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(REPEATED FALL OF WAVES)

(RELAXING ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC)

'All of my life since I was a kid,

I wanted to be the hero in the game.

Unbeatable.

Looking back now...

there was nothing that could stop me.

My name is
Peter Boleslaw Schmeichel.

At least that's how my mother
pronounces our surname.

I'm more famous for being called...

COMMENTATOR: Schmeichel!

Fantastic save from
the world's number one.

'I wanted to enforce control
on everything, all the time.

I had to be like that.'

(SPEAKING DANISH)

GARY NEVILLE: 'Brutal. Passionate.
Mistakes couldn't happen.'

'He has this attitude and has
this strong presence,

which can be
a little bit intimidating.'

'Oh, an astonishing save!'

He was our greatest goalkeeper
ever.

When you've got a goalkeeper like
that, you don't need defenders.

When a striker is in front of him,
it's not like he's in front
of somebody else.

He created something,
gave something to football.

'Fantastic stop
by Peter Schmeichel!'

'He reinvented the position
that's fundamental to the game.'

'Oh!'

'Is Peter Schmeichel like God, then,
in Denmark?

He is God. There's only one God,
that's Peter.'

'Peter was one of a kind.
But his weakness was his temper.'

'My dad was the footballer.
That was our whole identity.'

We were not meant to see him
be weak. That was not him.

'Goalkeeper is the position of
ultimate responsibility.

If you haven't stood there,
you don't know that feeling.'

You have to be bulletproof.

'There was a realisation about
who I was, who I am.

Life is understood backwards,
but it's lived forwards.

You have to live it.'

(MAN SPEAKING DANISH)

(APPLAUSE)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

'I'm born to a Danish mother
and a Polish father.

When I was a kid,
if I was challenged,

I would take the challenge

and I would show everybody that
I could do it,

and I would do it much better.

If somebody did something that
I hadn't done before,

it was the utmost importance to me
to do that even better.

If somebody jumped two metres,
I had to jump three metres.'

'If we were climbing somewhere,
he was climbing higher.

He was funny. He was full of life.'

He could not sit on a chair.
I mean, he was all over the place.

'I did some really crazy things,
but I wanted to do stuff

that was impossible to other kids.
To be on top.

I grew up with this narrative
in my home,

"You have to be the best."
And it came from my father.

I think it was to protect himself.

He had lost his father on the first
day of the Second World War,

the invasion of Poland.'

He died in that first day,
and then had his mother taken away

when the war was over.

'She was literally taken away
in front of four kids,

and they never saw her again.

She was put into concentration
camp, and she died there.'

Christ, to live with that...

That gives me an understanding of
some of his behaviours at times.

'He was carrying around demons
for most of his life.

Back in 1961, the way that
my father came to Denmark

was quite extraordinary.

My parents met in Poland, my mother
was on a cruise ship

that went to a small coastal town
called Sopot.

She loves theatre.

Somehow "A Taste of Honey" was on
in Sopot,

and it's set in Salford,
in Manchester,

and the main character is called
Peter.

She sees this guy,
he's stood with tickets.

She goes up, persuades him to part
with one of those tickets.

That was my father.
He was a professional musician.

She stayed for six months,
and they decided to get married.

My mother was pregnant
with my big sister.

One day, and this is very typical
of my mother, she says,

"OK, I'm going back to Denmark.
Find your own way there."

Of course, she could leave,
she had a visa.

But if you were a Polish citizen,
that was impossible at the time.

You couldn't leave any of
the Eastern Bloc countries.

The authorities said, "Well, if you
wanna leave, you have to spy for us
in Denmark."

And he refused. Absolutely refused.

Of course, once you applied,
you're kept under observation.

So he had people on him
all the time, 24/7.

And eventually he gave in.'

He made a deal with the devil
and became a spy.

'Once he came to Denmark, he then
reported himself to the authorities

and said, "This was the condition
for me to leave Poland."

They threw him in a cell.'

Eventually they said,
"You're allowed in, but you have to
spy for us as well."

So he became a double spy.

'He would go to the Polish embassy
and be interrogated,

and he would go to
the Danish authorities,

and the same would happen there.'

He felt the pressure.

'He wanted to play music
and he wanted to start his family,

and he just wanted normality.

I'm very impressed by what
he's done, I have to say that.'

I'm always impressed with people
who find unbelievable strength

to get through life, and create
existence for themselves,

and I think that he's
a prime example of that.

'But he carried this incredible
anger for so many years,

and it didn't take much for it
to come through.'

'He was good shouting.'

I just remember that I said,
when I grew up, having kids, "Don't
shout at them, Margaret.

Don't do that."

Because it's really...
It's really tough.

'His father didn't show any
emotions. He wasn't caring and kind.

And that has affected Peter.'

As a man, he is very...
I was thinking in the beginning

when I met him, it was like,

he was like, like this,
you know, very hard.

And that, of course, comes
from his father's history.

'It's a strange thing to say,
but because of his being angry,

I stayed out of the house a lot.

That meant I was out
playing football.'

This is it, my first ever game
was from here.

Back then, we did play 11-a-side,
so it would've been... this size.

And I was probably that size.

'I joined this training session and
I was not in control of myself,

the ball, and what I did to
the other players around me.

The coach looked at me and he said,
"Why don't you try going in goal?"

It worked for me, and I was in goal
ever since.'

Goalkeeping is special.
Incredible highs

and the incredible lows that
football brings you.

As a keeper,
you're responsible for both.

'I love the whole idea about just
being the very, very last hope.'

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

'I got picked for the school team.'

The teacher said, "You have a very,
very big talent,

and I think that one day
you will play for Denmark." "OK."

'"You have a talent.
Talent is never enough.

You have to work really hard."
I did.

I have to bring my mother
into this. Her job was tough.

She was a nurse, looking after
children in the cancer ward.

She's been the constant,
the rock in my life.

There's a lot of her
that I've inherited.

That discipline,
the tough mentality,

that was all part of my education.

From the very, very beginning,
I had this feeling of superiority.

No-one could beat me.

I wanted to play for Denmark.

I also started to dream about
playing for Manchester United.

That was my dream.'

(CROWD CHEERING)

'Everybody else was supporting
Liverpool, Bayern Munich,
Real Madrid.

For me, it was Man United.
It's weird.

Weird that you don't know why,
but I don't.

I was nine when I said I wanted
to play for Man United.

A lot of kids say, "I wanna play
for Manchester United,"

but how many end up doing it?

It was something I was dreaming
about every day. Every single day.'

(PLAYS PIANO)

'But there's no doubt about what
my father wanted me to do.'

My father wrote this.
(PLAYS PIANO PIECE)

I haven't played this
since I was a kid. Can't remember.

Can't remember. He wrote that.

The only thing that I've got
from him, that he did himself.

'Of course, a dad is a really,
really important person in your
life.

I was the only son. Sons are
supposed to walk in their father's
footsteps.

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(APPLAUSE)

'It took years and years and years
for my family to accept that

this is what I was gonna do, and
there was nothing that they
could do to stop me.

When I was 19, I signed semi-pros
with a club called Hvidovre.'

(COMMENTATOR SPEAKING DANISH)

'At the time, I was being viewed
as one of the greatest talents
in Denmark.#

(SPEAKING DANISH)

'But at this point,
I'm semi-professional.

I couldn't afford to live
if I didn't work,

so I had a variety of
different jobs.

It was kind of like a double life.

Kasper was born on November 5th,
1986,

which for me was a remarkable day.

I became a father, which was
something I really, really wanted.

