Rob Green – who appears in The Special 1, the latest documentary from BT Sport Films – has been talking about a time where he doubted himself as a goalkeeper.
Green was at the centre of one of England's most high-profile keeping errors in 2010, when he let a shot against the USA in, during the Three Lions' opening group game. The former Norwich, West Ham, QPR, Leeds and Chelsea stopper has always stated that he didn't lose his confidence after that moment, though – going so far as to tell manager Fabio Capello he believed he was wrong for dropping him.
So what was the moment that Green really doubted himself? FFT wanted to know.
"There was one time in my career at Norwich, playing week in, week out and I was only 19, 20, I’d played every game and we drew against Chelsea in the FA Cup," Green now reveals. "We played the replay 10 days later at Stamford Bridge and just got pumped.
"We lost 4-0, I think and it was just… all of a sudden, a game was too far for me, coming up against a full-strength Chelsea team, they were miles better than us. I got pulled out for four or five games – I was in that game thinking, ‘I’m knackered, the shots are coming in from all angles and I don’t know if I’m in the right space to deal with it’.
"That was the one time in my career where I thought being pulled out of the team was doing everyone a favour, including me. I remember seeing the assistant the game after and saying, ‘I could see why you did that’."
Green was only in his first season in the senior side, back then. Later, of course, the Englishman would come to represent Chelsea, too – but he admits now that the feeling that he had against the Blues was shared by others in the dressing room.
"It was a good group of lads and because it was a game we were never really in – you could asked all 11 players and they’d have said the same thing! But they knew that if they turned around and had a go, they’d be having a go at someone who was just completely shot."
BT Sport will premiere The Special 1, the latest documentary from BT Sport Films, on BT Sport 1 on Tuesday 8 February at 10.45pm and is available to watch via the BT Sport website and App thereafter.
