Numerous members of Italy’s World Cup winning squad appear in the comedy L’Allenatore n&l pa/lone 2 (A Coach in Chaos 2), which hit European screens in January. The movie, which features popular comedian Lino Banfi in the role of a naive coach, is the follow-up to a film whose gags earned it cult status among Italian fans. Stars such as Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Francesco Totti (Roma), Gianluigi Button, Alessandro Del Piero (both Juventus) and Alberto Gilardino (AC Milan) all appear in the new release. “We all love the film and often recite the jokes from it. When Banfi asked me to appear in the sequel I was delighted to accept,” said Totti.

Lutz Pfannenstiel, 35, is someone you could call a roamer or adventurer. He is the only footballer in the world to have played professional football on every continent. The former Germany U-17 goalkeeper recently signed for a Brazilian team: his 2S”r club in 15 different countries! Pfannenstiel’s unparalleled career began at 1. FC Bad Kotzting in his home region of Upper Bavaria in 1991. It then took him to Malaysia, England, Belgium, Malta, South Africa, Finland, Singapore, New Zealand, Norway, Canada, Albania and Vietnam, some of them on more than one occasion. Pfannenstiel has seen and experienced a great deal. In Singapore he was taken to court in 2000 for allegedly fixing matches and eventually spent 101 days in prison. Two years later Pfannenstiel almost died while playing in England. After suffering a blow to the solar plexus he was considered clinically dead, but then started breathing again and was soon back between the posts. Pfannenstiel won championship medals in Finland and Malaysia, was twice goalkeeper of the year in New Zealand and was voted best second-division keeper in Norway. Pfannenstiel is still not sure where his journey will take him once his stint in Brazil comes to an end. Perhaps to Norway, where he says he liked it best, or maybe back to Canada, where he resided with his wife and daughter until recently. Pfannenstiel originally intended to carry on playing until the age of 40, but lately he has spoken several times of ending his career sooner. He has ambitions of working as a coach or a players’ agent one day – and may even find himself in front of a television camera soon. Studios in the US are interested in filming his life story.

Vinnie Jones was recently thrown out of an English pub Not for causing trouble while drunk, but for driving the landlord mad rehearsing for his next film role. The former Wales captain, now 42, emerged as a film star after ending his career as a footballer. He has already appeared in 30 films, working alongside world stars such as Brad Pitt, John Travolta and Nicolas Cage in 1999 he won an ward for best British newcomer for the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and three years later he was named British actor of the year. In the film business, laments Jones, he commands the respect he was never shown as a footballer. On screen he plays the role of bad guy-just as he did on the pitch Jones still holds the unofficial world record for the fastest yellow card (after three seconds). His uncompromising style of play earned him the nickname “The Axe”. The hard-as-nails midfielder made 386 professional appearances – many of his opponents will recoil in horror at the memory.