And I had just signed with Brondby,
the first club ever in Denmark
to go full-time.

I learned that day that my first
game for Brondby

as a full-time professional

would be a quarter-final
in the Champions League.

So, that was a big thing.

I was really happy to become a dad,

but I never felt that it was
something that changed my cause
or my thinking.'

'Peter was super young.'

you should see one of the pictures
where he's holding Kasper,

it's like a child.

You know, he looks like a child.

And he probably also is a child
emotionally, in many ways,

you know, at least a very young man.

And then he goes into this career
that is so consuming.

'All your mental energy
goes into that.

And maybe it's not so easy to be
a father or a husband,

because you're so consumed
with this.'

'So I met my ex-wife very young.

All of a sudden, we have a kid,
we have an apartment,

we've got obligations.

But my focus was somewhere else,
you know.

If you become a dad at 22
and then again at 25,

it's a bit early, especially for
somebody who was in a hurry

to create a career in a sport
that has an end date.

But there is no formula of what
a good parent is.

Yes, at times I would have been away
a lot and under pressure a lot,

and that would have, you know,
some kind of reflection

on our family life.

I don't really have any regrets
on my ability to be a parent.'

Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!

'I played in a team, but I also
played an individual sport,

cos my position is so different.'

KASPER: 'Goalkeeping is a sport
within the sport.

We wear a different kit,
we have our own coach.'

The goalkeeper is the position of
ultimate responsibility.

'It's very much a reactive position.
There's no control.

So, how do you get control?
I tried to impose myself.

When a striker would look up,
I would already be in position.

And with that,
I was just working on angles.'

If I had a striker coming at me
this way, I would just be here.

He wouldn't be able to see the goal.

And that meant that, yeah,
now you're trying to move
and be clever, right.

I would just move with you.

Day after day after day,
it became instinct, your position.

My performances got better, and
it gave me so much more confidence.

I even became the penalty taker,
and in one game I scored two.'

I remember as a kid going to see
Brondby playing in the late '80s.

There was such an excitement around
Peter Schmeichel and that team.

People were climbing the floodlights
to get in

to have a view of this
very enigmatic, very charismatic,

very different type of keeper.'

CROWD: Schmeichel!
Schmeichel! Schmeichel!

'He came into the club,

he filled up the room,
even when he was very young.

This is a character with presence,
with attitude.

Everything should be perfect, and he
demanded a lot from his teammates.

Sometimes you'd turn around
and say, "Shut the fuck up, Peter,
for fuck's sake!"

But we knew sometimes
it helped us as well,

because if you're not 100%
concentrated,

you knew that Peter
would come after you.

That huge winning mentality was
one of the key factors for Brondby,

and Peter demanded that.'

'He took over the Danish goalkeeping
position in '88.

Schmeichel stood out.

He was the one that led from
the front, or rather from the back.'

I was working at
Frederiksberg Hospital,

and I just heard that on the
television, that he has a debut.

"That's my brother!"
I was so proud.

'I loved the Danish team,
and it was a big, big thing for me

when I got involved.

Brian Laudrup always used to say
that I fell in the pot of
self-belief when I was a kid.

I never doubted myself.'

(HIGH-ENERGY DANCE MUSIC)

# Yeah yeah yeah

# We are Brondby!

# We are Brondby!

'I had four very, very good and
meaningful years with Brondby.

Success breeds confidence
and more success.

But it wasn't enough.'

'The bar was not so high
when he came to Brondby.

His bar was much higher, and the
bar should be on the highest level
you could ever see.

He wants to learn more,
he wants to achieve more

and he wants to play for the biggest
club in the world.'

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

SIR ALEX: 'I was cautious about
bringing a Danish goalkeeper
in the English game,

because it's tough, you know.

My first experience was watching
him in training with Brondby.'

(SHOUTING)

I hear this guy screaming
and shouting, bawling,

and I says, "This is interesting."

And I watched him training,
he was fantastic.

'He was a massive man.
You know, he's 6ft 4in,

and his speed,
his speed was tremendous.

He'd stretch himself every time
someone would come through.'

The span, you know,
he was like an aeroplane.

You know, he's out there,
he's covering almost all the goal

the minute he starts coming out.

And I kept saying,
"God, he'll fill my goal.
They'll never get by him.'

He was a big lad, you know.
Eats too much. (LAUGHS)

'I couldn't believe his age
when they said he's 27.'

I says, "27? Where has he been?"

'Our goalkeeping coach
Alan Hodgkinson said, "You need to
sign him."'

'All of my life, I dreamt about
this.

When I first arrived, I get into
the chairman's office,

never met him before.

He said, "You come with me,"
and he took me to the museum.

He wanted to make sure that
I understood the responsibility

that I was taking, becoming
a Manchester United player.

I'm not just coming into
a football club,

I'm coming into a place of history.

This is as special as
I've dreamt about.'

'The definition of Manchester United
is romance.

It's a romance that is just rooted
in Matt Busby, the Busby Babes,

who were ready to dominate football
for a decade at least,

who then, of course, suffered
the tragedy in Munich in 1958,

and had to rebuild.

Became the first English team
to win the European Cup.

United's history is inextricable
to that.

It's romance, it's regeneration.

That's what made so many people fall
in love with Manchester United.

But then the club can't live up to
its own past.

And at that point, it's a club
chasing past glories.'

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

'My very, very first day
at Manchester United...

you don't know where to look,
you don't know who to talk to,

you don't know what to do, really.

They're walking in, one after one.

I'm like,
'My god, it's Mark Hughes!"

(GASPS) Brian Robson,"
one of my favourite players ever,

and he's actually sat next to me.
I'm totally blown away.

STEVE BRUCE: 'When Peter walked into
the building, the first thing
straight away is,

you just go by the presence of him
and the size of him.

There's no doubt he's got
a character and a personality,

because he's a natural-born winner.'

'My first training session, Brian
Kidd, the assistant manager, goes,

"Right, we'll do boxes.

Peter, do half-volleys."

And I'm like, "What?"'

"No, I'm not. I'm in the boxes."

"Oh, no, no, no, no,"
and they all go, "Oh, no, no,

we can't have goalkeepers
in the boxes!"

That's what I've always done,
so I just went and stood in the box.

'They're looking at each other,
"What's going on?"

Eventually, it was so embarrassing,
they had to start.'

'He wanted to train as
an outfielder.

This is common stuff now,
but this was 1991,

and that was completely new
to British football,

that was completely new to
the players at Manchester United.'

My philosophy was that
you were part of the team.

They need to be with you, they need
to know you, they need to trust you.

They've seen that I can stand up
for myself, I know what I'm doing.'

He settled down great. They knew
then they had a real goalkeeper.

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)
(REPLIES IN DANISH)

KASPER: 'I picked up English
quite fast.

We never speak English at home,
it's always Danish,

we've always celebrated Danish
Christmas, had Danish traditions.'

'Manchester was where I grew up.
I loved being there, I really did.'

'I was next door to Steve and
Janet Bruce, which was fantastic,

because they were really helping us
in settling into the UK.'

They had Amy and Alex, and that was
fun, and a lot of people are like,

"How is it having a famous dad?"

I'd be like,
"I've never tried anything else.

He's just my dad
and it's just his friend, Steve!"

'Cos they're normal people as well.

Our life was just football.
That was our whole identity.'

My dad was very concentrated.
Everything was controlled.

KASPER:
'He was fiercely professional

and took his role and his position
very seriously.

He was very strict with himself.

He had his routines, he had his ways
of doing things,

and there was no deviating
from that.'

