whistle went last night, they lit up the Nou Camp here as
though it was noonday in the Barcelona sun and froze the
Manchester United players with their arms in the air. It was
the instant they passed into legend.
In two astonishing, almost surreal, minutes at the end of
the last European Cup final of the 20th century, the gilded
youth of the most famous of clubs left excellence behind
them and found the greatness they have been searching for.
The treble is theirs now, as well, something unprecedented,
something that even the great English sides of the past have
always fallen short of. It is unlikely that it will ever be
repeated.
By coming from behind to beat Bayern Munich with two goals
in the final minutes, by transforming what seemed like
certain defeat into glorious, glorious victory, this United
side escaped once and for all from the shadow of Sir Matt
Busby and the team that won the trophy in 1968.
The problem for future United teams, for future teams of all
nations for that matter, will not be in trying to recreate
the magic of George Best and Bobby Charlton, it will be in
the impossible task of trying to surpass the unsurpassable,
of bettering a finish that could not be imagined.
The game had already entered its final minute of normal time
when the comeback began. It had seemed that United had
fallen to a tame defeat courtesy of a sixth-minute free kick
from Mario Basler. They have developed a reputation for
conjuring comebacks in Europe this season, but this time,
against the resilience of the Germans, the match seemed to
be out of reach
Instead, Teddy Sheringham, who had been ridiculed this
season for being a loser, scored in the ninetieth minute,
just as he had scored in the FA Cup Final last Saturday. As
Bayern were trying to adjust to that, Sheringham nodded on a
Beckham corner and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who had only been
on the pitch for eight minutes, hooked it into the roof of
the net.
A few seconds later, the final whistle went and the Germans
threw themselves to the floor as if they had the falling
sickness. Carsten Jancker, who had hit the bar for Bayern
ten minutes from the end, sobbed uncontrollably. Most of his
team-mates looked stunned.
United were, of course, the souls of jubilation and wild
celebration. As they stood in front of their supporters,
Sheringham mimicked the action of sweeping in his equaliser
and Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole danced a samba of delight in
the centre circle. If there was any poignancy among the
English, it was sympathy for Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, the
men who had missed out because of suspension.
Yet the triumph was perhaps sweetest for Alex Ferguson, the
United manager. He has suffered in Busby's shadow more than
most, but now he can retire in three years knowing he has
found the fulfilment that he deserves. It was he who took
the gamble of playing Beckham in central midfield, he who
risked everything by throwing on Sheringham and Solskjaer.
It was his triumph more than anyone's and he admitted
afterwards that he could hardly take it in.
"You cannot deny the most important fact of all," Ferguson
said, "and that is the spirit and the will to win that
exists at this club. That is what won the trophy for us
tonight.
"It is the greatest night of my life. I was prepared to risk
and if you risk in a game of football you deserve to
succeed. Sheringham and Solskjaer are goalscorers and they
are good at their job. They are terrific substitutes.
"I am proud of my heritage tonight. I am proud of my family.
I was starting to adjust to defeat near the end, I kept
saying to myself: 'Keep your dignity and accept it is not
your year.'
"It is a fairytale. It would have been Sir Matt Busby's
birthday today and I think he was doing a lot of kicking up
there in the last couple of minutes. I suppose you could say
we have come out of his shadow now, but, with all the team
has achieved this year, they could not have had any question
marks against them.
"This team plays the right way. They embrace every concept
of football that I like. What they have achieved is
unprecedented. Nobody has ever done it. They deserve it."
When Ferguson had finished, he got up to leave. The room
erupted in applause and the flashbulbs started flashing
again