Jump to content

Forgotten great players


Gol15
Eton Blue at the Chelsea Megastore

Recommended Posts



A look back at Roberto Bettega.

 Dave Taylor looks back at the legendary Roberto Bettega. A legend for both Juventus and  Italy.

 
Image
 
Following Italy’s first, from Fiorentina’s Giancarlo Antognoni, the second goal in the 2-0 defeat of England in November 1976 was made purely in Turin by Juventus players. The move started with a pass from Romeo Benetti inside the centre circle to Franco Causio hovering over on the left flank. 
Benetti meanwhile slipped past two defenders on the inside, received the ball back from Causio and ran towards the by-line before crossing into the area from the edge of the box. By now an alert Roberto Bettega, hurtling through a bewildered English defence at the speed of lightning, launched into a full-length dive and connecting beautifully with Benetti’s ball at waist height, screaming a bullet-like header beyond a despairing Ray Clemence

Personally for me it was an awesome strike and was one of the attractions that turned me onto Italian football, while others called it the best goal in calciohistory. Yet it could have all been different as his first Primavera Coach the great Mario Pedraleat Juventus, where he had been since he was 11, saw him as a midfielder. It wasn’t until later that his successor Ercole Rabitti realised his attacking potential and moved him up field. “I see him as a striker and with a little more weight he can be like John Charles,” he said in 1968.

The following season 1968-69 saw Roberto spending time on the bench before a loan move to Varese for 1969-70. While at the Serie B outfit, Roberto scored 13 goals and helped the side win promotion to Serie A as champions with Coach Nils Liedholm also complimenting the young striker. “He allies tremendous athletic strength with impressive technical skills,” said the Milan legend. “He is particularly strong in the air, and can kick the ball with either foot. All he needs is to build up experience, and then he will certainly be a force to be reckoned with.”

Returning to Juve the following season, he made his Serie A debut as a 19-year-old away to Catania, scoring the winning goal on 27 September 1970. It was the start of a glorious 11-year career that saw him win seven League titles under three different Coaches. It was a career that also saw him become one of the most lethal strikers of modern football, a capocannoniere in 79-80 and the Bianconeri’s bandiera as well as the Azzurri’s.

Roberto won his first title in 1972 under Coach Cestmir Vycpalek, but sadly in January 72, after scoring his tenth goal in 14 games against Fiorentina, he finished the day in hospital. He was diagnosed with a lung infection and the initial stages of tuberculosis, which ended his season.

On his return the following campaign Juventus President Giampiero Bonipertisaid: “The best signing for this season will undoubtedly be Roberto Bettega.” It turned out to be true enough as his eight goals helped them win the Scudettoonce again.

For the 74-75 season under Carlo Parola, Juve won their third Scudetto of the 1970s. However, it wasn’t until Giovanni Trapattoni took over as the club’s new Coach that the Bianconeri became the legendary team of the late 1970s. That side provided no less than nine of the team that saw the Azzurri reach the semi-finals of the World Cup in Argentina in 1978. Bettega had made his international debut three years earlier in 1975 and later shone alongside legends like Dino Zoff, Antonio Cabrini, Marco Tardelli, Claudio Gentile, Paolo Rossi, GaetanoScirea, Beppe Furino and Pietro Anastasi under the great Enzo Bearzot.

With Roberto up front both Italy and Juventus always had alternatives, as they could either play it through to him or ping it up over the defence and Roberto’s anticipation would do the rest. In his first 12 games he scored 13 goals for the Azzurri before going onto win 42 caps while scoring 19 times.

After retiring from Juventus in 1983 following 326 league appearances and 129 goals, he played two summers with Toronto Blizzard before returning to Turin. In 1994 he formed a new group at Juventus with Luciano Moggi and Antonio Giraudo, nicknamed the Triade. They hired Marcello Lippi, who helped the return to the glory days of Bettega’s footballing years to win their first League title for nine years and the rest as they say like Bettega himself is history. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites



there’s a few players that I think deserve a mention here.

I think, in England people don’t necessarily appreciate just how good veron was because of his form here.

guti was a magnificent player to watch 

pablo aimar was a genius on the ball

Then there’s the “gritty” midfielders who are under appreciated as footballers, gattuso, de Rossi, Dennis wise are all examples of this

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The decorated,destructive and damned career of Robert Prosinecki.

31/10/2018 by CONOR HEFFERNAN.       www.thesefootballtimes.co  

In February 2002, over 12,000 fans packed themselves into Fratton Park to see former Real Madrid and Barcelona maestro Robert Prosinečki score a scintillating hat-trick against Barnsley. What should have been an easy three points for Pompey soon descended into lunacy as Graham Rix’s side threw away a two-goal lead to tie the game 4-4. Prosi was rumoured to have left the ground still covered in mud and barging past the Portsmouth faithful, lamenting his wasted hat-trick.

In many ways, the game signified everything right and wrong about Prosinečki’s life in football. Since beginning his career in the early 1990s, Prosinečki had experienced great highs marred even greater lows. Part of Croatia’s golden generation, who finished third at the 1998 World Cup, Prosinečki was once tipped to be Europe’s greatest star, a title he would never truly capture. Despite stints at both Real Madrid and Barcelona, Prosinečki’s misfortune saw him riddled with injuries and inconsistent form, thereby turning his bright star into a dim glow.

Born in 1969, Robert Prosinečki would spend the first decade of his life living in a remote village in West Germany. It wasn’t until 1979 that Prosi would move to Croatia, then part of Yugoslavia, and the birthplace of his parents, Đuro and Emilija. Thankfully the decision to uproot and move to Croatia turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the young boy as it was there that he got the opportunity to join the youth academy of Dinamo Zagreb, one of Croatia’s most prestigious football teams.

More importantly, it presented the opportunity to train under the tutelage of Miroslav Blažević, a manager so respected in Croatia that he is commonly referred to as trener svih trenera (coach of all coaches). It wasn’t long before Prosinečki began challenging for a place in the first team, an opportunity he finally got aged 18 during the 1986-87 season. Prosinečki wasted little time in making the most of the opportunity. A debut goal set the scene for things to come, or at least that’s what Prosinečki and his father had hoped. Remarkably, Prosinečki would only receive a few more paltry appearances in a season that saw Zagreb finish sixth in the league.

When the time came at the end of the season to discuss Prosinečki’s new contract, a conflict ensued; unfortunately for Prosinečki and Dinamo, this conflict would not be kept behind closed doors, with local papers publishing reports of clashes between player and manager.

It emerged that Robert’s father, Đuro, was tenacious in his quest to secure a professional contract for his son, an ambition that Robert soon took up for himself. When negotiations failed for the umpteenth time, Prosinečki threatened to leave, a show of bellicosity that Blažević met with equal measure. Refusing to be bullied by a player so young, the ‘coach of coaches’ released Prosi from his youth contract, claiming he would eat his coaching diploma if the young man ever made it in football.

 

It was a challenge both player and father were only too keen to take, travelling around Yugoslavia in search of a new team. Prosinečki was eventually snapped up by Red Star Belgrade, who could barely believe their luck that a player of Prosi’s talent was available for free. Judging by Dragan Džajić, the then-director of Red Star, the club was ecstatic:

“On one of our visits to Zagreb we stayed at Hotel Esplanade where I got approached by a man who introduced himself as Robert Prosinečki’s uncle. He told me his nephew wasn’t happy at Dinamo and asked me if we could arrange a tryout. I told them to come to Belgrade in a couple of days and they did.

“At the tryout I saw this kid do wonders with the ball and I immediately asked our head coach Velibor Vasović to schedule an afternoon practice session at the main stadium so that I could see the kid one more time. It was obvious we had a classy player on our hands, and I initiated the contract proceedings right away. Our lawyer informed us that we wouldn’t have to pay a transfer fee to Dinamo so Robert’s father Đuro and I agreed everything in five minutes.”

 

Alongside fellow Red Star midfielders Dragan Stojković, Žarko Đurović and Goran Milojević, Prosinečki soon became the nation’s hottest prospect, an outcome that no doubt left Blažević with a sour, almost coaching diploma-like taste in his mouth.

With Prosinečki pulling the strings from the heart of the midfield, Red Star won the 1988 championship. That season also saw Prosinečki travel to Chile with the Yugoslavia youth squad for the FIFA Youth World Championship. It was in Chile that the Prosinečki star was born.

Part of a Yugoslavian side teeming with talent, Prosinečki stole the limelight, winning the tournament’s Golden Ball award and impressing scouts across Europe with his composure under pressure and silky play. Incredibly, the youth World Cup also saw Prosinečki become the first player banned from leaving a tournament by FIFA.

Sensing that their second round knockout game against Club Brugge in the UEFA Cup would be harder than expected, Red Star had attempted to withdraw Prosinečki from the tournament early, a decision that prompted Prosinečki’s teammates to protest to FIFA officials and force president João Havelange to intervene. The bizarre escapade only served to reinforce the high esteem Prosinečki was held in by both club and country.

The years following the youth World Cup win would see Prosinečki develop his game, helping Red Star pick up league titles in 1990 and ’91.
More importantly, Prosinečki was also a leading figure in the club’s famous 1991 European Cup victory over the high-flying French club Marseille.

Twelve goals in 29 games, a league title, and a European Cup: by any metric of success the 1990/91 season had been kind to Prosinečki, and it seemed that things would only improve.

That summer, Spanish giants Real Madrid secured Prosinečki’s highly sought after signature for 2.5 billion pesetas. In many ways the capture of the 22-year-old was a sign of desperation from Los Blancos, who had finished the previous season third in LaLiga and had suffered a shock elimination in the European Cup to Spartak Moscow. Led by Serbian manager Radomir Antić, Real were desperate to re-establish their dominance, and it was hoped that young Prosinečki would be the man to do it.

Prosinečki’s dream move soon became a nightmare, however, with the Croat suffering injury after injury in his first season. Torn muscles, strains and struggles to regain match fitness saw Prosinečki miss six months of the 1991/92 season. Despite these setbacks, Prosinečki, with his father Đuro at his side, continued on. Prosi’s perseverance would see him score against Barcelona in October 1992, a goal that would buy him more time with the Real Madrid fans.

When the club announced that Prosinečki would enter the 1993 season injury free and back to full fitness, hopes briefly rose. Twenty-nine appearances across the season would see the star fail to live up to his price tag, with injuries again robbing the young man of the continuity needed to win over the demanding Real fans. Indeed, three goals was a paltry return in the eyes of many fans from a player tipped to be football’s next big thing only two years earlier.

It was much of the same story the next season with Prosinečki turning out 23 times for Los Blancos, scoring six goals in the process. Matters had reached boiling point for Real fans and officials. In early 1994, Real Madrid chairman Ramón Mendoza took to publicly criticising the Prosinečki signing, deeming him to be surplus to requirements. Mendoza’s public musings forced the hand of Prosinečki, who agreed to join Real Oviedo on loan for the following season in a bid to regain his form, fitness and reputation.