Did he miss birthdays, did he miss
Christmases, New Years,

school plays and all? Yeah, he did.
I wouldn't change it for anything.

Hi Pete. I'll pick you up
in about ten, 15 minutes, yeah?

Turn that camera off,
I'm tired of that camera.

RADIO: 'We're looking for a team to
go through and play in the final.

Which actress played the female lead
in the 1980 film, the Blue Lagoon?'

Jane Fonda!
No, no, it was...

Brooke Shields! Yes! 4-0!

No, no, you didn't —
You're joking?

Jane Fonda you said first,
then you changed answers.

No, no, no, I was just saying
Jane Fonda's cousin!

'I grew up wanting to go to England.

I felt an alliance with England
from way back.

I can't even remember when, but
I always felt that I belonged here.

When I finally made the move
to Man United, I just absolutely
felt that I'm at home.'

My first four games, I kept
clean sheets. I was so happy.

'The media started to take note.'

'Good save by Schmeichel!

'One of the saves of the season!'

'I joined Manchester United
around that time.

Didn't really know much about him
before he came.

I'd never seen that very unique
style of goalkeeping.'

It was bizarre.

Some of the things that he did,

you'd not seen in English football
before.

Throws that would be 70 or 80 yards.

And at the time felt
transformational,
it felt so different.

'It's come straight from
the goalkeeper.'

'Coming into what was the old
First Division,

I'm up against big, big,
strong players,

at a time where it was OK
to challenge the goalkeeper.

So, I had to learn how to deal
with that.'

SIR SLEX: 'How he dominated
the penalty box, that was his
greatest strength.

Ball's getting tossed in,
you say, "Where is he?"'

We depended on him.

He was a man mountain.

You feel like he's just gonna
destroy everything in his path.

They're all ducking, the centre
backs and the defenders.

They knew he wasn't gonna stop.
He was fantastic at that.

'But then my teammates were really
taking the piss out of me.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah,
just wait till you play Fash."

And I'm thinking, "Fash?
Who the hell is this Fash?"

It turns out to be John Fashanu,
who played for Wimbledon.

He was a guy who was trying
to provoke you.

I'm going on the pitch,
he's in my head.

He scored against me.
I let him get to me.

It annoyed me. So I decided,
"I'm gonna be like that.

I'm gonna be so arrogant that all of
these players, they will hate me.

I'm gonna look through them.

I'm not even gonna acknowledge
their presence.

Get you out of your concentration,
make you angry.'

I want them to think about ME,
and not ever having a chance
to score a goal.

'Cantona! Oh, look at that.
Good save, Schmeichel.'

When a striker is in front of him,
it's not like being in front of
another goalkeeper.

He's very different.
He has something special.

'16 clean sheets in 29 games
since the big Dane arrived.

Settled in really well
at Old Trafford.'

'So when he brought me in,

Sir Alex said tha I was
the final piece in the jigsaw.

Now we have the team that
can win the league.'

'It's in there by Walters!

And now the title goes to Leeds
United, without any doubt at all.

It's all up for Manchester United.'

'Not winning the league is, even to
this day, incredibly disappointing.'

I will never get rid of
that feeling.

We were so close, and we were
so much better than everybody else,

but for some reason
we just didn't have enough.

Coming off that season,
I was mentally drained.

I was a little bit sick of football.

First of all, we didn't win
the championship.

Secondly, with Denmark, we didn't
qualify for the Euros 1992.

We lost out to Yugoslavia.

Of course, I was really
disappointed,

but I just wanna not think about
football

and I just want to have a break
and then recover,

and be ready for the next season.'

(EXPLOSIONS AND FIRING)

TV: Concern is mounting that what
used to be Yugoslavia

is careering towards civil war.'

'The rumours started to surface that
the international community

would exclude Yugoslavia
from everything.

They would be excluded from
the Euros if that happened,

and it would be the runners-up
from that group

who would then take their place,
so we might be going to the Euros.'

And I have to be completely honest,
I thought it was a terrible idea.

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

'On the day that it was decided,

we actually went into camp
straight away.

Our coach, Richard Moller Nielsen,
he was very clear about
our responsibilities here.

First and foremost, to the people of
Yugoslavia,

they have been penalised,
so we can't just go to the Euros
and not try.'

'Peter and Richard had
a very good relationship.

Peter is demanding from
his teammates

and he could see that Richard
was working very hard.

He knew everything about the
opponent, and Peter liked that.'

'Peter's a person of deep loyalty,
really, who,

if you do establish a bond with him,
it's deeply important to him.

In some ways, Moller Nielsen, like
Peter, was a bit of an outsider.

What Peter loved about
Moller Nielsen was,

he shared the same drive.'

Where I was here, not wanting to
play there, he got me over to here
straight away.

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

Quiet before the storm.

Denmark-England play in
Frankfurt, where we are now.

The fact that my son is in it
gives that true emotional feeling.

Hopefully, hopefully, fingers
crossed, I get to say hello to him,

to Kasper, as well.
That would be very nice.

'I have to do Talksport.

It's quite volatile,
because it's my native country

and my adopted country.'

I don't wanna create
stupid headlines.

'It's not going too well,
because my brain is so tired.'

They've got me in a good time.

They want me to say a stupid thing.
Well, they've got me now.

How are you?
Thank you so much for coming.

These guys are following me.
You don't mind them filming you?

You're... Fucking hell, you love
some fucking exposure, don't you?

(LAUGHTER)
By you?

Would it be a shock result
if Denmark beat England today?

I think that, that's a big word,

cos that's saying that Denmark's
not a very good team,

and I think we are a very good team.

It wouldn't be a shock result.
It'd be a big result.

I was wondering if we could get
a photo by the Hull flag.

Alright. Enjoy today, alright?
Thank you.

No fighting.

It's a bit early to have a beer,
isn't it?

I guess if you've gotta go through
ten litres before the game,

you've gotta start early.

FANS: Come on, England!

I do a lot of post-match interviews
with players. I never do this.

(BOTH LAUGH)

Well played...
Oh. There you go!

So, not disappointed at all?

I think there's always a tinge of
disappointment when we don't win.

Peter, a big night for Denmark.

Did you surprise yourselves
a bit here in Malmo?

No, I wouldn't say
that we surprised ourselves.

I'm a bit disappointed
we didn't win the game.

When we played that game against
England, we were the better team.

'We're looking at each other,
thinking, "We might just be able
to do something here."'

We'd been together
for about six years.

We knew that we'd got a good team.

And suddenly the belief was starting
to change a little bit.

The confidence starts to build up.'

So we go to Stockholm and play
the second game against Sweden,

and we create so many chances, and
we miss every single one of them.

'They have one chance and score.

And I remember I was sat there in
the dressing room,

so disappointed and so angry,

and none of us felt like speaking
to the media.'

'We were under pressure,
the manager was under pressure,

so it was a very difficult situation
we were in.'

But of course if we beat France
in the last game,

we then would go to the semi-final.

'They were the pre-tournament
favourites.

I remember before the game,
they come up to us and say,

"Go easy on us, cos we've got
to play Holland next."'

I just remember feeling, "My god,
we cannot let these guys win!"

'And from that moment on, everybody
believed that we could do something
here.

And you see Denmark become red and
white, you've got flags everywhere.

Everything was red and white.
It was unbelievable.

For me, playing for Denmark,
representing your country,

is just the pinnacle.'
(CROWD CHEERING)

'That was the ultimate.'

'When my father passed away
and I went through all his papers
and everything,

I actually realised

that I was born Polish,

that I was a Polish citizen
until I think about six years old,

when he became a Danish citizen.

