Bloemfontein, South Africa - The 'evil deeds' of Real Madrid
president Florentino Perez remain an open wound in the heart of Spain
coach Vicente del Bosque, who stresses that great teams are 'not only
made of great footballers.'
'Teams are not always made with the best footballers, but with
other things,' Del Bosque noted in an interview with the German Press
Agency dpa while at the Confederations Cup in Bloemfontein, South
Africa.
Perez sacked him as Real Madrid coach in June 2003, just hours
after Del Bosque won La Liga for the second time in four years, to
add to two editions of the Champions League and an Inter-Continental
Cup, among others.
Del Bosque was replaced by the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, a
younger man with a more modern, dynamic look. The current Spain coach
cannot forget that Perez's entourage spoke of his 'old-fashioned'
look to justify the sacking.
'That was one of the evil deeds that have hurt me the most, though
I don't know whether it came from the president himself or from the
court that surrounded him,' Del Bosque says with some sadness.
'But they did not stop there, they kept talking, talking in
private. We are aware of the fact that they did.'
Del Bosque, 58, will almost not hear out the question when asked
whether he thinks he is old-fashioned.
'No, because I have worked in youth categories for many years,
that keeps you very up-to-date. Now it is impossible to be
old-fashioned,' he claims. 'Earlier the information of what was being
done in the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Russia, Germany or England was
very costly, but now you have it every day.'
A Real Madrid player and coach almost throughout his career, Del
Bosque denies that Perez ever admitted that sacking him was a
mistake.
'No, no, no. And there is no reason why he should admit it
either.'
In recent weeks - after his return to the Real Madrid presidency,
to follow up on his 2000-2006 stint - Perez signed Portuguese winger
Cristiano Ronaldo for 94 million euros (131 million dollars) and
Brazilian playmaker Kaka for 65 million euros (90 million dollars),
to launch the second era of the 'galacticos.'
The first version of the 'galacticos,' at the start of the decade,
featured three Ballons d'Or - Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo,
- who were joined by David Beckham in an operation that had more to
do with marketing than with football, although the English midfielder
worked hard for the team.
Del Bosque has good memories of that group, which he still defines
as 'very generous.'
'I think that those who are good players are generally also good
people. We did not have any problems. I think during the time we were
there we did not have to impose a single fine. There are issues that
can be difficult to manage, but the truth is that we had the help of
the players.'
The Real Madrid side around Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka is still
set to be augmented by 'four or five players,' in the words of
general manager Jorge Valdano.
In the six years after Del Bosque's sacking from Real Madrid, the
club has had eight coaches and could only win two editions of La
Liga, besides suffering repeated failures in the Champions League.
The Chilean Manuel Pellegrini is Real Madrid's new coach.
'I think he's a man of character and he will have the freedom to
act alone. I wish him the best, I really like him. He has had an
impeccable career in Spain, I think he is a gentleman, an ideal man
for Real Madrid.'
Despite Barcelona's evident dominance and Real Madrid's high-
profile signings, Del Bosque does not think that La Liga is just a
matter of two teams.
'We will see in practice. In the 1970s and 1980s Barcelona signed
the best players in the world, and it was always Real Madrid who won.
The market opened, they signed (Johann) Cruyff and (Hugo) Sotil... In
1974 they won La Liga, and I was then at (Real Madrid) for 11 years
as a player and they did not win a single championship beyond that.'
'There is having a good mentality, for example. It is not
everything to have good players,' Del Bosque notes.
However, he is not about to turn good players down offhand.
'Well, it's better to have them!'
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