Fernando Redondo

Fernando Redondo
Personal information
Full nameFernando Carlos Redondo Neri
Date of birth6 June 1969
Place of birthAdrogué, Argentina
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing positionDefensive midfielder
Youth career
Argentinos Juniors
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1985–1990Argentinos Juniors65(1)
1990–1994Tenerife103(8)
1994–2000Real Madrid165(4)
2000–2004Milan16(0)
Total349(13)
National team
1992–1999Argentina29(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Redondo and the second or maternal family name is Neri.

Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri (born 6 June 1969) is an Argentine retired footballer.

A defensive midfielder with the ability to contribute both offensively and creatively, he was renowned for his vision, passing range, technical ability, and close ball control. He played one full decade in La Liga, mainly for Real Madrid, then finished his career (curtailed by several injury problems) in Italy, with Milan.[1][2]

Redondo was a member of the Argentine national team in the 1990s, representing the nation in the 1994 World Cup, and also winning the 1992 King Fahd Cup and the 1993 Copa América with his national side.

Club career

Early years / Tenerife

Born in Adrogué, Buenos Aires Province, Redondo played his first game in the Primera División at only 16 for Argentinos Juniors, and remained five years with the team before moving abroad to Spain.

Redondo made his debut in La Liga with CD Tenerife, under the management of countryman Jorge Solari. During this period, Real Madrid twice lost the league title to arch-rivals FC Barcelona on the final day of the season, in matches against Tenerife who were managed by Jorge Valdano and, when the coach was appointed at Real Madrid in the summer of 1994, the player also made the move, for a fee of US$5 million.

Real Madrid

The key years of Redondo's career were spent at Real Madrid, where he won two league championships and the UEFA Champions League in 1998 and 2000. During the second victorious campaign in the latter competition, his performances won him the competition's Most Valuable Player award, with new coach Vicente del Bosque utilising him in a midfield combination with Steve McManaman. In the quarterfinals against Manchester United at Old Trafford, he was the author of a spectacular play in which he dribbled past Henning Berg by backheeling the ball around him, recovering it and assisting Raúl for Real Madrid's third goal (3–2 win, 3–2 on aggregate); after the game, opposing manager Alex Ferguson said “What does this player have in his boots? A magnet?”[3]

During his time in Madrid, Redondo earned the nickname El Principe ("The Prince").[4] In April 2013, he was named by daily newspaper Marca as a member of the "Best foreign eleven in Real Madrid's history",[5] and he amassed Spanish top division totals of 268 games and 12 goals over the course of one full decade.

Milan

In 2000 Redondo transferred to Serie A club A.C. Milan, in a controversial £11m move: he stated that he was not involved in transfer discussions and expressed his desire to stay at Madrid.[6] In response, a section of Real Madrid supporters gathered outside the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium protesting the transfer.[7] However, he suffered a serious knee injury in one of his first training sessions for his new team, and was unable to play for the next 2½ years; 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.[8]

In 2004, at the age of 34, Redondo retired from professional football following another knee injury.

International career

Redondo gained 29 caps for Argentina, the bulk of his appearances coming from 1992 to 1994 while Alfio Basile was the manager. His first appearance was on 18 June 1992, in a 2–0 friendly win over Australia.

Redondo turned down a call-up to the national team just before the 1990 FIFA World Cup, when it was coached by Carlos Salvador Bilardo. The player excused himself on account of not wanting to interrupt his law studies, but it was also reported that he objected to Bilardo's defensive strategy.[3][4] Redondo later explained: "I was picked for Argentina's World Cup squad in 1990 but I knew I wasn't going to be in the starting line-up, I would just be another squad member, so I preferred to stay home."[9]

In the 1994 World Cup Redondo started in all of Argentina's matches, but was unable to prevent the country from falling 2–3 to Romania in the round-of-16. Following the tournament in the United States he refused to play under Daniel Passarella who had banned long hair, earrings and homosexuals in his squad, leading to disputes with several players.[10] The former refused the latter's demand to cut his hair, and was left out of the national team, as even Diego Maradona and president Carlos Menem went on to take sides in the situation.[11]

Passarella excluded Redondo from his 1998 World Cup squad, stating: "Twice he was asked to play for the national team and twice he refused and gave a different reason each time. Then he announced publicly he did not want to play for the national team and I do not pick any player who does not want to play for Argentina."[12] The player later explained: "I was in great form. But he had particular ideas about discipline and wanted me to have my hair cut. I didn't see what that had to do with playing football so I said no again."[9]

In 1999, when Argentina was managed by Marcelo Bielsa, Redondo was recalled to the national side for two exhibition matches with Brazil. Although he was chosen Man of the match in the 2–0 victory in Buenos Aires he refused any subsequent call-ups, preferring to focus on club football.

Honours

Club

Real Madrid
Milan

Country

Individual

Statistics

Club

Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Argentinos Juniors 1985–86 100000—10
1986–87 0000000000
1987–88 14000——140
1988–89 360000000360
1989–90 141000000141
Total 651000000651
Tenerife 1990–91 231000000231
1991–92 322000000322
1992–93 204000000204
1993–94 281000000281
Total 10380000001038
Real Madrid 1994–95 231003100262
1995–96 232204010302
1996–97 331600000391
1997–98 3302011000460
1998–99 230207020340
1999–00 3005015030530
Total 1654170371602255
Milan 2000–01 -
2001–02 -
2002–03 80605000190
2003–04 80501000140
Total 1601107000330
Career totals 349132804416042614

References

External links