This piece first appeared in issue two of White Lines
‘’What does this player have in his boots? A magnet?’’
A bewildered Sir Alex Ferguson asked in his post match press conference. It’s
April 19th 2000 and his Manchester Utd side, then reigning Champions
of Europe, had just been unceremoniously dumped out of the Champions League by
Real Madrid at Old Trafford in a pulsating tie.
Yet there was one moment in the game that everyone
from the managers to the players to the fans in the stadium to those watching
at home were talking about, a moment of genius that would transcend time, and
poor Henning Berg just never saw it coming.
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| Keane was dominated by Redondo in the second leg |
In the 52nd minute of the game Fernando Redondo went on a slalom run down the left hand side of the Old Trafford turf, with Berg in pursuit, there seemingly was nowhere for the Argentine to go as he ran towards the touchline, then in a piece of individual brilliance that is amongst the finest in the history of the competition, Redondo majestically back heels the ball diagonally through the Norwegian’s legs, darts around the defender and regains the ball inches before it’s about to go out of play. He makes inroads to the United goal before squaring the ball to the onrushing Raul who makes it 0-3 to Los Merengues. You could hear a pin drop inside the Theatre of Dreams.
Despite a valiant fight back from the home side
inspired by David Beckham, Redondo’s act of sorcery was the coup de grace on
a fine Madrid performance, years later Ivan Helguera admitted that they felt
some trepidation going into the game. ‘’The truth is, we were pretty scared’’
he recalls. Real were struggling in the league while their opponents were
running away with the Premier League title and had trashed West Ham 7-1 the weekend
prior to the 1st leg.
Before the first game in Madrid, Amy Lawrence of The
Guardian wrote a piece were she described ‘El Principe’ as merely a ‘’volatile,
unyielding Argentine midfielder, who, with Hierro, is a big influence inside
the Bernabeu. He's great with his elbows: should be an interesting duel with
Keane’’. Anyone who
had seen the midfielder’s sumptuous talents for Real or Argentina knew this was
doing him a gross injustice.
By the end of the 2nd leg in Manchester,
Redondo had proved to a UK audience that he also had great feet to go along
with his ‘great’ elbows. While Raul got the majority of the plaudits for his
two goals, many recognised that Real’s no.6 was the architect of the victory. Redondo
comprehensively outmaneuvered United’s midfield in a manner in which nobody
could at the time. He had succeeded where a year earlier Edgar Davids and
Zinedine Zidane had failed, the most feared midfield quartet in Europe were not
only contained but given a master class in ball retention and midfield
orchestration by the Argentine. Roy Keane had never been so thoroughly
dominated in a single game, especially not this Roy Keane, at the physical peak
of his career. His gorgeous back heel just encapsulated his overall performance.
Raimond van der Gouw, United’s goalkeeper in the
game, claims ‘’that backheel killed Henning Berg’’, a few months later Berg
would leave the club. ‘’If he had done it to me, I’d have kept running to
Buenos Aires!’’ says Ivan Campo jokingly, who played in central defence that
season. ‘’That was the play of the year, it didn’t surprise me that Fernando
tried it but it did surprise me that it came off so, so cleanly’’ he added.
Watching the back heel time and again, there is an
elegance to the entire sequence that you rarely see in the modern game, akin to
watching Michael Jackson execute the Moonwalk. Redondo seemingly glides over
the pitch, consciously in control of the situation. He retrieves the ball in
his own time and with a zen-like calm bides his time to pick out a Real player
and precisely strokes the ball across the box for Raul to slot home. Amongst a
contingent of Los Blancos fans it became immortalised as the ‘Backheel
of Old Trafford’.
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| He never saw it coming |
Next up where Bayern Munich in the semi
final, the German’s had demolished them by an aggregate 8-3 score line in the
second group stage and most favoured Die
Roten to advance to their second consecutive final.
Now with a renewed sense of confidence after
the win at Old Trafford, Madrid, led by Redondo, shone brightly as the Argentine
was once again instrumental with the Spaniards winning 3-2 on aggregate and
against all odds found themselves in their second final in three years.
The first ever same-country Champions
League final in Paris on May 24th was a one-sided affair as Redondo and his team
steamrolled over Valencia in emphatic fashion. Once more he was marvellous in
instigating Madrid’s play, passing and probing his way around the pitch with
his usual languid elegance.
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| Redondo in the Champions League final in Paris |
Now at the pinnacle of his game with
his second Champions League winners’ medal and having received the recognition
that his abilities richly deserved, the thirty-year old was on top of the
world. He would later win UEFA Club Footballer of the Year for his exploits. As
Redondo was presented with the big-eared trophy and held it aloft into the
Paris night sky, little did he or anyone know that it would be his last
competitive game for a long time.
The summer of 2000 was a seismic season
of change at Real Madrid, Lorenzo Sanz, the president of the club since 1995,
was standing for re-election, he was up against a then largely unknown
Florentino Perez. Sanz banked his credibility on the fact that under his
presidency the club had won two Champions League titles in three years, with
the first one in 1998 ending their thirty-two year wait.
