A Long Journey Comes Full Circle for Real Madrid
It took 38 years, but Real Madrid of Spain has finally regained its world championship.
The reigning European champion defeated South American champion Vasco da Gama of Brazil, 2-1, in Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium on Monday to win the Toyota-Intercontinental Cup for the first time since the inaugural competition in 1960.
A goal by Spanish national team striker Raul less than eight minutes before the final whistle gave Real Madrid its victory.
Collecting a long pass from Dutch national team midfielder Clarence Seedorf, Raul dribbled past two defenders before firing a bending shot that beat Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Carlos Germano.
Raul’s game-winning goal capped a fine performance and, as player of the game, he was rewarded with a new car by the event’s sponsor.
“I wasn’t thinking,” he said of the skill he displayed in getting past the two Vasco da Gama defenders. “The game was even and both teams had a chance to score. I just took the chance.”
The Real Madrid triumph extended the string of European victories in the competition to four, following Borussia Dortmund’s win in 1997, Juventus’ in 1996 and Ajax Amsterdam’s in 1995.
“We just gave Real too much space to do what they wanted,” Vasco da Gama Coach Antonio Lopes said. “They took the few chances they had, we didn’t.”
It was a wide-open match, with Real Madrid playing in an attacking 3-4-3 formation and both teams committed to the offense in front of a crowd of 51,000.
A defensive miscue by Vasco da Gama’s Nasa gave the Spanish team its first goal in the 26th minute. Once again, Seedorf was involved.
The Dutch player’s long diagonal pass found Roberto Carlos, Real’s Brazilian World Cup star, out on the left wing. He immediately crossed the ball into the goal area where Nasa, standing six yards from the net and attempting to head the ball clear, instead headed it past his own goalkeeper.
“Tonight we were a bit lucky with the first goal, but we kept attacking and that’s what won it for us,” said Real Madrid Coach Guus Hiddink, who guided the Netherlands to fourth place in World Cup ’98 before taking charge of the Spanish club.
Real Madrid’s defense, in which Fernando Hierro and Manuel Sanchis were outstanding, held firm despite repeated attacks by Vasco da Gama.
“If we win, it will lift the spirits of Brazilian people because they are still down after the World Cup,” Lopes had said before the match. But Vasco da Gama found Real Madrid’s defense difficult to unlock.
The Brazilian team changed tactics in the second half, abandoning its short-passing game and sending longer passes into the Real Madrid goal area, testing former German national team goalkeeper Bodo Illgner. Finally, in the 57th minute, Vasco da Gama made the breakthrough.
After Illgner had blocked two close-range shots, Juninho trapped the ball with his left foot, cut inside a defender and unleashed an unstoppable rising shot from 18 yards that tied the score, 1-1.
The attacking play continued and both teams came close to scoring. First, a powerful downward header by Real Madrid’s other Brazilian star, Savio, was excellently saved by Germano in the 78th minute.
Next, Vasco da Gama’s Felipe made a superb run deep into Real Madrid’s half, leaving two defenders in his wake, but his diagonal shot, with only Illgner to beat, flew just wide of the post.
Finally, Raul’s goal put an end to Vasco da Gama’s hopes of adding the world club championship to the Copa Libertadores and the Carioca (Rio de Janeiro state) championship it has won in its centenary year.
The loss was cause for celebration by at least one segment of Rio’s soccer-mad population. Hundreds of Flamengo supporters celebrated the defeat of archrival Vasco da Gama as if their team had won a title. Sporting Flamengo’s red and black shirts, they exploded fireworks and hooted car horns throughout the city.
It was payback time. When Vasco da Gama returned to Brazil after winning the Copa Libertadores, beating Ecuador’s Barcelona in the final, its victory parade passed directly in front of Flamengo’s headquarters.
But Vasco da Gama still has a chance to add one more trophy to its case. It plays Major League Soccer’s Washington D.C. United on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in the second leg of the InterAmerican Cup.
The Brazilian team won the first leg, 1-0, at RFK Stadium in Washington and needs only a tie to claim the championship of, if not the world, then at least the hemisphere.
The game will be telecast live on Fox Sports World and Fox Sports Americas.
