Michael Carrick will have no regrets that his illustrious playing career is over as he attempts to guide Middlesbrough through the biggest game of his managerial reign to date.
The 41-year-old played in Champions League and FA Cup finals and won five Premier League titles during a trophy-laden spell at Manchester United, but on Sunday will stand on the touchline at Coventry as his Boro side looks to take a significant step towards the Sky Bet Championship play-off final.
Carrick chose to launch the latest phase of his football journey in earnest when he took up the role of head coach at the Teesside club in October last year and – while the highs of his playing career remain at the forefront of his memory – he is finding the task hugely rewarding.
Asked if he would rather be pulling on his boots on Sunday, he replied with a smile: “Those days are gone.
“There are pluses and minuses comparing both. It’s incredible when you’re playing and you’re achieving and you have that sense of directly influencing a game like that and sensing the occasion.
“But certainly being in the position I am and having that influence and being able to guide and steer things in a direction I’m comfortable with can be very rewarding.”
In less than seven months under Carrick, Boro dragged themselves from 21st place to fourth and could now be just three games away from the Premier League, something which was far beyond the former England midfielder’s thinking the day he arrived at the Riverside Stadium.
However, the excitement that rise has prompted is not lost on him.
Carrick said: “I didn’t really have a target or a goal when first came in, it was more a case of trying to improve, trying to develop the team and seeing where it took us.
“To see the children coming up to me in the street and chasing me on bikes down the street when I’m trying to go for a run and that energy and excitement that they’ve got is fantastic to see, and it’s how it should be.”
Carrick started his path to a career in professional football at Boro as a schoolboy and rose to prominence at West Ham and then Tottenham.
But it was under the tutelage of then United boss Sir Alex Ferguson that he honed his skills at the elite level and the Scot, who won 38 trophies during his time at the Old Trafford helm, remains a source of help and advice.
Asked if he would speak to Ferguson in the run-up to the game, Carrick said: “Probably at some point. I speak to him quite a bit – not all the time, but quite a bit on and off.
“He’s always there if I need to speak to him and giving me little bits of help along the way.
“But it’s more of a friendship thing. It’s nice to have that ability to have somebody like that to speak to, of course it is.”
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final
Ricardo Pepi's first-half strike gave the United States a 1-0 advantage over Jamaica after the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final.
The hosts saw a penalty saved in the first half before their frustrations were compounded late on thanks to Mason Holgate's red card.
The USA had the lead just five minutes in – having smothered a Jamaica attack at one end, the visitors caught them out with a pacy counter-attack, with Pepi sweeping it into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Shamar Nicholson was brought down by Matt Turner when he tried to take it around him, but the goalkeeper made amends, diving low to his right to deny Demarai Gray from 12 yards.
In the second half, Holgate was denied a tap-in by Yunus Musah before Turner scrambled to stop Leon Bailey's corner from nestling into the net as Jamaica searched for an equaliser.
With 86 minutes on the clock, Holgate received a second yellow card in just over 10 minutes for dragging Brandon Vazquez back, meaning he will miss the return leg in Missouri on Monday.
Data Debrief: Hitting the mark
Pepi got the all-important goal on Thursday, and is the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USA before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic.
But it was perhaps Turner who actually had the most vital interventions; he has now saved three of the eight penalties he's faced for the USA, including two against Jamaica.
Mauricio Pochettino also could not have asked for a better result from his first competitive game in charge of the Stars and Stripes as he became just the third full-time manager to win his first competitive away match, joining Bob Bradley (2008) and Steve Sampson (1996).
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
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