Former Arsenal striker, Jermaine Pennant has opened up on his encounter with alcohol when he made his debut for the Gunners in 2003.
The Englishman said he never expected to be called upon to play in the game against Southampton.
Pennant joined the Gunners for £2 million as a 15-year-old in 1999 and played his first game for Arsene Wenger’s side in 2003.
“I’d had like three hours of sleep and I’m stinking of alcohol. [Arsene] Wenger pulls the board down and reads out the team. He says my name. I double took and it definitely said Pennant. My heart sank to my stomach,” he said in his documentary Fever Pitch, Pennant.
At a point, the forward said he was contemplating faking a hamstring injury so as to get substituted from the game but the match ended up swinging in his favour.
“I scored one. I got another chance and I scored two. I scored another one and I’m thinking ‘Jesus Christ’,” he said.
That particular game ended 6-1 in favour of Arsene Wenger’s side with Pennant scoring three and providing the same number of assists.