Up until that point,
I was actually a Polish citizen.'

It's weird,
because I am half-Polish.

I am, but I have no relationship
to Poland whatsoever.

Don't know any family members.

I knew a couple,
they've all passed away.

But it's really weird,
because you've...

There's half the family probably
still living on

that I don't know about.

Are you a little Polish dog?

Are you?

You're German, aren't you?
Born in Germany.

And he's got a Dutch footballer's
name,

the best Dutch footballer ever.

That's funny, isn't it?

Holland and Germany,
in terms of football,

they just hate each other,
don't they?

So we named a German dog
after a Dutch superstar.

(LAUGHS)

Eh?

'So, Holland, the holders,
and the most successful nation

in the history of the Euros,

bid to join Germany in the final

that most of Europe wants to see.'

'The game we played against Holland
could have gone either way.

We were 1-0 up and 2-1 up.
The game finished 2-2.

I'm gonna face five penalties.
And I looked forward to it.'

It's part of the game, and there's
no need for me not to enjoy that.

But as a goalkeeper in a penalty
shootout,

you have absolutely zero control.

So, how do you get control?
I said to myself,

"OK, on the first one
I'm gonna go there,

on the second one,
I'm gonna go there."

I mean, it was an instinct,
you know, what pops into my head.

'I could decide left, right, left,
right, or all five to the left.'

It would always be random,
which means if I get beaten,

I got beaten by my own choice,
they haven't outsmarted me.

(REF BLOWS WHISTLE)

Isn't that amazing?
Schmeichel has saved it.

A vital save for Denmark.

I guessed right. Not guessed,
because it was a choice.

'My choice was right. I'm in
control.

JENSEN: 'No other Danish team
has been in the final, in the World
Cup or the Euros. Never.

We made history, and we celebrated
with loads of beers.

And I remember, like,
five o'clock in the morning,

sitting around a piano, where Peter
was playing, and we were singing.

The manager came down,

because he was starting to have
his breakfast, and he came and said,

"Listen, guys. You need to go up
and sleep now,

because we've gotta train
in four hours' time.

And you have to play the cup final
against Germany
four days after that.'

(WHISTLING AND SHOUTING)

Jack Charlton, nobody gives Denmark
any chance at all of winning
this match.

How do you feel about that?

Well, logically, I would say
exactly the same.

'When we get to the final, the kit
manager asked me into the kit room,

and he shows me the shirt.'

He says, "They want you to play
in that tonight."

He thinks it's a terrible shirt,
and I'm looking at this shirt,

I'm thinking, "That's the most
beautiful shirt I've ever seen
in my life,

there's no way I'm NOT gonna play
the final in that."

'I felt that gave me
some extra powers.

I knew I had to play
one of my best games.'

Germany were the world champions.

They are fantastic.

They came flying
for the first 20 minutes.

'It was just one chance
after the next.'

It was relentless,
but we're riding out the storm.

'And then we score.'

'A terrific goal by Jensen!'

(CROWD CHEERING AND WHOOPING)

'I scored a stunning goal, but if
we didn't have Peter in goal,

we would have lost the game
by two or three goals.

And in the second half,
when Germany start to do everything,

Peter came out with saves
I've never seen before.

It was like Peter had eight arms,
like an octopus.'

BRIAN MOORE: 'Vilfort... It's in!
They've scored another one!

And Denmark are now just one short
stepping stone

from the greatest night
in their football history.'

'We knew that he was
a world-class goalkeeper.

Sometimes you need to play the right
day to show it, and he did that.

That was the moment.
It was unbelievable.'

Final whistle blows.
Weird... What do you do?

How do you celebrate that?

'I am honest, I haven't got a clue
what happened after that.

Honestly.

Everything was just so unreal.
Just so unreal.'

I mean, less than two weeks
prior to that,

we were not even in there,

and then we take the place
from a football team

that's already in the hotel.

'So, all of a sudden, they're kicked
out, and we are in their rooms.

It was for them as well.'

'Peter Schmeichel, dare I say it,

the most popular man in Denmark
now.'

(ROCK MUSIC)

(SINGING AND CHANTING)

(SIRENS)

(SPEAKING DANISH)

'I got elevated into another status
from winning that.'

'It was the pinnacle of what
Danish football and Danish sports
had ever achieved.

It wouldn't have been possible
without Schmeichel

playing what was just an absolute
masterpiece

of a goalkeeping performance.

Took him to a level that
we hadn't really seen before.'

(PLAYS POIGNANT PIANO PIECE)

'Playing for Denmark was always
a big dream of mine.

Walking out, hearing the national
anthem was just incredible.

We had this burning desire
to be successful,

in spite of being a small country.

And I was in the team for 14 years

and I loved every minute of it.

That never goes away.

It's with me very, very often,
because it really meant something
to people here.'

We showed the world that
it can be done.

We showed people in Denmark
this can be done.

(FINAL CHORD)

He's come back a winner
of a European final.

I mean, he's buzzing. He's buzzing.
I think that helps him.

I think that no matter
where we're gonna be playing here,

we're ready for it.

'Football's new Premier League has
finally been given the go-ahead.'

The league replaces the First
Division and will start this August.

'The Premier League was different.

The game really opened up to
television money,

and in many ways, it was built
for Manchester United.

Psychologically, it was a good way
to be able to draw the line

under what had happened
the previous season.

It was a useful tool for Ferguson.

£Let's be the first winners
of this new competition."'

'There was a really good atmosphere
in the dressing room.'

And there was a lot of optimism.
And then we start.

'We're beaten twice
and we have one draw.'

'They were in the bottom three
after three games.

All the old questions about United
are back.'

'But there was no panic.'

The manager, he always said,
"The season starts at Easter,

this is when it really counts.

If you're gonna make mistakes
and lose games, we do it early."

'October was a miserable month.
Three defeats

and four games
without scoring a goal.

Peter Schmeichel said,
"If we don't buy a striker,

we're not going to win anything."'

'When Eric was signed, it was one of
those moments where things changed.'

NORTHCROFT: 'He was the key figure
for Leeds the previous season.

Somehow Alex Ferguson signed him.'

CANTONA: 'This club was special.
I know it was special.

To come to United,
you need to be good.

You need to have
a strong personality,

to handle the pressure of
this club.'

Because some players cannot.

'Eric was different to anything that
we'd ever seen in English football.'

INTERVIEWER: Was it hard to adapt
to English football
when you first arrived?

No. No.

No, because English football
has to adapt to me. (LAUGHS)

'Cantona. Oh, that is gorgeous.

And Denis Irwin's in again!

Eric Cantona on a different level!'

I loved the fact that he was
different. He made a massive impact.

Now we can win the league.

'I roomed with Eric
for a long, long time.

'For five years we shared a room,
so we had a very good relationship.

He's interested about many things.'

He has a strong point of view,
and also an open mind.

'Peter took care of me.
He's a real leader.

Strong physically, strong mentally.
He has a real personality.'

So he's a winner and a leader.
Take everybody with him.

(LAUGHS)
To the top of the hill.

(REF BLOWS FINAL WHISTLE)

'Manchester United
are the champions of England.'

(CROWD CHANTING)
# Glory, glory, Man United

# Glory, glory, Man United

(EXCITED CHATTER)

INCE: We are the fucking bollocks,
aren't we?

(KIDS TALKING EXCITEDLY)

And what's your name?
Um, Kasper Peter Schmeichel.

'So, we win the league.
Hadn't won it for 26 years.'

Fucking hell, polish it up.

