Jordan Henderson may have been overlooked by England for last summer's European Championship, but he went to great lengths to be at the Berlin final as a fan.
'I was watching on the telly and it was hard, but all I wanted was the lads to do well and win,' said the 34-year-old Ajax midfielder, now recalled to the fold by Thomas Tuchel.
'I had a good feeling we were going to win, so I needed to be there to see it. When I found out I could go, there were no flights from England or Amsterdam.
'So I looked at how far it was, and I hired a van for the family and the kids. And we drove across.
'It was like seven hours or something. When we needed the toilet or something, or popped in the garages, it was quite funny to see the fans.
'But obviously I'd have rather been with the team.'
At that point, it was hard to envisage Henderson playing again for England.
After a controversial move to Saudi Arabia, the former Liverpool captain settled at Ajax and has been a regular for the Dutch league leaders.
It caught the eye of Tuchel, who knew Henderson's experience and leadership would be vital and invited him to come back via a phone-call.
His return saw him win his 82nd cap off the bench against Albania.
Asked whether he thought his international career was over, he added: 'Not really, otherwise I'd have retired.
'I always felt good, I always wanted to come back — and thankfully I got the chance.'
SonOfPep
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The biggest lie in football is that Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp dominated English football.