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Robert Lewandowski was already one of the globe's leading forwards when he emerged from the bench as a substitute for Bayern Munich against Wolfsburg. Then he caught fire, hitting five goals in nine minutes, possibly the most devastating individual spree that Europe has ever seen.
It was the start of a run of six matches that delivered 15 goals. Our maths is a little rusty, but we think that's probably a goal every 3.7 seconds. FFT speaks to Lewandowski to find out how he rose from the Polish third tier with the help of judo and gymnastics - and a couple of little-known coaches called Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola...
We hope you like our flaming brilliant cover design, too. Well, we did say we deal with football's burning issues.
Lewandowski is a pretty fine No.9, we think you'll agree. FFT delves into the stories behind the other iconic No.9s in football history, from Dixie Dean and Alfredo Di Stefano to Gabriel Batistuta and Ronaldo via Der Bomber, an Elvis-haired nomad and the forward who was so good that someone had to kidnap him. Really.
One of English football's most traditional centre-forwards hung up his boots recently, and Kevin Davies is this month's One-on-Oneinterviewee. In typical fashion, the former Bolton striker gave his all for the FourFourTwo cause, even if that meant being bitten by a horse during the photoshoot. True story. Davies probably wouldn't make much of a horse whisperer but he survived to tell the tales of his career to FFT. Davies reveals how he once gave tips to Cristiano Ronaldo, explains why he deserved more England caps than Peter Crouch and tells us he's fed up of being compared to an aardvark millionaire.
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From a former Premier League forward to two currently plying their trade in the top flight, we speak to Watford's odd couple Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo. Deeney talks about his journey from prison to the Premier League, while Ighalo reveals that he once tried to eat snow...
Then after Odion, there's Odeon - this month's Action Replay is the story of watching football at the cinema. We'd like to say there were never any punch-ups but, well, sometimes there were.
Think MK Dons were unpopular? That was nothing compared to RB Leipzig, the world's most hated club. FFT finds out how a soft drinks manufacturer has sparked a rage against the corporate machine in Germany, as Leipzig attempt to battle the will of fans around the country and bulldoze their way to the Bundesliga.
Diego Costa at the launderette? Son Heung-Min waiting for a London bus? Salomon Rondon feeding the pigeons by the Thames? No it's not a particularly weird episode of Eastenders, it's our feature on overseas journalists in the Premier League. What's it like to cover English football focusing only on the player from your own country? And who's the Mario Balotelli of Korea?
There's also a feature on the weird and wonderful world of programmes (if you've ever wanted to see John Gregory carving a turkey or Alex Ferguson going all gooey-eyed about an "incredible" team called Liverpool, now's your chance) and FFT's investigation on the importance of the 12th man.
In Upfront, Kaka is interviewed in The Games That Changed My Life, Rio Ferdinand tells us how he earned a scholarship at a ballet school and Muzzy Izzet explains why he needs help to cure his habit of pretending to be a crocodile. We also look at the world's greatest football-playing animals, including bee-keepers, tactically naive penguins and a fish that thinks it's Rene Higuita. See them in all their glory at fft.sm/animals
Planet Football includes interviews with Steven Gerrard and Thomas Vermaelen, as well as the team that flies halfway to the moon every season and the story of Deportivo Moron.
In Performance, Samir Nasri explains how to wreck havoc in the final third and Nicklas Bendtner, the self-appointed world's best striker, tells you how to retain your confidence at all times.
The December 2015 issue of FourFourTwo was brought to you by Robert Lewandowski, Kaka, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, Thomas Vermaelen, Kevin Davies, Samir Nasri, Nicklas Bendtner, Steve McManaman, Muzzy Izzet, Jamie Carragher, Troy Deeney, Odion Ighalo, Ryan O'Leary, George Boyd, Johnny Ertl, Mamady Sidibe, Mikael Nilsson, Arlindo, Paul McVeigh, Sam Parkin, Gukbin Kim, Luis Fernando Restepo, Antonio Fuentes, Masatoshi Mori, Ivan Shyts and the man who played Tiger Face in Phoenix Nights. Get stuck into the latest edition from November 4 in print, on iPad and on iPhone or SUBSCRIBE!
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Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.