'Fantastic.'

It looks fucking worse.
Don't spoil it.

Well done, lads.

Denis? Denis...

This is good in here!

(LADS SHOUTING)

(EXCITED CHATTER)

'Now we have to go back
and do it again.'

My attitude was, once you win
something, it doesn't matter.

Shelve it. Store it away.

We have to go on and on and on.

'The champions, Manchester United,
they are most emphatically the team

the others will have to catch.

'We always knew what
the requirements were,

and Sir Alex never wavered
from that.'

You have to win the Premier League.
That's it.

You have to perform
at your highest level.

If not, somebody else
will take your place.

You went into the first-team
dressing room as an 18, 19-year-old,

and you were almost like
you were surrounded by maniacs.

'Peter was an immense character

and you realised what a massive
personality he was,

not just on the pitch,
but also in the changing room

and on the training ground.'

Make sure we start right.
Fucking our day today.

Come on, Gaz, are we ready?

Don't fuck about,
let's get out there.

Gary, concentrate well today.

NEVILLE: 'They were aggressive,
all front-foot,

they were all intense,
they were all demanding figures.

They were ferocious with it.

Nothing else
you were gonna face in your life

was as ferocious as Keane
and Ince and Hughes and Schmeichel.

Obviously, Sir Alex Ferguson,
the boss, as well.'

Hey!

'Peter was extremely demanding.

Mistakes couldn't happen.

I've never seen anybody hate
conceding a goal

more than Peter Schmeichel.'

I always liked to see some part
of myself in my players.

I see a big part in Peter.
He's a winner.

NEVILLE: If I made a mistake
in front of him, I mean,

it was as if you'd basically stole
the handbag off his grandma,

you know what I mean?
It was like a crime.

So I felt like I got the brunt
of his big Danish voice.

You'd now call it bullying,
but when I look back now,

it was just a harsh, intense
environment,

an environment where you just had
an unbelievable winning mentality
driven through it.

'When they all started
to enter the team,

you have a pretty fair idea of what
it's like to play for United.

You need to be mentally
very, very strong.

So, you've gotta toughen them up.

I know it sounds so old-fashioned
when I say that,

but it builds character
and standards.

If you can't deal with instant
adversity,

if you can't deal with criticism,

then there is no place in that team
for you. No place.'

I've got to ask you,
how's your temper?

Because Steve Bruce and
Gary Pallister, for years,

have just... I mean, their ears
must be bashed with it!

I know. But that's mostly
part of the act.

It's an act, is it?
Well, no, you can't call it an act.

'I mean, there's no hard feelings
between us.

I say it was an act, and I always
said, "Well, I had the ability

to step out of that character
when the game was over."

That's just an illusion. You cannot
jump in and out of that character,

cos it's difficult to bring it on
for 90 minutes.'

'He never showed emotions
back then.'

Anger, he would show anger,
but he wouldn't show emotions
and feelings,

and I think for him,
that would be a sign of weakness,

and we were not meant to see him
be weak.

Like, that was not him.

'If my dad lost a game, none of us
wanted to drive with him. (LAUGHS)

You would want to drive
in another car.

I remember one game where he was
very angry, and we were flying home.

It was not very comfortable!'

We just had to get home and then
pray to God we live. (LAUGHS)

KASPER: 'Having been in the same
profession as him now for 23 years,

I really have a very broad
understanding of his behaviours.'

Constantly assessed and under
pressure to perform.

Football does that to you.

'The work rate, the effort,
what it takes to get there.

They aren't always traits conducive
to being the best person

around other people.'

My dad was quite uncompromising,
quite regimented,

whereas I'm a bit more relaxed
when it comes to the routines.

'My mum probably has given me
the more easy-going nature

of being with people,
being more social,

and not wanting to miss out.'

'He can seem to be very arrogant,
and he has been,

but I just learned that arrogance
covered often shyness.

He's more shy than arrogant,
if you ask me.'

It's so many years ago since
I've played that I can look back

and think, 'Oh my god.

Pete, for Christ's sake,
why were you like that?

That's embarrassing.'

But I know deep down

that if I hadn't been like that,

it wouldn't have happened for me.

I had to be like that,
in order to be the best of the best.

The best teams, they're always
a reflection of the manager.

We reflected Sir Alex Ferguson,
to a T.

He was absolutely perfect
for a guy like me.

Yes, he's intense,
but I was intense.

He was demanding.

If you are ambitious,
you want a demanding boss.

And what was brilliant about it
was if he really went off on

one of his tangents,
you could actually argue with him.

He was looking for a reaction,
and he'd be disappointed

if you didn't come back at him,
showing that you cared.

When he came to Liverpool, there was
a slight change in his demeanour.

'Guys, it's fucking Liverpool next.
Be ready.'

This particular game, we were
three-nil up very, very quickly,

and we could have been
five and six-nil up, easily.

But it was kind of like
we stopped playing. They scored.

Three-one, and three-two,
just before half-time.

And I felt that I kept the team
in the game in the second half.

They were bombarding us.
They equalised.

So, after the game, of course
he was disappointed, and angry.

He blamed me.

The reason that
I lost my temper with him,

the third goal they scored,

is it's the kind of cross
that he was coming for

every day in his life.

To my mind, it should've been—
it was his ball.

That's what angered me.

I felt that it was definitely
not my fault, and I reacted to it.

We had a face-to-face argument.

I don't like to speak about
this kind of thing.

It's all between us, you know?

I understand that the people
want to know many things, you know?

But me, I'm not the kind of guy
who will say these kinds of things.

I wish there'd just been
a camera to film it,

because I honestly cannot
explain in words —

I mean, that's the most ferocious
argument I have ever seen

in my life,
between manager and player,

or between player and player.

I've never seen anything like it.
I thought they were gonna fight.

Genuinely,
I thought they were gonna fight.

I saw the manager have a go at
many players over 20 years,

saw him come in at half-time
and tear people to shreds,

including myself. But I— This one
was Peter going for it full-on,

and the manager going for
it full-on, and thinking,

'What the fucking hell is this?'

Absolutely madmen.
Vicious. It was evil.

I just lost it.

I said things about my teammates
that I shouldn't have done.

You don't do that.
That's almost like treachery.

It's not my job as a teammate
to criticise other players.

That's maybe my biggest regret.
Definitely crossed a line.

I crossed a line with him,
said things to him.

And I can never allow
to lose my control.

I said, 'You're finished.'
I had my shower, I went on the bus.

I was fuming,
I was fuming when I got back home.

I told my agent, 'He sacked me, and
you've gotta get me somewhere else.'

I'm ready to go anywhere, you know.

So, I get in Monday morning,
I go up to his office.

He says, 'I have to let you go.'
I said, 'That's fine.

I have no problem with that.'

At this point,
I'm not even disappointed.

You know, I'm not,
because I'm like that as well.

I'm thinking,
'I'm not having this,' you know.

He called a team meeting, and he
went absolutely berserk on the team.

He left, and I said, 'Guys, I really
want to apologise for my behaviour.

It was out of order.
I'm really, really sorry.'

And then he never sacked me.

It was never, ever,
ever mentioned again.

He told my agent
that he stood outside the door,

and he heard my apology.

I don't know why he was surprised,
but he said,

'No, OK, that's fine,' you know.
'I'll keep him.' (LAUGHS)

I was thinking, 'How the flipping
heck are we gonna get out of this?'

(LAUGHS)
And he come out and apologised.

'Thank Christ,' I said to myself.
(LAUGHS)

That season, Manchester United
became one of the best teams

that's ever won the Premier League.
They won the double.