Joining Antić once more, Prosinečki’s decision was fruitful in more ways than one. Prosinečki would turn out for Los Carbayones 30 times that season, netting five goals and helping his side finish ninth, ahead of the likes of Valencia and Atlético Madrid. Perhaps best of all was Prosinečki’s inspired performance in the Estadio Carlos Tartiere that saw Oviedo defeat Real Madrid 3-2. It was sweet revenge for the midfielder, who finally got the chance to show Los Blancos what he could do. When Prosinečki’s swansong with Real Oviedo finished at the end of the season, the Croat’s reputation was finally restored.

In the summer of 1995, the Spanish media was brimming with excitement. Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff had snapped up Prosinečki from Real Madrid, making him only the fifth non-Spanish player to cross the bitter divide.

Based on Prosinečki’s time with Oviedo, the eccentric Dutchman thought he had found the missing piece in his Totaalvoetbal puzzle. A stunning debut in the Joan Gamper trophy promised much and fans of the Catalan club began to speculate about what Prosinečki’s arrival would mean for Barcelona. Unfortunately for the German-born midfielder, he was still subject to slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Injuries would again curtail what promised so much.

Two seasons at Camp Nou would see him turn out only 50 times for Barcelona. A respective figure no doubt, but one far below the amount needed to establish yourself as a Barcelona star. When the club allowed Prosinečki to join Sevilla for the 1996/97 season, it seemed the Croat was destined join the sad ranks of football’s great nearly-rans. Indeed, the next five seasons would see Prosinečki travel across Spain, Croatia and Belgium in search of football and a fresh start. Each fresh start being accompanied by a fresh injury.

But before football could forget about Prosinečki, the 1998 World Cup came around.

At France 98, Robert Prosinečki’s reputation was revived once more when he took part in Croatia’s remarkable run to the semi-finals of the tournament. Lining out alongside fellow stars such as Davor Šuker, Zvonimir Boban and Aljoša Asanović, Prosinečki flourished.

Croatia’s first game of the tournament saw them brush Jamaica aside 3-1 with Prosi dictating the game and even notching a sublime goal against the Caribbean nation for his efforts. For many, Prosi’s goal was the definitive Croatian moment of the tournament.

Waiting to take a free-kick at the edge of the box, Prosinečki lightly tapped the ball to Robert Jarni, Croatia’s bombarding wing back, who immediately stopped the ball thereby creating a better angle for Prosinečki to bend in a cross. As a Jamaican player came to close Prosinečki down the mercurial playmaker sold an almighty dummy that brought the ball out towards the touchline. With the ball on his left foot, Prosinečki looked up before curling it coolly into the far corner of the net from an impossible angle, leaving Jamaican goalkeeper Warren Barrett helpless.

It was a goal that defied conventional logic and showed the world that Prosinečki’s magic was still there. The goal also put Prosinečki down in the record books as the first man to score a goal in a World Cup for two different nations (he played for Yugoslavia at the 1990 tournament).

The Jamaica match was just the beginning of the Prosinečki tale. The next game, a victory over Japan, saw Croatia qualify for the second round of the tournament, with Prosinečki and Šuker the leading lights. A 1-0 loss to Argentina in the final match did little to dampen Croatian spirits who bombarded Romania in the knockout stage. Few could argue that Croatia’s 1-0 victory flattered the Romania side.

For their troubles, Croatia were drawn against Germany in the quarter-finals, the same Germany who had eliminated Croatia in the last eight of Euro 96. It was the Croatians who would taste victory in France, however, with an emphatic 3-0 victory sending them into the semi-finals against hosts France.

The semi-final against France was tight but thrilling. Unfortunately it was also the end of the Croatian march to glory as the hosts and eventual winners ran out 2-1 winners. In the third-place playoff against Holland, Croatia solidified their spot in the hearts of football fans across the globe with a 2-1 victory. Prosinečki and Šuker scored either side of a Bolo Zenden strike to secure a remarkable finish for Croatia. Alongside Šuker, Prosinečki was one of Croatia’s stand-out players, something that gave hope to Prosi fans that he could translate international success to domestic football.

Sadly, Prosinečki would spend the years following the 1998 World Cup wandering the footballing wilderness, bouncing from club to club. He had one last adventure in him though, in a busy city on the south coast of England.

In 2001, fans of Division One side Portsmouth awoke to staggering news. The club, which had only escaped relegation on the final day of the previous season, had signed 32-year-old Robert Prosinečki on a one year deal. An ex-Real Madrid and Barcelona midfielder would be playing at Fratton Park.

Needless to say, fans of the club swamped club stores attempting to have the name Prosinečki printed on every conceivable piece of clothing. Pubs began to be filled with idle talk of what new signings Robert Prosinečki and Peter Crouch could achieve. Hopes were high. The move was not without its cost, with Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandarić shelling out over £15,000 a week to keep the Croatian happy, an astronomical sum for a Division One player at the time.

Promising entertainment upon his arrival to the local reporters, Prosinečki stuck to his word. The club’s opening match against Grimsby saw the former Real and Barcelona man waltz around the Grimsby defence. In an act of desperation, Grimsby put two markers on Prosi for the second half; it was ineffective in taming the Croat. The gulf in class between Prosinečki and those around him was clear to see, and the midfielder reaped the benefits, having a hand in all of the goals in an emphatic 4-2 win.

The following games showed more of the same, including a 25-yard dipping free-kick – a la Cristiano Ronaldo – against Crystal Palace and a remarkable piece of wizardry against Rotherham United. In the game against The Millers, Prosinečki sent his marker to the floor with a sublime dummy before coolly waiting for his him to rise from the floor and send him on his derriere once again.

Although Prosinečki’s form dipped midway through the season, he did manage to score that hat-trick against Barnsley in February 2002. Sadly for Prosinečki, the goals dried up after Barnsley with the Croat only finding the net once more that season, not that fans seemed to care. The skill, glamour and arrogance that Prosinečki brought to a Portsmouth side that finished 17th that season saw the Croat go down as a Pompey legend. Despite playing for the seaside club for only one season, Prosinečki is widely regarded as one of the greatest players ever to don the blue jersey.

It wasn’t just Portsmouth fans who recognised Prosinečki’s brilliance as the midfielder’s form was enough to earn him a late call-up to for the 2002 World Cup. Sadly in 2002, Prosinečki would only play 45 minutes of football as Croatia were eliminated in the group stages. His inclusion in the squad, however, was a testament to how fine Prosi’s form had been at Portsmouth.

The World Cup was Prosinečki’s last hurrah, with the Croat playing only two more seasons in football, at Olimpija Ljubljana and NK Zagreb respectively, before hanging up his boots and embarking on a managerial career.

His career was one of great contradictions. For a player labelled as injury prone as he was, he racked up 400 club appearances during the course of his career and scored in every season he was fit. For a player often forgotten about, he was once of the most highly decorated in Europe, winning the Bravo Award in 1991, the Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport in 1997 and 1998, alongside the Yugoslav and Croatian Footballer of the Year awards in 1990 and 1997. For Croatia and Yugoslavia, Prosinečki won a FIFA Youth World Championship and played at World Cups in 1990, 1998 and 2002, not to mention Euro 96.

His early years promised much but so often he fell short of his undeniable talent thanks to injuries and sheer bad luck. Nevertheless the name Prosinečki, to anyone who remembers him, is always accompanied with a smile. What his career lacked in trophies, it made up for in spectacular memories. When Prosinečki was on form, the world took notice. Just ask anyone lucky enough to see his goal against Jamaica, or the hordes of Portsmouth fans that hold a special place in their hearts for the Croat who smoked forty a day and left hapless defenders in his wake.

By Conor Heffernan @PhysCstudy

 

Robert Prosinecki listed Barcelona, Real Madrid, Red Star Belgrade and Pompey during a highly-successful career. Picture: Shaun Botterill/Allsport Robert Prosinecki listed Barcelona, Real Madrid, Red Star Belgrade and Portsmouth. during a highly-successful career. Picture: Allsport
Edited by erskblue
Link to comment
Share on other sites



MICHAEL LAUDRUP: THE BRILLIANT PLAYMAKER WHO SITS ALONGSIDE THE GREATEST

 www.thesefootballtimes.co.      03/01/2017 by TREVOR MURRAY  
IT’S 7 JANUARY 1995 – EL CLÁSICO DAY. The tension, as always, is incredibly high, but this match between Real Madrid and Barcelona, midway through the campaign, has the feel of a contest that will prove pivotal come the final match week when the league trophy is handed out and the winners are separated from the losers.

A win would see the Catalan club leapfrog Madrid in the table and give them the upper hand in a heated La Liga title chase, while Madrid have the opportunity to open up a sizeable five-point gap over their bitter rivals by clinching victory.

The margins for error are always slim when these two giants of world football do battle. There’s a sanctity involved whenever they square up to each other, but there is a heightened sense of revenge hanging over the famed Santiago Bernabéu on this occasion: an inner intuition that although these matches are never ordinary affairs, the plot that is about to unfold in front of the millions watching worldwide will set the tone for the remainder of the season.

An astonishing 5-0 thumping was dished out to the Madridistas 12 months prior by a potent Barça team as a splendid hat trick from Romário, combined with a goal apiece by Ronald Koeman and Iván Iglesias, sealed an emphatic win that is still celebrated by fans of the club to this day.

The big talking point, however, is that Michael Laudrup is gearing up for his first appearance against Barcelona since his free transfer away from the Nou Camp. Rumours of an acrimonious departure, fuelled by a falling out with Johan Cruyff, have added a dash of something extra spicy to the dish of the day – talk of the talented Dane looking to make a point to his old boss has dramatically raised the stakes, both for him and his new club.

Despite the fact that Laudrup has since dismissed any notion of a bitter relationship with Cruyff back then, it is difficult to believe that the Dutch legend could have completely forgiven his former protégé for ever having left the Barça Dream Team all those years ago. 

Laudrup was one of their key players, the best passer of a ball in the squad with Koeman, and arguably the most imaginative and inventive guy to boot. He had it all and more, so losing his services to one of their main rivals quickly turned an untouchable side into a vulnerable one. In one fell swoop, the dream had become a sobering reality for Barcelona.

“Laudrup is best player I have ever played with and the fourth best in the history of the game.” Romário

Not only did it force Cruyff to try and find a replacement for him, but it gave Madrid a huge psychological advantage. Laudrup was on the enemy’s side and if he instinctively knew how to unlock defences he only played against once or twice a season, the inclination was that he would do so much more damage against one he had extensive insider knowledge on.

Some opted to view it as a double-cross, an unforgivable betrayal, a move to the dark side. Laudrup himself has always maintained a different, more innocent, line: he had wanted a change.

