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FERNANDO "EL PRINCIPE" REDONDO

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LAST UPDATED: 08.04.2002

Full name: Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri
Nickname: El Principe (the prince), El Flaco (the thin one), The White Machine.
Date of Birth: 06.06.1969
Age: 32
Birthplace: Buenos Aires (Adrogué), Argentina

Nationality: Argentinian (also has a Spanish passport)
Height: 186 cm
Weight: 76 kg
Status: Married (since 1992), 2 children (Fernando, Luciana)
Note: He is married to Natalia, who is the daughter of Jorge Solari, former Argentine International and famous coach. Natalia is also sister to Argentine soccer player Santiago Solari (who signed for Real Madrid in June 2000)
Education: Has a major in Law
Position: Midfield
Prefered foot: Left - but is considered to have two equal legs.

Previous Clubs: Argentina Juniors (1985-1990), Tenerife (1990-1994), Real Madrid (1994-2000)

Debut for Real Madrid: 1th July 1994
Last "serious" game for Real Madrid: Champions League final 2000
Last game for Real Madrid: Training pre-season game against Servette (4-3 loss) in Switzerland 26.08.2000

Contract with AC Milan: 30 Juni 2003 (signed 27.07.2000)
Salary: about £2.9m a year.
Agent: Ricardo Lurri
Jersey: 16

Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri was signed by Tenerife from Argentinos Juniors in August 1990, at the age of 21 he signed a 4 year contract worth 200 million pesetas (with a clause of 1,500 million pesetas). He was close to sign for River Plate when Tenerife most likely made the most important signing in the clubs history and stole a great player from River Plate. Tenerife bought Redondo for 80 millions Pesetas in all from the Argentinian Club. Then Redondo became a royalty by signing for Real Madrid, on the 7th of june in 1994 he signed a deal with Real madrid for 5 seasons and it cost 525 million pesetas + the player Ramis and three friendly games (had some injuriy problems on both his knees after the signing and did not play more in 1994). On the 10th of june of 1997 the press published that Redondo was going to extend his contract with Real Madrid up to year 2002 (that other contract was supposed to end in 1999) . The dismissal clause in the contract ranged from 2500 to 5000 million pesetas. He signed for AC Milan on the 27.07.2000 for 3 seasons, transfer fee being 3,000 million pesetas ($16.72 million).

To describe Redondo as a football player you probably would use up all the superlatives there is, but one hint is, in his most common nickname "el principe" or the Prince, this is due to the way he move, when he dribbles a man or three, run with the ball or make decisive passes, it looks so graceful, people might not like the clubs or the country he plays for but people just can't take their eyes of the grace the player shows when playing the game.

Redondo is an elegant midfielder with style, flair and technique most players today, past and future will always lack or lacked. See a video of Redondo make Manchester United defenders look like amateurs. Redondo vs Henning Berg: Champions League 1999/2000 - Manchester United vs Real Madrid

Looking at Fernando Redondo career, one can easily see that he hasn't always fitted in with the wishes of his managers on both the club level and especially on national level. But he was the heartbeat of Real Madrid. On his day, he can totally humiliate the opposition with moves opposition still wonders how happend. Redondo lacks acceleration, is often carrying injuries, and sometimes seeming very arrogant and not to care about anything else than something else than the game in hand (maybe the latest issue of an italian fashion magazine), when he will make a sudden change and become the God of the two or three-touch, making passes needlessly to defenders, slowing the game down and irritating, humiliating the favourits and spotlight takers of world football such as Rivaldo, Beckham, Effenberg, Johan Cruyff and the list is seemingly endless. His former Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello described him as a "tactically perfect" player.

Apart from Redondo's technique, he does an excellent job of reading the defence and uses his skills and vision to create offensive chances, rather than scoring himself, and nobody protects the ball better than him. He is considered by the media to be the best defensive midfielder in the world. Redondo, is a believer in a free, attacking style of football and hates defensive tactics (which makes it stranges to see him leave for Italian football and AC Milan).

Redondo was born in Adrogué in Buenos Aires. As for most of South American stars, soccer is a way of getting out of powerty, Redondo is a rare excemption to this, he came from a upper-middle class, his father owns a meat production plant. Redondo has a major in law, which also makes him most likely one of the more inteligent soccer players around (with exeption of a lot of players from the north european leagues and smaller countries in Europe were most players actually have a university degree).

