreement with Monaco and Fulham, everything was complete. They gave me the pen, and I was about to sign the contract when my agent's phone rang. I was a little bit upset with him because he didn't have it on silence but he went to take his phone. I waited because I wanted him to be there before I signed. He came back from the phone call like a minute later. I still had the pen in my hand. He whispered in my ear: 'We have to go.' I walk 10 meters away and asked 'What's going on?' 'It is Liverpool, they asked if we had signed yet,' and he said no. He said, 'Come to Liverpool' and then we just flew to Liverpool. Three seconds and I would have signed if that phone call hadn’t happened.

I live by the rule that everything happens for a reason. It couldn't have been written any better. Me and Houllier went around Anfield while my agent had the discussion about the contract. I said: ‘Listen I don't care about nothing, just sign, get the deal done. I don't care about money, whatever.' I was standing at Anfield with Houllier, I didn't know then it was the Kop, but I was standing there, it was a sunny day, I was looking at the green grass, it was sunny, and Houllier said, 'Do you want to play here?' It was another step. I could handle the professional level at France but English football was more physical. I thought it suited me better, but I still didn't know how fit and strong are Gerrard, Michael Owen, McAllister, Robbie Fowler, all these players. I don't know how good they are. So I was nervous, but I could speak English. I could be myself and communicate with people. I was taken directly into the dressing room and accepted straight away. Sami Hyypia took good care of me in the beginning and then it just went on from there and yeah what can I say, the rest is history.

You took the shortest way to everybody's heart right in the beginning

The quickest and shortest. I have always been a player who performs on the big occasions or when I have to. And obviously scoring at Everton in my first derby at Goodison, scoring in my first game against United at Anfield, it's the easiest and quickest way to get into fans' hearts and be accepted and it made my life a lot easier. I don't have to be somebody else and just be me. 

Tell us about the United goal... CLICK ON THE VIDEO TO SEE RIISE'S ACCOUNT OF HIS WONDER GOAL (Video interview - Copyright LFCHistory.net)

 

You're 21 years old, married with a small kid, expected to settle in quietly at Liverpool, but now everyone wants to know how you scored that goal... Did your life change in an instant?

The papers were all over it, but apart from that, it was really hard to get in touch with players. The social media, the internet, wasn't the same as it is now. We didn't have Snapchat, Instagram, and all that kind of stuff. There was no podcasting. Now everyone has social media and it's easier to see stuff and everybody makes videos and stuff. But, yeah, of course, my life changed. It's one thing I, not regret, but it's like you forget to enjoy it, you know, while you're in it. You're like in a bubble, every day is training, you have games every three days, and it just goes on and on, and then suddenly the career is finished, and I think, ah! And now when I see, for example, the big games and all this, I'm thinking, I should have enjoyed it more. But obviously I did enjoy it, but you think you could have enjoyed it even more. So, yeah, my life changed completely around the world, but more importantly it gave me the confidence that I belonged and deserved to play for Liverpool Football Club. Too many players think they made it by signing the contract. I always thought that's when the work starts. We have so many proofs of players who came to the club and other clubs, signed and they just thought, ‘Ah, I've done it now.’ But that's when the hard work starts. I just wanted to make people think that I deserved to wear the shirt and play for the team. All I could do was just work my arse off every day, and I think I did.

Do you consider the 2001-2002 season the best season you had at the club in terms of your performances, or enjoyment?

I do feel also the year Benitez came was a good one. In any job and anything you do, in a few years you get a little bit too comfy in the position. And I think that I was going down that line until Benitez came. Then a new manager, I got my aggression back again. But 2001, the first season, I scored loads of goals. I think I just surprised people by my performances that season. Nobody expected it. I remember Houllier told me before, when I signed, that if I played 15 games in the whole season, as a starter or as a sub, he would be happy with me. I played 55 or 56 or something. But yeah, that season was really, really good. But when it comes to trophies and big matches; the Champions League season, when we had to beat Chelsea in the semi-final and won the Champions League, the FA Cup win in the 2006 season and then the final in 2007 when we beat Chelsea in the semi again.

How was your relationship with Houllier?

