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Approaching the culmination of the European football season - the Champions League final - fans of the participants eagerly await memorable matches, sometimes flipping through the glorious pages of history. This time in the "Tribūnos" section, the Barcelona club fans decided to remember their favorite team's only triumph and the hero of that victory, Ronald Koeman, under the pseudonym Zebediejus, and in another article to look at the titles won by the current stars of the Catalan club. Please note that you can send your articles to [email protected]. Ronald Koeman The Strike... He could be dribbled past one on one. Since he didn't have a good starting speed, he could be overtaken. Since he didn't stand out with a towering height and couldn't jump high, one could win an aerial duel against him. He made tactical mistakes - didn't choose a good position, sometimes didn't manage to get out of the penalty area when his teammates created artificial cover. However, all these player flaws were forgotten when R. Koeman went to take a penalty kick. With his usual serious stone-faced expression, without rushing, he would place the ball on the grass, glance at where the wall and the goalkeeper were. The strike was like a cannon shot... The ball in the net. Any trajectory, to any point in the goal - upper or lower corner, curled or straight trajectory... Since Michel Platini's time, Europe had not seen a player with such virtuosic strike technique, and at the same time - possessing such a shot. Indeed, a paradox, but the truth - Ronald Koeman, a defender (!!!), scored more goals from penalty kicks than the legendary attacking midfielder Platini. "I can't do anything when he takes a shot. - said one of the best goalkeepers of that time, Andoni Zubizaretta. - I see the moment of the shot and where the ball is going. But I can't catch or deflect the ball. Koeman knows how to strike it so forcefully...". Career Ronald Koeman was born on March 21, 1963. His father, Martin, was a professional footballer for 18 years and later worked as a manager at "Groningen". His older brother Ervin played for the Dutch national team. So the talented boy's path was predetermined - football. Unfortunately, after breaking into the main team of "Ajax," the young Ronald did not fit in with Johan Cruyff and had to leave the club. However, this turned out to be beneficial for both the player and Ajax's eternal rival, PSV. In two years at the Eindhoven club, Koeman not only defended well but also scored goals, so when Cruyff became the coach of Barcelona, he had to change his opinion about Ronald. Koeman was the first player that Cruyff demanded be signed. He moved to Barca for a huge sum for those times - $7.5 million. And it must be said that the famous Cruyff Barca, or simply the "Dream Team" build-up began with Koeman. He was the first brick of the new building, or perhaps - the foundation... The team shone with Romario, Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov, A. Zubizaretta, Sergi, Abelardo, Julio Salinas, Josep Guardiola. But the other stars could swap each other, sit on the bench, while Koeman was untouchable in defense or in the middle of the field. In the 1990 season, central defender Koeman scored three goals in the 1/16 round of the Cup Winners' Cup against Turkish side "Trabzonspor." In the 1991/1992 season, Koeman showed incredible productivity by scoring 16 goals. In the 1993/1994 Champions League, Koeman overall became the top scorer of "Barca" with 8 goals, while the main striker Stojchkov just scored 7 goals. By the way, it is surprising, but the fact is - Koeman was almost always on the list of the most productive "Barca" players. Even after reaching his thirties. And not just any "Barca" - but the famous Cruyff's "Dream Team" - which scored the most goals in Europe... In 1994, Koeman scored 11 goals. As many as Stojchkov. However, in that season, Romario scored a whopping 30 goals. But the year when Romario left, Koeman along with the main strikers H. Stoichkov and Jordi Cruyff scored 9 goals each. Almost every season he scored from 10 to 20 goals. Almost all of them from free-kicks or long-range shots "from the game." In the 1994 Champions League semi-final against "Porto," Koeman scored perhaps one of the most beautiful goals of the League and his career: after receiving the ball in the center of the field, he lifted his head and noticed that there were no "Barca" strikers free, while the opponent's goalkeeper had come out far from the goal. The strike... Not a "parachute" hoping to hit the goal frame, but a powerful strike, and the ball flew into the goal at half the speed of the pitch... For such strikes, Nou Camp loved Koeman. On June 11, 1995, saying goodbye to one of the legends of "Barca," the fans raised a huge banner "Adios, Ronald" throughout the stands. J. Cruyff said goodbye to his beloved player, who had justified all hopes placed on him, by giving him a special personal gift, and the president, Jose Luis Nunez, gave Koeman... a villa in a Barcelona suburb, on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. By the way, Koeman likes to spend time in that villa even now. He even visited it while preparing for the quarter-finals, when two teams he coached - Lisbon's "Benfica" and the famous "Barca" - met. After ending his football career, like many other members of the famous "orange team" of that time (Rijkaard, van Basten, Gullit), Ronald Koeman became a coach. He coached "Vitesse." After moving to "Ajax," he became the Dutch champion twice and won the Dutch Cup. After disappointing performances in Europe with "Ajax," he resigned and, despite offers from "Valencia," went to Portugal. The successful journey of "Benfica" to the Champions League quarter-finals testifies that Koeman is not a bad coach, capable of getting more out of a team than is possible. The most important goal of life Many good players have passed through "Barca" and the Dutch national team. Many promising coaches are in Europe. Why is so much space dedicated to Ronald Koeman? Because of the Goal. The Only Goal... On May 20, 1992, 80,000 spectators in the now demolished "Wembley" stadium were preparing to watch the Champions League final and the duel between two famous forwards - Stojchkov from "Barca" and Gianluca Vialli, the goal scorer of "Sampdoria." Both Vialli and Stojchkov were very visible on the field and near the opponents' goals. They not only shot and attempted to score but also struck the crossbars. However, as