Lars Olsen is happy to be the man behind the miracle, behind the miracle.
And the manager of the Faroe Islands, whose astonishing 1-0 away win over Greece earned Claudio Ranieri the boot from his previous job, even reckons he might have helped inspire the Italian’s own heroics at Leicester City .
After a goal from Joan Edmundsson stunned the Euro 2004 champions in Piraeus in November 2014, manager Ranieri was sacked within hours and Greek FA president Giorgos Sarris gave it to the former Chelsea manager with both barrels.
Sarris said: “Following today’s devastating result, I take full responsibility for the most unfortunate choice of coach, which has resulted in such a poor image for the national team.
"The governing body will make the necessary changes to avoid a repeat of such an embarrassing night.”
Ranieri had been in charge of the country for only four matches (and winning just one point from them) and his stock was at an all-time low when he succeeded Nigel Pearson at the King Power eight months later.
Olsen remembers a brief exchange with a “stunned and very disappointed” Ranieri, before hearing confirmation of his dismissal, as the Faroes team – half of whom were amateurs and ranked 187th in the world – travelled home the next morning.
But Olsen, who also captained Denmark to their shock triumph at the 1992 European Championship, said: “It was an incredible result for us — and we could have scored four or five, as we created so many clear chances.
“But Greece weren’t bad – they had 75 per cent of ball possession. And now I am watching every week as Leicester win match after match only having about 25 per cent of the ball – so perhaps the Faroes inspired Ranieri!
“It shows that you don’t have to play like Barcelona to win matches. It shows that sometimes it is better for the other team to have the ball and to play on the counter-attack. That’s how we played in Greece and that is how Leicester are playing.
“Greece were the top seeds in that Euro 2016 qualifying group and were traditionally very strong at home – but they had lost at home to Romania and Northern Ireland before we went there, so we believed we had a chance.”
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As Olsen’s men celebrated in their dressing-room, while an 18,000 crowd threatened to riot outside, they could never have imagined Ranieri’s sacking would lead to an even greater, season-long sensation in the Premier League – with the Foxes able to clinch the title by winning at Manchester United on Sunday.
Olsen said: “I don’t know Ranieri, but I am so impressed with the job he has done at Leicester.
“It shows that anything is possible in football.
"I have been involved in a couple of great upsets, with Denmark in 1992, when we weren’t even supposed to be competing in the finals but went and won it. And then, of course, the Faroes beat Greece away and also at home last summer.
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“But Leicester’s achievements are more amazing than anything that has ever happened in football.
"We all know that, in the top leagues in Europe, the same three or four clubs will always win the title – well, we thought we knew that until now.”
Olsen, 55, has another connection with Leicester – having coached their keeper Kasper Schmeichel in the youth system at Danish club Brondby.
He added: “Kasper was young and I only worked with him for a couple of months but, at that point, I never thought he would be anywhere near as good as his dad, Peter.
“Kasper is a good 5cm shorter than his father but now you can see a lot of the same movements and a lot of the same attributes as his dad.
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“It would be amazing to see him win the title with Leicester on Sunday.
"All over the world everyone is wanting Leicester to win the Premier League.”
