An exercise in nostalgia full of details at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar. The legends of Real Madrid and Barcelona faced each other in a duel of shared dominance: the culés led the way in the first half, scored two goals and could have scored some more; while the whites struggled in the second half, tied and came close to winning, which escaped with a Congo header that hit the crossbar. In the penalty shootout, andl Madrid did not take advantage of Contreras’ stop on Frank de Boer and Angoy’s stretches (incredible agility at 58 years old) against shots from Amavisca and the Colombian gave the Barça Legends the tiebreakerdirected by Chapi Ferrer.
It is not possible to ask these hyper-vitaminated parties for rhythm, although in the final stretch they appeared with both teams in a hurry, looking for the third goal. But they are above all a display of details and no one left as many as Ronaldinho. Probably the most talented player to never wear the Barça shirt no longer has vertigo, but that foot still has magic. And he took it to make the 0-2 free kick into the squad, a shot that entered a friendly as it would have entered a professional match. Unstoppable for Buyo, who had previously received 0-1 from Sorín, after a pass from Giuly. He accompanied his performance with a brilliant pass to Roger that almost ended in 0-3 and with a brilliant personal action: a cut on a tile and a spoon dive that beat Contreras, but escaped by a hair. The ovation when he left (he played 74′ of the agreed 80′ minutes) was proof that he entertained the stands more than anyone else.
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The second half showed a different Madrid, pushing with Seedorf and Munitis in the midfield, with Baptista in the midfield and with Congo more successful up front. He looked for a comeback from the first moment, invoking the spirit of Juanito. Figo did not overwhelm, but took advantage of a one-on-one match to close the gap. And then Congo beat Trashorras in the race to equalize with a low shot. The final stretch was a street race that lost its friendly nature.; All you had to do was see Munitis’ anger at the referee when he awarded a penalty (which it was) by Figo on Quaresma. Luckily for Camacho, coach of the Madrid Legends, Contreras stopped Kluivert. TO Next line, Congo crashed a header into the crossbar and Quaresma had the goal line at 2-3, but it was night time. And it was all for the penalties, where Angoy became a giant.
The match sheet
Real Madrid Legends: Buyo (Contreras, 21′); Núñez (Mejía, 25′), Fernando Sanz, Pavón (Iván Campo, 47′), Raúl Bravo (Julio Llorente, 41′); Seedorf, Milla (Munitis, 47′); Figo, Savio, Amavisca; and Congo.
Barça Legends: Vitor Bahía (Angoy, 41′); Fernando Navarro (Dehu, 41′), Frank de Boer, Abidal, Sorín (Jofre, 41′); Mendieta (Roger, 32′ (Mendieta, 67′)), Trashorras; Giuly (Quaresma, 38′), Rivaldo (55′), Ronaldinho (Sergi, 74′); and Villa (Kluivert, 41′).
Goals: 0-1 Sorín (8′); 0-2 Ronaldinho (17′); 1-2 Fig (58′); 2-2 Congo (63′).
Sign de penalties: Villa scores, 0-1; Seedorf scores, 1-1; Quaresma scores, 1-2; Figo scores, 2-2; Frank de Boer, for Contreras, 2-2; Amavisca, for Angoy, 2-2; Mendieta scores, 2-3; Congo, for Angoy, 2-3; Jofre scores, 2-4.
Estadio: Khalifa International Stadium de Doha (Qatar).
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