Perez by contrast pointed out the
mind-boggling debts that had been racked up after years of mismanagement from
his rival candidate and catered to voters with the promise of signing Luis Figo
from eternal rivals Barcelona if elected. Six weeks after winning their 8th
European Cup, the election began. Redondo sided with Sanz, and Sanz lost. Perez
achieved the victory by more than 3,000 votes. A week later, true to his word, Luis
Figo duly arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu for a world record €62 million. The
era of the Galacticos had begun.
Following further purchases of Claude
Makelele and Flavio Conceicao, Perez now needed to sell players in
order to improve the crippling debts that he promised to eradicate during the
election process. The problematic Nicholas Anelka was sold to PSG and Christian
Karembeu was offloaded to Middlesbrough. Finally, foreshadowing events that
would happen to Makelele himself three years later, the president turned his
attention to the midfield engine of the side; Redondo.
Knowing that he had backed his
presidential rival during the election and with the influence the Argentine
wielded in the dressing room, and given how he had just turned 31, Perez
controversially began to engineer the sale of Redondo - without the players
consent.
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| Heady days in Serie A in the summer of 2000 |
In northern Italy, Silvio Berlusconi
and Adriano Galliani were growing restless, even by the ‘lure of the lira’
standards of Serie A in the 1980s and 1990s, the summer of 2000 saw Italian
sides take excess to another level. The pair had watched Juventus sign David
Trezeguet, Lazio, the newly crowned Serie A champions, sign not only Valencia
striker Claudio Lopez but also broke the world transfer record by signing
Hernan Crespo and Roma finally persuade Gabriel Batistuta to leave his kingdom
in Florence for the Eternal city. Milan had done no business and such is the
Berlusconi way, they needed a ‘big' star of their own in this game of
footballing one-upmanship.
As word seeped through the football
landscape that Perez wanted to cleanse his new club of players who identified
with the Sanz era, Galliani and Ariedo Braida were packed on a plane heading to
Spain.
Inter were the first Italian team to express
interest, but this was rejected both by Redondo and Del Bosque, who objected to
any notion of the player leaving, but as it was made clear to the Madrid coach
that his captain would be sold, his stance softened to a degree.
Galliani and Braida met with Perez at a
lavish hotel in Mallorca to open talks over the Argentine. After some initial
haggling over the price of the player, the good relations between both clubs
ensured that a deal would happen. A deal of £11.25 million was agreed.
Now the real difficulty was trying to
sell the move to Redondo, who felt like a true Madridsta and was cherished not
only by everyone at the club but also by the fans. On July 26th he
gave an interview in which he said ‘’I feel totally integrated at this club.
For me, there is no reason to go and play for another club.’’ Adding that ‘’I
repeat, Real is my home, and as far as it depends on me, I see no reason to
desire another’’.
Shrewdly aware that Perez wanted to
sell him and that in the eventuality he might have to leave the Spanish
capital, he made sure to make it public knowledge that he was being forced out
by the new president. ‘’If Real do not want me anymore, it is clear that one
way is to get rid of me.’’
Two days later after much deliberating,
Redondo reluctantly agreed to sign for Milan. Everyone was happy – Berlusconi
got his ‘star’ name, Galliani and Braida pulled off a great deal and Perez had got
rid of an influential Sanz supporter. Everyone that was except for the player
at the center of it all. True to his outspoken nature, he wouldn’t leave
quietly. The mud slinging began.
On their website Real posted an official
announcement stating that ‘’Real Madrid would like to officially announce the
agreement reached today between Fernando Redondo and AC Milan.’’ Correctly
sensing that their fans would be furious with the sale of their captain and
midfield fulcrum, they intelligently inserted ‘’this transfer has come about as
a result of the expressed desire of the player.’’
Redondo, who was incensed at their
attempts to shift the responsibility on to his shoulders, released a statement
shortly after counter-acting Madrid’s version of events.
‘’I want to give you the facts. Nobody
from Real Madrid contacted me to tell me what was happening until Wednesday
night. Then I was told that Milan’s offer was very interesting for the club and
a fee had been agreed. I was told that this information had already been
passed to my agent. I phoned him and he confirmed that he had spoken to Milan
and that the deal was agreed.’’
Furthermore he added ‘’ I understood the situation but it was not my
decision to leave. The club wanted me to go and I was in an impossible
situation, I refuse
to allow this stain on my name and image.’’
Del
Bosque tried to hide his displeasure at the departure of his midfield general,
saying ‘’ Nobody
is irreplaceable, but I will always have Fernando. The player is smiling, he
seems very content and he is working very well. He is a great professional.’’
As expected the Madrid fans were
furious as the news filtered through. A crowd of Madrid fans gathered outside
the Bernabeu to vent their anger, chanting ‘’we won’t swap Figo for Redondo’’
and ‘’Redondo is Madrid.’’ Galliani’s car upon recognition was kicked at by
Madrid ultras, blaming him for the departure of their beloved idol.
