NOVEMBER 2011

UPFRONT

26 Top 10 raging chairmen Why you shouldn’t tell your players “they can die” 34 FIFA vs PES: 2012 editions go head-to-head Can the pretender to the throne catch FIFA? 38 Ask A Silly Question: Frank Leboeuf A Frenchman who doesn’t like cheese? Scandal! 49 FFT columnist: Salgado

Why Manchester’s domination won’t ruin the Prem 51 FFT columnist: The Player

Players just don’t care about aggro oppo fans: fact 52 Letters

Mexico’s kids, the JPT and Puyol’s make-up shame

FEATURES

One-on-One: Rivaldo

12

The legend tackles your questions on sensational hat-tricks and why he doesn’t regret that dive

56 COVER STORY The battle of Manchester

How City vs United became football’s biggest rivalry, by Vidic, Mancini, Scholes, Kidd, Richards and more 66 Sergio Aguero exclusive

A sit-down with the Premier League’s biggest import – and yes, he does like the Manchester weather 70 Ashley Young exclusive

The man at the heart of the Red Devils’ new era on Fergie, England and beating his heroes 8-2 74 All aboard the freebie to Blackpool!

After a 7-1 thumping by Posh, things can only get better for Ipswich fans... right? FFT jumps on the bus

Youth development part 4: Uruguay

78

World no.4 and South American champs, yet fewer people live there than in Scotland! How do they do it?

84 Football’s maddest superstitions

From sacrificing camels to watching Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory... anything to get an edge

Human trafficking in football

90

The beautiful game’s ugly secret: players being shipped from Africa to Europe on the promise of a shot at glory, then being dumped on the streets

96 Fernando Torres exclusive

The Spaniard opens up about trying to find his old form, working with Villas-Boas and being... a keeper?! 100 Action Replay: Rangers in Europe, 1992-93

Remember when Scottish teams were good? FFT turns the clock back to the first Champions League, when McCoist and co were one game from glory

PLANET FOOTBALL

107 Cafu coaches two teams of supermodels (lucky sod) 108 Thiago Silva reveals all about the old Milan,

the new Brazil and bouncing back from the brink 111 Zombie sex fiends One team’s plan to win fans Plus Barça toons; the chilled rock band created by

Peruvian fans; UAE footballers’ fast-food diet

PERFORMANCE

117 Intelligent boots to compare you with the greats 120 Jack Wilshere’s possession masterclass 124 How to be a vegan footballer Trust us, it works Plus Time your run into the box; keep up a winning start; play a perfect midfield diamond

10 November 2011 FourFourTwo.com

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

FOOTBALL’S SLAVE TRADE

Every year, thousands of young Africans make a life-changing trip to Europe, promised a shot at their footballing dream. But what if those promises turn out to be lies? FFT discovers the horrible truth about human trafficking in football

IWords Christopher Harress Pictures Robin Hammond t wasn’t meant to be like this for Michael Diagana. He came to Europe to be the next icon of African football. Instead he’s living in a squat in the Parisian suburb of Saint Germain, one of the most deprived in the French capital, unable to get accommodation or work after entering the country illegally.

Underneath a cracked window in this tiny room lies his bed, dressed in nothing but a few stained sheets. There is no heating so it is bitterly cold and damp. With little to occupy his mind except the thought of dreams that have been dashed, his face bares the stress of a much older man. He’s thin and clearly malnourished and his clothes are dirty.

“I came to Europe because I had no other choices in life. A man who said he wanted to make me a professional footballer spoke to my parents about bringing me here,” says Michael. He arrived in France 18 months ago aged just 15, after making a three-week journey from Senegal through the west coast of Africa, boarding a boat to the Spanish mainland, then getting to France by bus and coach. “The only way they could afford to pay for my trip was to give the man their life savings, but they felt it would be the best thing for me.”

It didn’t work out as planned. Instead of signing with a French side, Michael is forced to scrape by, making a living from selling souvenirs under the Eiffel Tower while trying to evade the police. It’s a familiar story: a young African surviving on the fringes of society in a European ghetto, his family left destitute at home on the empty promise of a stranger. It’s a promise that destroys the lives of thousands of Africans; that exploits the desperation of some of the world’s most impoverished people; that fuels the trade of human trafficking in football.

Around two and half million people were trafficked around the world in the last 12 months. Worth over £25 billion a year and second only to the drug trade in criminal profits, human trafficking exploits people for forced labour, prostitution and slavery.

10 November 2011 FourFourTwo.com

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

FourFourTwo.com November 2011 11 Torres talks p96

100

Rangers take Europe… nearly!

NOVEMBER 2011

66

“Successis winning...that’s whatmatters”