Whether it truly was the prospect of avoiding stagnation as well as jumping on board a new team that promised freshness which enticed Laudrup to cross the fiery divide, it’s hard to say for sure. Whatever the vagaries of truth, the reality was undeniable because by the time the sun set on the Spanish capital that winter evening, long after his first 90 minutes tormenting his former Barça teammates had elapsed, Laudrup’s genius versatility and ability to conquer even those who knew him best was clear to see.

Supplying plenty of great assistance to the front line, the former Brøndby IFstarlet was in fine form from the get-go, and perhaps his stand-out moment of that first El Clásico match from the 1994-95 campaign came when he set up Iván Zamorano for his third goal of the night.

After a lofted ball is pinged in towards Zamorano’s head deep inside opposition territory, it’s nodded hopefully toward goal by the in-form striker as Laudrup, a couple of steps off the pace of a retreating defender, senses an opportunity and goes in chase. 

Picking up the tempo, the Denmark international closes the gap within a matter of yards and puts pressure on the covering full-back as the ball bounces out wide in the direction of the goal-line. Outmuscling his man by forcing himself into his space, he simultaneously wraps his foot around the ball to execute a great tackle and with an audacious spin – typical of his game – quickly leaves the defender for dead as he shifts his body to tighten the angle against the goalkeeper whom he’s suddenly bearing down upon.

A shuffle of his feet to change momentum and a slide of the white ball across the face of goal, beyond the ‘keeper’s palm and past a defender’s lunge, he smoothly pilots it safely into the path of Zamorano near the back post who slots coolly home inside the six-yard area to seal a first-half 3-0 lead that effectively ends the match as a contest.

People rightly remember that evening for the Chilean’s hat-trick, and it’s easy to grasp why that sticks out in their minds, but when one looks back on that big match, the football romantic within can’t help but notice those sorts of adroit moments from Laudrup. 

His work rate was questioned by some in his prime, but watching him hunt that lost cause to set up his team-mate is evidence enough that he could put in a graft just like anyone else. 

Besides, there is the argument that his exceptional talent lent itself to a more easy-going style; he often had a languid brilliance the mediocre resent and the fantastic recognise. There were snapshots of his greatness all over that match, just as they were over so many of his other outings in Spain’s top tier, but no matter what a player like him does in a rip-roaring match like it, it’s the goals that will last longest in the memory – the scoresheet tells its own story and Laudrup didn’t write his name into those scripts often enough, although he did net a few crackers in his time.

“When Michael plays like a dream, a magic illusion, determined to show his new team his extreme abilities, no one in the world comes anywhere near his level.” Johan Cruyff

What should stick out for every lover of football, however, is that Laudrup was the first player to feature in back-to-back 5-0 El Clásico wins with different clubs. What’s more, it’s impossible to deny the simple statistic that Barcelona won four league crowns in a row with him in their side, but once he departed for Madrid their clenched grip was loosened.

Ultimately, he proved the difference. He was the title catalyst for both and although he slept with the enemy he was always loved by both sets of fans because he worked hard for each of them, won them silverware and created special moments on the pitch that deserve to be remembered as much as a trio of strikes.

Every generation has its football darlings – the players who are showered with plaudits by their numberless admirers and even respected by the ones who pretend to dislike them.

Through the 1960s Pelé ruled the roost. In the 1970s, it was Johan Cruyff. In the 1980s, Diego Maradona thrived. The 1990s saw a proliferation of stars spring up to capture our attentions in the shapes of Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Roberto Baggioand many more besides. In the noughties, yet more legends wowed us with their phenomenal skill as Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated pub talk and water-cooler conversations. 

There will always be names and faces that tower over a certain period of history, but where there is glorious remembrance there will always be the jilted entertainers, the guys who somehow manage to miss out on inclusion in the top three or five performers of a particular era when push comes to shove. They achieve so much in the game and yet are somehow left out of the élan du jourshortlist of greats for whatever reasons. It’s a mixture of misfortune, misplaced loyalties and a little miscalculation, too.

 

In many ways, Michael Laudrup has been one such player. Captivating in his prime, he has arguably attracted greater praise since retiring than he ever did when he was still active. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but one doesn’t often win awards retrospectively.

What does come, though, is a newfound respect and a recognition that the brilliant Danish craftsman managed to capture a significant part of what it meant to be an on-pitch creator better than anyone else. He embodied its natural charm, the way he waited until the last possible nanosecond before flitting to the left or right of an incoming tackle. His anticipation was second to none. When he invited a would-be challenger to dispossess him there was something of the maverick westerner about his stance – pausing momentarily before drawing his weapon, darting off, carrying the ball with him as he rode over one challenge and the next. 

It wasn’t pure skill for the sake of showboating either. There was a purpose to these moves that would either see him zip off down the flank or further in field, because it allowed him to create the necessary angles that channelled his passes. 

People often say that he could see things before they’d happen and there’s a sliver of truth to that fantasy because he saw the move developing in his mind’s eye, and when he drifted about the park with a sea of opposing bodies between him and a forward lying in wait it was very often a case of creating disorder from order – and vice-versa – that enabled him to bring a vision of an assisted goal to breathtaking life.

Today, people are infatuated with the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry, the rise of statistics since the late 1990s adding to their exclusivity and overarching involvement across the worldwide conversation about the who’s who of the beautiful game. It’s no secret that records have become an increasingly pivotal part of the modern game, often saturating the discussion and proving the go-to source to decide heated arguments about exactly who is a better footballer. 

However, pre-stats engines and heatmaps, there was a world of football out there and it consisted of equally brilliant guys playing some mind-bending stuff – which is why figures like Laudrup sort of get pushed to the side.

“In the 1960s, the best player was Pelé; in the 1970s, it was Cruyff; in the 1980s, it was Maradona; and in the 1990s, it’s Laudrup.” Franz Beckenbauer

Strangely enough, despite being primarily celebrated as an exquisite passer of the ball from short to long range, concrete statistics about Laudrup’s assists are difficult to come by. Nevertheless, there are quite a few certainties one can glean from several important correlations, which prove beyond much doubt that he was just as good, if not better, than the guys who came after him. 

First, before he made his daring move across the Clásico divide, a certain Los Blancos player, Zamorano, was struggling to get amongst the goals. The 1993-94 La Liga campaign saw the Chilean striker pocket just 11 goals as manager Benito Floro’s men finished in fourth place, well off the pace of champions Barcelona, aided by Laudrup, who took the league crown on goal difference. 

The balance of power was clearly in the Blaugrana’s favour and although their squad was jam-packed with all manner of brilliant players such as Romário and Ronald Koeman, it was Laudrup who was capable of producing the splash of magic, the special ingredient that improved the Catalan recipe tenfold.

The following season, as Laudrup teamed up with a side he had become quite accustomed to besting, Zamorano was one of the main benefactors as he added a whopping 17 goals on top of his previous end-of-season tally to finish with 28 goals, top of the marksmen class in Spain’s La Liga as Madrid wound up title winners, swatting aside all challengers as they did so. 

Zamorano justly took the Pichichi trophy, the adulation and the smattering of confetti, but Laudrup had to content himself with something less material than bronze or gold – the ability to cross divides unscathed with his head held high.

 

There can be no doubt that if Laudrup had been around today, he would have appeared on Opta and WhoScored databases with more regularity than Mesut Özil, Christian Eriksen and Cesc Fàbregas at their respective peaks. After all, in his 75 European Cup appearances (including UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and Super Cup bows) reliable records show that he netted 20 goals and picked up 19 assists – pretty consistent all round.

That he rose to prominence at a time when number crunching wasn’t quite as sought after as it is now is merely an unlucky consequence of timing, but those that saw him play in his prime will always recall him as one of the best of all-time – even if the prize-givers don’t have him listed as being voted as such.

That’s because he never won the Ballon d’Or, a travesty that his most faithful of followers – and even his sometime critics – have used to detract from its merit. Pep Guardiola once said of the award that because Laudrup never won it, it wasn’t worth all that much. How’s that for praise from one of the modern game’s leading lights and most respected of tacticians?

The most recognisable individual accolade wasn’t all he missed out on, of course, because he was absent from Denmark’s grandest of triumphs on the international football stage as he went AWOL for their unlikely 1992 European Championship triumph.

Seemingly uninterested in the manager’s tactics, he opted not to team up with the squad after they were called up to take the place of Yugoslavia following the Eastern European nation’s exclusion from the tournament after war broke out there. Nobody fancied Denmark’s chances of even getting out of their group, especially with one of the Laudrup brothers missing, but the Scandinavians would go on to win it outright, and they did it all without their most intelligent of players – a piece of information which has always been used to lift the team’s victory to an even higher platform.

Some contend that the Danish side would not have had the same joy with Laudrup on board – his penchant for probing and looking to play high up the pitch to instigate attacking moves, it has been suggested, would have detracted from their deep-lying, counter-attacking style. It’s a bit of a stretch and it’s perhaps not worth thinking on too much. 

They won it without him and against all the odds, but his absence and lack of a winner’s medal with the nordic nation should not take away anything from the career Laudrup had with his home country. In all, he recorded over a century of international caps with 104 to his name, scoring 37 goals and playing some phenomenal football much like the stylish individual powerhouse display he produced alongside his fellow Danish Dynamite stars against Uruguay in Mexico 1986.

Watching back the grainy VHS quality video of his performance that day, his burgeoning brilliance remains a delight to behold. In fact, it’s hard to believe that the man of the match is only 21 at the time. His assured movements are more in line with an experienced pro, but Laudrup had little interest in acting his age on the pitch – plus, he had just earned the honour of having a Serie A medal draped around his neck, so his confidence was sky-high.

Testing the waters against a back line which contains River Plate and Palmeiras defenders as well as a tenacious battler in the form of José Batista, who would go on to become something of an unwanted record-holder by getting sent off after less than a minute against Scotland in the round of 16, Laudrup has a tough task in front of him. His initial forays forward bear no fruit for the then-Juventus midfielder as he sees some passes go astray and a couple of adventurous dribbles shut down, but his persistence pays off when his quick feet finds a way to undo the entire rear-guard.

Slaloming past two Uruguayans, he gallops closer to goal with the ball at his feet before slipping a delectable pass behind the cover into the path of Preben Elkjær, who fires the Danes into a 1-0 lead inside the opening 11 minutes. 

The Bianconeri youngster grabs another assist in the second half to set up the same striker, but it is his jaw-dropping solo, round-the-keeper goal in the second half that confirms his genius to the watching wider audience and sees that Denmark side celebrated as a cult icon in the years following.

That was Laudrup all over – incisive, silky, effective and captivating. More evident than all those characteristics, though, was his instinct to produce luxurious manoeuvers, the way he dragged the ball from one foot to the other to evade slide tackles and boxing stances, how he danced through gaps he created for himself, his artistic touches that put others in the limelight – because while it might be fair to say that he was underrated, there’s a little more truth in the notion that he was underexposed.

