When it comes to English football icons a man who played 53 times for the Three Lions, won a plethora of individual and team honours and went on to manage two of England's biggest club sides, as well as the national team, is right up there.
It helps that he's one of my heroes too. As a staunch Tottenham fan, Glenn Hoddle is one of the true legends in the white half of north London. I may never have been able to truly enjoy Hoddle in his prime playing days due to my age, but you knew, growing up, how special he was, how influential he was and how much of a star he had been.
It mattered little, during his managerial days, that he took charge at Chelsea. It also mattered little that his spell in charge at White Hart Lane did not exactly go to plan and he only lasted two years in the hotseat. That is the high regard in which he is held in N17.
READ MORE: Download your free World Cup sweeptake kit here
Hoddle seems to be universally loved. Moving from management into punditry, the 65-year-old is one of the very few on TV and radio who seems to avoid criticism. He doesn't court controversy like others and he will not get drawn into giving soundbites that may come back to bite him as it were. He speaks the truth and it comes from the heart. And supporters like that. They can relate.
Whoever said 'never meet your heroes' was wrong in this instance. Glenn Hoddle is a lovely man. I was the last to interview him on a day with Betfair. He had endured at least seven other journalists before me, maybe more and I could have forgiven him for wanting to swat away my questions - half of which he'd probably been asked countless times before me that day - to get home.
But he was in good spirits, chatting away to me about Antonio Conte and Tottenham even before the interview had begun. Was I Conte in or not? How old was I? Ah, I was part of the generation that hadn't known success, hadn't seen the flair and the exciting football that had led to trophies.
I was there to discuss England and the World Cup - although I did sneak a few questions about Arsenal and Tottenham in there - look out for those stories later, but what about England under Gareth Southgate?
First of all, Hoddle believes there are no excuses around fatigue going into this strangest of World Cups in the winter. Antonio Conte claimed England captain Harry Kane was "tired" last week after a bruising Premier League and Champions League schedule prior to the big tournament.
Hoddle isn't buying it though, and he thinks England have a better chance then ever of going deep in the competition because of the timing of it.
He said: "I won't give players too much sympathy, I remember playing 69 games in one season for Tottenham and England, maybe more, on heavier pitches too.
"I think this is an advantage for us going to the World Cup now. We're normally shattered, in the toughest league in the world where every point is fought for. We're knackered normally, we've only played 14 games now. Don't talk to me about fatigue. I don't see that. It's a great time for us to go, because the press have not got three weeks to fill papers up before a World Cup - you know what I'm talking about," he says with a smile.
"It's four days, five days. It's all about the game. Players want to play, they don't want three weeks and boredom time, it's 'bang' right here. We're going to be fresh, we're normally knackered at the end of the season.
"The climate is not going to be a problem either, I've been out there, it's 28 degrees, it's not Mexico City, the night games are going to be really quite cool. Lot of positives for me. For England it's going to work in our favour I think."
Hoddle left his post as England manager in somewhat acrimonious circumstances and had I decided to chew his ear off for longer I would have asked how far he felt he could have taken England had he been given the opportunity to stay on. In speaking about Southgate's pragmatic approach, Hoddle could not help but bring up his time in the dugout.
"I've always been somebody who wants to be on the front foot as much as possible," he says. "I had a good squad, a squad I felt was comfortable going on the front foot. I think we have got those players in the squad if Gareth wants to go that way now too.
"I think what is really intriguing for me is possible Brazil might be just ahead of us, but I think our bench is as good as anybody out there in changing a game, or actually hanging on to a game, so I think the bench is going to be extremely important to Gareth.
"If [James] Maddison is coming on, if [Jack] Grealish is coming on, or if [Raheem] Sterling isn't starting and he's coming on, or [Marcus] Rashford, we've got some really quality players, [Mason] Mount, too, quality players that can change games, [Bukayo] Saka if it's opened up a bit if fatigue sets in, we've got some real game changers.
