Schmeichel: Like father like son

Kasper Schmeichel tells Patrick Davison why he once lost interest in football, explains how Claudio Ranieri has transformed Leicester and recalls his childhood memories of watching his dad win the title at Old Trafford…

It’s May 16, 1999, Old Trafford is the venue, the title is on the line. A 12-year-old boy, who says that ‘United is a part of him’, is watching on nervously.

The home team are behind to Tottenham but come back to win and become Premier League champions with goals from David Beckham and Andy Cole.

Like the other United fans he cheers and celebrates. Unlike them he does it on the pitch, because his dad is the goalkeeper.

“That’s my favourite Old Trafford memory. It was the first step to the famous treble, my dad’s last year at Man United and I was a bit older then so I remember a bit more,” says now 29-year-old Kasper Schmeichel, who even held the ‘beautiful’ Premier League trophy during the celebrations.

Some of Schmeichel Sr’s other triumphs are not so easy for his son to recall. He was not quite five when the family moved to England and had no idea how remarkable his life was.

He adds: “My dad played for Manchester United, he was a footballer from when I was born, to me it just seemed normal. I thought everyone’s dad played football.

“My dream was to be a policeman, a fireman, all sorts. Sometimes I wanted to be a footballer but I didn’t put anything extra on that.”

Increasingly though, he found being the son of the best goalkeeper in the world tough to cope with.

“I lost interest in football for a while, the whole circus became too much when I was seven, eight, nine,” says Schmeichel, who still feels uneasy in the glare of the public …

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