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Cuper wishes for another chance Real's Del Bosque spares thought for ex-coach Toshack
Posted: Wednesday May 24, 2000 07:43 PM
PARIS (Reuters) -- Real Madrid's mild-mannered and ultra-modest coach Vicente del Bosque paid a generous tribute to his predecessor John Toshack as he reflected on the magnificent 3-0 victory over Valencia in Wednesday's Champions League final. The Spaniard, who took over from Welshman Toshack in November, said: "I was very lucky to inherit a team that was capable of playing so well in the latter stages of the competition." Del Bosque masterminded victories over last season's finalists Manchester United and Bayern Munich before guiding Real through the final. "Our former coach made sure we qualified in first place from our opening group and that was vital." Real's win against their Spanish league rivals was easier than expected as the young guns of the Valencia midfield were kept holstered by the hard work and superior football of del Bosque's men. "Steve McManaman and Fernando Redondo controlled the midfield for us, with Roberto Carlos and Michel Salgado also contributing," said the coach. "That midfield dominance was decisive in our victory, although I don't want to single out players. This was a team performance and that was the important thing." The behavior of the Spanish fans in Paris this week has been exemplary -- in stark contrast to the scenes in Copenhagen for the UEFA Cup final last week -- and del Bosque was warm in his praise of the supporters. "We've had maybe 30,000 fans here from Real Madrid and they've all come to enjoy themselves," he said. "It was a superb victory for the fans. "The supporters of both sides behaved marvelously well and this is an excellent night for Spanish football." Del Bosque also reflected on the historical importance of the club's eighth European Cup win, and second in three years. "This victory is all part of the great history of Real Madrid," said Del Bosque. "I'm very emotional at the moment. "There was a lot of pressure and tension out there against Valencia. "This is a proud moment for all Real Madrid people -- the fans, the players and the people at home watching on TV." Del Bosque was part of the Real Madrid side that lost against Liverpool back in 1981 -- the last time the club contested a European Cup final in Paris -- but he played down any talk of setting the record straight. "I wasn't thinking about that tonight. It's just part of Real Madrid history," he said. "But I guess everyone deserves a second chance." Sad Cuper wishes for another chanceValencia coach Hector Cuper said after his side's 3-0 defeat by Real Madrid in the European Cup final that he wished he could have another chance to play the game. "I wouldn't pay just big money, I'd give my life for the final to be tomorrow," Cuper said after his second defeat in a European club final in successive seasons. "It's very painful to lose a final," he said. "There's lots of pain and no consolation in the dressing room." But Cuper, whose former side Real Mallorca lost the Cup Winners' Cup final to Lazio last May, said it was too late to have any regrets about how he planned the match tactically. "Matches are planned beforehand, there's no going back. You make decisions and you have to have confidence in them, otherwise you don't get anywhere," the 44-year-old Argentine said. Cuper praised Real, who took their record tally of European Cups to eight, for their performance. Madrid were fair winners. "Their game flowed," Cuper said. "We didn't use the ball well. There were mistakes in our positioning, especially with their second goal," he said of Steve McManaman's decisive 67th-minute strike. "We were perhaps a bit more tense than usual," he said. Cuper said he told his players that they had done "all they could whether the efforts were good or bad and we must let some time go by before analyzing the defeat."
Cuper a winner despite losingValencia coach Hector Cuper could consider himself a winner even in Champions League defeat on Wednesday. Reaching a second successive European club final is in itself a remarkable achievement for the Argentine coach in only his third season this side of the Atlantic. Last year, Cuper steered Real Mallorca to the last Cup Winners' Cup final in Birmingham, which they lost 2-1 to Italy's Lazio. He managed a transformation at the Balearic island side that had just been promoted when Cuper was appointed and qualified then for its first European season. This season, he has worked even greater wonders with the Valencia side he inherited from Italian Claudio Ranieri. All this on a football shoestring. Valencia's full team cost some 1,600 million pesetas (US$8.74 million) far less than the amount Real Madrid paid for Nicolas Anelka alone, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais. Cuper said before the final that his side were favourites after their performances in the previous rounds and deserved to win. He reiterated his confidence in his side after the final by saying: "Any team I train always have to feel favorites. But if we lose it's not because we're arrogant." He said he thought that his record was good despite losing three of his five finals since coming to Europe. He lost the Spanish Cup with Mallorca but has won the Spanish Super Cup with both Mallorca and Valencia. "I'm not a conformist but there are merits in this and if this bears any weight in my future I think it's in my favor," he said. The 44-year-old Cuper made a name as a coach in Argentina with Huracan, coming within two points of the league title. He then steered small Buenos Aires club Lanus to the Conmebol Cup, a kind of South American equivalent of the UEFA Cup. He arrived at Lanus from Huracan, the club where he ended his playing days as a central defender in the early 1990s. But Cuper's highlights as a player were winning two Argentine league titles with Ferro Carril Oeste, another modest Buenos Aires club, in the mid-1980s. Ferro was in those days a well-run club that stood out from the rest in that it was never in the red, a rarity in Argentina, and had no highly paid stars. Cuper's Spanish teams are in the same image, the fruit of hard work and well-disciplined movements. Their strength lay primarily in their defense with Cuper, surprisingly never capped, the deeper lying center-back in partnership with Juan Rocchia. At the height of their powers they helped their goalkeeper Eduardo Barisio set an Argentine record of nine consecutive matches without conceding a goal.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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