'I was in London having lunch, and decided to ring The FA, I asked "Is Sven Goran-Eriksson there? Can I come and see him?"' Joe Cole on the random afternoon when he confronted the England manager in his office and asked for more international game time

Joe Cole enjoyed a successful club career but, for many fans, it's his goal against Sweden at World Cup 2006 that's lasted longest in the memory.

Cole had always been capable of the spectacular. He joined Chelsea from West Ham United and scored some vital Premier League goals in a prolific team, but his World Cup spectacular for England topped them all.

"During my career, I was sometimes called a luxury player, and we’ve used that phrase as the title of my new book," Cole tells FourFourTwo. "It’s a phrase that has both positive and negative connotations.

Joe Cole on his face-to-face with England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson

"Sometimes being a luxury player is good – everyone wants to be a Matt Le Tissier rather than a hod carrier. A lot of the time, though, people would talk about the things that I wasn’t good at.

"I fought against that a lot during my career, trying to show people that wasn’t the case, even with Sven-Goran Eriksson and England.

"One day, I was out in London having lunch, and decided to ring up one of the secretaries at the FA’s headquarters in Soho Square.

"I asked, 'Is Sven there?' They said yes, and I said, 'Can I come and see him?' I liked the idea of doing that. If I ever become a manager in the future, I like that idea of communication with the players.

"So I went to see him, because I felt like I was the best equipped to play on the left side of midfield for England, but he’d gone through Kieron Dyer, Alan Thompson and big Emile Heskey, who had played out there at times.

"I said, 'Every time I come on for England, I feel like I’m performing, why am I not getting the shirt from the start?'

"Sven told me the things that he wanted me to be better at and we had a cup of tea. I enjoyed spending time with Sven, we shook hands, and then six months later I got the shirt. Right up until the end of his time as manager, I was his man."

Cole ended his international career in 2010 with 56 caps and 10 goals to his name, a very respectable return. He was one of Eriksson's solutions to what was considered a long-time problem position, and he did the England manager proud.

Eriksson left the England job in 2006 after five years at the helm, going on to manage Manchester City and Leicester City either side of spells in charge of Mexico and Ivory Coast.

The football world paid its heartfelt respects when he passed away in 2024.