Peter Schmeichel learned how to be a top goalkeeper by playing a totally different sport

The Great Dane surprised his former teammates when he revealed the secret behind his shot-stopping skills.

Peter Schmeichel has revealed that he learned to become a world-class goalkeeper by playing handball in his youth.

The former Manchester United and Denmark goalkeeper appeared on the latest episode of The Overlap’s Stick To Football podcast this week.

He spoke to Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Jill Scott and Jamie Carragher about how he crafted his skills playing handball in Denmark before moving to the Premier League.

During the conversation, the 37-year-old revealed that he had jobs in a textile factory and an advertising agency before joining Brondby on a professional contract in 1987.

He added that while training as a football keeper, he also played handball a couple of times a week and he attributed that to his ability to spread himself wide and react quickly to shots from close range.

About halfway through the interview, Schmeichel and Keane opened up about their infamous brawl in a hotel in Singapore while on tour with United.

"You can take any footballer who has been in situations like that [fight], and I don’t see that as important," Schmeichel said in response to being asked about the incident.

"It irritates me that things like that are brought up sometimes because it’s so irrelevant. 

"We were in Tokyo the next day and I had to do a press conference, and it was funny.

"I had a little scar, and the media asked where I got that from. Roy hurt me. They thought I was taking the piss, but it was just funny that we had to do that the next day."

Keane then clarified that Schmeichel was reluctant to return the captain’s armband following his time out through injury, which increased the tension between the pair.

“Peter was upset and reluctant in giving my captaincy back to me,” he said.

“I was coming back and Peter Schmeichel was reluctant to give back the captaincy, which added another level to it.

“We were playing in Denmark and the manager said that he would leave Peter as is for pre-season because he was in his hometown. Then we played the Charity Shield, and you had a go after the match.

“I got the captaincy back in the end and that was it, but it was just the personalities,” Keane added. “I just thought Peter would say that I was back after an injury, and I could have my captaincy back. But he was reluctant.”

When asked who won the early morning hotel bout, Schmeichel diplomatically said: “There’s never a winner,” before Keane left a subtle hint that he had come out on top by turning and discreetly winking at Scott.