Then again, the best gems are always hidden.

By Trevor Murray  @TrevorM90

Link to comment
Share on other sites



PREBEN ELKJÆR: THE LAST OF FOOTBALL’S TRUE MAVERICKS

26/04/2018 by STEVEN SCRAGG.   www.thesefootballtimes.co  
The date is 5 June 1985 and, in Copenhagen, Denmark have just beaten the Soviet Union 4-2 in World Cup qualifying group 6. It’s quite possibly the very plateau above cloud level when it comes to 1980s football hipsterism.

The game included vibrant, passionate and partisan home support, two fantastically evocative kits, two sides capable of very distinct and beautiful football, a screamer from Oleg Protasov, an emphatic finish from Sergey Gotsmanov, the woodwork hit on multiple occasions, multiple goal-line clearances, a wonderful example of how erratic Danish international goalkeepers used to be prior to the rise of Peter Schmeichel, and two goals apiece from Michael Laudrup and Preben Elkjær Larsen. 

Elkjær is a mystical figure; widely overshadowed by Laudrup over the course of the last three decades, but massively revered by those who witnessed his unique style of play. In fairness, it’s impossible to draw yourself away from the urge to compare with Laudrup when it comes to Elkjær. However, when you do, it ends up being more a case of noticing the contrasts than drawing the parallels.

For the geometrical vision, you got from Laudrup. Elkjær instead offered a bewitching free-spirited hypnotism. For the crystal-clear still waters, which seemed to run through Laudrup, Elkjær gave you a passionate volatility. For Laudrup’s honed physical condition and his intense professionalism, Elkjær was a heavy smoker and renowned for nights out prior to big games. For Laudrup’s mastery of the ball, which almost appeared to be a pre-programmed concept, Elkjær often struck the image of a man trying to control a small and excitable dog beneath his feet, as he swept past all-comers with an unorthodox beauty. 

While Laudrup’s career path was entirely textbook for a man of his many outstanding talents, Elkjær instead undertook a wonderfully meandering route through his. Laudrup, with a career which took in a flirtation with Liverpool, before spells with Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid, is vividly contrasted by Elkjær, who spent his peak years with Lokeren and Hellas Verona. 

Elkjær’s formative years within the professional game go a long way in explaining why he later allowed his career to take a more sedate path. Fast-tracked into the Denmark under-21 side at the age of 18, he quickly became one of Europe’s most sought-after teenagers after scoring seven goals in just 15 outings for Vanløse IF. 

By the age of 19, and during the early exchanges of the 1976/77 season, Elkjær was heading to the Bundesliga, with FC Köln edging out VfB Stuttgart in a hotly contested battle for his services. His debut for the club came swiftly, as he was thrown into a second round, second leg UEFA Cup encounter with Grasshoppers Zürich, making an explosive entrance for his new team by scoring twice in a 3-2 victory. 

Within days Elkjær had made his Bundesliga bow, during a defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach, going on to score in the very next game against Duisburg. The initial spotlight was a blinding one, and he was once more thrown into the starting line-up at Loftus Road against Queens Park Rangers in the UEFA Cup. A chastening evening in west London ended in a 3-0 defeat, and he appeared only as a late substitute during the second leg, when the Germans almost completed an unlikely comeback. 

Having played regularly during the autumn months of 1976, Elkjær laboured towards the winter and onward through the early spring. Under the disciplinarian regime of the legendary Hennes Weisweiler, he struggled to get to grips with the focused and often clinical West German approach to the game – and to life itself – within a high rolling Bundesliga club environment.

 

The teenage Elkjær embraced life away from the club a little too much for the liking of Weisweiler. One infamous occurrence, when reports of Elkjær being out on the town in the days leading up to an important match surfaced, brought a heated exchange of views between coach and player. When Weisweiler confronted him over having been seen in a nightclub with a bottle of whisky and a member of the opposite sex, Elkjær reassured his coach it wasn’t true. Instead, he confirmed it was, in fact, a bottle of vodka and two women. 

After a few months in exile, Elkjær returned to the side during the run-in, appearing as a substitute in the final of the Pokal and claiming a winners’ medal after a replay. Just over three weeks later, he was scoring twice on his full international debut as Denmark won 2-1 in Helsinki against Finland. 

Despite the polarising nature of the season, Elkjær had enjoyed a successful climax to 1976/77, yet he was very much a man on the outside looking in when the 1977/78 campaign began. By February 1978, both player and club had decided that the best course of action was for him to move on. Despite this, Elkjær has consistently stated that Weisweiler was the best coach he ever played under. 

Had either party been willing to offer the olive branch, then many of Köln’s late-1970s and early-80s near-misses might have been converted into silver-laden seasons. However, in February 1978, Köln were on the brink of completing a German league and cup double, with Elkjær a precociously talented but troublesome 20-year old. An opportunity to link the Dane with the up and coming Bernd Schuster was lost on the club.   

Blessed with a great many admirers but willing suitors in short supply, it was Lokeren who ambitiously took the plunge in signing Elkjær. In Belgium, he would find an environment much more to his liking, and the less pressurised atmosphere brought the best out of him. 

Lokeren, traditionally sat a long way behind the likes of Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Standard Liège in the Belgian food chain, and further lost within the shadow of the strong emergence of near geographical rivals Beveren, added Elkjær to a side which was unlikely to challenge for honours but one which was capable of fluid and entertaining football. It was also a club that had only ascended to the Belgian top-flight for the very first time in 1974. 

The Lokeren which Elkjær walked into in February 1978 was struggling in the lower reaches of the table, but was also just one season on from their first season in European competition, having qualified for the 1976/77 UEFA Cup, even managing a win on home soil against Barcelona. 

Despite the underdog nature of his new club, Elkjær would spend a happy, if trophyless, six years with the Belgians, teaming up in a wonderfully attack-minded side with the brilliant Polish duo of Włodzimierz Lubański and Grzegorz Lato, the 1973 tormentors of Sir Alf Ramsey and the England national side. 

The 1980/81 season would be the high point, finishing a distant runner-up in the top-flight to Anderlecht, and losing the Belgian Cup final to Standard – a season in which they also reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, going out narrowly to eventual beaten finalists AZ Alkmaar. It was a run in which they defeated Jim McLean’s rising Dundee United and LaLiga champions-elect, Real Sociedad.

 

From the highs of 1980/81, Lokeren began to fade over the course of the following seasons, but it was arguably the fact that Elkjær had essentially dropped out of the football rat-race in joining the Belgian club that made him so explosive on the international scene. As Lokeren’s star began to fade, Denmark’s simultaneously began to rise. 

In June 1981, Denmark defeated World Cup winners to be Italy 3-1 in Copenhagen in a World Cup qualifier. In what had proved to be an inconsistent campaign for the Danes, the win wouldn’t be enough to see them obtain a place at Spain 82, but it did serve as a watermark moment, a moment in which a nation and its football team were infused with the belief that they could move mountains. 

Two years later, Denmark were rated by many to be one of the finest international sides in Europe. The advent of the Danish Dynamite era was given its greatest credence when they went to Wembley in September 1983 for a crucial European Championship qualifier, coming away with a 1-0 victory. Yet it wasn’t just the win which made people sit up and take notice; it was the manner of the performance, on an evening when England were fortunate to escape with a narrow loss. Ironically, Elkjær was missing from the side that won at Wembley. His absence only served to keep one of Denmark’s most powerful weapons a partially hidden secret as Euro 84 appeared upon the horizon.

Denmark, playing at the finals of a major tournament for only the second time in their history, embraced Euro 84 enthusiastically. Led by the German coach Sepp Piontek, they made the host nation, France, work hard for their narrow 1-0 win in the opening game at the Parc des Princes. 

Forced to adjust their formation for the second game against Yugoslavia in Lyon due to their most recognisable star Allan Simonsen breaking his leg in the loss to France, Denmark jolted into gear. Elkjær was at his belligerent best as the Danes ran out 5-0 winners, scoring the fourth goal. It was a result that set up a winner-takes-all decider in Strasbourg against Belgium, with a place in the semi-finals the prize.

Belgium, the nation that had become Elkjær’s home-from-home, was the place where he had found the freedom of football with which to blossom to his true potential. Now his adopted nation stood between his home nation and a place in the last four of the European Championship.

In an explosive game, Jan Ceulemans and a spectacular strike from Franky Vercauteren shot Belgium into a 2-0 lead by the 39th minute. Belgium, with their greater experience at international tournaments, looked set to overcome the outrageously talented but wide-eyed Danes. Just two minutes later, however, Elkjær won a controversial penalty, which was converted by Frank Arnesen. 

The unrelenting pace of the game continued in the second half, and when Pointek switched formations in the 56th minute, it was a move which brought near-immediate dividends. On the hour, substitute Kenneth Brylle netted the equaliser.

 

The whole emphasis of the game changed, as with their superior goal difference Denmark were now in possession of a potential semi-final spot. It was here that Elkjær took control, constantly handed the ball by his teammates in a bid to frustrate their opponents into an error at the back.

Six minutes from time, and in typical Elkjær style, he weaved his way into the Belgium penalty area before dinking the ball over the advancing Jean-Marie Pfaff in goal. The 3-2 victory sent Denmark back to Lyon to face Spain in the semi-finals. 

On another dramatic evening, Søren Lerby put the Danes into an early lead, only to see Antonio Maceda draw Spain level midway through the second half. In an intriguing contrast of skilled Scandinavian footballing up against almost laconic Iberian confidence, the game drifted towards a penalty shoot-out. 

As proves to be the case so many times in these circumstances, the pronounced on-pitch directors of these games often end up being the ones who miss the vital spot-kicks. Elkjær, having done so much to bring Denmark so close to the final of Euro 84, had to be the man to miss from 12 yards. 

For Elkjær, the bitter disappointment of defeat was offset in the summer of 1984 when, with a massively raised profile, Elkjaer finally departed Lokeren to return to the bright lights of one of the games major arenas. Verona made their move to take Elkjaer to Serie A. 

Verona had begun the decade languishing in Serie B, having spent most of the 1970s in the top division, even reaching the final of the Coppa Italia in 1976. In 1981, however, the club narrowly survived a close flirtation with relegation to Serie C1, and in their desperation to escape the decay they were in danger of falling into, the club turned to Osvaldo Bagnoli to be their new coach. Bagnoli proved to be the spark to a remarkable turnaround in fortunes. Within a year, Verona were back in Serie A. 