That took the team to another level.

I mix all the seasons together.
It all becomes a blur.

We were setting standards for
the rest of the teams in England.

It was what I'd been dreaming about
since I was a kid.

When you sat in that dressing room
and you looked around

at the players, you were thinking,
'We're gonna win everything.'

There is this idea
that we didn't get along.

I was not there to have friends,
I was there to win.

Everybody was there
for the same reason.

Yes, we could have arguments.
It's totally irrelevant.

We were there to win.
We were greedy.

We wanted to win everything.

That was a common ground
that we shared.

(CROWD CRY OUT)

You kind of remember
the ones you don't win,

when you came away with nothing.

That's what you used.

That's a tool you have to use
to become better.

Your job is to win.

Every time you play, you put
everything you have on the line.

(CHATTER)

(CAMERAS CLICKING)

PRESS: Good afternoon,
ladies and gentlemen.

We've invited you down today
to announce that Peter Schmeichel

has indicated that he wishes
to retire from English football

at the end of the present season.

I've asked Manchester United
to release me

at the end of this current season,

which they have generously agreed
to do,

and for that I am truly grateful.

It is important now that I'm now
allowed to concentrate totally

on the rest of this season.

I've had a fantastic career
with Manchester United,

and I owe it to the club, players,
and the fans to do whatever I can do

to finish on a high
and winning note.

There's no doubt about burnout,

probably also being
a condition of stress.

At the end of the World Cup
in '98...

..we get knocked out
in the quarter finals.

So, I phone Sir Alex and,
'When do you want me back?'

and he says,
'I want you back tomorrow.'

And I'm thinking,
'My god. I'm done for.

I've not had a break for,
like, four years.

I'm 35 years of age. How long can I
do this for?' you know?

It's one thing being
a good goalkeeper,

but being number one
for a Premier League club,

being number one for your country,
that's not about goalkeeping only.

That's mentality.

A mistake costs your team,
which means you have to be perfect.

And no one's perfect,

but you have to be as close
to perfect

in every single action you make.

If you haven't stood there,
you don't actually know.

Probably bigger pressure than anyone
would ever understand.

NORTHCROFT: Having played at this
high level for such a long time,

for the first time,

Peter really felt signs
of vulnerability as a goalkeeper.

In modern football,
there would've been psychologists,

there would've been
performance specialists.

This was an era where footballers
were supposed to be indestructible,

where if you played for a club
like Manchester United,

you admitted no sign of weakness.

And he'd always been that player.

I always promised myself,

'If I feel that I'm not up for it,
I have to do something.'

I came up with the solution
of this being my last year

playing for Man United,
because I can't carry on doing this.

And I came up with that decision
all by myself.

Never spoke to anyone.

With maturity, I look back
and think, 'How stupid is that?'

You've gotta speak to people.
They will tell you that,

'Hey, you're not in a fit state
to make such a big decision.'

But they had to let me
go for nothing.

That's what I asked for.

It wasn't that easy,
but they accepted it in the end.

Alex, is this a sad day
for the club in general,

and I suppose yourself,
after all these years?

Yeah. Oh, he's been incredible.

He's without question the best
goalkeeper in my playing career,

or management, managerial career,
ever, to my mind.

Right, OK, thanks very much.

Fergie didn't put up a fight at all.

He always said, 'I could see
the determination in his eyes,

so I didn't wanna fight it.'

So, I had this meeting with him
saying,

'This is gonna be my last season.'

He said,
'Make sure it's a good one.'

The next step was to win Europe.

If we just keep winning
Premier Leagues, we're stagnating.

We have to win in Europe.

NORTHCROFT: Alex Ferguson was that
manager who'd done everything,

but hadn't won the European Cup.

It became an obsession,
and it became United's quest.

And the traditions of that club
demand,

'We have to win the European Cup,'

and that's where United found
themselves.

COMMENTARY: It's Manchester United
and Inter Milan,

the pick of the week's
European quarter finals.

The team they had was just
incredible,

and they absolutely hammered us.

Zanetti for Inter Milan.

Kept out at the near post
by Schmeichel, who reclaims it.

..here on Stam.
Schmeichel's made a save.

It's Colonnese with a chance!

Blocked On the line by Henning Berg!

And he's got in a cross,
and Zamorano has a chance!

(SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Something like...
he did that all the time.

I remember we played Everton and
their centre forward going through.

Brilliant save from Schmeichel.

And he came out screaming at him,
'Argh!'

Got the fright of his life. (LAUGHS)

And there's no way past
the big blond giant.

He was famous at spreading himself,
you know. And he was huge.

(LAUGHS) I don't know
understand it myself.

High jump, you have Fosbury.

Dick Fosbury,
his incredible Fosbury flop.

And the Panenka.

But now all goalkeepers,
they arrive like this, like monster.

The Schmeichel. Schmeichel.

Peter created something.

(SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC)

COMMENTARY:
Fantastic stop by Peter Schmeichel!

And how critical a moment
in the quarter final

will that turn out to be?

So, they absolutely hammered us,
but we won it two-nil.

After Inter,
we get drawn against Juventus,

and Juventus was a big test.

Two Italian teams that in all
the seasons prior to that,

we would have lost.

(PLAYERS CHEERING)

Peter, congratulations. You've made
the Champions League final.

Yeah, I mean...
I couldn't have dreamt of this.

In the Premier League, Arsenal
are the defending champions.

We're neck and neck all the time.

(TENSE STRING MUSIC)

This rivalry between us and Arsenal
is when I had the most fun.

Because we came out on top.

And to come out on top against
that kind of quality,

that's just brilliant.

Sometimes they stepped over the
line, yes, but it added to football.

It made football important.

Everything we did that year
was earned.

Nothing was given to us.

We never stopped believing.

We carried on until the referee
said the game's finished.

And all of a sudden,
three more games, three more wins,

and we would have
an unbelievable season, you know.

Three more wins, more wins.

And so the dream became
a possibility.

COMMENTARY: Manchester United on the
verge of true sporting greatness.

Peter Schmeichel coming out
for his last league game in England.

He's taken goalkeeping on to another
level, I think.

Once we got to those three games,
for me,

there's absolutely no doubt
about the first two.

There's no way we were not gonna
win against Tottenham. No way.

(CHEERING)

It's gone right to the final whistle
on the final day

of the league season,

and Manchester United are champions

for the fifth time in seven seasons.

The first leg of this astonishing
treble is in place.

(PLAYERS CHEERING)

Two more games.

There's no way
we were gonna lose the FA Cup final.

So, the question mark was,

having played Bayern twice already
that season

and drawn both of the games,
would we come out winning that game?

COMMENTARY: United know
that Bayern Munich are giants,

three-times winners
of the European Cup,

chasing a treble themselves.

Manager Alex Ferguson won't name
his starting line-up until tomorrow.

Once certainty, though,
is Peter Schmeichel,

the United keeper in his final
appearance, will captain the side.

When I was young, I was seriously
nervous before games.

My first game for Brondby
was quarter final

in the Champions League,

and I'm actually hoping
that the bus would crash

so we didn't have to play this game.

Such a big game, and there'd
be more people in the stadium

than I've ever played in front
of before, and I was so nervous.

I went outside myself and looked
at myself, and I said,

'Pete, all of your life you've been
dreaming about these games,

and you're afraid.

You should be enjoying it.
This is fantastic.'

And I decided
I wouldn't be nervous anymore.

From that moment on,
I was never nervous.

(SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC)

What is it inside of me that enables
me to do something like that?