Houllier was like a father figure for me because I came over from France and he's French. He knew that it was a big step from French football to English football and he was the one together with Phil Thompson, who were the ones who taught me or made me realize what it takes to live as a professional footballer. They both gave me some tips, ideas on how to handle pressure, how to handle disappointment, how to live your life outside football, things to do, not to do. I learned so much from Houllier and Phil Thompson was also very important because he was Houllier's right hand. Even though people can see that Phil Thompson was very hands-on, loud, talking and shouting, that was his way of showing love, that he cares. Houllier made me realise a lot when it comes to how to handle to play for such a big club as Liverpool. Houllier also made things more professional when it comes to dieting. how you eat before and after games. Everybody was talking about drinking beers in the dressing room before I came to England. That was the reputation of English football when I grew up. When I came it was nothing like that. Obviously, we went out a few times if we had a good win to enjoy ourselves but all that living as a professional changed quite a bit with Houllier. Now it's just unbelievable.

What are your strongest memories from Istanbul?

In the tunnel before we go out, I was looking at the Milan players and I see the names off the back of the shirts, so I'm thinking, 'What the fuck am I doing here?' I'm standing in a tunnel playing a Champions League final and I'm about to play against these players. It made me realise what I achieved and how far I've come since all those 21 sessions a week when I was 12. I see the trophy out there and you can hear the fans. I was never nervous before a game. I was just excited, but I managed to take a few seconds and realise what I'm part of. I said to myself, 'I don't deserve to be here, they are so much better than me, they are blah blah.' I managed to switch and think, 'Fucking hell, I deserve to be here.' I had scored goals in the Champions League, I'm starting the game for Liverpool Football Club, which is one of the biggest clubs in the world. That Milan team had unbelievable players but that moment was the one that I realized what I've done or about to do.

So, when you're walking back to the dressing room at half-time, were you convinced that you didn't belong there?

When I walked out at half-time, well, honestly for my sake, I'm thinking, 'Please don't sub me, please don't take me off now' because I want to go out and really change things. Also thinking, 'What the fuck happened in that first 45?' You're basically thinking this could be the worst beating in the Champions League final ever but football is strange.

Image by Arnie Baldursson - Copyright LFChistory.net

How would you describe the comparison between Rafa and Houllier in terms of philosophy on the field and their approach to you as a player?

What was a bit difficult is both Gérard Houllier and Benitez enjoyed playing me both left-back and left-wing, depending on who we met away or home. I just wish I played now in today's football with wing-backs. That would have suited me so well. So if I played under Jurgen Klopp, Slot or Guardiola with all these wing-backs going forward, it would have been perfect. Full-backs and wing-backs now are extremely important to any team when it comes to offense. I was one of the first who started being a little bit like that when it comes to a full-back, maybe Ashley Cole as well and Roberto Carlos.

I think Benitez was more brutal towards players. I don't know if that's his style or if it's just because of the language barrier. I would like to see myself as a likeable person and one you can talk to and can always have a laugh with but you could get the sense towards some other players that he was really hard with them. Houllier and Phil Thompson were more a little bit more hands on the shoulder. Houllier and Benitez were always quite calm when it comes to team talks. Benitez was always with his notes; he was always writing, and you can never tell if Benitez is angry. Houllier was more visually disappointed or angry. Phil Thompson was the man who spoke most. Benitez did his team talks. But tactically, obviously the game changes a little bit during that time, but I always thought of Benitez as the most tactical genius of the managers I had played for, because I learned so many tactics. He was good at reading the game.

If a manager starts changing tactics or his vision or how he is as a manager because of the pressure from outside then you're done. Benitez started to change a little bit. But I love Benitez. People think I hate him because he got rid of me from Liverpool in 2008 but I have so much respect for him because Rafa was 100% honest with me. People can say different but with me he was always honest. He just said it how it is and I think people should respect him for that because the worst thing a player hates is a manager who says something to you just to be nice to you and then he goes behind your back and does something else.

It was the end of the road for you in 2008

Yeah, basically I got fired. If you compare it to a normal job, I got fired. That meeting came out of the blue. The first thing Benitez said was, 'Good morning,' blah blah blah, and then, 'I think it's time to go separate ways.' I had to ask him, ‘Come again?’ He said it again and I just realised I'm done, and he said that I'd had an unbelievable career for Liverpool but they're looking at other options. I knew Dossena was in the mix then, but I didn't care. I had one year left. I was thinking I can stay and fight because I believe in my abilities but then I was turning 28 that year and I can't be on the bench for four, five, six months in my best age because I know Dossena was going to get at least a few months to prove that he's good enough because Benitez bought him so I decided, then I'll leave. If I knew how it turned out with Dossena, I would have stayed. Because I know 100%, I would have kept my place even when he came. 110%. But I didn't know that by then. And the way Rafa spoke to me, I'm not sure how many chances I would have got, even though I was the better player, or if I trained well. Managers are stubborn and they want to stand by their decision. I decided to leave and I had unbelievable three years in Rome.

