Special: Redondo retires from football

In Novenber, Fernando Redondo retired from football. After playing with Argentinos Juaniors, Tenerife he became a worldclass player with Real Madrid. And mow with 35 after an odysee of injuries at Milan he was forced to retire. We just wish he will stay with football. Maybe one day we'll see him back with Real Madrid as a coach. In honor to this remarkable footballer we want to present you here a special on him. Many thanks to El Fenomeno from XT for the editorial and Sahl for the wallpaper. Enjoy it! LaBlanca

Redondo Special

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14.12.2004

Editorial by El Fenomeno

Fernando Redondo- The original Galactico.

Puskas and Di Steffano are inscribed in Real Madrid History and Raul Gonzales is in the process of writing his chapter, but never forget who returned Real Madrid to greatness.

1961. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Amongst the midst of Argentina’s noble neighbourhoods to a working class family, a legend was born. His parents, Fernando and Cristina, showed off their new baby to friends and relatives whilst jokingly proclaiming to them that he would one day become a world-renowned artist. Little did they know that their new born child would take art to a whole new level- on the football pitch.

Growing up, Fernando dreamt of emulating Argentine legends such as Kempes and of course, Diego Maradona. His first taste of organised football came at the tender age of 15, where he made his case in the Argentine Junior teams. Teams from Italy and Spain sent their scouts trying to trash out a deal to bring the young prodigy to Europe. Ultimately, Redondo decided to join la liga club Tenerife, claiming the similarities in language and tradition would help him settle in easier. He went on to play three, often injury-plagued seasons for the Islanders, raising eyebrows across the continent with some sparkling displays. They particularly caught the eye of one Jorge Valdano, who arranged a $3m switch to the Bernabeu in the summer of 1994 as part of a new project alongside other newcomers like Raul and Michael Laudrup.

At Real Madrid, Redondo was at the heart of the Real revival, as the sleeping giants set about first returning to the top of the domestic pile (not an easy task given that Johan Cruyff’s “Dream Team” had won four back-to-back titles) and then conquering Europe and reinstating Madrid‘s place as the biggest club side in the World. Using a new brand of inventive football, Redondo’s brilliant balance and blend between supporting hitman Raul Gonzales and carrying out defensive duties, helped bring the Spanish league title to Madrid in 1995 for the first time in five years.

Redondo went on to prove an integral part of an all-conquering 1997 side that won another league title as well as the spanish Super Cup. There was a place where magic lived, and it wasn't Disney world. On and off the pitch, he was just a classy guy. Redondo was cooler than a polar bear's toenails, he was, in effect, Real's first galactico - the catalyst of the change even before the idea was born.

It was Redondo's sublime play in the 1998 campaign- 32 years since the days of Puskas and Di Stefano- that helped Real Madrid launch its recent assertion in Europe. Vicente del Bosque said the Argentine had laid the basis for the club's resurgence in the late 1990s. "He was the boss," he said. "He established the style of play that has characterized Real Madrid in recent years."

For me, he was the ultimate midfielder. An absolute dream come true. Disciplined, competitive, blessed with plenty of stamina and a great sense of awareness, he was such a wonderful team player. He was also very smart, never tried to force anything and always made things simple. Redondo mastered the basics of the game, yet at the same time there were not many players that could match his style and class. Ex-Real Madrid sporting director Jorde Valdano said it best; “You don’t hesitate with Redondo for one second, or you will end up on some poster or video clip at a gift shop somewhere”. Just ask Henning Berg. Already cruising 0-2 at Old Trafford in a Champions League encounter, Redondo conjured up the most majestic piece of breathtaking individual skill seen since the days of his boyhood idol, Diego Maradona. On a night where he single-handedly destroyed the Manchester United midfield almost as if it didn’t exist, Redondo found himself charging down the left flank with seemingly nowhere to turn, his back towards the defender and facing the crowd (who were anticipating a throw-in) Redondo then flicked to execute a delicate back-hell around centre back Henning Berg whilst spinning around the defender himself, before picking up the ball and squaring for Raul to tap into an empty net. 0-3. Game Over.