the main time was ending, the scoreboard still showed two zeroes. Extra time... In the 112th minute, the German referee indicated a free-kick from 25 meters away from the "Sampdoria" goal. Although the distance was quite far, the "Wembley" stands began to chant: "Kuuuman!! Kuuuman!!!." The red-haired Dutchman with a stern face, which was more suitable for playing SS officers in movies, calmly placed the ball on the grass, as always not rushing, looked at the goalkeeper once before retreating from the ball a few steps, and then, accelerating, re-assessed the "wall" position and the goalkeeper's position. That was enough for him to calculate the trajectory of the ball's flight, the goalkeeper's reaction, and the possible direction of the shot with millimeter accuracy. The strike. "Kuuman-esque" strong and accurate. The ball beautifully curved past the Italian "wall" and, untouched by the helpless Pagliuca, hit the bottom corner of the goal... "I didn't see if the ball went into the net, - Koeman later said. - I understood it from the stadium's reaction"... And then the red-haired defender raised his arms in the air with those unusual yellow-orange Barca shirts from that season and, overwhelmed with adrenaline, began to triumphantly run through the entire stadium. Not knowing how to express his joy, he screamed something. Only after his team mates made a considerable effort did they finally catch Koeman, and they lifted him onto the "Wembley" grass... The fans shouted, "You're a God," the editors of the next day's newspapers were already choosing larger fonts so that after Koeman's picture, the inscription "Collosal" would stand out... But there were still 8 minutes left to play. "Barca" had already lost two Champions League finals twice. But not this time. Not the Dream Team... To prove that Barca wouldn't give up the victory, the young Guardiola was substituted by the team's veteran Alesanco, to whom Zubizaretta immediately handed over the captain's armband. "Barca" calmly controlled the ball, not allowing "Sampdoria" to counter-attack. And when the final whistle blew, "Barca" players slammed the yellow and blue shirt to the ground, donning the blaugranas jerseys... Koeman finally understood that this was not just the most important goal of his life. When he held the trophy in his hands, he finally realized that it was Barcelona's trophy. The only one in so many years. For it, sweat poured, tears flowed, and bones broke for hundreds of players in blue and garnet shirts. But the trophies were lifted by others. And that one, the only one, was won by defender Koeman in 1992. Together with his other team mates... That's why I wrote about Koeman. That's why Nou Camp greeted him with applause when Koeman came with "Benfica" to halt Barca's triumph 2006. This time Koeman failed. And again he deserved it for Barca... But a new generation of cules grew. A new Dream Team emerged. Led not by the Great Cruyff, but by Frank Rijkaard, who is still trying to earn that name. And though there's no Stojchkov, Laudrup, or Zubizaretta, we have Victor Valdes, Carles Puyol, Deco, Xavi, and others who deserved to lift the Cup in Paris, which was already lifted 14 years ago by the author of a goal... and perhaps no need to wait another 14 years to write an article about the author of another goal again?? Winners' team Employees of one of the most authoritative sports journals in Spain, "Mundo Deportivo," calculated that the players who have now become Champions for the second time at "Barcelona" have won a total of 132 titles during their careers. The most titled player in the team is the Swede Henrik Larsson. The 34-year-old striker has already won 14 trophies during his long career, which have national or international significance, i.e., won in tournaments officially included in the UEFA or FIFA schedules. H. Larsson won 2 championships with Feyenoord, a remarkable 9 with Celtic in Scotland and three cups with FC Barcelona. Not far behind the Swede is his friend Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who has 13 titles - one with Feyenoord, 5 with Glasgow Rangers, 4 with Arsenal, and three with Barca. However, it's not all about the numbers. If we were to evaluate according to significance, the most titled person in Barcelona is Deco. He has 11 titles, among them Champions League and UEFA trophies, two Portuguese championships, and three Portuguese cup wins, as well as the Spanish and Portuguese super cups. Deco has already won the league twice with Barca. He is the only person to call himself a European club champion (with Porto) at Barcelona. The biggest star of the club, Ronaldinho, can boast only 5 titles because he won nothing with Porto Alegre in Brazil or PSG in France. Yet, just the 2002 World Cup champion title makes up for at least ten other trophies won by different players... Adding to this, the main World Champion title, Ronaldinho can also boast winning the Copa America with Selecao and two La Liga titles and the Spanish Super Cup with Barca. Samuel Eto'o celebrated being a winner 7 times. He raised trophies not only with Barca but also with the Cameroon national team and Mallorca. Edmilson has 10 trophies in his account. He won most of them as a Lyon player (3 French championships, the French cup, and super cup). He also won 3 titles with Barca. By the way, Edmilson also won the World Champion title with Selecao in 2002 (although he played, to put it mildly, rarely). The poorest - the Spaniards playing for Barca. Victor Valdes, Carles Puyol, Albert Jorquera, Oleguer, Gabri, and Andres Iniesta can only boast of the trophies won with recent Barca teams. Xavi has one Spanish Super Cup more. Messi has not yet raised any of the trophies considered in adult sports, so he still has Santi Ezquerro by his side... But the Spanish journalists did not include in this list the trophies of the most titled person in Barcelona. The trophies won by coach Frank Rijkaard with the Dutch national team, Ajax, and Milan outweigh all the other players' trophies: 1988 European champion 5-time Dutch champion (1982, 1983, 1985, 1994, 1995) 3-time Dutch cup winner. 2-time Italian champion (1992, 1993) 3-time European Champions Cup (1989, 1990, 1995) 2-time European Super Cup (1989, 1990) 2-time Intercontinental Cup (1989, 1990) As a coach - 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 Spanish champion All that is left is to wish all those players listed here that their collection of trophies would be enriched after the Champions League final on May 17...
