Rudi Vata: How Liam Brady and learning Italian changed my life

A game against Ireland in 1992, with Liam Brady watching in the Lansdowne Road stands, altered the course of Rudi Vata's destiny.

Rocco Vata of Republic of Ireland with his father, former Celtic and Albanian footballer Rudi, after the UEFA U17 Championship Qualifying Round Group 5 match between Republic of Ireland and Poland at Turner's Cross in Cork in 2021. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

A 2-0 home win over Albania got Ireland's campaign to reach the 1994 World Cup off to a solid start at Lansdowne Road in May 1992. Paid for by the Cork Examiner, the adidas factory in Cork knocked up a set of red jerseys for the visitors, who had travelled without gear or balls. And for the guy who wore number 5 in that bespoke away kit, life changed.

A year before that game in Dublin, Rudi Vata marked Eric Cantona in the Parc des Princes as Albania went down 5-0 to France in a Euro '92 qualifier. After the match, Vata slipped away from the team hotel with just his boots and Cantona's jersey and sought asylum, leaving his life in communist Albania behind.