By now, many experts had acknowledged him as perhaps the world’s finest midfielder, there was simply no limit to the man’s talent. Perhaps the only downside in his marvellous career was the bad luck his International affairs with Argentina proved to be. He refused to appear in Argentina's Italia ’90 squad as they prepared to defend their title because he wanted to finish his studies.

Fernando had a list of priorities unlike most other athletes in his era. He had an agenda: School. Degree. Professional football. In that order. But the got good. Very good. So good was the kid that he was asked to leave school early. His destiny waited somewhere else. He would discover all the riches and fame that come with being the Next. But Fernando Redondo never let the trees keep him from seeing the forest. He continued his education while dropping jaws on the soccer fields in Buenos Aeries. Can you imagine giving up the opportunity to shine on the biggest stage of them all just because you wanted to graduate first? But instead he chose to get recognized as one of the few in his field to finish what they had started. In the real world, what Fernando Redondo accomplished that day was far greater than winning a World Cup Trophy. One lasts a lifetime, the other gets replaced every four years. On that day many wanted him not to be there. The kid never thought twice about not. Why is the kid a hero? Because in a world where professional athletes could care less (and are careless) about education, Fernando Redondo had his priorities straight.

other editorials by Shayan and El Fenomeno

He was robbed of his two other chances to shine for Argentina, as the controversy surrounding Diego Maradona at USA 94 paid its toll on the team. At France 1998, Redondo’s international career was once again in tatters after the new national coach, the disciplinarian Daniel Pasarella, insisted that he cut his hair or be shown the door- an incident that ultimately cost him his place in the side.

After inspiring and captaining Real to their eighth European Cup win (a UEFA panel voted him the best player of the tournament), Redondo was unceremoniously foiled out of the club by new President Florentino Perez, who ruled the Argentine too influential a figure in the dressing room, and he was soon shipped out to Italy. Before he could even kick a ball in Serie A, his world caved in with one tweak of the knee ligament. One X-Ray. Two microscopic scans. Three agonising days until the truth was made known. On a later summer afternoon in 2002 at the Milanello training facility, one of the greatest football players in the world was working out on a treadmill when he suffered a devastating knee injury. How do you have the greatest gift known to you, one you feel God put you on this earth to share, taken from you before it's time to let go? How do you face not just adversity, but demise? This was the first day of the end of his career, the day he would leave our lives to fight for his. And to show the sheer magnitude of the man's character, during his absence he waived his €4.9m annual salary as a gesture of goodwill to Milan. As much as the end of his career hurt, it didn’t matter because inside this man lived a legend's heart. A heart that the ways of the world could never turn cold.

by El Fenomeno

Breaking News:

Redondo 'switches' for the Real Madrid veterans
mar 14 dic, 11:32 AM

Fernando Redondo returns to Madrid. The central midfielder of Argentina, that has recently announced his retirement of soccer, will play as of the month of January with the veterans of the madridista club, in a draftee that, according to it wants to make the own soccer player clear, does not have to be translated, in no case, like an approach of the ex- soccer player to the white organization to occupy no type of position.

After his announcement of retirement, Fernando has not let to train every week, in addition to playing with the team of friends, the Chacarita, in a amateur league of soccer 7 in Torrelodones. For that reason, one absolutely stays in form, thing that will demonstrate fully just after Christmases.

The key of his return to the white club, in addition to its extraordinary passion, is his confessed madridismo. Its love by the colors that he dressed during six seasons in which he became an idol of Real Madrid.

The veterans of Madrid usually meet themselves to train twice per week (Tuesday and Thursday) in Alcobendas, besides to practically play all the weekends in all Spain. Redondo has predicted to get himself to the entrenos after Christmas, since he will pass the celebrations and his birthday with his family in Argentina.

In this team of old glories of Madrid some names play illustrate that they are let see of habitual form all the weekends, case of Michel, Martín Vázquez, Santillana, Los Llorente or Aldana between other glories of the madridismo. The Association of Veterans works well. The full team stages in all its games and collects money to help the ex-white players with necessities.