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European crown goes home
Posted: Wednesday May 24, 2000 10:06 PM
The royal family of European football deservedly kicked off the new millenium by regaining its European crown. Real Madrid's 3-0 thumping of Valencia brought the title back home, 44 years after its first continental triumph. The gel in referee Stefano Braschi's hair had barely hardened when the evening's script became obvious. Real came out with full war paint, in total assault mode. Vicente del Bosque's men were going to grab victory by the hair and make it theirs. Raul and Steve McManaman floated behind the front two of Fernando Morientes and Nicolas Anelka, with Roberto Carlos and Michel Salgado pushing down the flanks. Caution? What caution? The plan was to riddle Santiago Canizares' goal, to mercilessly steamroller Valencia early on. And steamroller they did, testing Hector Cuper's massed defenses. Of course, in many ways, this played right into Valencia's hands. By luring Real forward, Cuper's men opened up virtual highways in the Madrid half for the speed merchants, Kily Gonzalez and Claudio Lopez to exploit.
It was pretty traditional stuff, but nevertheless entertaining, if only because the skills on display were first-rate. A span of sixty seconds in the first half nicely summed up the first 45 Minutes. After a quarter of an hour, Raul threaded a laser-accurate cross to Anelka whose thumping header was deflected wide by Canizares. Directly off the clearance from the ensuing corner, Gaizka Mendieta's lightning quick counterattack forced Iker Casillas into a spectacular save. You got the sense that it could go either way. If Real scored, Valencia would have to come out of its shell, and Raul and mates could feast on the spoils. But if Cuper's men found their mark, you could see Valencia shutting up shop at the back. Madrid needed to score in the first half and it did just that, with six minutes to go. When Michel Salgado's cross found Morientes at the far post, the young center forward left Miroslav Djukic for dead and coolly nudged the ball past Canizares. It was a just reward for Morientes -- a tireless, unselfish workhorse who scores goals, harasses defenders and generally busts his gut in Raul's shadow. Cuper might have shaken things up at this point, perhaps inserting another striker, like Adrian Ilie. But with Valencia just a goal down, he chose to bide his time. He knew that Real wouldn't hang back and defend the lead, but would barrel forward, looking for the second goal. There was still plenty of time for Lopez to hit on the break. If last season's final taught us anything, it was that it is never too late to come back. Except his plan backfired. In the 67th minute, Steve McManaman's right-footed, Riverdance volley in traffic found its way across the face of Canizares' goal and into the bottom left hand corner. The goalkeeper only saw it at the last minute, and there was nothing he could do. Just like that, Cuper's plans were shattered. He may have had the better game plan, but defensive organization and tactical nous sometimes aren't enough against more talented players. Ilie came on, a last-ditch resort in desperate circumstances. But it was too late, and Raul's solitary breakaway goal, like an American football kickoff returner bursting into broad daylight, was the final nail in Valencia's coffin. Real's eighth title means it can finally exorcise its demons as a club that basked in reflected glory. It is one thing to revel in the fact that you won six European Cups back when continental competition was still in its primeval soup, quite another to grab two Champions League titles in three seasons at a time when European soccer is as competitive as it has ever been. What made this success all the more memorable was the way it came in the wake of a season marred by controversy, injuries and the acrimonious departure of John Toshack . Last August, if you suggested that Real would win the Champions League -- without substantial contributions from its two most expensive signings (Anelka and Elvier Balic ), without its first- or second-choice goalkeepers ( Bodo Illgner and Albano Bizzarri ), with Fernando Redondo, Morientes and Roberto Carlos blowing hot and cold for much of the season and with the phlegmatic Del Bosque at the helm -- you would probably have been fitted for a strait-jacket right away, and rightly so. Instead, Real overcame a decade's worth of adversity to bring the European Cup home. It's not just a testament to the fact that this club has a boatload of star players. It's an ode to the hard work and mental toughness shown by Del Bosque's men, especially the unfancied foot soldiers, guys like Ivan Helguera, Aitor Karanka and Ivan Campo, the much-ridiculed threesome that turned Madrid's backline into a veritable brick wall. As for Valencia, it has been a long and wonderful trip. It's sad, but this team will probably break up this summer. Amedeo Carboni, Djukic and Jocelyn Angloma are on the verge of retirement; Lopez, Gerard and possibly Mendieta and Francisco Farinos are on their way out. Cuper will have to start over from scratch, but Valencia deserves all the credit for teaching us all a thing or two about tactics, teamwork and sheer passion. In the meantime, all hail Real Madrid. The European Cup is going home to where it began. London-based Gabriele Marcotti writes a weekly column on international soccer for CNNSI.com. To submit questions or comments to Gabriele Marcotti, click here.
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