Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri (born July 6, 1969 in Adrogué, Buenos Aires) is a former Argentine professional football player. He played as a defensive midfielder, and was also a member of the Argentina national football team.

[edit] Club career

Redondo made his debut for Argentinos Juniors in 1985 in the Argentine championship, and played for five years for the team before transferring to Spain in 1990.

Redondo made his debut in Spanish football playing for CD Tenerife under the management of Jorge Solari. Twice during this period Real Madrid lost the league title to arch-rivals FC Barcelona on the final day of the season, in matches against Tenerife. When Valdano was subsequently appointed manager of Madrid, Redondo made the move along with him for a fee of US$5 million dollars in 1994.

The key years of his career were spent at Real Madrid, where he was twice league champion (1995 and 1997), adding two European Champions medals (1997-1998 and 1999-2000). It was during the second CL victorious campaign that Redondo arguably turned in his finest performances. His contribution to a 3-2 quarterfinals victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford will live long in the memory of Madrid and United fans alike. He was the best player of the game, and was the author of a spectacular play (The backheel of Old Trafford), in which Redondo backheeled the ball through the legs of defender Henning Berg before recovering it and assisting Raúl for Real Madrid's third goal. The performance is also of note because of the way another great midfielder of the 1990s, Roy Keane, was completely overshadowed by Redondo's display.^[1]Sir Alex Ferguson said after the game “What does this player have in his boots? A magnet?”

After winning the final against Valencia CF, he was named the Champions League Most Valuable Player. In 2000, Redondo transferred to Italian club A.C. Milan in a highly controversial £11m move, which left many Real Madrid fans perplexed. Redondo was consistently injured, most notably with knee problems, during his first two seasons there, and in fact managed to injure his knee just three minutes into his first treadmill session. Because he was unable to play for 2½ years due to consistent knee problems, 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, showing great ethics and principles rarely seen in professional sports today.^[2]

In 2004, at the age of 34, Redondo retired from professional football following yet another knee injury. Following his retirement, he moved back to Buenos Aires to be closer to his family. Redondo was a good friend of Diego Maradona, who acted as a mentor to the young Redondo early in his career.

Since entering retirement, Redondo often appeared (when fit) in many high profile exhibition matches contested by select squads of past and present footballing greats, including; Franco Baresi, Franz Beckenbauer, Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit, Zlatko Zahovic, Aleksandr Mostovoi, Marco Van Basten, Tony Yeboah, and many more.

[edit] International career

Redondo played for Argentina 29 times, the bulk of his appearances coming during 1992-1994, while Alfio Basile coached the Argentina side.

Redondo was rumored to have refused a call-up to the national team just before the 1990 FIFA World Cup, when it was coached by Carlos Salvador Bilardo. The player allegedly excused himself on account of not wanting to interrupt his university studies, but some say that he refused to play for Bilardo because he did not agree with his ultra-defensive strategy. His national side debut came on 18 June 1992, in a 2-0 victory against Australia.

Redondo shone in the 1994 FIFA World Cup but, after Diego Maradona was expelled for failing a drugs test, even the in-form Tenerife midfielder was unable to prevent the two-time world champions from falling at the last sixteen, 3-2 at the hands of Romania, lauded by many as one of the great World Cup games of any era.^{[citation needed]}

Argentina's subsequent coach, Daniel Passarella excluded him from the squad. Newspapers reported that Redondo was excluded because he refused to cut his long hair. Passarella stated that he was excluded because Redondo insisted on only playing in central midfield, refusing to do it on the left side of the field. Subsequently, in 1999, when Argentina was coached by Marcelo Bielsa, Redondo was recalled to the national side for two friendlies against arch-rivals Brazil. Although Redondo was the man-of-the match in the 2-0 victory in Buenos Aires, marking opposing star Rivaldo out of the game, he refused any subsequent call-ups from Bielsa, preferring to focus his energies on club football.

His scant appearances due to the disagreements or refusals to play for Bilardo, Passarella and Bielsa in World Cup finals (especially in the 1998 FIFA World Cup) are a probable explanation of his little recognition when compared with other, arguably lesser, defensive midfielders of his era.

[edit] Playing style

Redondo was a deep-lying playmaker. He broke up opposition attacks with sharp tackling and set in motion attacks of his own with crisp, short passing. With Nestor Rossi, Antonio Rattin and Sergio Batista; Redondo was a worthy heir to the tradition: he had physical presence, a wonderful left foot and the intelligence to dictate the rhythm of the game.

Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello once said he was "a tactically perfect player." Redondo, arguably, became a key influence to several Argentine holding midfielders which appeared subsequently, such as Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Mascherano.

[edit] Club statistics

[edit] Honours

• South American U-17 Championship: 1985
• Confederations Cup: 1992
• Copa América: 1993
• Spanish League: 1995, 1997
• Intercontinental Cup: 1998
• UEFA Champions League: 1998, 2000, 2003
• Italian Cup: 2003
• Champions League Most Valuable Player: 1999-2000

[edit] References

1. ^ On Football - No. 1 : Fernando Redondo, onedeadfish.blogspot.com
2. ^ Football knowledge: Players who fell short of a century of caps and much more football trivia

[edit] External links

• BDFutbol profile
• NationalFootballTeams data
• SuperFutbol biography (Spanish)
• Futbol Factory biography (Spanish)
• L'Équipe stats (French)

v • d • e Argentina squad – 1992 King Fahd Cup Winners (1st Title) 1 Goycochea • 2 Vázquez • 3 Altamirano • 4 Basualdo • 5 Redondo • 6 Ruggeri • 7 Caniggia • 8 Villarreal • 9 Batistuta • 10 Simeone • 11 Cagna • 12 Islas • 14 Acosta • 15 Borelli • 16 García • 18 Craviotto • 20 Cancelarich • Coach: Basile

v • d • e Argentina squad – 1993 Copa América Winners (14th title) 1 Goycochea • 2 Vázquez • 3 Altamirano • 4 F.Basualdo • 5 Redondo • 6 Ruggeri • 7 Medina Bello • 8 Franco (J.Basualdo) • 9 Batistuta • 10 Simeone • 11 Gorosito • 12 Islas • 13 Cáceres • 14 Craviotto • 15 Borelli • 16 García • 17 Zapata • 18 Acosta • 19 Zamora • 20 Rodríguez • 21 Scoponi • 22 Mancuso • Coach: Basile

v • d • e Argentina squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Goycochea • 2 Vázquez • 3 Chamot • 4 Sensini • 5 Redondo • 6 Ruggeri • 7 Caniggia • 8 Basualdo • 9 Batistuta • 10 Maradona • 11 Medina Bello • 12 Islas • 13 Cáceres • 14 Simeone • 15 Borelli • 16 Díaz • 17 Ortega • 18 Pérez • 19 Balbo • 20 Rodríguez • 21 Mancuso • 22 Scoponi • Coach: Basile