Fernando Redondo
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| Fernando Redondo | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri | |
| Date of birth | July 6, 1969 | |
| Place of birth | Adrogué, Buenos Aires, Argentina | |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | |
| Playing position | Defensive midfielder | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1985-1990 1990-1994 1994-2000 2000-2004 |
Argentinos Juniors CD Tenerife Real Madrid A.C. Milan |
75 (1) 103 (8) 165 (4) 16 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1992-1999 | Argentina | 29 (1) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri (born July 6, 1969 in Adrogué) is a former Argentine professional football player. He was a classy defensive midfielder of outstanding skill and culture. He was a member of the Argentina national football team and played for the clubs Argentinos Juniors (1985-90), CD Tenerife (1990-94), Real Madrid (1994-2000), and AC Milan (2000-04). His best years came at Real Madrid where he was part of teams that won the UEFA Champions League twice and La Liga twice.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
Redondo made his debut for Argentinos Juniors in 1985 in the Argentine championship and he played for 5 years for the team before transferring to Spain in 1990.
Redondo made his debut in Spanish football playing for CD Tenerife under the management of former Real Madrid player Jorge Valdano. Twice during this period Real Madrid lost the La Liga title to arch-rivals FC Barcelona on the final day of the season in matches against Tenerife. When Valdano was subsequently appointed manager of Real Madrid, Redondo made the move along with him for a fee of US$5 million dollars in 1994.
The key years of his career were spent at Real Madrid where he was twice a champion of La Liga (1995 and 1997) and twice a European Champion (1997-1998 and 1999-2000), amongst other titles won during this period. It was during the 1999-2000 UEFA Champions League that he turned in his finest performances. His contribution to a 3-2 quarterfinals victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford will live long in the memory of Madrid and United fans alike. He was the best player of the game, and was the author of a spectacular play (the backheel of Old Trafford), in which Redondo backheeled the ball through the legs of defender Henning Berg before recovering it and assisting Raúl for Real Madrid's third goal. The performance is also of note because of the way another great midfielder of the 1990s, Roy Keane, was completely overshadowed by Redondo's display. The Prince’s performance in that particular game was totalitarian.[1]Sir Alex Ferguson said after the game “What does this player have in his boots? A magnet?” Always with a desire to play attacking football Redondo patrolled in front of the back four, forever available to receive the ball, he could create space for himself and others with his almost psychic reading of the game and his majestic technique. Fabio Capello once said he was “a tactically perfect player.”
After winning the final against Valencia CF, he was named the 1999-2000 UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player. In 2000, Redondo transferred to Italian club AC Milan in a highly controversial £11m move, which left many Real Madrid fans perplexed. Redondo was consistently injured, most notably with knee problems, during his first two seasons there, and in fact managed to injure his knee just three minutes into his first treadmill session. Because he was unable to play for 2½ years due to consistent knee problems, he suspended his £2.74m-a-year salary, and even tried to give back the house and car which the Milan board had given him, showing great ethics and principles rarely seen in professional sports today.[2]
In 2004, at the age of 34, Redondo retired from professional football following yet another knee injury.
[edit] International career
Redondo played for Argentina 29 times, the bulk of his appearances coming during the years 1992-1994, while Alfio Basile coached the Argentina side.
Redondo was rumored to have refused a call-up to the national team just before the 1990 FIFA World Cup, when it was coached by Carlos Salvador Bilardo. Redondo allegedly excused himself on account of not wanting to interrupt his university studies, but some say that he refused to play for Bilardo because he did not agree with his ultra-defensive strategy. His national side debut came on 18th June 1992, in a 2-0 victory against Australia.
Redondo shone in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, but after Diego Maradona was expelled for failing a drugs test, even the sublimely-gifted playmaker was unable to prevent the two-time world champions from falling at the last sixteen, their 3-2 defeat at the hands of Hagi’s Romania lauded by many as one of the great World Cup games of any era.
Argentina's subsequent coach, Daniel Passarella excluded him from the squad. Newspapers reported that Redondo was excluded because he refused to cut his long hair. Passarella stated that he was excluded because Redondo insisted on only playing in central midfield, refusing to do it on the left side of the field. Subsequently, in 1999, when Argentina was coached by Marcelo Bielsa, Redondo was called up to the national side for two friendlies against arch-rivals Brazil. Although Redondo was the man-of-the match in the 2-0 victory over the Brazilians in Buenos Aires, marking opposing star Rivaldo out of the game, Redondo refused any subsequent call-ups from Bielsa, preferring to focus his energies on Real Madrid.
His scant appearances due to the disagreements or refusals to play for Bilardo, Passarella, and Bielsa in World Cup finals (especially in the 1998 FIFA World Cup) are a probable explanation of his little recognition when compared with other, arguably lesser, defensive midfielders of his era.
[edit] Legacy
Redondo was a deep-lying playmaker. He broke up opposition attacks with sharp tackling and set in motion attacks of his own with crisp, short passing. Many believe that he is the last great Argentine number five. Nestor Rossi, Antonio Rattin, Sergio Batista - Redondo was a worthy heir to the tradition: he had physical presence, a wonderful left foot and the intelligence to dictate the rhythm of the game.
Though relatively short compared to the tenures of other great footballers to have played for Real Madrid, his years at the club are fondly recalled by Madrid supporters worldwide. Leading by both skill and personality, Redondo could control the pace of a game and his combativeness combined with his exquisite technique allowed him to effectively function as both the destructive and creative fulcrum of the side. Redondo, arguably, is the key influence to several Argentine holding midfielders such as Javier Mascherano or Fernando Gago.
[edit] Retirement
Following his retirement , Redondo moved back to Buenos Aires to be closer to his family. Redondo was a good friend of Diego Maradona, who acted as a mentor to the young Redondo early in his career.
[edit] Honours
- South American U-17 Championship 1985
- Confederations Cup 1992
- Copa América 1993
- Spanish League 1995, 1997
- Intercontinental Cup 1998
- UEFA Champions League 1998, 2000, 2003
- Italian Cup 2003
- Champions League Most Valuable Player 2000
[edit] References
- ^ Article on Redondo
- ^ Football knowledge: Players who fell short of a century of caps and much more football trivia
[edit] External links
- NationalFootballTeams details
- Superfutbol.com.ar biography (Spanish)
- L'Équipe stats (French)
| Preceded by David Beckham |
UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player 1999-2000 |
Succeeded by Stefan Effenberg |
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