July 25, 2000: Real Madrid Club de Fútbol sign Luís Figo to a contract. This begins the team's "Galácticos" Era.
The Spanish soccer team define themselves by the UEFA Champions League, the tournament known from its 1955 establishment until 1992 as the European Cup, which is still the name of the trophy given to the winner. They won the 1st 5 in a row, from 1956 to 1960. They won it again in 1966. Then they didn't win it again until 1998. From 1966 onward, managers have been fired for not winning it, even after seasons when they won Spain's La Liga.
They won it in 2000, in large part because they had signed one of the best players from England, Liverpool FC's Steve McManaman. Inspired by this, and newly installed as the team's president, Florentino Pérez was determined to keep it. So, hearing that Figo, the most popular player for their arch-rivals, FC Barcelona, was disgruntled and wanted to leave, they paid €62 million for him.
The reaction in Catalonia was fury and a sense of betrayal: One banner at an El Clásico match between the teams read, "We hate you so much, because we loved you so much."
(Note: This post is about Real's Galácticos. Figo's move from Barcelona to Real Madrid, and how it affected the relationship between the teams, is a separate story, deserving of a separate post, which I have written.)
Pérez also signed Claude Makélélé from Spanish team Celta Vigo. He and Figo were added to a team that already included Fernando Hierro, Raúl (González), Guti (real name: José María Gutiérrez), Roberto Carlos, Fernando Morientes, Míchel Salgado, and goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
But Real were eliminated from the 2001 Champions League in the Semifinal, by Germany's Bayern Munich. So Pérez poached perhaps the best player in the world at the time, spending €73.5 million to get French midfielder Zinedine Zidane from Italian team Juventus. It worked, as Zidane led Los Blancos to win the Champions League in 2002.
But enough was never enough. Pérez shelled out €45 million to get the world's best forward, 2002 World Cup winner Ronaldo of Brazil, from Italian team Internazionale Milano. A generation later, it can now truthfully be said that Cristiano Ronaldo is not even the greatest Ronaldo to play for Real Madrid in the 21st Century.
But in 2003, Juventus knocked Real out in the Semifinals. So Pérez splashed the cash again, giving English champions Manchester United €37.5 million for the most famous (though hardly the best) player in England, David Beckham. It wasn't enough: In 2004, AS Monaco eliminated Real on penalties in the Quarterfinal.
So Pérez made another entreaty to England, getting Michael Owen from Liverpool. But the injuries that curtailed Owen's career were already taking effect. The era was fizzling out, and Real did not win the Champions League again until 2014 -- although that started a run of 5 in 9 years, giving them 14, twice as many as any other team.
The Galácticos concept inspired other teams. In 2003, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich bought West London team Chelsea FC, and spent them to glory, including buying Makélélé. The royal family of the United Arab Emirates bought Manchester City, and did the same thing. The prices of players went up, up, up. A player whose talents might have cost €5 million in 2005 would, by 2015, have cost €50 million, leading to the joke, "Did somebody forget a decimal point?"
*
July 25, 2000 was a Tuesday. In America, the only sport in progress at the time was baseball. These games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 19-1 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Bronx Bombers got home runs from Paul O'Neill, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Ryan Thompson and Clay Bellinger. Andy Pettitte was the winning pitcher.
The Yankees knew a thing or two about building a team of superstars, although, being from an Anglophone country, they didn't use the term "Galácticos." The Orioles' "Galáctico," Cal Ripken Jr., having ended his streak in 1998, did not play in this game.
* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 5-0 at Shea Stadium. Glendon Rusch was the winning pitcher. The Mets' "Galáctico," Mike Piazza, went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. The Expos' "Galáctico," Vladimir Guerrero Sr., went 1-for-4.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. The New Englanders' "Galáctico," Nomar Garciaparra, went 2-for-4. David Ortiz went 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs -- for the Twins. He wouldn't join the Red Sox until 2003. It's not clear when his steroid use began, but that was the year he tested positive for them.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Cubs' "Galáctico," Sammy Sosa, went 0-for-1... with 3 walks.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins, 6-5 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. The Braves' "Galáctico," Chipper Jones, went 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Tom Glavine was the winning pitcher.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-3 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. The Tribe's "Galáctico," Jim Thome, went 0-for-1 with 2 walks, then left the game due to injury.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. José Hernández singled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.
* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-4 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati. The Astros had 2 "Galácticos": Craig Biggio went 2-for-4 with a walk, and Jeff Bagwell went 1-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. The Reds also had 2 "Galácticos," both graduates of Cincinnati's Archbishop Moeller High School: Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs; while Barry Larkin (5 years older and never a teammate, even in an All-Star Game, until this season) went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 6-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Rays' "Galácticos," Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff, both went 2-for-3 with a walk. Canseco also had an RBI.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-1 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. The South Siders' "Galáctico," Frank Thomas, went 1-for-4.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The Cards' "Galáctico," Mark McGwire, did not play. The Diamondbacks', Randy Johnson, did, but was the losing pitcher.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Anaheim Angels, 9-6 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-4 at Coors Field in Denver.
* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). The Padres' "Galáctico," Tony Gwynn, did not play, although you could count reliever Trevor Hoffman, who got the save in relief of Woody Williams. The Giants' "Galáctico," Barry Bonds, went 0-for-4.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-7 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.
No comments:
Post a Comment