It takes an incredible amount
of strength.

I don't know where that strength
came from, but it was there.

Champions League final.
You are right at the pinnacle.

Everyone in the world are watching
what you're doing,

and I don't think you can get
any higher than that.

Why be scared of that?

You're there because you love it,
so enjoy it.

But too easy for Bayern Munich.

Their players were simply too good,
and they were too disciplined.

One-nil.
They completely controlled the game.

But they had the opportunities,
and they never took them.

They hit the post,
and they hit the bar.

What do you wanna know?

One that hits the post, I'm a little
bit in doubt if it's going in.

The Carsten Jancker one on the bar,
that's, honestly,

I know it's not going in.

We were riding our luck
a little bit. Three minutes left.

And then we get the corner kick,
so I know this is the time.

The big goalie's coming up!
Peter Schmeichel is forward.

Go up to create havoc and confusion.

You do everything that you can
in order to win.

It comes from the manager.
I had no authority whatsoever.

In towards Schmeichel!

He got a touch on the ball.

His head wasn't big enough
to head it towards goal.

Come for Dwight Yorke.
Cleared. Giggs with the shot!

Sheringham!
But then we got the goal out of it.

(CHEERING)

As I'm running back. The adrenaline,
it makes me breathless.

So, I'm now trying to focus again,

'Get your pulse down, focus,
concentrate.'

I'm talking to myself,
I'm telling myself all that,

you know.

And all I can think about is,
'Please don't shoot.

Please. Because I am not capable
of saving anything.'

Beckham. Into Sheringham!

And Solskjaer has won it!

We score.

And then...

Then I go blank.

(CHEERING)

Then I don't remember anything. So,
don't ask about anything after that.

(LAUGHS)

The best last line of defence that
Manchester United have ever had

will perform his last act
as a Manchester United player.

(CHEERING)

I tell you,
I'm fucking sick of celebrations.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHATTER)

Kasper was crying when the game
was done, and I was like,

'Why are you crying?'

And he was like,
'Well, this is the last game.

You know, Dad is not
a United player after this.'

So, 'OK, that's quite big.'

Like, 'Fuck this is over.'

Like, 'He's not gonna play
for Man United again.'

I never thought about that
being my last game for Man United.

I wasn't thinking about beyond
the game at all.

I was just focused on
my first Champions League final.

I didn't wanna bring all that
sentimental stuff into it.

I said, 'This is gonna be the
most important game

you're ever gonna play.'

Like I said to myself
with every game I play.

You never looked ahead. Never.
Win the game, move on.

I woke up and I wasn't
a Man United player anymore.

Of course it was a massive mistake
leaving Manchester United.

Why would you leave
Manchester United?

Why didn't I just go in to
the manager and say,

'I can still do a really good job
for you,

but I don't think I can
play every game'?

I was too proud.

I thought that he would see
that as weakness.

He wanted strong personalities,
armoured people,

nothing could penetrate them.

I'm very sure that I was wrong.

I think he would have respected me,
and he would have helped me.

There was something in me
that stopped me and said,

'No, I've made my decision.'

He was a great player for me,
a great character,

and a person I really admired.

When you look at the hundred-year
history of Manchester United,

Peter Schmeichel is right
at the top of that, you know.

After Peter, that was
when the real problems started.

I tried— I don't know how many
goalkeepers I tried.

I became famous
for trying goalkeepers. (LAUGHS)

At no point did I speak to
any other club

before the Champions League final.

I wanted to play a hundred per cent
fair with Man United.

So, when I played that last game,
I didn't know where I was going.

I went to Sporting Lisbon,
in Portugal.

I'd been in Lisbon before, but not
with the view of living there,

and I fell in love with the place
straight away.

What I've seen so far is
very talented players,

and, you know, very inexperienced.

But they can play.

I mean, it was obvious today
that there was definitely potential

of creating some— a team that can
at least compete for the trophies.

I enjoyed my years,
much as we won the championship,

but it was so different
to what I was used to.

I mean, we were playing
for half-empty stadiums,

and I wasn't happy.

My god, I missed the Premier League.

NEWS: The big Dane's back
into English football.

After two seasons in the sun
with Sporting Lisbon,

he wanted one last chance
in the Premiership.

He just hopes everyone
at Old Trafford will understand.

I didn't have a problem with Peter
leaving Manchester United.

I wondered why, because he was still
relatively young for a goalkeeper,

but he'd made his mind up,

and you were never gonna change
his mind.

The disappointment I had was,
you know,

when you play for United,
you don't go and play for City.

We've lost a great goalkeeper,
the greatest in the world,

you've just won the treble,

you've popped off and had a little
bit of sun, then you've come back

and played in Manchester,
and played in Birmingham.

He could've carried on playing
for United.

An elderly woman who was
stood behind the goal,

Manchester City supporter, right,
she was shouting right in my face,

'Let's see where your fucking
loyalties are today, Schmeichel!'

Christ, you know.
What was going on here?

It was a really, really weird day
for me.

Giggs!
Saved valiantly by Schmeichel.

Well, the United hero is
a City hero today.

Three-one winners!
What a day for Peter Schmeichel.

I know we won, I know it counts
towards the record

that I've never lost
a Manchester derby,

but it's absolutely meaningless
to me.

Sometimes you don't think
everything through.

I didn't think that I was gonna
play against Manchester United,

I didn't think what that was gonna
be like, until it happened.

Oh my god, I hated it.

NEWS:
After a month of soul searching,

to make what he says is the most
difficult decision of his life,

Schmeichel will be retiring
at the end of the season.

NEWS 2: So, this Sunday sees
Peter the Great hang up his gloves,

only a week after showing us

why he's probably the Premiership's
greatest ever keeper.

Diouf! Oh, Schmeichel!

That's one of the great saves of
his career, in his penultimate game.

But will the end be
an emotional moment?

I don't know,
my wife keeps asking me that.

She says I'm very cold.

(STAMMERS)

You know, you live a life where
you're under pressure all the time.

Whatever decisions
you make in your life,

whatever decisions you make
in the game,

you have to live with that.

I'm not gonna be too emotional
about that on Sunday.

I don't think I'll be thinking
about it a lot.

When I decided to retire from
football, I was more than ready.

I wasn't happy.

My father was very, very proud of me
playing for Man United.

He made sure to tell me as well.

But towards the end
of my career at United,

it was also a period
where his drinking,

which we were not aware of,
became more and more apparent.

He told me that he was
an alcoholic for 40 years.

It's an illness, and many,
many people are suffering from it.

In a family,
when there is an abuser,

you always call it something else.

And his excuse was
that he had this tough background.

It's his childhood,
or blah-blah-blah.

In the run-in to the treble,

that was the first time
I really saw how bad it had got.

You didn't think he could get any
worse, but he did, every day.

When I moved to Portugal,

very, very quickly
my mother came there,

because you can say she escaped.

We took a lot
of professional advice.

They said that
you can't do anything.

It's gotta be up to the person
who's got the problem.

You have to isolate the person.
That's so, so tough.

It's so difficult.

So, me and the family just moved
to Portugal.

We didn't give him any phone
numbers, no addresses, no nothing.

One day,
I'm walking my dog in the garden,

and it's pitch black,
I've got a torchlight in my hand.

I get a phone call on
my mobile phone,

and it's my then wife.

She says,
'Your father is at the gate.'

And I'm like, 'What?'

Somehow, he's managed to book
a flight to Lisbon,

then stumble into a taxi,

telling the guy to take him
to my house.

He didn't have an address,
and the guy knew where I lived,

which was scary.

