'Cannavaro and Vieira thought I was a janitor joining them – I put them in their place'
Martin O'Neill has explained how his ITV punditry co-hosts Fabio Cannavaro and Patrick Vieira thought he was a "janitor" despite having won the European Cup twice
It's safe to say Martin O'Neill has lived quite a life.
The 71-year-old has managed the likes of Sunderland, Aston Villa, Celtic and Leicester City during his lengthy coaching career, as well as well as having played a major part in helping Nottingham Forest claim back to back European Cups under Brian Clough back in his playing days.
Like plenty of former pros and managers, the former Republic of Ireland boss chose to embrace punditry work both during his coaching career and when he was between jobs.
And back in 2018, a now infamous interaction between O'Neill put legendary footballers Fabio Cannavaro and Patrick Vieira, alongside ITV host Adrian Chiles in their places live on-air.
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During coverage of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, O'Neill, Cannavaro, Vieira and Chiles were discussing the events of the day, namely when France star Karim Benzema flinched in a wall during a free-kick.
"Were you strong in a defensive wall Martin? I can imagine you with your glasses on sort of flinching a little bit," said Chiles, seemingly forgetting what an accomplished professional O'Neill was during his playing days.
"I actually didn't wear glasses when I was playing," replied O'Neill, before adding: "But I did actually play the game at one time, Fabio wasn't terribly sure that I did but I had to remind him that despite the fact there's two World Cup winners here, actually, when it comes to the Champions League, used to be called the European Cup - I've won two of them. How many have you two won?"
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An awkward silence ensued, with Vieira and Cannavaro looking at each other sheepishly before laughing. And speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes Fanzone, O'Neill revealed how he believes the pair probably thought he was a "janitor who came in to join them."
"I really enjoyed my time with those guys, and then I got asked to do a few more tournaments, probably off the back of '98.
"But I haven't done any more TV work since the 2018 World Cup... you have to get asked for these things, and when you're not asked, you just have to turn away and have another coffee in a cafe somewhere! But I must admit, punditry now looks as if it's changed quite a bit over the years; there seems to be a lot of emphasis on soundbites nowadays.
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"There's a clip of me on YouTube, in the studio with Adrian Chiles, Patrick Vieira and Fabio Cannavaro, from a few years back which has been viewed over half a million times now... Adrian is someone I actually get on with well, but he was making a point about me being in a wall defending a free-kick.
"He just said he could picture me stood in the wall with my glasses on... I told him I didn't wear glasses playing football, which started it all off.
"And then I just thought, you know, these lads are in here, Cannavaro who actually was a really nice guy - as was Patrick Vieira - and I know we were covering the World Cup, but I just thought I'd ask them both how many European Cups they'd won between them, because I'd won two of them. I think they just thought I was the janitor who came in to join them! But it was a really good experience overall out in Rio, with some really nice people."