JOSE MOURINHO was the last Inter Milan manager to lead the club to Champions League glory.
And an ex-pro golfer turned player-manager in the Isthmian League South East Division had a front-row seat after winning a place in the Italians’ squad on a TV talent show.
Ben Greenhalgh won Football’s Next Star in 2010, earning a pro contract at Inter Milan
INSTAGRAM @bengreenhalgh17Greenhalgh filled in as Cristiano Ronaldo’s body double[/caption]
He is now player-manager at Margate in the eighth tierINSTAGRAM @bengreenhalgh17
Sky 1The winger nutmegged Patrick Vieira as a teenager[/caption]
And he’d already had a stint as Cristiano Ronaldo’s body double.
Ben Greenhalgh won the first and only series of Football’s Next Star, which aired on Sky in 2010, earning a six-month professional contract at Inter aged just 17.
And, only months later, he found himself sitting just behind Mourinho as he masterminded a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League final to complete the Treble.
Greenhalgh was not part of the matchday squad ,in fact he never made a first-team appearance for Inter.
But he DID get a winner’s medal at the Bernabeu.
Now a player-manager at non-league Margate, Greenhalgh, 33, told SunSport: “Looking back, it’s absolutely mental. To be part of Inter’s best season ever is incredible.
“I sat two rows behind the dugout.
“I didn’t celebrate much, I almost wish I’d run on the pitch and got even more involved.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
“I jumped at the opportunity to take the Champions League medal. We got given about five extras.
“They might have been for players Mourinho cast out who weren’t there like Ricardo Quaresma and Marko Arnautovic.
“It’s the best story I’m ever going to have in football. It will stick with me forever and I’m really happy about that.”
The Champions League final on May 22, 2010 came 401 days after Greenhalgh made his Welling United first-team debut on his 17th birthday.
But his stratospheric rise from Bexley to the Bernabeu came from his victory on the short-lived TV talent show.
He was actually unaware of the trials when his Kent FA team went for what they thought was a regular training day in London until spotting cameras, Inter coaches and presenter Jamie Redknapp.
Out of 20,000 hopefuls, Inter’s scouts whittled it down to 40 before a final ten were invited out to Milan.
Greenhalgh admitted: “No one knew what was going on because a show like this hadn’t been aired before.
It’s the best story I’m ever going to have in football. It will stick with me forever and I’m really happy about that.
Ben Greenhalgh
“Now those shows are quite nostalgic.
“I don’t know why it’s never come back because it did really well. One night it beat Strictly for viewers.
“I watched it in Italy, already playing for Inter. People were trying to contact me and find out if I was the winner.
“I remember my Facebook crashed with friend requests.”
Redknapp took 17-year-old Ben under his wing, even giving the youngster his mobile number to mentor him.
Ironically, Greenlagh reckons his career could have turned out better had he NOT won the show – because Redknapp said his dad Harry would have signed him at Tottenham.
GettyGreenhalgh picked up a Champions League winner’s medal in 2010 despite not playing[/caption]
APJose Mourinho had an ‘aura’ about him but made the kid feel at ease straight away[/caption]
Greenhalgh impressed the Inter scouts to win out of 20,000 entrantsSKY 1
Jamie Redknapp presented the one-off Sky TV showSKY 1
Greenhalgh would love to see another similar seriesSKY 1
But the winger would not trade the Inter memories, winning the Champions League and training under the Special One.
Greenhalgh, who had Inter kits growing up, said: “It’s pretty surreal given just how monumental Inter Milan are as a football club.
“Meeting Jose was very nerve-wracking.
“He had an unbelievable aura, he was the best manager in the world then.
“He was so respectful to me and put me at ease straight away.
“Suddenly, I was thrown into training with Lucio, Quaresma, Mario Balotelli, Wesley Sneijder, Diego Milito, Samuel Eto’o, Javier Zanetti made everything look effortless at 39.
“I nutmegged Patrick Vieira but it didn’t make the show!”
But Greenhalgh’s opening training session at Inter was not his first time rubbing shoulders with footballing stardom.
Because aged just 16, he got a gig as Ronaldo’s body double through a football choreographer friend who worked on Nike and adidas adverts.
Greenhalgh also played the likes of fellow left-footers Mesut Ozil, Robin van Persie and Gareth Bale, protecting the players from going into tackles and risking injury.
I nutmegged Patrick Vieira but it didn’t make the show!
Ben Greenhalgh
Greenhalgh said: “Cristiano was my idol. No one could shock me as much. It was crazy, he’d just won the Champions League at Manchester United.
“We had a couple of funny moments.