And then he ended up there.
He was very drunk, by the way.

And I'm still holding
this torchlight as I open the door,

and he's there.
It's not something I thought about.

I was just straight into his eyes,
kind of, the ultimate humiliation.

And I ask him, 'What do you want?'

'I wanna come in,
I wanna see my family.'

'You can't.
We don't want you. You have to go.'

After ten minutes, he left.

I'm stood there, haven't got
a clue what I've just done.

My instinct was I had to do that,

but I didn't know
what the consequences would be.

He went back to Copenhagen,

and from that plane
he went directly into treatment.

He lived 20 years after that,
and never had a drink again.

Strength. The Schmeichel strength.
(LAUGHS)

He became clean,
he mended the bridges,

built new relationships
with everyone in the family.

But he didn't wanna talk to me.

And it turned out it was
the torchlight,

that I humiliated him
so much with that torchlight,

and he couldn't forgive me.

So, one day I said to my mother,

'Tell him that torchlight
saved his life.

That humiliation was
the final push.'

A couple of hours later,
my father rang me,

and he apologised to me,

and we became really, really close
in those last 20 years.

My dad has different characters.

He had a character when he was
a professional footballer,

and he has a character
as a grown man,

and the last ten years
he's got a new character.

So, there's loads of different
versions of him,

and I love the version
he is now the most.

He's become very calm and happy,
and just he's present.

He's much more present
than he used to be.

Once you finish football,
you can relax.

He's quite rightly begun to enjoy
life a lot more than he did

when he played.

I'm very conscious
about giving up control.

If we'd done this documentary
five years ago,

I would've been all over
everything you said.

I've improved on that,

because I hated always trying to be
in control of every situation,

'cause it's stressful.

It's stressful,
not only for yourself,

but for your surroundings,

that every little thing's
got to be in a certain way.

With me, it's a big, big challenge,
to realise that always being

in control doesn't make me
a better person.

It's been important.
It's not important anymore.

I think having met Laura,
it's helped me a lot.

She's not somebody that you control,
definitely not.

There's a lot of things
that I am able to do today,

the way I'm able to think,
the way I'm able to behave,

that I would have loved to have had
earlier in my life,

and also in my playing career.

But for me to do what
I had to do back then,

for some reason
I had to be like that.

I always saw myself as him on
the pitch and him outside the pitch.

I'm not sure that
I'm completely right about that.

I think they were probably
a little bit closer

than I would have liked.

But I'm definitely making
a bigger gap now.

It's funny, because I never seen
him play, I never seen him on TV.

When I met him, I just saw
this super happy, funny man.

So, when I see a clip of
him playing football, I'm like,

'Why are you yelling so much?
Why are you so angry?' (LAUGHS)

You know, 'What's going on?
What did he say?'

You know, because I don't know
that side of him.

She was that person who wandered
down the shopping street

on June 27th,
walked into the town hall square,

200,000 people there,
and thinking, 'Why are they here?'

You know, when they looked up
to the balcony, where I am,

with the European Championship
trophy.

She's totally oblivious to that.
She knew nothing about football,

which has been absolutely fan— She
knows everything about football now.

It's been an important development
for me to meet somebody

who didn't know about football,

who was introducing me
to other values in life,

and other ways of being,

and other ways of being
around people as well.

I'm going on tour with a band that
I've literally just stumbled into,

so I'm now gonna do what my father
used to do, go out and play music.

They used to have a sound guy
who called the genre of country...

..horse jazz.
Horse jazz, yeah.

(LAUGHS) Horse jazz.
So, we're moving into horse jazz.

You heard it here first. (LAUGHS)

Peter said, 'Well, I just wrote
this new song, could we try that?'

So yeah, this is—
We're trying it.

It's the first time we play it.

It's very new.
We never heard it before.

He's a childhood hero, yeah?

Then all of a sudden,
we're on the same team.

That was pretty mad to start with.

Before it was like, 'Oh my god.

He's the captain
of the national team.'

Yeah. He's really nice.
Not like in the TV from the '90s.

They are professional musicians,

they have a completely
different idea about time.

They'll arrive, yeah, they will come
and rehearse and all that,

but if you say ten o'clock,
it's not necessarily ten o'clock.

It's definitely not my ten o'clock.

But that's two different worlds.

It's challenging me on my OCD.

It's a little bit of—

Yeah, it's a big challenge.

Now my sporting discipline,
and that, kind of,

strict personality, is calling
for us to play this again.

Yes.
'Cause—

Agreed.

# I see you...

Yeah. I fucked it up.

Start again? Let's start again.

But, you know, funny, because
football never really left me.

I have to be honest,

I realised that his football has
been more important

than my football.

(SPEAKING DANISH)

I looked up to my dad,
so I copied him a lot.

(SPEAKING DANISH)

(CHEERS)

I was volatile in my determination
to win, to be the best.

Regardless of what it was.

Whether it was a game
in the backyard,

or if it was a game of Monopoly,
or whatever it was, I wanted to win.

(SPEAKING DANISH)

I didn't save that one.

As a kid, you're a sponge.

You're taking everything in
all the time.

MARGARETHE:

Sometimes we had training,
and the kids were allowed to come.

And Kasper was, and my son, Raphael,
were there. They played together.

My son didn't care. But we could
feel the personality of Kasper.

He had a goal, you know.

He wanted to become like his father.
We could feel that.

The Barclays Premier League
has a sixth different winner,

and no one saw them coming.

Leicester are smiling,
and the whole world smiles too.

Bring on the champions.

That day at the King Power Stadium,
when he lifted that trophy,

that's the best Premier League win
I've had.

For the first time...

..it was emotional.

And in all of this,
I was more proud and more happy

than when I was one of
the players receiving this trophy.

I don't understand that feeling,

because all of my life
since I was a kid,

I dreamt about that.

That was my driving thing,
that was my energy source.

So,
how can somebody come into my life

and make that even more important?

But it is. It's your child.

My son.

(SPEAKING DANISH)

He knew that,
regardless of how good I was,

it will never be good enough
for anyone else.

What he's always made a point of
to me is saying,

'You are more than enough.
You are more than good enough.'

And he said it to me
when I was 14, before games,

he still says it to me.
'You have nothing to prove.'

You know, as a son, having your dad
tell you that- that's enough for me.

When you're in the flow
of a career like football,

you get numb to a lot of things.

So, the highs aren't as high,
and the lows aren't as low,

because you're so used to
that rollercoaster

that you're on every week.

When you first start your career,

playing in front of 60,000 people
is a dream, it's incredible.

But 15 years down the line,
that's your everyday.

That's part of your job.

But when you then go back
and you look at, I think,

what is it my dad played,
nearly 700 games.

Like, 700 games, that's incredible.

129 caps. That's special.

And now he's, kind of,
restarting, at 60,

his— the next part of his life.

'Cause, as an athlete,
you die twice.

Once you finish your career,
it's been your whole life,

your whole identity,
from when you were a child.

And all of a sudden,
you're not this anymore,

and you are never coming back.

What now? Like, who are you now?

So, that's why I say
an athlete dies twice,

'cause that's your identity gone.
Now you have to— You're reborn.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

My father, he's buried
about 200 yards from my house.

We always go past and say hello.

He's got a really nice
resting place here,

'cause obviously he became
a Danish citizen,

but he was born in Poland,

and Poland is actually directly
in line with that tree.

So, he can have a look at Poland.

(BELLS CHIME)

And he can listen to the music
of Denmark.

Right, come on. Come on, you.

(GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES)
(BELLS CONTINUE CHIMING)

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