Contrary to popular belief, Verona’s eventual 1984/85 Serie A title win wasn’t as outlandish as the legend insists it to be. Upon their return to the top-flight, Verona finished their first season back in the big time in fourth position, gaining qualification for the following season’s UEFA Cup. This was coupled with a run to the final of the Coppa Italia, where they fumbled the advantage of a 2-0 first leg win when they lost the second leg 3-0 in Turin against the Juventus of Platini, Tardelli, Rossi and Boniek. 

A season later, in 1983/84, they finished in sixth position and once again reached the final of the Coppa Italia, where they narrowly lost to a Roma side which was still grieving the loss of the European Cup final to Liverpool. 

The addition of Elkjær to the mix of Bagnoli’s Verona was always going to bring a positive combustibility to the 1984/85 campaign. With a slowly ageing Juventus off the pace domestically, Roma rebuilding under Sven-Göran Eriksson, AC Milan making a slow and methodical return to the glories of old, and Inter Milan struggling to find the right combination of players to mount a challenge for a title which was theirs for the taking, it essentially left the door open for any club with a well-drilled plan allied to a cohesive and vibrant squad of players.

 

Bagnoli’s Verona happened to be in possession of exactly that. It was a side built upon the watertight goalkeeping of Claudio Garella, the defensive solidity of West German international Hans-Peter Briegel, the midfield drive of Pietro Fanna and Antonio Di Gennaro, and headed by the attacking prowess of Giuseppe Galderisi. Placing Elkjær into the side was an act of genius. 

Elkjær was off the mark in just his second game, scoring the third goal in a 3-1 win away to Ascoli. He was soon on target again, in a 2-0 home victory over Juventus, a goal which is still revered to this day – scored at the end of a determined run during which Elkjaer lost his right boot, eventually burying his effort with his bootless foot. 

Undefeated until January, Verona powered forward – almost uncontrollably – beyond the rest of their Serie A rivals. A stunning 5-3 victory at Udinese in February encapsulated every aspect of the Verona bandwagon; 3-0 up in 20 minutes, level at 3-3 just short of the hour mark, before replying with two goals in three minutes to settle the issue. Elkjær scored the fifth and final goal of the game. 

Majestic throughout March, the nerves began to tell during April, and a 2-1 loss at home to Torino suggested the wheels could yet fall off for Verona. Bagnoli’s side emerged unbeaten from their final five games, however, clinching their unlikely but deserved Scudetto on the penultimate weekend away to Atalanta, coming from behind to gain the one point they needed. Elkjær fittingly scored the title-clinching equaliser. 

Verona’s coronation as champions on the final day was marked by a game immersed within the spirit of Elkjær himself – a 4-2 victory over Avellino in which Verona let a 2-0 lead slip before kicking on for the win. Elkjær was once again one of the goalscorers. 

That World Cup qualifier in Copenhagen, the one against the Soviet Union, the very plateau of 1980s football hipsterism, was a game which came just two-and-a-half weeks after the Serie A title celebration against Avellino. Elkjær had been made to take a circular career route, but he was now undeniably a man at the peak of his powers, with very few peers within the European game. Elkjaer was a man with only the wider world left to conquer. 

By Mexico 86, Denmark were no longer Europe’s best-kept secret. The world knew they were coming, and many expected them to offer the biggest European threat. They swept through a difficult group with three wins from three games as Scotland, Uruguay and West Germany were given no crumbs of comfort. 

Elkjær got the only goal against Scotland before hitting a hat-trick against Uruguay during a 6-1 demolition, a game in which Laudrup scored one of the goals of the tournament. When Pointek’s men brushed West Germany aside in the final group game, Denmark found themselves being classed among the favourites to win the tournament. 

Two years on from Euro 84, they had matured beautifully. They were now a fitting successor on the world stage to the abdicating Dutch masters. Laudrup, a Serie A title winner himself with Juventus, was operating almost telepathically with Elkjær. Their support cast was a collective of visionaries. Lerby and Arnesen were surrounded by the effervescence of Jesper Olson, the precision and third-eye capabilities of Jan Mølby and the experience of a fit-again Simonsen.

 

Spain lay in wait at the last-16 stage. It would be an encounter which still ultimately makes little sense over three decades later, as Denmark found themselves on the end of a 5-1 defeat. Leading 1-0 from an Olson penalty, Denmark conceded a careless, unexpected equaliser shortly before half-time. With the sort of classic overconfidence only the supremely gifted sides can produce, Olson went from hero to villain as he presented Emilio Butragueño with the equaliser. 

Elkjær was metronomic; driving the ball forward for Denmark, he twice came close to restoring their lead. It was Spain, however, who scored next, Butragueño striking again. Olson then compounded his error during the equaliser by giving away a penalty for 3-1. Throughout it all, Denmark and Elkjær continued to plough forward. During the final 10 minutes of the game, Spain scored twice more. 

La Roja were outstanding on the day, but it remains one of the strangest defeats in the history of the game. The loss to suspension of Arnesen proved to be the costliest problem. Also, the omission of Mølby, who had played against West Germany, was a vital error. Without Arnesen and Mølby, Denmark were too thin in midfield, and it meant Spain could repeatedly cut through them with ease. In the heat of Mexico, Pointek got his tactics and formation badly wrong. 

Mexico 86 was a lost opportunity for Denmark and Elkjær. Essentially at the peak of his powers in Mexico, by the time Euro 88 arrived, the Danish ship had sailed. Elkjær scored the goal which gained Denmark’s participation in West Germany but they returned home after three defeats in three games. The midfielder, having played in the first two matches, against their recurring nemesis Spain and then West Germany, sat out the final encounter against Italy. The game against West Germany proved to be his last in international football. 

At Verona, the intervening years between Mexico 86 and Euro 88 had been fruitful on a personal level for Elkjær but hit and miss collectively. The 1986/87 season brought a fourth-place finish in Serie A – any hopes of another title challenge undone by too many draws – while 1987/88 was a difficult season domestically, offset by a run to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, where they narrowly lost out to Werder Bremen. 

That year, 1988, marked the end of Elkjær’s associations with both his national team and Verona. Returning to his homeland to play for Vejle BK, he provoked a huge surge of interest in the club. Unfortunately, he was restricted in games by a series of injuries, which eventually saw him call time on his career in 1990. 

In Elkjær’s absence, Piontek’s Denmark failed to qualify for Italia 90, losing out on a place in the finals to Romania. By 1992 they were the most unlikely champions of Europe, when brought into Euro 92 as a late replacement for Yugoslavia. Richard Møller Nielsen’s workmanlike side managed to succeed where Pointek’s purveyors of bohemian football had fallen short. 

Just as with Weisweiler at Köln, Elkjær’s working relationship with Pointek had been at times volatile. Yet beyond football, they’ve gone on to forge a strong friendship together.

Elkjær’s career was a rich and diverse one, which took in unexpected successes with surprise rising forces: the Serie A title, coming so close to Euro 84 glory, and twice in the top three for the Ballon d’Or. As much as for his career largely spent off the beaten track, Elkjær’s almost mystical position within the game owes just as much to him becoming a recluse during retirement. 

A short and inauspicious time as head coach of Silkeborg IF and occasional forays into television work in his home nation aside, Elkjær has kept himself within the shadows of the European and global stage, a wonderfully evocative contrast to the still omnipresent Laudrup. That doesn’t change the fact, however, that he is one of the last of the true mavericks of world football.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



Well I'm happy to say that we have mentioned so far some great players, if we were to make a squad out of all these it would be an amazing team to watch and it would be pretty hard to choose the starting 11. When I remember some more I'll post more, cheers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alessandro Nesta - Italy, The Roman Wall (1993-2014/15)

s-l400.jpgChampions-1999-Nesta2.jpg

One of the best defenders of his generation, at the time when Italian football had the best defenders, maybe he's still remembered for his great games against Messi while he was already older than 35 but he has been a great defender his whole career, he won the Serie A league with both Lazio and AC Milan, he won the Champions League and the World Cup as well.

CelebratedGrizzledFlyinglemur-size_restr

 

 

 

 

 

 

d-482855-icon-pa-364380.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 
Daniel Passarella 
(Argentina)
 

     Daniel Alberto Passarella, born May 25th 1953, was one of the most commanding sweepers/defenders in World Cup history. He was the perfect leader for any team, and became captain for both club and country at an early age. Despite being only 174cm, he was exceptional in the air and scored an impressive amount of goals by headers from corners or free-kicks.

      Passarella was an unusual player. His scoring record is quite unique for a defender. In 298 matches in the Argentine league, he scored 99 goals. And when he moved to Italy to play for Fiorentina and later Inter Milan, his goalscoring continued, and he still holds the record in Serie A for goals scored by a defender. Even on international level he scored lots of goals. He won 70 caps for Argentina and scored 22 goals!

     He won lots of honours in the game. Several league championships with River Plate in Argentina, which was the club he served most of his career. But the highlight was of course to win the World Cup in 1978 on homesoil. He was 25 years old and captained Argentina to victory. A proud moment for "El Gran Capitan" (The great captain). The final itself was played on Passarella's homeground, Estadio Monumental. Four years later in 1982, Argentina failed to reach the semifinals. A Passarella free-kick against Italy wasn't enough to avoid defeat.

     In Mexico 1986, at 33, he was included in the squad, but got injured and didn't play a minute in the tournament Argentina went on to win. In 1989 he retired playing for his beloved River Plate. He took over as national coach for Argentina in 1994 and led them to the quarterfinals in France 1998 before retiring from the job. 
  

Edited by erskblue
Link to comment
Share on other sites





3 hours ago, just said:

Evaristo de Macedo: The record-breaking Brazilian loved by Barca & Madrid

By Gary MeenaghanBBC Sport

Last updated on 14 January 202114 January 2021.From the section European Football

BBC Sport Insight banner Evaristo de Macedo at Camp Nou Evaristo, now aged 87, pictured at Barcelona's Nou Camp in 2015

The first Brazilian striker to play for Barcelona scored more times than Ronaldo and Romario combined, had a better goals-to-games ratio than Neymar or Rivaldo and got the goal that knocked Real Madrid out of the European Cup for the very first time - before crossing that bitter divide two years later. 

For Brazil, he holds a goalscoring record that Pele never matched, yet was prohibited from playing at the 1958 World Cup. As a manager, he led 16 different teams, including Iraq, where he worked alongside Saddam Hussein's son. 

Now aged 87, Evaristo de Macedo Filho looks back on a remarkable career in football - and the extraordinary goal that still defines him as a Barca legend, despite everything that followed. 

Short presentational grey line

Born in 1933, Evaristo grew up in northern Rio de Janeiro, far from the city's famous beaches and postcard views. He played football just for fun on the streets, but that changed after he tagged along to a friend's trial at local club Madureira in 1950. 

The coaches asked him to make up the numbers and handed over a pair of old boots. Despite the footwear being so tight his toes curled, the 17-year-old impressed and was asked to return the following day. 