That year I've gotten too complacent. I was too confident in my position at the club, and I don't think I worked as hard as I did in pre-season and during the season as I normally did. I have no doubt that if Benitez just told me or warned me or said something that you need to step up, I would have. But I was so comfy in my position at the club and what I've done for the club. I'm not saying I didn't train because I was still unbelievably fit but I could have done maybe 5-10% more. I just wish Benitez told me that before he fired me. He had just given me a warning or even said, ‘We bought Dossena, show me what you got.' I had 348 games for Liverpool and we had two games left in the season so I even asked Rafa, 'Can I come on as sub in those two so I can get 350?' The answer was no, not like maybe. No. I was done. So, I went down to the dressing room and Stevie G and Carra came. 'What's that about?' And I said 'I'm done.' 'You what?' 'I'm done.' 'What do you mean, done?' 'I'm finished.' 'What do you mean finished?' 'I'm leaving the club.' 'How? You have one year left.' Rafa just told me. 'I'm done, finished.' I walked to my car and I started crying. I was crying because I was shocked. because I didn't see it coming and I was crying because it's been my life for seven years and I just wish I had a heads up that you know, John, you have to step it up or do something more or prove me something and I would have taken it, no problem. I was disappointed with myself that I let myself down in the last season, and obviously scoring a late own goal in the Champions League semi-final against Chelsea. That period was a little bit tough mentally to handle.

That Chelsea semi in the Champions League in 2008, why didn’t you kick it, why the header?

It's very easy to explain why I did what I did, but at the same time you can argue if it's the right decision. The cross is coming from the corner flag over on our right side. And as soon as the cross comes, I can see it's bouncing before, and I'm thinking, I just want to head it straight back to throw-in. I wanted to head it straight back where it came from out of danger because I knew it was over injury time anyway. I wanted safety first and I'm quite good with my head. I was just trying to lie down and head it back there, but it bounced… it was obviously wet… but it just slipped off my head and straight into the top corner. And I think the reason that I didn't use my right foot is because of the bounce and my right foot… my right foot is dead.

I'm just thinking everybody hates me now. I sat in the dressing room, and I had to turn my phone off for a couple of days. I came to the training the day after, and there was graffiti on the walls of Melwood: ‘Riise, fuck off’, ‘Riise go home’ from my own fans. I'm thinking one wrong decision can't change people's view of the seven years I've done. But at that time, I believed it did because I was so low and I was disappointed in myself because I made a bad decision. We had a return leg the week after and I knew I was going to play. That whole week, Rafa talked to Jamie Carra and Stevie G every day and asked how "Ginge" was mentally. He asked them to make sure I was okay because obviously he knew this was hard mentally to handle because of the pressure, the media was on me and the fans so he wanted me to be fully prepared to play at Stamford Bridge. I was really focused on doing a good job. When we came with the bus to Stamford Bridge, I saw so many Chelsea Riise's six shirts and I had to laugh then as that was actually well done. They had put Riise six on a Chelsea shirt because I scored an own goal in the first game. That was really funny from the Chelsea fans but that week was mentally the toughest I have experienced when it comes to handle all the criticism I got from from all over the world.

 

Do you want to talk about a certain Welshman?

Craig Bellamy?... My favourite friend. It's an incident that doesn't justify the person he is, or, and it's a situation that should never happen, whatever job you have. The only reason I can say it happened was alcohol, and mentally he wasn't at the right place. That was my opinion, because he was not sober. What I am annoyed by is that when he talks about the incident. He has apologized and taken full responsibility for his actions and he regrets everything, that's fine. But I do get sent clips from when he is doing his different podcasts... I am thinking, 'How can you remember because you were so drunk? There is no chance you can remember everything you did. And the way he puts it forward is not the right way either. But you know what? He's in a good place now. He's the manager of the Welsh national team. He was with Kompany at Burnley before that. Well done, but he's a person that I don't see as a friend. I don't hate him because I don't want to use my energy to think about it, but I keep saying, I can forgive, but I will never forget. And that's the case with this situation because this is so far of anything. You can say names to me, you can call me something, you can shout at me, but you wanted to end my career. If you had hit me and I didn't jump up with one of those three or four shots you had at me with the golf club, I wouldn't have played anymore.

