Fernando Redondo

Fernando Redondo
Personal information
Full name Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri
Date of birth (1969-06-06) 6 June 1969
Place of birth Adrogué, Argentina
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Defensive midfielder
Youth career
Talleres RE
1979–1985 Argentinos Juniors
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1990 Argentinos Juniors 65 (1)
1990–1994 Tenerife 103 (8)
1994–2000 Real Madrid 165 (4)
2000–2004 Milan 16 (0)
Total 349 (13)
National team
1992–1999 Argentina 29 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

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 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.

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 earned 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.

Style of play

An elegant deep-lying playmaker who played in front of the defence,[13] Redondo's main attributes were his creative passing, vision, technique and close control with his left foot, his ability to control the tempo of his team's play in midfield making him a key member of the Real Madrid side of the 90s.[14][15][16] Despite not having a great deal of pace, he possessed good acceleration and was an efficient and aggressive tackler, who contributed defensively just as much as he did offensively.[17][18]

Although he is regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation,[19][20][21] Redondo's career was also largely marked by injuries, in particular during the final years of his career.[18][16]

Personal life

Redondo was born into an industrialist family and enjoyed a wealthy upbringing, later studying law at university in the early years of his playing career.[22] He married the sister of fellow footballer Santiago Solari.[23]

An avid reader, Redondo counts Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez as his two favorite authors.[24]

Career statistics

[25]

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 281004000321
Total 10380040001078
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 1601106000330
Career totals 349132804716043014

Honours

Club

Real Madrid
Milan

International

Argentina

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Il regista di centrocampo: da Redondo a Verratti passando per Pirlo e Xavi" [Midfield playmakers: from Redondo to Verratti through Pirlo and Xavi] (in Italian). Fanta Gazzetta. 31 March 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri "Il Principe"" [Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri "The Prince"] (in Italian). Maglia Rossonera. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 One-touch perfectionist; The Guardian, 21 May 2000
  4. 1 2 A prince retires; The New York Sun, 30 November 2004
  5. ↑ "The best foreign eleven in Real Madrid's history". Marca. 11 April 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  6. ↑ Furious Redondo joins Milan for £11m; The Guardian, 28 July 2000
  7. ↑ Madrid lose Redondo to Milan; BBC Sport, 27 July 2000
  8. ↑ Football knowledge: Players who fell short of a century of caps; The Guardian, 13 February 2008
  9. 1 2 Two-year agony over as Milan ace roars back; The Free Libraby, 13 January 2003
  10. ↑ Daniel Passarella – Argentinian manager; at BBC
  11. ↑ Spain/Argentina: Argentina's major controversy of the moment-the length of midfielder Fernando Redondo's hair ; ITN Source, 6 September 1995
  12. ↑ Ace Batistuta keen to play for Liverpool; Irish Examiner, 22 April 1998
  13. ↑ Blair Newman (24 April 2015). "The relationship between a player's age and their position on a football pitch". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  14. ↑ "Real Madrid's key players". BBC Sport. 23 May 2000. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Ivan Zamorano: Perfect XI". FourFourTwo. 1 August 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  16. 1 2 "A prince at the Bernabéu". Real Madrid C.F. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  17. ↑ Hughes, Sam (11 February 2012). "When El Rey Fernando ruled Madrid". El Centrocampista. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  18. 1 2 Mike Zizzo (15 June 1994). "Baggio takes great strides toward soccer greatness". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  19. ↑ Christopher Clarey (30 June 1998). "World Cup '98; Argentina's coach knows way to ultimate prize". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  20. ↑ Mike Penner (13 June 1998). "For a world of reasons, many standouts are sitting this out". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  21. ↑ Nadia Carminati. "Spurs keep tabs on Redondo". Sky Sports. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  22. ↑ Roberto Perrone (14 November 2013). "Redondo, «el taconazo» che leggeva Borges" [Redondo, «el taconazo» who read Borges] (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  23. ↑ Enrique Romero (30 October 1999). "Que hoy nos dejen muy bien parados" [May our name be held very high today] (in Spanish). Olé. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  24. ↑ Luigi Bolognini (10 January 2002). "Il mistero Redondo alla prova del campo – Rientro nel Milan dopo due anni di stop" [Mistery Redondo tests the pitch – Return to Milan after two years of inactivity] (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  25. ↑ "Fernando Redondo". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  26. ↑ FIFA Awards; at RSSSF
  27. ↑ FIFA XI´s Matches – Full Info Archived 17 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine.; at RSSSF
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