When Ronald Koeman won a Champions League golden boot from defence
28-Apr-2022 10:39:19 | The Guardian
Karim Benzema has been prolific in the competition this season – but he should try doing it from centre-back
By Luke Osman for These Football Times
Ronald Koeman could hardly believe what Johan Cruyff had done. “Boss,” he said. “This is the first time and also the last time.” After five seasons decorated with silverware – three league titles, one European Cup, a Copa del Rey and the Cup Winners’ Cup – it took a bold player to criticise Cruyff’s decisions. But Koeman had a point.
In his quest for perfection, Cruyff had signed Romário from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 1993. League rules dictated that teams could pick only three foreigners and Michael Laudrup was usually the player sacrificed to make way for the Brazilian striker, but the manager sprung a surprise in the first game of the season and dropped Koeman to pick a bold, attacking lineup. Barcelona eased to a 3–0 win over Real Sociedad courtesy of a hat-trick from Romário, vindicating Cruyff’s choice to exclude the Dutch defender to accommodate the exciting new arrival, but Koeman did not hesitate to inform his coach that benching him regularly was simply not an option.
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