Some part of me regrets that I didn’t jump on him and finish him off. People ask me, why didn't you hit back? Why didn't you punch him? I don't know how this is possible in that situation, but I was standing with this blanket half protecting myself, and I'm thinking to myself when he's shouting things, don't do anything, John, because it can ruin your career at Liverpool. How can I think these things when you're standing with a guy with a golf club trying to fucking batter you and you're thinking, 'Don't do anything back because you don't want to lose your job.' I was trying to get him to calm down. I said, 'Let's fight tomorrow morning me and you,' and we agree on this at 9 o'clock. He walked out. 9 o'clock in the morning I knocked on his door but he wasn't there so obviously he realized what he's done but he was too chicken to meet up for a real fight. He has a big mouth when it comes to on the pitch as well. I remember when I played for Fulham at Liverpool and him and Clint Dempsey had an argument and Dempsey just stood up and just fucking gave it to him back and you could see Bellamy caved in. It's a lot of talk, but you know what? He's in a good place now but he's not somebody I use energy to think about.

What kind of a golf club was it? Was it a putter or a driver?

I think it was a seven iron [laughs]. It was definitely not a putter, not a driver, not a wood, but the thing is I think it's important that you can smile and joke a little bit, because nothing dangerous happened. It could have, but it didn't, so we can look back and really joke about it, but at the same time, it should never happen. I'm a little bit disappointed that Bellamy celebrated with a golf course swing against Barcelona a few days after. I think that just shows me that he thought it was funny but he assisted me for a second goal when we beat Barcelona, so you know the game ended well but yeah he was done that summer anyway.

What were your key strengths and weaknesses? I like to ask this question just to see how players see themselves.

I think I was mentally strong to handle pressure, but when it comes to ability; power, pace, running, stamina... when it comes to physique in general, I was very strong, I was very powerful when it comes to running up and down and sprinting. I wasn't the quickest, but I don't think I was slow either, especially with the ball. And my left foot. I had in my opinion, one of the best left foot in the world when it comes to passing, shooting, I could do whatever I could with my left foot. I think that was my strength. Weaknesses? One against one defensively, especially when you meet quick players, wingers. I wasn't slow but, I didn’t get close enough when it came to winning one against one. Yeah, that was my biggest weakness. Right foot, terrible.

Why didn't you train your right foot more?

It's a good question. This is funny because this is how I've been since I was young. My coaches when I was young told me, 'Practice your right foot.' I said, 'Hell no, I'll perfect my left.' I've done this since I was young. I went my own way. And rightly or wrongly, I don't think my left foot would have been this good if I didn't do it. So that's why I didn't use my right foot.

Maybe you lacked a bit of ball control? It skipped off you a bit.

Maybe. You’re fucking killing me now. Everybody does that. Apart from Messi... and Alonso [scoffs]. I thought my first touch was quite good, to be honest. I think one of my strengths was I knew what I was bad at. I knew my strengths and weaknesses myself. I don't want to say… no no I was really good at defending, if you say I'm not. Because I know, I can't be good at everything. Obviously, I want to train, I want to be a better defender. We know ourselves what we could work more on, but can't go that far that you don't focus on actually what your strengths are. You have to find a balance there, I can work a little bit on this one, but I can't forget that one. But we know ourselves very well.

I think it's sometimes fun when I do events and I meet fans.... I want to hear fans' views on myself or other things, just to see how they are thinking. They can't know what I'm thinking and vice versa. Does everybody think the same thing? I think the fans think differently because you might like somebody and then the guy next to you doesn't like him.

The before and after his transformation - Images from Riise's Instagram page.

Is there something about being a footballer that people don't understand and don't realize? Don't really see or understand?

This is really difficult to answer because we are freaking privileged. We're living our dream job that millions of other people want to have. We earn good money and we are famous and we have fans and we have nothing to complain about but at the same time, especially nowadays, with all these telephones and social media, it's not easy to handle everything because you can't have a normal life. Look at Haaland now for example, whatever you do, say, don't do, don't say, gets written about, talked about and it affects your family, your friends, your kids. It's not a lonely life, but you have to be very private. I had no complaints about my job. I thought sometimes it was really hard to handle the negativity when you have bad performances and lost games and you play badly yourself because the fans really have a go at you and the papers and the media really try to destroy you. I have no complaints. People are right to say that we are lucky but if I say one thing that is really harder to accept and understand from being outside is how much pressure there is to play, especially for a big club. Every year there were rumours of a new left-back. Millions of other people want my job. Every year I have to perform, especially for Liverpool, a big club. They can get whoever they want. I have to prove every week, every season that I deserve to play instead of the millions who want my job. That could really make things mentally tough to handle.

