By Myles Palmer
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Real Madrid 2 Bayern Leverkusen 1
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Raul 9, Lucio 14, Zidane 45
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Roberto Carlos proved me wrong by making both goals!
First with a 40-yard throw to Raul, whose shot dribbled past frozen keeper Butt.
The Germans had not heeded a previous long throw from Carlos to Raul three minutes before.
I thought : WAKE UP!
Footballers can be so annoying. It was sheer stupidity to be caught by something so basic twice in three minutes.
Second goal :taking Solari’s inspired pass down the flank, Roberto Carlos hooked it across to Zidane, who had nobody within 10 yards of him.
Zidane sent a colossal left-foot volley looping into the near side of the goal just on half-time.
In between the second and third goals we saw a very good match for half an hour.
LUCIO, one of the world’s most exciting footballers, headed in Schneider’s free-kick from the left for 1-1.
Facially, Figo was suffering. You could see the pain and doubt on his face.
FIGO should NOT have been out there. He is not fit.He’s two yards slower than he was at Barcelona.
Leverkusen were wonderfully brave minnows with a great shape, good habits, sometimes using three passes where Arsenal would use one, but always three sharp, quick passes.
Their push-and-run style and compact shape served them well as they outplayed the flickering stars in all-white.
After 42 minutes I was thinking that if Real Madrid had more of the ball they could give it to Zidane, who wasn’t in the game.
Because Figo was crocked, the axis of the team was Roberto Carlos servicing Raul with 30-yard passes.And long throws.
Then Zidane scored a spectacular goal that will be shown for decades.
But I never thought it was over. Seven minutes of stoppage time were played.
Keeper Butt came up for a header that bounced down and up and over the bar.
Casillas, on as a sub for the ankle-injured Cesar, cleared two off the line with his legs in a hectic finale.
So Real Madrid won their ninth European Cup and the beautiful losers went home wondering how different it might have been with Ze Roberto, who was suspended, and skipper-stopper Nowotny, who is injured.
Berbatov missed an easy header, Kirtsen is over the hill, Neuville faded, so did Basturk, and Real started to boss the game.
But they never bossed it totally.
They had to sweat for the big bauble they love to call their own.
Zidane,who lost two finals with Juventus,made it third time lucky.
Failure can scar a man but Zizou’s Dortmund nightmares might ease off for a while after this triumph.
A hat-trick of losing finals might have made the big Berber neurotic.
He can relax now and he may even come back down to earth in time for Senegal on Friday 31st May.
STEVE McMANAMAN?
Please, please, please shut your big gob for the next six weeks.
DON’T do 50 interviews,moaning about not being in the World Cup, not knowing why you’re not there.
It’s boring, boring,boring. Take a holiday in Florida or Tahiti, forget about it.
Sven has taken players with a better attitude than you, pal. Simple as.
You’re a slacker. You’re a slackadaisical git and you’ve barely played a decent game since you whacked those two goals past Bolton at Wembley.Bolton were an Endsleigh or Nationwide team then.
You are an under-achiever and you don’t deserve to play for England.
Liverpool don’t miss you.They’ve done nothing but improve since you left.
15th May 2002.