This feature appears in the current edition of Sport magazine.
Simon Mignolet is reminiscing about the 1994 World Cup, and we think we know why.
We have asked the impressive new Liverpool goalkeeper who his heroes were growing up as a child in his native Belgium; no surprise, then, that he is recalling a tournament at which the iconic Belgian stopper Michel Preud'homme was named in the all-star team.
"It's a bit of a particular one," he corrects us. "I only turned into a goalie when I was 15 years old, so when I was younger I looked up more to outfield players. Those I remember most are Romario and Bebeto at the World Cup in the USA, and then Zinedine Zidane for France in 1998. They were the big ones for me."
So, we have to ask, what happened? How did a ten-year-old mesmerised by the skills of one of world football's greatest ever talents grow into a 25-year-old charged with keeping those of the modern era at bay?
Mignolet is refreshingly honest.
"I used to play outfield at my home-town club, but when I turned 14 they released me because they didn't think I was good enough to succeed as an outfield player," he says.
"My dad had been a goalie when he was younger, so he suggested I make the change. I did, and it was the best decision I ever made in my life."
Rapid rise
Mignolet has not looked back since. Having returned to home-town club Sint-Truiden as a goalkeeper, he broke into the first team at 18 and helped them to the Belgian Second Division championship in 2009. Within a season, he had been named Belgian goalkeeper of the year - and attracted the welcome attentions of the Premier League.
"Steve Bruce was manager of Sunderland at the time, and he contacted my agent [Nico Vaesen], who used to be the goalkeeper for him at Birmingham," he reveals.
"Steve sent his goalkeeping coach Nigel Spink over to scout me; he watched a few games and was quite pleased with what he saw, so they got me over. Since then, everything has gone really quickly."
Mignolet admits to remembering very little of his Premier League debut for Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, but that he was named man of the match in a 2-2 draw with Birmingham suggests he hit the ground running.
"Coming from Belgium to England was a big move," he reflects. "I needed to adapt, and it did take me a couple of months to settle, but I've never really been a nervous person - and having got that first game out of the way, I just wanted to crack on and do my best to keep improving.
"Back in the Belgian Second Division, you're playing sometimes in front of 500 people, and now I get to play at a full Anfield in front of 45,000 - plus all the people watching on TV all over the world. I am really proud of being here."
Here and now
After six games of the new Premier League season, the Liverpool fans might be proud to have Mignolet at the club, too.
Inheriting the gloves from as popular a figure as Pepe Reina was never going to be easy, and the Belgian endured some nervous moments in his debut at home to Stoke - but a late penalty save secured three points for his new team, and an early ascension to hero status on the Kop.
"Your debut is always a bit special, and of course you hope to do well, so to save a penalty gave my confidence a real lift," he says.
"I was quite pleased with it, and I'm happy with how things have gone so far - but I don't think too much about what has been, it's more about what is happening at the moment.
"I just want to do well in every single game and with every chance I have to play. It's not about looking backwards or too far in front of you. Football is all about what's happening now."
What's happening now at Liverpool is that the club sit a lofty second in the Premier League, two points behind Arsenal and with a very winnable home fixture against Crystal Palace separating them from what promises to be a satisfying break for the final round of World Cup qualifiers.
The early-season momentum gained from three straight league wins may have been threatened by consecutive defeats at home to Southampton and away at Manchester United in the Capital One Cup, but it returned with Sunday's 3-1 victory at Sunderland - when a certain forward marked his Premier League return with two goals.
"I think everybody sees the amount of talent Luis has got, what he can do and the goals he can score," says Mignolet of the aforementioned Suarez.
"I have to face him one on one in training nearly every day, so I get to see even more of it than most - but I always think that if you are playing with and against top players like that every single day, it can only improve you as a goalkeeper."
High standards
Mignolet speaks in composed and excellent English, his confidence in the language mirroring the single-minded approach that sees him turn a question about a team-mate into an answer about himself.
He is unapologetically proud of what he has achieved since being rejected as a 14-year-old outfield player - and proud, too, of his role in an explosion of Belgian talent into the Premier League.
"I have always spoken about the arrivals of Marouane Fellaini, Thomas Vermaelen and Vincent Kompany into the Premier League," he says.
"I think they showed the English public and teams what they were capable of, and since then clubs are more likely to give a chance to Belgian players. Before, maybe they thought the standard in Belgium was below what was needed to play in the Premier League."
Romelu Lukaku, Christian Benteke, Mousa Dembele... the list of Belgian players lighting up the Premier League on a weekly basis is growing ever longer, and goes a large way to explaining why Belgium are on the verge of qualifying for a first World Cup since 2002.
"That's the job in hand," says Mignolet, who is contending with the Chelsea-owned Atletico Madrid stopper Thibaut Courtois for the Belgium goalkeeper's jersey.
"We still need one more point from our last two games, so we want to get ourselves qualified. That would be a great achievement already, but then we can crack on to the World Cup and see what we can do there. We don't want to get too carried away, though. We need to get there first."
One day at a time, one game at a time, one step at a time: such is the mindset of Mignolet.
It has served him well so far. Liverpool and Belgium fans will hope it continues to do so.
Source: talkSPORT
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