I don't think people realize, and this is what I said many, many times in my life, we are human beings. I have the same problems in my life as you do when it comes to kids, sick kids, arguments, divorces, sickness in the family, mom, dad dies. Imagine how you feel when you go to work and you have the worst night of sleep. Maybe some of you can survive with that, but we have to perform for millions and millions of people. If you don't do the right job, you lose your job almost. I try to remind people, especially when it comes to negativity, in the social media or in the media in general, remember the player is a human being. Remember he has kids, he has a family. Remember there are kids who read this, his kids, his family, his wife or whatever, and you don't know how that will affect them. I can handle it because I’m used to it. I live abroad but what about my kids back home, my mom and dad, my sister, my brothers, who walk in the streets of Norway and get yelled at and shouted at for, 'Your son is an idiot, your dad is a fucking prick!'… I don't see that. Yes, we earn a lot of money in the job, but that doesn't make my kids less sick, or we argue less than them. People have to realize that.

Jason McAteer and Stephen Warnock recently opened up about their struggles when their professional football career was over, it's just like a trap door. You don’t live in your bubble anymore...

I think it depends on if you have to retire from football because of injury and you're not prepared. If you retire by yourself and it's a well thought about decision, you maybe have planned something for yourself to do after football that was waking up in the morning, train, dressing room with the boys, back home, rest, look for the game tomorrow. That was gone. I had to try and find routines in my daily life that could be similar. But, impossible. I cannot find it.

You admitted recently on your Instagram page that you had been suffering mentally and physically for a while but had transformed your life.

I want to use my name, face or whatever, position to say that everybody can struggle. And for me it was more like when you have been your whole life at a certain place, then you change it and you lose yourself when it comes to maybe the routines we talked about. You don't train as well, you don't eat as well, you're not as happy as you were, divorces, kids not with you, and then you start to realize, I need to change but you can't change. A few years I slept maybe three hours a night on average, cried a lot at night because I was disappointed with that. I let myself get to that point, then I found it hard to really get out of that point. Maybe two to three weeks I could really be good and then something happened and you are back down again. I just kept going up and down and then I got called by a reality program in Norway called “16 Weeks of Hell” that is about six celebrities who want to change their lifestyle when it comes to diet and training.

I thought that program could be good for me because it's on TV. It's my chance now to show people what I'm made of, who is John Arne Riise for real. So I joined that program and I lost 30 kilos (60 lbs) almost in 16 weeks. My physical age went from 42 to 20 and I was basically back to being a machine. But most importantly is through those 16 weeks… I started smiling again, laughing again, loads of energy again and I could say: 'This is John.' You can see my smile, chest up. Now I do a lot of speeches about it because people don't realize that even though I'm famous, they don't think we can go through these things. But like I said before, we have the same problems like everybody else has. It can affect anybody. For me it got to a point where it was too much.

I was holding in, you're living through this for a long time, it goes on. I can handle it, I can handle it, I can handle it... And then suddenly, the box is full. Now I'm sleeping better, but at the same time, I'm a guy who worries a lot about things, but now I'm in a good place physically, mentally, I have routines in my daily life. I'm going to the gym now after this interview. I'm going to do online coaching, group coaching for people who struggle to get started. Who are on the sofa. I'm doing it in Norwegian first, but then I'm also going to do it in English for English people. I'm going to be the coach and put a program for them to get them started, to get a better version of themselves. That's my aim. And already in Norway, I have been sent 1,000 emails from people who want help so it's time to give back. 

When you were 13 you promised yourself that you would become Norway's greatest ever player… Do you reckon you have achieved that?

You fucker [laughs]. It's hard to make that decision yourself. I did everything I could to be the best John Arne Riise I could be, for sure. I accomplished way more than I could ever dream about. In my opinion, I'm... we have Odegaard and Haaland coming up but they are still young… but overall when it comes to how many games I played and trophies I have won and the clubs I played for, I'm one of the greatest in Norway's history. I know how good I was and what I could do. In my opinion I had one of, if not the best left foot when I was at my top.

Image from Riise's X page

I have no problem saying that is what I believe but then someone else has another opinion. My first tattoo was this one, “Believe in Yourself” [tugs down shirt to show his tattoo on his chest]. That was one of the first tattoos I took when I was allowed to. Even though all I've gone through, and people talking you down, not believing in you. When I went to Monaco, nobody said that I should go, they want me to stay home. You're going to destroy your career. When I went to Liverpool, people said you're not good enough but I had that belief that you actually can do it if you put your hard work in it over time and I did that.

Interview by Arnie Baldursson ([email protected]) Copyright - LFChistory.net