OTP meets Patrick Vieira, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Rene Adler
Find out Vieira’s rather unlikely favourite Prem player
With the new season now back in full swing, it’s time for the players of Europe’s top clubs to dig out their passports, buy an oversized pair of headphones for the plane, and in some cases get prepared to take on teams that are probably easier to play than pronounce correctly.
Yes, the UEFA Champions League is back, and with it is a brand new Heineken advertising campaign which which will be featured heavily during this week’s first round of group games.
This of the story of how I, Alex of the OTP Podcast, was fortunate enough to get behind the scenes of the shooting of one of these new commercials. And what a day it was.
The shoot took place at a studio in Prague. As I entered, I was greeted by the sight of some of the most muscular men I have ever seen, wearing full gladiatorial dress and heads shaved, relaxing in the break area, sipping coffee from polystyrene cups. That’s when I knew this wasn’t going to be an ordinary afternoon.
We then met the director, a lovely chap who talked us through what was going to happen in the ad. To sum up, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Patrick Vieira, giant golden horses, gladiators and togas were all mentioned, as well as casually dropping in the fact that the day before Clarence Seedorf had been pinging shots at Gianluigi Buffon in the Prague Opera House all day. No big deal.
And so we moved on to the media area in the main atrium, which was littered with enough camera and lighting equipment to fill Craven Cottage. And of course there was the odd obligatory statue of a giant golden horse dotted around. Here I waited to catch a few moments with the players involved in the shoot: Ruud van Nistelrooy, Patrick Viera, and Bayer Leverkusen and Germany goalkeeper Rene Adler, who I got to speak to first.
After a brief chat about the shoot and which players he fears playing most (for the record it’s Mario Gomez, who had scored a hatrick against him three days earlier) we soon got chatting about the only thing you are obliged to tale to a German keeper about: Jens Lehmann.
At the time Jens had just been signed by Arsenal again, and Adler wasn’t at all surprised: “Most goalkeepers have a positive craziness, and so does Jens. Therefore it’s not such a big wonder that he’s playing again. Maybe he needs to be in focus again and polarise [opinions].
“He’s not called Mad Jens in England for nothing. It’s a great thing.”
He then went on to explain that Lehmann was not alone in having a few screws loose, and that in fact it was an essential part of being a goalkeeper.
He added: “Most players like to play the ball and score goals, and you’re standing in the goal with balls flying around your head all the time. You get the balls on your nose, you get hurt by the ball and by players coming towards you, so that’s the sort of craziness you need to stand there and confront the ball and the players.”
Once the big German had trotted back to the shoot, Van Nistelrooy appeared looking for a toilet, but was instead instructed to hold it in and come and speak to me, so the pressure was really on to get my questions in before there was an accident.
Ruud was wearing a green football shirt that was a little too large for him, and it was he that actually compared himself to the Incredible Hulk before I could. A missed opportunity but an ice breaker all the same.
And so we went on to talk about his favourite Champions League moments, megaphones in Germany, and of course, just how does he keep his hair looking so good? “I don’t know, it’s my hair. That’s the only thing I’m naturally blessed with really I think. Thank God I’ve got something, and it’s my hair.”
So it turns out you don’t need natural ability to play at the highest level, just a decent head of hair. There is hope for us all.
After excusing Ruud to go to the little boys’ room, I strolled over to Patrick Viera who was mere feet away, ready for an OTP-style grilling. Unfortunately, the close proximity of Van Nistelrooy meant I bottled it and didn’t ask any questions about what actually happened on that day at Old Trafford in 2003 when my new pal Ruud missed that penalty – the fear of things kicking off again and a screaming Martin Keown emerging from an alcove proved just too much.
After frantically rethinking my line of questioning, we were soon talking about his favourite players. His favourite in world football? Iniesta. No surprises there then. But his favourite in the Premier League?
“Abou Diaby at Arsenal, I like him,” he said. “He’s been unlucky with the injuries he’s had in the last few years, but when he’s fit he’s a really good player.”
And what of his controversial teammate at Man City, Mario Balotelli?
Vieira said: “He’s a character, he’s a joker, and he’s difficult to understand sometimes, but that’s the kind of person he is.”
In other words, he’s a total liability then. Thought so.
And that was that. The players headed back to the elaborate set to tussle for a header whilst being surrounded by golden horses, gladiators and people in togas (all in an average day’s work for a pro footballer), and I left the studio and headed back to Blighty.
On the plane home I tried to comprehend what was more unbelievable-the absolutely stunning location and set, the fact I got to meet all these incredible players, the huge amount of work that has gone into making this epic advert, or the fact that Abou Diaby is Patrick Viera’s favourite Premier League player. It is a question I am still yet to answer.
Clarence Seedorf, Gianluigi Buffon, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Patrick Vieira and Rene Adler star in the new films from Heineken to promote their new UEFA Champions League ‘Legendary Football’ campaign. To find out more visit www.facebook.com/heineken.
