25 years of the Seventh, Mijatovic’s finger, Lorenzo Sanz’s cell phone and a Sanchís "floating": "It was breaking with everything"

On May 20, 1998, Madrid lifted its most desired European Cup. “The feeling in the locker room was of urgent need,” recalls Sanchs. “I told Pedja that he was going to score and he came towards me after the goal”, recalls Fernando Sanz.

He May 20, 1998around 10:10 p.m., the life of the real Madrid stood on it amsterdam arena. a center of Panuccia rejection of the defense of the Juventus that fell into the boots of Robert Carlosa shot, another rejection, a control of Pedja Mijatovica dribble over peruzzi and the goal of the seventh European Cup of the white set.

A goal that changed a generation, that connected the greatness that Madrid had built in black and white with the successes achieved in full color. 32 years later and after endless black nights, the club once again became the biggest in Europe.

Today, in your 25th anniversary and with seven more Champions Leagues in the Bernabu Museum, the protagonists of that Dutch afternoon remember in THE WORLD the anecdotes and the meaning of everything lived and achieved in 98. “It is the most important trophy in the club’s history.“, assures Manolo Sanchez, the man in charge of raising the glass to the sky of Amsterdam. “When I lifted it up, I had the blank mind, I was in a floating state, you neither think nor feel. There is not a title in the history of Madrid that has had behind it the desire and emotions of the Seventh”.

A drink that, deep down, is also a bit of The Vulture’s Fifth, with the central player as the last member of that generation. “Having won it means that the Fifth was present. It is also an achievement of his that unfairly did not get“Reflects Sanchs, who insists on what is special about the Seventh:” The feeling in the locker room was of an urgent need, to set the clock to zero. It was something that each year accumulated. the seventh He had 32 years behind him, 32 changing rooms32 benches, 32 boards of directors, 32 fan groups…”.

The intrastory of the goal

In the memory of that squad everything leads to Mijatovic’s goal. To what was discussed in the previous days at lunch and dinner together with Davor Suker, Fernando Sanz and Gutithe four who were always together, to the confidence of the Montenegrin, the motivation of the Croatian and the premonition of Sanz: “you are going to score“, he told him the day before. After beating Peruzzi, the finger of the Podgorica man pointed angrily and non-stop towards the bench, at a Fernando who was the first to hug him and who from that day on became thick and thin for him .

“I was unlucky, because just when we are about to hug, the director of the television changed the shot towards the stands. Luckily the Madrid photographers did capture the moment,” jokes Sanz, who was appointed this week as the RFEF’s new director of International Business Development. “I shared a room with Guti and we always sat with Pedja and Davor. At lunch or dinner, I don’t remember, I told him I was going to score. It hit him and the thousandth of a second after scoring the goal, he came towards me. We are neighbors since 96 and dedicating the goal to me made our relationship more accentuated. We live door to door, we watch the games together and we have shared a lot of things, screwed up moments for both of us… It’s a very special relationship”, he says.

In the goal there is also a lie, or a truth not told by Mijatovic: “I had a muscle problem in the calf and I told Pedro Chueca, the physio, ‘look, you can’t tell anyone. If you tell, I’ll kill you. I knew it came from the Balkans and I thought he was crazy”, the balcony player has recounted on more than one occasion.

The replica commissioned by Lorenzo

The Seventh will always be Mijatovic’s European Cup, but also that of Lorenzo Sanz, deceased in the pandemic, president of the club and father of Fernando. “My generation hadn’t seen any of that and the Seventh was to break with everything, with the mockery, the defeats… The figure of my father is linked to that date. He is a very special day, especially since his death,” confesses Fernando, who recalls some of Lorenzo’s anecdotes based on the title. “He was a person with many eccentricitiesI don’t know if it’s weird, but it’s out of the ordinary. He went to get one replica of the European Cup In the same jewelry store where the original was made and now I have it at home. AND he changed his phone to one ending in 052098the date of the final”, recalls between laughs.

For years, Lorenzo Sanz had “between the eyes” gather all the members of the Seventh for the 25th anniversary. An event that now would have to be done without him. “Before passing away, He told Pedja yam that he wanted us to get together. I felt like it. But life goes so fast for everyone that it’s complicated,” explains Fernando.

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