“The media got hold we were in a gym shooting an advert and suddenly about 100 cameramen hovered outside.
“I was dressed as Ronaldo so I ran down the street under an umbrella. All the journalists followed and Ronaldo slipped out the back door unnoticed.
“Doing Ozil was probably the best one because we’re similar creative players and used to have kickabouts between sets.”
Greenhalgh, though, had to give up his job as ‘Ronaldo’ because he couldn’t abandon training to fly from Milan to Madrid to film more adverts.
In the end, he stayed at Inter for 18 months, which included a fruitful loan stint at Como, scoring eight goals in 12 games.
Como wanted to make a deal permanent when his extended Inter contract expired in 2011 but Italian football’s financial disarray meant the club could not afford to pay him.
So he returned to England, joining Brighton in League One.
MARGATE FCGreenhalgh is still playing 50 games per season at 33[/caption]
INSTAGRAM @bengreenhalgh17He had an 18-month stint as a PGA professional golfer alongside non-league football[/caption]
He got down to a scratch handicap while dropped out of the Inverness teamINSTAGRAM @bengreenhalgh17
Inter MilanThe winger spent 18 months with the Italian giants[/caption]
INSTAGRAM @margatefc_Greenhalgh wants to keep playing until he turns 40, just like Ronaldo[/caption]
He is hoping to climb the managerial ladder in the long runINSTAGRAM @margatefc_
The Seagulls were flying on their progression through the leagues and he could not break into the team and suffered a similar struggle at Birmingham.
That saw Greenhalgh drop back into non-league, returning to where it all started at Welling, still only 19.
It was a stint at Inverness, though, that ironically launched Greenhalgh into a pro career in a different sport.
He added: “I haven’t got John Hughes to thank for much at Inverness for dropping me… but he made me a very good golfer.
“I was on the course every day. I went to Scotland a six handicapper and got down to scratch.
“Back in England, I passed my playing ability test to become a PGA professional.
“I did it for 18 months, won one pro competition, breaking the course record at Addington, which I can cling on to.
“But I couldn’t play the big tournaments because of my football matches at the weekend. I was a footballer playing golf.”
CAN’T JAV IT
Now settled as coach of Dartford’s academy and “building something” as player-manager at Margate – who lost in England’s eighth-tier play-offs last month – Greenhalgh wants to keep playing like his body double Ronaldo until he is 40 before climbing up the ladder as a gaffer.
But whatever else Greenhalgh achieves – whether as a footballer, coach or golfer – he will always have that Champions League medal, even if an Inter legend comes calling again.
Greenhalgh explained: “Zanetti’s partner messaged me five years ago asking if he could buy my Champions League medal off me for the Inter museum.
“I might have made money but I knew I’m obviously never again going to top it so it’d be hard to part with it.
“The Libertines sponsor Margate’s kit and this year we’ve gone Inter Milan style because of my links.
“I want to try and get Zanetti a Margate shirt to put it up in his restaurant.
“Hopefully, it’s a good year for Inter Milan and hopefully it’s a good year for Margate.”
Greenhalgh’s final prediction
FORMER Inter Milan Champions League winner Ben Greenhalgh believes his old side will be crowned Kings of Europe again.
Ex-Inter man and Football’s Next Star winner Greenhalgh was sat behind the Bernabeu dugouts as Diego Milito scored twice for Jose Mourinho’s side against Bayern Munich to secure a 2-0 victory in the 2010 final.
And the Margate player-manager reckons fans are in for a treat on Saturday night.
Greenhalgh said: “It’s going to be a really good game of football, a top game.
“If PSG don’t score early on, and Inter show the defensive manner in which they play, and how well they are well-packed and well-organised, I think it will frustrate PSG.
“Inter are a team that definitely jump at teams when they’re frustrated. They play in that manner and they’ve got that brilliant fighting spirit.
“If they can antagonise them in that way, which as a fan is good to watch, it’s good to watch how well Inter seem to wind other teams up.
“I think if they can manage to let the game go in that manner and stop the attack and threats that PSG have early on, then I think they’ll grow in confidence in the game.
“But if they let PSG get too much confidence, I think they’ll be tough to come back and beat.”
Greenhalgh, though, is confident his old side will come out on top against PSG in Munich.
He added: “I’m going to go for 2-1 Inter Milan in extra time. I think Inter Milan will score first then PSG will need to go on the front foot for the final 15-20 minutes.
“Then I think Inter Milan will do them in extra time.
“Lautaro Martinez has been such a good leader. He reminds me of Diego Milito leading that front line.
“Martinez will be the matchwinner.
“Inter as a club need to win the Champions League to get them back to the good days.”
Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