Within two years, Evaristo had scored 18 goals in 35 games for Madureira, including one against national team goalkeeper Castilho's Fluminense at the Maracana - the same fabled stadium he had squeezed inside to watch the 1950 World Cup final, alongside 200,000 others. 

His performances as an amateur for Madureira led to a call-up for the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, where Brazil scored nine goals in three games before succumbing to an experienced Germany side in the quarter-finals. 

The small band of Brazilians, including future two-time World Cup-winners Vava and Zozimo, returned home with enhanced reputations and contract offers from clubs around the country. Evaristo, a lifelong Flamengo fan, got the call he wanted most. Over the next three years he helped his boyhood club to three successive Rio State Championships.

"Flamengo was always the team of my heart," Evaristo tells BBC Sport from his home in Rio de Janeiro. "I grew up watching them with my uncle so there was only ever one team for me. I had offers from Vasco da Gama and Fluminense, but Flamengo gave me so much and I'm eternally grateful."

Evaristo, pictured as a Flamengo player in the 1950s Evaristo is a Flamengo club legend

Remembered as a physical and ruthless forward, many of Evaristo's goalscoring records still stand to this day. 

Among his 103 goals in 191 games for Flamengo are a quintet of strikes during a 12-2 win over Sao Cristovao - the biggest win in Maracana history. Similarly, at the 1957 South American Championships, playing for Brazil alongside the legendary Garrincha and Nilton Santos, he scored five in a 9-0 demolition of Colombia, a feat unmatched even by Pele.

It was while playing for Brazil, during qualifying for the 1958 World Cup, that Evaristo's path diverted from Flamengo. 

Barcelona were in a period of rebuilding and Josep Samitier, the club's technical secretary, had flown to South America in search of a striker. Aware Italian teams were also scouting, he made Evaristo's father a proposal that the player would later call "impossible to turn down". Spanish media reports suggest it was in the region of 700,000 pesetas, or £6,000 a year (about £140,000 today).

"Life in Barcelona was normal, super quiet, and never problematic - it felt a lot like life in Rio de Janeiro at that time," recalls Evaristo, who returned briefly to Brazil after three months to marry his childhood sweetheart, Norma. 

"Each player had a fan club so we were in demand, but not like it is today because there were no mobile phones. The club provided me with everything: a house, a Mercedes, the lot. They also fully trusted us, so we could go out and eat paella, drink Spanish wines. It was marvellous."

Evaristo de Macedo Evaristo stayed at Barca until 1962 - when he joined arch rivals Real Madrid

Content off the pitch, Evaristo quickly adapted to life on it. He played and scored in the first official match at the Nou Camp in September 1957. Six months later, he became the first player to get a hat-trick there. And in the following season he repeated the feat, scoring three against European champions Real Madrid en route to Barcelona's first La Liga title in six years. 

A match report published in Hoja del Lunes de Barcelona describes him as a "battering ram" who played like the ball was "glued to his feet".

The club's official website describes Evaristo as "one of the best foreign signings Barca ever made" and a "typically silky skilled Brazilian with a deadly instinct in front of goal, a terrific shot with either foot, a powerful head, and the kind of speed and courage that made him an ever-present in the Barca first team for five years". 

In a side managed by Helenio Herrera, playing alongside Laszlo Kubala and Luis Suarez, Evaristo won two league titles, a Copa del Rey, and the Fairs Cup - the precursor to the Uefa Cup - twice. Barcelona's statistics department relayed by email that in official matches he scored 105 goals in 151 games, while the club's official site says he scored 181 in 237. 

"Evaristo has more goals than me for Barcelona. However, I have more official goals as he scored many in friendly matches," Rivaldo, who scored 129 in 235 between 1997 and 2002, tells BBC Sport. 

"He has a lot of recognition at Barcelona; there are pictures of him in the locker room. He was a great player who did a lot for Brazilian football and in Barcelona I realised that greatness because so many people talked about him."

Regardless of whether friendlies are included, to this day Evaristo retains the best goals-to-games ratio of any Brazilian to play more than 50 games for Barcelona. And one thing never disputed is his most notable contribution. 

La Vanguardia newspaper cutting of interview with Evaristo, featuring a photo of his diving header against Real Madrid In a 2002 interview with La Vanguardia, Evaristo recalled his famous diving header

On 23 November 1960, in the second leg of a tight European Cup tie against Real Madrid and in front of 120,000 fans at the Nou Camp, Evaristo scored a stunning diving header with eight minutes to go. The goal, immortalised in a grainy black-and-white photo and still on prominent display inside the stadium 60 years on, eliminated Barcelona's most bitter rivals from that competition for the first time, ending their hopes of a sixth successive title.

"There was a great rivalry between the two cities because Madrid is the capital and Barcelona always fought for independence," says Evaristo. 

"Madrid was seen by many as General Franco's team, so it also had this great political rivalry - although I never felt any political interference. That goal broke Madrid's hegemony. It felt like a title for Barcelona because of the rivalry and the fact it eliminated Madrid. 

"It was crazy. We celebrated a lot after that match…"

Real Madrid less so. In the excellent book Fear and Loathing in La Liga, author Sid Lowe writes that, during the post-game banquet, Madrid's players tried to beat up the English referee and his assistants, who had disallowed four goals, with Barcelona's players intervening to defuse the situation. 

Evaristo is diplomatic. "I don't remember that, no," he says. "Madrid complained a lot, but I never saw any threats of violence. The players had actually played quite calmly."

Barcelona went on to reach the final for the first time in the club's history, with Evaristo scoring six times in total, including two in the semis. At the w**kdorf Stadium in Bern, they lost 3-2 to Benfica in a match now remembered as the 'Square-Posts Final'. 

"It was a very sad day for Barcelona because we had everything to be European champions," says Evaristo. "Everything except luck. The goalposts were square and we hit them four or five times. If they were round the ball would have gone in. But Benfica had a great team."

Evaristo pictured playing for Barcelona and Real Madrid in a collage photo that also includes two more recent images, pictured at home wearing the scarves of both sides Evaristo is still remembered fondly at both Barcelona and Real Madrid

Within 12 months of that 1961 final, Evaristo had done the unthinkable and joined Real Madrid after a dispute with Barcelona regarding naturalisation. Yet in stark contrast to the infamous transfer of Luis Figo 38 years later, the club's fans directed their anger not at the player but at the board. 

"Barcelona wanted me to become Spanish to open the possibility for them to bring in another foreign player and I didn't want that," he says. 

"In Madrid that wasn't the case. That's why I moved there, otherwise I'd have stayed at Barcelona, which I liked more."

It was not the first time the actions of the Barcelona board in relation to Evaristo had been open to question. When he signed his contract in 1957, there was an agreement that, if selected to represent Brazil at the World Cup the following summer, Barcelona would not stand in his way. 

Having played every minute of the two-legged World Cup qualifier against Peru and with a total of eight goals in 14 games, Evaristo expected to be a starter for his country. But with Spain having failed to qualify, the Spanish Cup went ahead at the same time as the tournament in Sweden, and Barcelona reneged on their promise to release him.

Brazil would go on to win their first World Cup, with a 17-year-old Pele scoring a hat-trick in the semi-final and two more in the final. Evaristo, who would face the youngster two years later when Santos toured Europe, never wore the famous yellow shirt again. 

"I was very upset not to be there, but I followed the games on the radio," he says. 

"On the day of the final, I was at a training camp because Barcelona had a game the next day and my dad called to break the news. I was very happy to hear Brazil won because it was my friends who were playing - and as I played the games that helped us qualify, I feel a bit like a champion too, you know?"

Evaristo, pictured as Brazil manager in 1985 Evaristo, pictured as Brazil manager in 1985. He took charge of Iraq for the 1986 World Cup.

Ultimately, Evaristo's absence in 1958 and the fact his exploits in Barcelona went largely unreported at home left his standing in Brazil somewhat understated.

Brazilian journalist Milton Neves wrote of Evaristo: "If they had TV in the 1960s, he would be regarded like Ronaldo." Mario Zagallo, who won the World Cup twice as a player in 1958 and 1962 and again as manager in 1970, called him "the type of player who would have had a place in any team of his choice".

Rivaldo adds: "No doubt football has changed a lot. Today it's easier for a player to stand out with TV, internet and social media. For sure though, if Evaristo had been playing in another era, his reputation would be totally different from the one he ended up having in the 50s and 60s. He was a special player."

When Evaristo quit Barcelona, he had offers from Italy and France but elected to stay in Spain where, despite a serious knee injury limiting him to just 19 appearances and six goals for Madrid, he continued his habit of collecting domestic trophies by adding two league titles in two seasons. 

Much like at Barcelona, Madrid's official site lists him as a "football legend", alongside fellow former club stars Alfredo di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas, and Raul.

Evaristo always intended to return to Flamengo and he did so in 1965, adding another league title before retiring a year later, aged 33. 

During a 36-year career in management that followed, he won various trophies in Brazil with clubs including Santa Cruz, Gremio and Bahia, gave Dani Alves his professional debut, and fought with Romario while in charge at Flamengo. 

In April 1985, Evaristo was named Brazil manager and asked to prepare for the following year's World Cup in Mexico. But he was dismissed after only a month following three defeats from six and a stubborn refusal to select any overseas-based players. He would still make football's biggest showpiece though - in unlikely fashion.

Evaristo and Messi Evaristo pictured meeting with Barca's Lionel Messi in 2015

"I wasn't going to allow the Brazilian Federation to interfere in my squad selection, so I left," Evaristo says. 

"I already had a proposal to coach Qatar anyway, so I went there and then when Iraq needed a coach for the World Cup, I was asked to do it. 

"I worked directly with Saddam Hussein's son, but I never went to the country. We met in Europe and then went straight to Mexico because Iraq was at war at the time." 

Iraq, making their only World Cup appearance to date, lost all three group matches; their squad disrupted by various players being conscripted to serve in the country's conflict with Iran.

Since retiring in 2005, Evaristo passes most days watching Flamengo and spending time with family - he became a great-grandfather earlier this year.

Yet as he speaks by phone from his Ipanema apartment surrounded by trophies, photos and other assorted memorabilia, it is arguably Evaristo's three children that best represent his playing career: Evaristo Jr was born in Catalonia, Luis Augusto in Rio, and Maria Mercedes in Madrid. 

"I'm very proud to have worked in football for 56 years and to have achieved such success," he says. 

"Football, Flamengo, family and friends. That is my life now."

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PACO GENTO: THE HABITUAL EUROPEAN CUP WINNER

29/12/2015 by GIRI ANANTHA

www.thesefootballtimes.co

 
feyenoord_tegen_real_madrid_2-1_spelmome  

FRANCISCO GENTO MAY NOT BE A NAME that many of today’s younger supporters will recognise, however he is one of the most successful and decorated players of all time at club level.

