FourFourTwo November 2020 71PETER
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but they soon began a stunning 33-match
unbeaten run that took them all the way to
the end of the campaign.
By mid-April, they were a point clear at the
top when they faced title rivals Arsenal in an
FA Cup semi-final replay at Villa Park. It was
tied at 1-1 when the Gunners were given an
injury-time spot-kick, and Dennis Bergkamp
seemed set to seal victory for Arsenal – until
Schmeichel saved the penalty. In extra time,
Ryan Giggs’ iconic solo strike steered United
into the final.
“When he kept out that penalty, I believed
we would win, because he never ever saved
penalties,” says Cole. “At everything else, he
was unbelievable, but in all the years I played
with him, I’d never seen him make a penalty
save. He made one that night, and that was
that. That was the momentum we needed at
the end of that season.”
Fergie’s trophy-hoarding troops went on to
pocket the Premier League title and FA Cup.
Schmeichel’s United swansong would be the
Champions League final in Barcelona.
With just a few minutes left on that balmy
night, United trailed 1-0 to Bayern Munich. It
looked like he would be departing the club on
a low. “I wasn’t thinking about that,” he says
now. “To be honest, I can’t remember what
I was thinking at that moment – I probably
wasn’t thinking about anything! But what we
learned that season, and in many seasons
before that, was that games last 90 minutes,
plus whatever the referee added on. In those
extra minutes, a lot can change. Teams think
they’re near the end and get nervous, and we
piled on the pressure, going into risk mode.”
There is no greater risk than the goalkeeper
racing upfield for a corner in the 91st minute,
but that was what Schmeichel did, as he had
done at home to Rotor Volgograd four years
earlier. “When I went up, it wasn’t necessarily
to score myself, but to generate havoc and
confusion,” he reveals. “You come up against
very well-organised teams, but I’m sure they
don’t talk about the keeper coming forward
for corners. It can create chaos.”
Schmeichel’s presence in the penalty area
did just that. He didn’t quite win his header
but Teddy Sheringham benefited from the
anarchy, diverting in the leveller. Two minutes
later, Solskjaer had won it and Schmeichel
was doing cartwheels around the Camp Nou.
The custodian, who was captain that night
in place of the suspended Roy Keane, would
leave United by lifting the Champions League
to complete a remarkable Treble.
“That felt so good, it really did,” he admits.
“You can carry on winning the same thing for
the next two, three or four years, or you can
leave the way I left. What’s best? I actually
don’t know. But I’m happy with everything.”
With good reason, having written his name
into Manchester United folklore. He moved
to Portugal with Sporting and later returned
to England with Villa and Manchester City,
before retiring in 2003. But even a brief spell
with United’s rivals didn’t diminish his status
as an Old Trafford legend.
“That means a lot,” he says of the affection
he always gets from United supporters. “The
fans are very loyal, and most of us who have
travelled around the world for the club have
experienced that love – it never fades away.
Not long ago, I flew to Bangkok in the middle
of the night and there were still thousands of
fans there waiting. You think, ‘Wow’.”
No goalkeeper has ever matched his five
Premier League titles, but the adoration he
receives is as much about his supreme ability
as the trophies he won. “He’s the best keeper
there’s ever been in Premier League history,”
states Cole. “I don’t think there’s any debate
about that, is there?”Schmeichel is seen as not just the Premier
League’s finest, but one of the best keepers in
football history. “It’s great to be thought of
in that way,” says the 56-year-old. “Everyone
wants to be praised for what they’ve done in
their career. When you’re nearly two decades
away from making your last appearance and
people still think like that, it makes me very
proud. It means that after all the hard work
I put in, even with the sore back, everything
was worth it.”
That night at the Camp Nou, any discomfort
disappeared when Solskjaer found the net –
and Schmeichel has the footage to prove it.“DESIRE, PASSION,
EVERYTHING IT TOOK
TO BE A WINNER, HE
HAD IN ABUNDANCE –
BUT HE WAS MAD”
Left Peter foils
Inter en route to
1999 Treble joy
Above “Creating
chaos” upfront
allowed United
to floor Bayern,
and Schmeichel
to cartwheel at
the Camp Nou