| Ben and George Cohen |
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The Family
Secret to Winning the World Cup
What is the secret ingredient
that produces two World Cup winners from one family?
Is it in their genes, their
upbringing or is it just a lucky coincidence? George and Ben Cohen have
the answer.
Uncle George played Right Back
for England at Wembley in 1966 and nephew Ben, left wing for England in
Sydney in 2003.
When you have two World Cup winners in the family, there's a lot to talk about:
What's it like to have a
World Champion uncle? "I didn't think of Uncle George that
way until I was about sixteen. Euro 96 seemed to magnify the importance
of their 1966 win and it corresponded with my growing interest in competitive
sport and the realisation that I could go further with my rugby. I had
really taken it for granted until then. My strongest memory was of George's
words just prior to heading out to play for England in 2003. He said
that you can play top level sport every week of your life but one game
can change your life. He was right." BC
Nurturing a future World
Champion: "Ben was a determined and quite deliberate boy. On
one drive to our house he had developed the need to go to the toilet.
While the rest of us walked into the kitchen, he stopped to make use
of a large ashtray, a presentation from Feyenoord FC, which sat on the
coffee table in the lounge. He was just a toddler and the coffee table
was for him quite high, but he managed to fill the ashtray to the brim."
GC.
No substitute for pace
- shared physical similarities and work ethic : "We're power sprinters
whose preferred going is good to firm." GC
Similarities of Management
style between Alf Ramsey and Clive Woodward: "Clive was all
about detail. He was a great manager rather than a great coach. His
management style was about making one hundred things one percent better.
He would ensure that the team had everything it needed, so there was
no excuse for under-performance." BC
"Alf wasn't just doing
a job, he was defining it, setting a standard for everyone who would
follow. But first he had to tear down all the nonsense that had gone
before."GC
Superstars Bobby Moore and
Martin Johnson: "Bob didn't have to read a book about leadership.
He didn't have to learn too many lessons. He just found it in himself.
I don't know if that really makes sense, but Bobby seemed to me such
a good captain because he never announced that he knew that was his
role. He never made demands." GC
"Johnno had great presence.
You would always want him on your side for his sheer physical presence.
He was a natural leader, never used two words when one would do and was
always himself on the pitch or off it."BC
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