Jermaine Pennant recalls bizarre mid-game incident in the 2007 Champions League final

It could only have happened to him.

Jermaine Pennant is the answer to one of the best sports questions we’ve heard in quite a while. He is the only English player to feature in a Champions League final, but never play for his country. Use it the next time in the pub, it’s a gem. The ex-Arsenal man also took home the man-of-the-match award that night in Athens as Liverpool lost out to AC Milan 2-1. The winger is now plying his trade in Singapore, having recently signed for Tampines Rovers. In an interview in today’s Times, the winger has told a bizarre story about his sole European Cup final appearance. Rafa Benitez named the winger in his starting XI to face the Serie A side nine years ago. Before the game, however, the former Birmingham player had cause for concern as tickets he had left for his uncle within the stadium had disappeared. Pennant remembers hearing his name called out over the Tannoy at the ground mid-game as organisers tried to resolve the issue.

“I had left three or four tickets for my uncle, but when he arrived, the tickets weren’t there. “For some reason, it was announced over the Tannoy while the match was going on. I heard it and I was completely baffled. They must have expected me to walk off the pitch and try to sort it out!”

We’ve never heard anyone mention that before, but it would certainly be a fair change to what most fans are used to being called out at games - lost children, car blocking an exit or a set of keys found around the back of the sweet stand at half-time.