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REMEMBERING ROY’S PROUDEST MOMENT
It was 21 years ago today. Exactly 252 months. No fewer than 7,671 days [That’s enough padding – Fiver Ed]. Bill Clinton was president of the USA, a denim-peddling yellow sock named Flat Eric, the protege of French DJ Mr Oizo, was top of the pops and Manchester United were in Turin for the second leg of their Big Cup semi-final against Juventus.
Without Ryan Giggs, who had knacked himself while twirling his shirt over his head after scoring that FA Cup semi-final winner against Arsenal, Sir Alex Ferguson’s men were up against it, venturing into the belly of the Italian beast on the back of a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. After 11 minutes they were really up against it, having gone two goals down on the night.
Bending the game to his will with the intensity of Uri Geller after borrowing 10,000 spoons from an Alanis Morissette song, Roy Keane grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and gave it a good shake, using that throbbing vein in his forehead to biff home United’s first, before Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole added the second and third goals that saw United through to the final.
The story was all about Keane, however, who having done more than anyone in the United ranks to get them through, would miss the decider against Bayern Munich after picking up a yellow card for an ill-advised lunge on some French journeyman named Zinedine Zidane. Needless to say, it was somebody else’s fault, the mild-mannered, laid-back Irishman having made his rash challenge following a poor pass from Jesper Blomqvist. The real killer was a booking he’d received for getting all up in the ref’s grill during a previous Big Cup game against Inter.
“He didn’t speak to Jesper for about a month after that,” Andy Cole would later recall. “I think Jesper was worried about coming into training because he was worried Roy might do a two-footer on him.” Despite knowing he’d miss out on the final, Keane went into what Wes Brown described as “Terminator mode”, putting in what his manager, Lord Ferg would describe as “the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field”.
“I was for once proud of myself,” Keane would later write in his autobiography. “Content that I’d justified my existence and honoured my debts to the manager who had placed so much trust in me. [Big Cup] final was where I believed Manchester United should be. I genuinely felt that was so much more important than whether or not I would be there. When that euphoric feeling evaporated I was gutted.”
It was 21 years ago today, so it was. A day Manchester United fans of a certain age will never forget. Make sure to tune into the next edition of the Fiver, when we fondly reminisce about IFK Gothenburg’s scoreless stalemate against Djurgardens in the Swedish Allsvenskan, which as luck would have it in these times of teary, space-filling reminisces, was exactly 21 years ago on Wednesday.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The Premier League is putting itself at risk of becoming a patsy of those who want to use the glamour and prestige of Premier League football to cover up actions that are deeply immoral, in breach of international law and at odds with the values of the Premier League and the global footballing community” – Amnesty UK’s director Kate Allen dares the Premier League chief executive, Richard Masters, to take a stand over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
RECOMMENDED LOOKING
Speaking of which, here’s David Squires on … Newcastle United’s potential Saudi takeover. And you can get your very own copy here.
FIVER LETTERS
“Re. 1970s and 1980s club songs (yesterday’s Fiver), I have a copy of the 1973 sensation Hot Spurs Boogie on a black vinyl disc with a groove on either side. Is this a record?” – Tony Crooks.
‘“Re. least favourite games, March 1988, Bristol City away to Chester, lost 1-0. On the way home traffic came to a standstill on the M6, apart from the idiot who was still doing 70mph plus when he hit us. A 12-car pile up followed, I ended up in Stafford General Hospital, subsequently had full anterior cruciate repair on my right knee and my damaged right shoulder was pinned as a result. My mate driving got a chipped tooth. Life eh?” – Mike Patten.
“Like John Lowe, my ‘memorable’ game involved a Nasty Leeds play-off final in Cardiff. Against Watford in 2006. Although “memorable” is stretching it a bit – setting off at 5am, I unwisely took up the driver’s offer of opening the Tin on his behalf, as he was “off it for a bit” (and of course driving), and decided to neither stop not eat for the rest of the day. Cardiff town centre was a bit of a blur, I can’t remember anything about the stadium, in fact I have only two memories of the entire game – the ball bouncing back off the post, rebounding off Neil Sullivan’s not-insignificant arse, and dribbling into the net for Watford’s (apparent) third, and me standing up and attempting to lead the dejected Leeds fans into a chorus of Marching On Together, only to be chastised with a deafening chant of ‘Sit Down Dickhead’ ringing in my ears. I then fell asleep.” – Paddy Viner.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And you can always tweet The Fiver via @guardian_sport. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’the day is … Mike Patten.
QUIZ! QUIZ! QUIZ!
Quiz! What do you know of when Blackeye Rovers ruled England? Have a bang on this.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Players may be best advised to wear face masks during matches and when training, according to leading epidemiologist Dr Rowland Kao, who said it would be a ‘sensible precaution’ against the spread of coronavirus.
Sheffield United have deferred players’ wages to help them through the Covid-19 shutdown, while Arsenal have finally arrived at some kind of squad pay cut deal.
The EFL may consider a transfer embargo on clubs who defer player wages to deter them from splashing out in the market while existing players aren’t getting their full whack.
Barcelona will sell the Camp Nou naming rights for next season and give the proceeds towards fighting Covid-19.
Zlatan’s the man, according to Marcus Rashford, who gushed that Ibrahimovic was ‘beyond anything’ he had ever played with.
Serge Aurier and Moussa Sissoko have been caught training together, disregarding physical distancing and government guidelines over coronavirus because … Aurier posted a video on a social media disgrace.
Fifa says its planned £800m investment in women’s football will not be cut amid the shutdown. ‘This funding has already been committed,’ said a Fifa suit.
Accrington’s Sam Finley has been given an eight-game ban for calling Rochdale’s Paul McShane ‘a pikey’.
STILL WANT MORE?
The Forgotten Story of … title-chasing West Ham’s 8-1 romp against Newcastle, featuring Alvin Martin’s hat-trick against three different goalkeepers.
Nicky Bandini takes us back to the time of peak Mourinho, and how he fashioned an all-conquering Inter side in 2009-10.
Ewan Murray on fitba’s season-ending vote farce, and the unanswered questions hanging over the SPFL.
With sport frozen, we need to find joy in the journey, not the destination, writes Jonathan Liew
Oh, and if it’s your thing … you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace. And INSTACHAT, TOO!
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