Being John Arne Riise

At the start of the twenty-first century, John Arne Riise was regarded as one of the most buccaneering left-sided players in European football. During an illustrious career where he won a Champions League title with Liverpool, he became the finest player Norway has produced in a generation. Yet beneath the veneer of the famous and successful footballer, his ascent masked the huge challenges he had had to overcome on the way to the top: bullying, a broken home, uncertainty, loneliness. The bullies' favourite target at school, he overcame their taunts and grew up to become the hero of thousands of schoolchildren. Riise has written a perceptive and opinionated autobiography. It chronicles a successful and colourful career on the frontline of modern football and provides an intriguing assessment of the game which has dominated his life. The result is a frank, incisive and emotional memoir, at times tinged with regret and soul- searching, at others suffused with joy - such as his role in one of the most dramatic nights in football history, the 2005 Champions League Final or 'Miracle of Istanbul'. Seventeen years old and against everyone's advice, John Arne Riise ventured alone into the world of professional sport; two decades on he reflects on that journey. The result is an intriguing portrait of a complex man and a candid insight into the life of a modern footballer.