What has that player in his shoes
The magnets
It was one of the most beautiful games I’ve seen on a football field
The first, and a rhetorical question from an astonished Alex Ferguson, the second and a sentence, equally stupid, uttered by Pierluigi Hill . Both were referring to the same footballer and the same magic: Fernando Redondoand his heel shot at Old Trafford. It was April 19, 2000, when Real Madrid faced the European champions Manchester United away in a match that represents a symbolic passing of the baton. But the most beautiful passage of that evening was the one with which the Argentine smarco Raul for the 3-0 goal. An apparently simple assist but which came at the end of a personal action that remained in the history of football. El taconazo del Principe is still remembered today as one of the most brilliant and at the same time effective dribbling ever seen, a display of technique and instinct that the Buenos Aires midfielder gives to the Manchester public and that forever marks the career of poor Berg, the Norwegian United full-back who from that day was the one who suffered the tunnel from the Real champion .
The play of a second, think about it, of a single second that can remain crystallized for decades. On that Manchester evening, Fernando Redondo was the captain and leader of Real Madrid. A team that in the 1994-95 season had been rebuilt by Jorge Valdanothat I entrust the keys to the blanco midfield to my compatriot after having bought him from Tenerife. The pairing between the Spaniards and the Red Devils in the quarter-finals pitted the last two teams to win the trophy: Real, European champion in 1998 after the victory over Juventus, and United, holder of the trophy raised in Barcelona after the incredible comeback in injury time against Bayern Munich.
The first leg at the Bernabeu ended 0-0, so for the Spaniards it was necessary to win or draw by scoring at least one goal. Small detail: Beckham and his teammates had not lost at home for over a year . An own goal by Roy Keanein the 20 ‘of the first half and a goal by Raul in the 5’ of the second half immediately put the qualification on the way to Madrid but just three minutes after the 2-0, the play materializes and will subsequently be voted as the best in the history of Real by Marca readers. Minute 53, the captain of Real brings the ball near the left side, it seems closed by Berg and two other opponents but suddenly the genius appears: heel shot inwards, ball between the legs of the full back, head held high and perfect assist to Raulthat just has to push inside. And the 3-0, the subsequent goals by Beckham and Scholes were useless: at the final whistle of Pierluigi Collina the result was 3-2 for Madrid who qualified for the semifinals first (where I face Bayern) and then for the final . In Paris, in the all-Spanish duel against Hector Cuper’s Valencia, the eighth Champions for the club blanco arrive.
source: Sky Sport