Coincidentally, both sides were shortly
due to play each other in a friendly to celebrate Milan’s centenary, and such
was the controversy over the Redondo transfer both sides had discussed
cancelling the match, but ultimately it went ahead – with Redondo sitting
beside Berlusconi in the stands.
| As good as it got for Redondo at Milan |
On his second day as a Milan player, he
hurt his right thigh whilst on the treadmill, however it wasn’t just the
incident on the treadmill that effectively ended his career. Two weeks later in
the plush environs of Milanello, whilst training, he planted his right foot
into a hole on the ground that due to rain was soft, suffering a first-degree
sprain of his knee. Incredibly he completed the training session before seeking
help. This was the deathblow and neither his knee nor career would ever fully
recover.
As the weeks passed, with his knee imploded
and showing little sign of recovery, it was recommended that he undergo surgery
and so on October 2nd the Argentine’s anterior cruciate ligament was
reconstructed in Varese by Professor Paolo Cherubino, who disclosed in a press
conference that he expected Redondo to return to the field in five to six
months.
Berlusconi was irate, how could this
have happened? Rumours swirled around Spain that Real Madrid knew he was broken
and had sold Milan a crock, yet Professor Cherubino reported that Redondo was
simply unfortunate and excluded chronic illness in his knee, also adding that
the tests completed in his medical showed his right knee was in perfect
condition. Milan’s owner however wasn’t buying it, and vowed never to let it
happen again, thus the creation of the Milan Lab two years later.
Redondo would need a further two
surgeries to finally repair his knee. He flew back to Madrid in June 2001 for
the second operation following complaints of severe pain in his knee during
rehabilitation; his patellar tendon had become inflamed upon examination.
In an act of integrity and moral
dignity that is rarely seen in the gluttonous world of football, in August 2001
Redondo went to see Galliani and told him that the club should stop paying his
wages until he regains fitness. ‘’I have never seen
anything like it during my career as a director. Fernando is an incredible man.’’ Galliani remarked. Not content with just
giving up his salary, he also wanted to give back his car and house that Milan
gave him as part of his contract but the club rejected his proposal.
His final operation happened in January
2002 and finally made his long awaited debut for the Rossoneri on the 3rd of December against Ancona in the
Coppa Italia – some 29 months after signing. He made his Serie A debut several days
later against Roma, receiving a standing ovation from the 67,000 fans inside San Siro as he came on for Andriy Shevchenko for the final five minutes. In
classic Redondo fashion he made a mockery of Walter Samuel and Emerson in the
same move, taking them out of an equation with a beautiful Cruyff turn.
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| Redondo in his last season at Milan |
Redondo’s past would meet his present
once more as Milan and Real were both drawn in the same second group stage in
the Champions League, on March 12th 2003 Milan travelled to the
Bernabeu having already qualified for the quarter finals. Sensing an
opportunity to give Redondo the send-off he was denied by Perez, Carlo Ancelotti
started Redondo instead of regular Andrea Pirlo. ‘’I'm very happy about seeing my former supporters again and this
is a very special moment for me.’’ He said before the game.
As Milan and Redondo walked out to begin
the match, the crowd stood up and chanted his name for several minutes and in
the 79th minute Pirlo replaced him to a rapturous applause from the
home supporters. The Madrid fans unfurled a banner saying ‘’God returns to
paradise.’’ It was the goodbye his contributions undoubtedly warranted.
It was clear to everyone that
unsurprisingly he was no longer the Redondo of old, but was offered a one-year
extension by Milan as a gesture of good faith. He was used sparingly for the
remainder of 2002/03 and the 2003/04 season yet still won a Coppa Italia,
another Champions League and a Serie A title during his stay. His last
competitive game was on May 16th 2004 against Brescia and after
leaving Milan he announced his retirement in late 2004 at 35.
Fernando Redondo was one of the
finest midfielders of the last two decades, blessed with a fine mix of delicate
balance, outrageous vision and strong leadership capabilities, he was a
football purists’ utopian dream, an artist in an era where their numbers dwindled
as the game increasingly relied more on power and pace as oppose to ingenuity
and technique.
Yet his injuries meant he receded
from public view and has almost fell into obscurity. He certainly would have
been in the running to win the Ballon d’Or in 2000 yet didn’t make the top ten.
It’s arguable that his injuries also changed the fate of Andrea Pirlo’s career,
if Redondo is healthy and playing does Ancelotti deploy Pirlo as a regista at Milan?
Regardless of the fate that befell
him in Italy, El Principe’s career and talent deserves to be celebrated for the
brilliance that it was. Recently voted in Real Madrid’s greatest foreign XI of
all time and as good as Javier Mascherano is, he doesn’t endear himself to the
romantic side of the average Argentine fan like Fernando Redondo once did. Real
Madrid nor Argentina has possessed a graceful volante since.
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