Though he didn’t know it at the time, Francisco Gento’s sixth European Cup winner’s medal in 1966 would create a record that still stands nearly half a century later.

Paco, as he was known, also collected a record 12 La Liga titles with the great Real Madrid sides of the 1950s and 1960s. He also played in European club finals in three different decades, a wholly rare achievement. He achieved it feat by playing in European Cup finals in the 1950s and 1960s, and he was still there when he played for Real Madrid against Chelsea in the 1971 European Cup Winners’ Cup final.

He is also the only player to play in the European Cup for 15 consecutive seasons.

All in all, he played in the final on eight occasions, winning six. His record of eight finals was finally matched by Paolo Maldini, though Maldini only won it on five occasions.

At international level, Gento represented Spain in two World Cups, in 1962 and 1966, but was unfortunate in 1964 when he wasn’t selected for the European Championships, which Spain went on to win.

It was Spain’s first major success at international level, a feat they would not repeat for another 44 years until they won it again in 2008. Despite missing out on international success, he is still considered one of La Roja’s greatest ever players.

It’s perhaps strange to consider that the legendary Real player failed make a positive early impression in his first few games. Reminiscing about his first few months at Santiago Bernabéu, he said: “They [the fans] used to say that I’d run so fast I’d run off the pitch, leaving the ball behind. But everything can change depending on your willpower and the sacrifices you’re willing to make. You have to really love football and want to be the best.”

Paco Gento was born in 1933 in Guarnizo, a village in the community of Cantabria. As a youngster, he played football but was also succeeding in athletics. It was his participation in the 100 metres where he undoubtedly developed his phenomenal speed, which later became his trademark.

It’s alleged that at his peak with Real Madrid, he could clock 100 metres in around 11 seconds and was just as fast with the ball as without it.

It’s little wonder, then, that he is considered one of the best left-wingers in the history of the game. Defenders must have loathed to see the sight of a charging Paco coming towards them, beating them fore trickery and speed and leaving nothing but his dust in their faces.

He was the son of a chauffeur and the young and humble Paco had to leave school to help support the family early in his teenage years. He would eventually break into professional football, not with Real, but with his local side Racing Santander. His time at Santander was short-lived; he played just 10 games, scoring twice, before he was snapped up by Real Madrid. There would be no stopping the winger now.

Timing and luck can sometimes mean everything and for Paco, these vital ingredients materialized at just the right moment. He stepped into a part of Real Madrid’s history at precisely the right juncture and rode the tremendous wave of unprecedented success in which he was a part of everything. In this respect, the same could be said of Phil Neal at Liverpool and Ryan Giggs at Manchester United. Just like Paco Gento, they too came into a team and won everything along the way.

Gento played with some of the biggest names in football, namely Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás and Raymond Kopa. Kopa was voted European Footballer of the Year in 1958 with the ‘Blond Arrow’, Di Stéfano, winning the accolade either side of Kopa. It’s quite unbelievable that the Ferenc Puskas, ‘The Galloping Major’, never won the coveted award, but he was still a legendary name, having played for the powerful Magical Magyars of the 1950s who many regarded as the best national side in the world at the time.

Despite such big names in the team, Paco’s brilliance on the wing provided many a goal for his more illustrious teammates. He was no slouch himself, scoring 128 times in 428 appearances in the league, a world-class return for a winger. He had lightning speed and got to loose balls first, despite opponents having a head start on him, and he possessed two great feet and liked taking powerful long shots with either leg.
Although known for his speed, he possessed a magical left foot with great, close control in tight situations and dribbled his way past two or three players before disappearing again down the wing to put in another inch-perfect cross. Playing in the shadows of more famous names, it speaks volumes about Gento that his medal haul more impressive than those of Di Stéfano or Puskás.

Having won the European Cup for the first five years since its inception, it’s actually his sixth and last victory, against Partizan Belgrade in 1966, which fills him with most joy and satisfaction. He was the experienced campaigner now, as well as the captain. The team were now known as the Yé-yé Real Madrid, with Yé-yé being a reference to The Beatles song “She Loves You” with its “Yeah Yeah Yeah”in the chorus.

After that sixth success, Catalan paper La Vanguardia, notoriously stingy in its praise of anything Madrid, reported: “Paco Gento embodies the old guard, the glory days, the flash of lightning launched on its way by a ball from Rial or Di Stéfano. No team ever played football the way that Real Madrid side did.

 

1404759315_extras_mosaico_noticia_1_g_0Di Stéfano, Gento and Puskás

 

“With the passage of time, Gento’s prodigious qualities have faded somewhat. His dribbles are performed more slowly and his galloping runs are no longer imperceptible to the naked eye. He’s still lightning, though the flashes come less frequently. Nevertheless, his presence on the field encourages his colleagues and brings order to the whole team.”

The times were changing and it was the Swinging Sixties with The Beatles being at the height of their fame. Around this time, there was a photograph of Paco surrounded by several of his teammates wearing Beatle mop top wigs. They were The Beatles of the football world.

His last European Cup triumph was in a side that was managed by a former teammate, Miguel Muñoz. Muñoz was captain when Real won its first two European Cups. He led them to success in 1960 and 1966, and became the first person to win the European Cup as both a player and manager.

With all of the success Paco enjoyed, particularly in the European Cup, it’s ironic that when the competition first started, he and the other Real players had no idea as to what the new tournament was about. They did not fully comprehend the importance of the new competition, like many others around the continent, and how big it would eventually become.

Real played their first game against Servette in Geneva in September 1955 but there doesn’t appear to be any footage of the game. Gento said: “I must confess that we had no idea how significant the tournament would become. We went to play and that was it. Nobody explained to us what would happen, neither the competition format nor that it was going to be something important for many years to come. I don’t think we really realised what it all meant until we won the first title in the final in Paris. Then we were able to see what the European Cup was all about. It was something indescribable.

“There was no television, no videos. I would love to be able to show my grandchildren those images from 60 years ago. Now that we see everything, I miss being able to have more of my things from that era.”

In 1960, Gento participated in the inaugural match – a two-legged affair back then – of the Intercontinental Cup between the winners of the Copa Libertadores, at the time Peñarol of Uruguay, and Real Madrid, the European champions. The winner would be considered the best club team in the world. Real Madrid dismantled Peñarol 5-1 on aggregate with Paco Gento getting his name on the scoresheet. Unofficially, Real, and Paco, could now claim to be world champions.

In 1971, after a glorious career, Gento made the difficult decision to call time on his career. After all, Father Time catches up with all of us and the decision to hang up his boots was not an easy one. In fact, for any professional footballer, retirement after so many years of doing something one loves can be incredibly difficult to take. Little wonder that there are players who cannot cope with the emptiness retirement leaves them with. Many have hit the bottle or even taken their own life. Agostino Di Bartolomei, the former Roma captain comes to mind. Shortly after retiring, he suffered from depression and shot and killed himself. It’s an emotional time, almost like the greatest chapter of one’s life being closed forever.

Paco decided to stay in the game and undertook some coaching but he failed to reach the heights of his playing career. He ended up taking an ambassadorial role with Los Blancos.

In December 2015, it was announced that Real Madrid president Florentino Pérezwould be proposing a move to make Francisco Gento the honorary president of the club. The event was presented by Emilio Butragueño, a former Real legend and currently the director of international relations. Pérez said: “Gento is here with us today, he is one of Real Madrid’s legends and won six European Cups. Much of what we are today, we owe to the side he played in along with Di Stéfano. The Board of Directors is going to propose appointing him as honorary president of Real Madrid.

“I want us to continue to remember our beloved Alfredo Di Stéfano. His memory accompanied us each year and is still present among us. May these words serve as a tribute to the best player of all time. Along with Santiago Bernabéu, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Paco Gento transmitted the values that continue to be sacred for every Real Madrid fan, regardless of their nationality, language, culture, ideology or religion. These values showed us that this shirt and badge never give in. Together, and united until the end, Real Madrid has managed to become the best club in the world.”

Gento recalled his great teammate Di Stéfano saying it would be up to him (Gento) to win their third successive European Cup final in 1958. How prophetic Di Stéfano’s trust in his teammate would turn out to be. It was indeed Gento who scored the crucial winning goal in a 3-2 victory against AC Milan that kept the trophy in Madrid. It was obvious that despite all the big stars Madrid had at their disposal during these golden years, the biggest names actually had such faith and respect in the ability of their speedy friend on the left wing. During this era, Gento was the one constant, an almost permanent figure that delivered the goods time and time again.

Even Sir Bobby Charlton, one of the world’s greatest players himself, said of Gento when he was watching him playing: “I was just sitting there, watching, thinking it was the best thing I had ever seen.”

Francisco Gento is not just a Real Madrid legend but a Spanish one as well. It would be fitting to bestow upon him the title of honorary president, succeeding his old friend and teammate from all those years ago, Alfredo Di Stéfano, who passed away in 2014. With so much hard work he put in for Real’s cause, there is no one better than Gento, one of only three players along with Di Stéfano and José María Zárraga, who played in all the first five European Cup successes, to be named honorary president of the club that he served for so long and with such great distinction.

By Giri Anantha

Link to comment
Share on other sites


THE BRILLIANCE OF PAULO ROBERTO FALCÃO

www.beyondthelastman.com

Rome has a knack for turning basic into splendid. For many centuries, it has been a place admired by the rest of the world. There were rare moments, however, when the eternal city reached its heights.

One of these moments occurred under a certain Brazilian who changed the aura of football in Rome: Paulo Roberto Falcão.

AS Roma, who won its first Serie A title in 41 years in 1983, enjoyed a prosperous spell under coach Nils Liedholm. The most prominent architect of success on the pitch was Falcão. 

The Brazilian mastermind was signed in 1980 and instantly gelled into Giallorossi culture, becoming a talismanic figure deeply loved by the fans and people of Rome.

Roma initially turned down the chance to sign Zico in 1980 and there was bemusement at that decision, however the commotion calmed when a deal did happen and he made it to the Eternal City that summer. There he would prove himself to be the most complete midfielders in world football during the 1980 – a general on the field, brilliant both tactically and technically. He won a Serie A title in 1983 and also excelled for Brazil, playing in their legendary 1982 World Cup team and scoring in the classic 3-2 defeat to Italy.

falcao.jpg?w=670&h=900

 

In 1973 the player began his professional career with Internacional of Porto Alegre at the age of nineteen. He rapidly developed into an elite midfielder and by 1978 he was reaching the quality we associate with him as Internacional took another state title and he was named Brazilian Footballer of the Year. Twelve months later, that honour was his again as International became Brazilian champions once more.

He earned his first taste of major international tournament play with two appearances in the Copa América and was now attracting the attention of major European clubs. He had led Internacional to its greatest period of success, taking the club to three Série A championships in 1975, 1976, and 1979. At the height of his dominance, the manager of Palmeiras was quoted as saying: “We did not lose to a team; we lost to the greatest player in the world” after their defeat to Internacional in the semifinals of the 1979 championship.