As said before Redondo has on most occasions never goten along with his coaches on both level (club, nation), reason for this probably lay's in the way Redondo has threated his soccer career, looking at the coaches he has said yes to and rejected, and taking into account his emphasis on playing entertaining and attacking soccer. Redondo turned down to play for Bilardo, saying he had to sit for Law exam, and the saga with Passarella, about his hair is just to far fetch, in the end these two coaches was about anything else than entertaining soccer, but destructive and machinery play of style, breaking legs, diving and anything else that put the art of football into the bad light, everything that Redondo opposes of his great passion. He gladly followed Valdano to Tenerife and then to Real Madrid, played under Cesar Luis Menotti, Alfio Basile and a few times under Bielsa (not all the time, complaining of to many matches in Europe), these coaches see more to the game and have always tried to make the team play entertaining as well as the importance of winning the games.

Coacehs like Bilardo and Passarella (On the 22nd of February 1997 he made public his decision not to wear the national side jersey while Passarella was the one making the choices for the players in the team) is politically seen as right-wingers in Argentina, Passarella himself a great captain to Argentina helped guide Argentina to their first triumph in the World Cups at home in 1978, winning the World cup at that time for the Military regime, and Passarella has ever since becoming a coach kept a military regime to his structure of playing soccer, ever since his days at River Plate, to coaching Argentina and currently Uruguay (as of February 2001 he resigned due to some comments made by a local team etc), where player have to cut their hair, not be gay and anything else that in a old closed society is considered wrong and unpresentable, where even the greatest players will get the boot if they don't follow the guidelines of a solidier. When the world cup in France 1998 started Argentina was one of the favourites and would have won or at least had a better campaign had Redondo been the captain of this team and engine in midfield and not Veron, who's passing is closer and closer to pathetic compared to Redondo (and anno 2001 Veron still sucks). The famous saga was basically that Redondo had refused General Passarella's orders to cut his hair, this is just to much to swallow if looking at the previous stars that has had their way, if Redondo had asked for permission not to cut his hair but promised to follow the other guidelines and so on, no way would Passarella have refused such an offer, but people that knows Redondo thinks it is basically that Redodno refused to play as a soldier, Redondo never liked Passarellas choice of playing style and would not be ordered around knowing that it would not give a possitive effect to his style of play, entertaining. And the result of Redondo's refusal ended up with Passarella looking stupid. Argentina went out of the World Cup in the quarter-finals, just a few weeks earlier Redondo had masterminded Real Madrid's win in the Champions League over Juventus. Redondo obviusly an educated man, is on the left, with the other favoured coaches.

This view of opinions has shaped his whole playing career both private and in public, When he rejected Bilardo he left for Europe joined up with then coach and fellow Argentine Jorge Valdano at Tenerife in Spain, Valdano then left for Real Madrid, but took Redondo with him. He rejoined the Argentine national team when Bielsa took charge after the misarable attempt by Passarellas war regime.

Redondo was considered to be the best replacment for Maradona, due to a few injuries and Passarella, he did not managed to fulfill that quest, however now that Passarella is gone, and he is fit, he can show the world what skill and technique on the ball really means. During the 1999/2000 season however Redondo said he wanted to concentrate on club instead of national side. Redondo has only managed 29 caps spanning a decade. Redondo, who could have already had three World Cup final tournaments under his belt, has turned down three different Argentina team chiefs over the years however in case of current Argentine boss Marcelo Bielsa, for whom he has played three times, his refusal appears temporary and in recent interviews during his injury recovery period at AC Milan this year he has said that it is allways an honour to play for the country and playing in a world cup is everybody's dream.

Alfio Basile is the only coach Redondo never turned down, under Alfie, Redondo helped Argentina retain the Copa America in Ecuador in 1993, the World Cup in US, 1994 started great for him but the scandal with Diego Maradona, ruined it for Argentina. He turned down Carlos Bilardo in 1990 and Daniel Passarella for the 1998 finals in France. He returned to the Argentine side in March 1999 for their friendly against the Netherlands in Amsterdam after an absence of nearly five years and then home and away matches against arch-rivals Brazil in September 1999. Redondo decided apparently after these games that he was gone concentrate on Real Madrid, he keeps very strict guidelines in his life, does not allow football to encroach on his private affairs and applies this attitude to international football and its added constraints to an already busy calendar, while most other players would swim the Atlantic or kill to wear Argentina's colours.

However neither Redondo nor Bielsa have revealed what they have discussed but the coach has said the door remains open for a player he clearly respects and would like to be able to call on as the South American qualifying campaign hots up. Even in a midfield that counts such brilliant players as "Veron" (no idea why he is considered to be so good), Riquelme, Ortega, Gallardo. Redondo would be an added asset or even the key as Argentina seek their third World Cup victory.

always!!!!!!

Fernando Redondo - page 2

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