09 March 2024 , 11:31
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His thunder was famously stolen by an advert for Tic Tacs, and 15 years later Dan Gosling is still worth a mint.
Everton ’s FA Cup fourth-round replay with Liverpool was down to the last two minutes of extra time when several ITV regions’ coverage was inexcusably interrupted by an unscheduled commercial break. When live coverage resumed seconds later, a scrum of Everton players was celebrating one of the most famous winners in Merseyside derby folklore.
Gosling’s mother, Hilary, tuning in from the family home in Brixham on the Devon Riviera, was one of the disenfranchised viewers wondering what the hell was going on.
“I think that’s Dan at the bottom of the pile,” she said - and sure enough, a good old-fashioned ITV cock-up had robbed her of an invincible moment for the family archive.
Gosling’s nifty sidestep had sent Alvaro Arbeloa, Dirk Kuyt and Jamie Carragher to the car park for a hot dog before he curled a deft finish into the far corner beyond Pepe Reina. Everton would go on to reach Wembley, and Gosling twice won promotion to the Premier League with Bournemouth and Watford, but that momentary ITV blackout has followed him like a private eye.
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“There’s no escape from Tic Tacs - my kids love them,” he said. “My nephew must have watched that goal 1,000 times and I still get Evertonians coming up to me and saying ‘Thank you for one of our greatest highlights as a fan.’
“It’s a great memory to have, but it doesn’t have to define me. One of my biggest regrets is that I missed a chance in a Newcastle-Sunderland derby when we were 1-0 up at the Stadium of Light. I should have made it 2-0 - if that had gone in, I could have been a legend up there as well.”
Liverpool stars cut dejected figures following the goal (Getty)So what happened to the Tic Tac Kid whose winner as a 19-year-old enshrined his place in the hearts of Everton fans?
At Bournemouth eight years ago, Gosling set a Premier League record for the most distance covered in 90 minutes on average over a season - 11.98km (8.6 miles). He’s still running now - but trains alone most afternoons after helping to coach the Under-18s at Watford, hoping for an encore as a player.
At 34, Gosling is not ready to accept the scrapheap as his fate after a two-month comeback at Notts County earlier this season.
And unlike platoons of footballers caught in the twilight zone, he will not be lost to the game because he is doing his coaching badges. But he is hellbent on winding down his playing days on his terms, saying: “It’s hard to let go when you’re still full of running. I would rather be injured and have retirement forced on me.
“It’s not about one last hurrah - it’s how I still want to affect games, help younger players come through, and not letting the fire of that competitive instinct just leave you. Until that last flame is extinguished, I still feel I can do a good job for someone.
Running man: Dan Gosling broke mileage records at Bournemouth (Dan Istitene)“When the day comes to stop playing, and if it’s soon, I’ll take a few days to reflect and I will be proud of my career, but there’s still something burning inside me that doesn’t want it to peter out on the back of a serious injury. Last season we were 10 minutes from the end of the last game before the World Cup break when I ruptured my achilles tendon at Bristol City.
“The timing of that injury was cruel because I was playing some of the best football of my career and I was out of contract at the end of the season. I worked so hard to get fit again - all the lonely hours of rehab in the gym, all the emotional toll - and I would still have been going strong at Watford now if that hadn’t happened.
“Now I’m just another free agent, and it’s crazy how many can’t get a look-in. I just hope there’s somebody out there who might be able to use a box-to-box midfielder.”
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Good engine, full service history, high mileage, sound character… yes, Dan Gosling is still in mint condition.
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