I joined Inter Milan after winning a TV competition then won the Champions League and body doubled for Cristiano Ronaldo

Scottish Sun

a day ago

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.
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Ben Greenhalgh won Football's Next Star in 2010, earning a pro contract at Inter Milan
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Greenhalgh filled in as Cristiano Ronaldo's body double
Credit: INSTAGRAM @bengreenhalgh17
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He is now player-manager at Margate in the eighth tier
Credit: INSTAGRAM @bengreenhalgh17
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The winger nutmegged Patrick Vieira as a teenager
Credit: Sky 1
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.
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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.
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'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.
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'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.
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Greenhalgh picked up a Champions League winner's medal in 2010 despite not playing
Credit: Getty
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Jose Mourinho had an 'aura' about him but made the kid feel at ease straight away
Credit: AP
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Greenhalgh impressed the Inter scouts to win out of 20,000 entrants
Credit: SKY 1
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Jamie Redknapp presented the one-off Sky TV show
Credit: SKY 1
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Greenhalgh would love to see another similar series
Credit: SKY 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.
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Greenhalgh is still playing 50 games per season at 33
Credit: MARGATE FC
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He had an 18-month stint as a PGA professional golfer alongside non-league football
Credit: INSTAGRAM @bengreenhalgh17
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He got down to a scratch handicap while dropped out of the Inverness team
Credit: INSTAGRAM @bengreenhalgh17
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The winger spent 18 months with the Italian giants
Credit: Inter Milan
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Greenhalgh wants to keep playing until he turns 40, just like Ronaldo
Credit: INSTAGRAM @margatefc_
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He is hoping to climb the managerial ladder in the long run
Credit: INSTAGRAM @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.'
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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.'