The 1979 Internacional team finished the season undefeated, a feat still unmatched by any Brazilian club in Série A history and one which cast a questioning light as to why Falcão did not receive a call up to be a part of the final Brazilian squad for the 1978 World Cup. A year later Roma identified his technical proficiency as the missing link in their quest for a Serie A title. Fãlcao was enthusiastic about the chance to play in the Italian capital and a deal was concluded at a cost of £650,000.

To his credit, and thanks largely to bringing over members of his family to the Italian capital, he settled into Italian culture and its football quickly. It took him little time to learn the language and virtually no time to make his impact on the pitch. In his debut season he played 25 games and scored three goals, but statistics barely tell the whole story. He became an influential and dominating figure in the centre of midfield and linked brilliantly with midfield and attacking teammates like Bruno Conti and Agostino Di Bartolomei.

Falcão quickly became regarded as one of the top foreign stars in Serie A. His first season saw the club rise in the table to a second-place finish in the league behind Juventus, but some silverware was still forthcoming as the club lifted the Coppa Italia, beating Torino on penalties, with Falcão scoring the decisive spot-kick. The following season was less impressive for the club, but a better one for Falcao as he notched six goals in 24 league games to force his way into the 1982 Brazilian World Cup squad with a string of outstanding individual displays.

An incredibly talented Brazilian side was well fancied to win the tournament but fell in the second group stage to Italy after losing a game they only had to draw. Falcão scored Brazil’s second equaliser but could not prevent a 3-2 defeat. He was one of the last players to join up with the World Cup squad and only played in the last two warm-up games before the opening fixture against the Soviet Union. Coach Santana recognised Fãlcao’s organisational ability, leadership and considerable European experience as a suitable replacement for Toninho Cerezo in the opening fixture.

Following that World Cup campaign with Brazil, Fãlcao returned to Roma and set about inspiring the Giallorossi to a first Scudetto triumph in 40 years. Serie A recognised him as the Player of the Year that season ahead of such luminaries as the mighty Michel Platini at Juventus. Nils Liedholm said of him: “Fãlcao is the man who conducts the orchestra on the pitch. All I do is write the music for him, or prepare the score based on certain ideas.” Roma fans started referring to him as the ‘eighth king of Rome’.  After seeing him in action for the first time, journalist Roberto Chiodi said: “It’s impossible that anyone can play the way he does. He has two hands in place of his feet.”

paulo_roberto_falcc3a3o_roma_1983-84.jpg

 

Roma followed up the defence of their title the following season with a runners-up finish, being in contention right until the last round of fixtures. Fãlcao contributed five goals and 27 appearances. The team was imperious in that season’s European Cup as it fended off challenges from Gothenburg and CSKA Sofia to reach the semi-final stage.

The midfielder was known for his knack of being everywhere on the pitch. Former Roma legend Fulvio Bernardini wrote: “Fãlcao appears wherever the team needs his feet, his ideas, and his brain. He’s not a showy player and he’s only spectacular for brief moments. He controls the ball with long legs and doesn’t have a blistering pace, yet he is everywhere. He shows for the ball, makes it easy for his team-mates to find him and so often slips away from his marker.”

With that season’s European Cup final set to take place in Roma’s own Stadio Olimpico, hopes were high that the Brazilian would be leading the capital club to the biggest honour in European club football. Fãlcao was an ever-present during this European adventure, until missing the semi-final first leg due to an injury picked up in the previous League game. Roma lost 2-0 in Scotland to Dundee United and their fans were desperate for the return of their hero for the second leg. Fãlcao duly obliged and regained some semblance of fitness in time to star in a 3-0 victory that sent Roma into the European Cup final against Liverpool.

His knee was still bothering him as he took his place in the starting line-up and it contributed to the midfielder turning in a poor display. Roma ultimately lost in a penalty shoot-out to the ‘wobbly legs’ antics of goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, his unconventional behaviour putting off Francesco Graziani as he ballooned his shot over the bar to give Liverpool their fourth European Cup. Falcão’s relationship with Roma soured after missing this opportunity.

The following season Falcão was only able to play in four games due to knee troubles, partly resulting in Roma finishing a lowly eighth place in the league. At the end of that campaign, he flew to New York for unauthorised surgery which caused Roma to terminate his contract. During his time in Italy the Brazilian appeared in 107 games and scored 22 goals. In 1985 he moved back to Brazil to wind down his playing career with São Paulo, but only appeared ten times for the club. He received a call-up to the 1986 Brazilian national roster that was to fly out to the World Cup but was only used as a late-game substitute in some matches.

The midfielder featured just twice in Brazil’s run to the quarter-finals, both times in the group stage. His appearance against Algeria proved to be his last cap before retirement as his playing career came to an end at the age of 33. Following his retirement Falcão served as a coach for several teams, the highlight being named as manager of the Brazilian national team between 1990 and 1991. Initially he struggled to win games, but at the Copa América of 1991 he took the team to second place in the final group with only a defeat by fierce rivals Argentina denying them the title.

After leaving the national team he subsequently coached Club América in Mexico and the Japanese national team. Little in the way of success ensued and in 1994 Falcão retired from coaching altogether, or at least for the next sixteen years. Following this lengthy hiatus, Falcão signed a contract with his former club Internacional. Unfortunately, this proved a brief sojourn and he was fired that same year for poor results. He continued to coach some of Brazil’s lesser lights and even returned once more to International in 2016.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

THE FANTASY FOOTBALL OF ZBIGNIEW BONIEK

 

25/08/2017 by ALI KHALED.              www.thesefootballtimes.co

 

 

Image

 
The 1982 World Cup may just have boasted more great teams, players and matches than any other since. Champions Italy, the brilliant France of Platini, Giresse and Tigana, and, of course, the magical Brazilian team; perhaps the greatest never to win a World Cup. There was also one particularly brattish, bushy-haired Argentine who wouldn’t yet conquer the world for another four years.

Often forgotten in the midst of the fun in the Spanish sun is perhaps Poland’s finest ever team along with the best and, until Robert Lewandowski came along, most famous player ever to don the red and white: Zbigniew Boniek.

The attacking midfielder, blessed with scorching pace, had caught the eye as a 22-year-old at the 1978 World Cup, scoring twice in a 3-1 win over Mexico as Poland topped their group ahead of reigning champions West Germany. Most football fans, however, remember him for a superb hat-trick at the Camp Nou against Belgium four years later.

The first was a thunderous shot into the roof of the net from Grzegorz Lato’s pull back. The second a looped header over the advancing Theo Custers.

The third came from a move he started himself, on the halfway line, with a cross field pass to Włodzimierz Smolarek who worked the ball to Lato, who in turn slipped Boniek in.

His quick feet saw him drift past the hapless Custers and Poland’s unstoppable number 20 caressed the ball into an empty net.

Belgium, who has started the tournament with a win over Diego Maradona’sArgentina, were brought to their knees. Heartbreakingly for Boniek, an 88th-minute booking in the 0-0 draw with the USSR meant he missed the semi-final against Italy. 

Without their talisman, Poland had no answer for Paolo Rossi’s double. Despite the disappointment, Poland, with Boniek back in the team, won 3-2 against a France team even more desolate than themselves to claim an impressive third-place finish.

It was Poland’s best World Cup performance and the outstanding Boniek made FIFA’s team of the tournament.

At 26, after two seasons at Zawisza Bydgoszcz, followed by 50 league goals and two championship medals at Widzew Łódź, Boniek was ready for the big time and it soon arrived with a move to the most glamorous European team of the era, Giovanni Trapattoni’s Juventus.

Dino Zoff, Antonio Cabrini, Gaetano Scirea, Claudio Gentile, Marco Tardelli and Paolo Rossi all returned to Turin in 1982 with World Cup winning medals draped around their necks.
Awaiting them was arguably Europe’s finest player MichelPlatini. With Boniek then added to the mix, the team was expected to sweep all before them.

But, just as Real Madrid would discover two decades later with their Galácticos policy, teams are very often less than the sum of their parts and though Juventus won the 1983 Coppa Italia, they were forced to settle for second place in Serie A, finishing behind Roma. Then came the European Cup final against Hamburg at the Olympic Stadium in Athens. The world tuned in expecting a coronation; what they got was one of the most anti-climatic finals befitting an era full of anticlimactic finals. 

Felix Magath’s ninth minute goal was enough to give the West German club their first title, the sixth 1-0 European Cup final win in a row. Juventus’ galaxy of stars simply did not show up or shone too dimly to be noticed.

The following season the chemistry grow and the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place for the Old Lady of Italian football. With Boniek and Platini in superb form, Juventus won their 21st league title before claiming the Cup Winners’ Cup with a 2-1 victory over Porto in Basel; Boniek assuming the role of hero having provided the first half winner.

In January of 1985, back the in freezing conditions of Basel, Boniek was once again his team’s match winner in the European Super Cup, scoring both goals in a 2-0 win over European Champions Liverpool. When the two teams met just months later, it would turn out to be one of football’s darkest days. Before the start of the 1985 European Cup final at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, 39 Juventus fans died after crowd trouble involving Liverpool fans. Incredibly, the match went ahead.

Late in the first half, Boniek won the penalty which Platini converted to give Juventus their first ever European Cup. But what should have been the highlight of Boniek’s career had long since turned into a nightmare for all involved. The match would prove to be Boniek’s last in the black and white of Juventus and that summer he moved Roma.

Though often the man for the big occasion, Boniek, curiously, had a very modest domestic goalscoring record. He only scored 14 league goals in his time at Juventus, 17 in his three seasons at Roma and 24 in 80 internationals. A Coppa Italia final win over Sampdoria gave the Pole his final career medal in 1986 before the summer played host to a disappointing Poland exit at the World Cup in Mexico, departing during the round of 16 after a 4-0 thrashing by Brazil. Boniek retired from football just two years later.

With good reason, most shall remember Boniek for his time at Juventus. His countrymen, however, will remember that night in Barcelona and the fleeting promise that Boniek made his people, daring them to dream of him carrying their country all the way to World Cup glory.

 Ali Khaled  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites



Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In

Well, this is awkward!

Happy Sunny Days GIF by Atlassian

The Shed End Forum relies on revenue to pay for hosting and upgrades. While we try to keep adverts as unobtrusive as possible, we need to show these to make sure we can stay online and continue to keep the forum running. Over the years costs have become very high.

Could you please allow adverts on this domain by switching it off and whitelisting the website? Some of the advert banners can actually be closed to avoid interference with your experience on The Shed End.

If you don't want to view any adverts while logged in and using your account, consider using the Ad-Free Subscription which is renewable every year. To buy a subscription, log in to your account and click the link under the Newbies forum on the home page.

Cheers now!

Sure, let me in!