WHEn LEGEn DS RETURn ED HOME
LONG LIVE
THE KINGJOHAn CRUYFF
The Dutchman had sealed six league titles and three
European Cups during his first stretch at Ajax – seven
years later, in 1980, he was back as technical advisor.
He helped the club climb from eighth in the Eredivisie
to second before pulling his boots back on at 33 and
winning the league in each of the next two seasons.
DIEGO MARADOn A
Thirteen years separated Maradona’s two spells with
Boca Juniors. After celebrating a league crown in his
initial stint, he returned in 1995 to make his second
debut in an unconventional friendly in South Korea.
El Diego dreamed of bagging another title but was
thwarted after squandering five successive penalties.THIERRY HEn RY
The Frenchman’s first period with Arsenal delivered
226 goals, the second just two – but it still produced
one of the most special moments of his career. ‘Titi’
was 34 when he reappeared on loan from New York
Red Bulls; the Emirates went berserk when he scored
ten minutes into his second debut, as a substitute.It didn’t stop him guiding United to another
Champions League final in his last season at
the club, mind – Ronaldo launched a 40-yard
missile at Porto that was so good it scooped
FIFA’s maiden Puskas Award. He also helped
United to overhaul Liverpool and win a third
league title in as many years, only for Pep
Guardiola and Barcelona to ruin his fairytale
ending in Rome. As well as deposing the Red
Devils as European champions, Barça won
five more trophies that year as Messi began a
four-year domination of the Ballon d’Or.“GET ME 1,000 ROSES”
Ronaldo joined Real in the summer of 2009
for a world-record £80m, with a €1-billion
release clause a whopping cherry on top.
Florentino Pérez had by then assumed the
Bernabéu presidency, and some had advised
him to back out of the deal, worried about its
financial implications. Pérez opted to plough
on, though, with Barcelona and Manchester
City ready to step in. If there’d been a chance
that Ronaldo might end up playing under
Pep, instead he was tasked with halting the
domestic dominance of the Catalan coach.
Ronaldo-mania quickly took hold in
Madrid. “The Bernabéu was full for his
presentation – almost 100,000 people
coming to see one player,” former team-
mate Royston Drenthe recalls to FFT. “We
hung out a lot, but he had to get used to how
big he was in Spain. Some players could go to
a nightclub, and they’d be bothered a bit by
other people. If we went somewhere with
Cris, it had to be organised in secret. We
arranged our own parties with people we
wanted to invite, as it was almost impossible
to go to a club with him.
“He has no privacy in his life at all. It
makes me angry if people say he’s arrogant.
How do you know? You don’t know him. He’s
almost never able to be himself, unless he
displays some kind of arrogance to shield
himself – otherwise he has to say ‘yes’ to
everything and that’s impossible.“HE HAS nO PRIVACY AT ALL. IT
MAKES ME AnGRY IF PEOPLE SAY
HE’S ARROGAnT – HOW DO YOU
KnOW? YOU DOn’T KnOW HIM”
FourFourTwo.com The Story of Man Utd 125