"Then there's [Jordan] Henderson, [Kalvin] Phillips maybe, [Kieran] Trippier if you want to shut the door, we've got that too. Probably only Brazil have got that too.
"Gareth is going to have to have that attacking emphasis because those three teams are not going to say 'we're going to out possession you' so we're going to have to open teams up and be on the front foot. If you haven't got the right midfield and the right players to do it, you're going to struggle, so he might start with that emphasis, but knowing he's got the cavalry up his sleeve.
"These three games he's going to be forced at some stage whether at the front of the game of the back of the game to have these creators to create and if it's 0-0 his hand is forced."
A lot of focus, heading into the tournament, will be on Harry Kane. The skipper is just two goals shy of Wayne Rooney's record as England's all-time top goalscorer and he is expected to surpass that total out in Qatar. Another thing that will be expected of Kane is to put the ball away from the spot in a penalty shootout, should England need to go through one.
Kane, normally so reliable from 12 yards, has missed twice for Tottenham this season. Is Hoddle concerned?
"He has missed two, but I don't have any doubt," he said. "If you had your life on it, who out of that squad would you pick? You'd say Harry Kane.
"It's an art, a mental art [penalties]. You miss the penalty in the walk, it's different than in a game.
"It's not just a lottery, it's more than that. You can talk about it, but it's down to that moment, the moment you put the ball on the spot it's how that player feels. If there's 1% doubt he's probably going to miss it. It's down to that emotion, that character. Players know half the time if they're going to score. If you did a survey of all the players, if they're honest, they would tell you if there was a bit of jelly [legs] or a bit of doubt on the walk.
"It's that walk from the halfway line, they know if there's a doubt in their mind, they can't turn round and go 'gaffer I don't fancy this' because you can't. You can't turn round. You've got to be positive, you've got to embrace it, that's what the Germans did. The Germans enjoyed taking penalty shootouts, can you believe that? They actually enjoyed it, whereas we found it very, very difficult.
"I was a penalty taker in the game, but I'd always want to get the ball quickly, get it on that spot and done and dusted quickly. You don't get that in a penalty shootout."
I take Hoddle back to my first gut-wrenching penalty shootout memory - Euro 96 and that Southgate spot-kick - I was only six at Italia 90 - and why Darren Anderton, Paul Ince or Steve McManaman did not step forward ahead of the rookie centre-back. Hoddle references one of the greats in Ruud Gullit in explaining what goes through players' minds.
"Penalties are a strange thing, one of the best players in the world at the time I had Ruud Gullit at Chelsea and we had an FA Cup shootout at Newcastle and he was first on my list and he came up to me and he said 'Glenn, I don't take penalties, I don't like taking penalties' and I was like 'Ruud, you're my number one man!' But he said as a young kid he missed one and it played on his mind.
And Hoddle believes if it came to it, Jordan Pickford could be a good bet to smash one home in a shootout and be the hero at both ends.
"The way goalkeepers are playing with their feet, who takes more set plays when the ball is dead on the pitch? There's a few you'd fancy ahead of some of your outfield players," Hoddle admitted.
Hoddle is one of my footballing heroes and he was a joy to talk to. I could have picked his brains for hours. Next time...
This World Cup with Betfair, when you bet £10 on the Golden Boot winner you can get a £2 free bet anytime they score or assist full details here: https://promos.betfair.com/promotion?promoCode=goldenbootwc22
READ NEXT:
Full list of Arsenal players going to Qatar 2022 World Cup including Thomas Partey decision
Full list of Chelsea transfer targets going to Qatar 2022 World Cup amid Boehly scouting mission
Full list of Tottenham players going to Qatar 2022 World Cup as Eric Dier, Rodrigo Bentancur in
England World Cup fixtures 2022: UK kick-off times and knockout dates
World Cup 2022 supercomputer reveals England chances after Gareth Southgate announces squad
