Legendary Moments: Sir Alex on 1999 triumph
Monday, March 2, 2015
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Sir Alex Ferguson tells UEFA.com about Manchester United FC's dramatic 1999 UEFA Champions League win: "All my inner desires were encapsulated in how we did it that night."
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The nature of Manchester United FC's 1999 UEFA Champions League final win was scarcely believable to most observers. Not, however, for manager Sir Alex Ferguson. "It wasn't an accident," he said. "That team did it so many times that season. They had a fantastic desire to win, they had a great team spirit, a great character about the team and they deserved to [win] simply because they kept doing it."
United were trailing FC Bayern München 1-0 going into added time at the Camp Nou. Then came surely the most dramatic ever conclusion to a European Cup final – first with Teddy Sheringham's 91st-minute equaliser, then with fellow substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjær's winner two minutes later. It brought United their second European Cup, and their first in 31 years.
"To win the final in '99, it put everything to bed," said Sir Alex. "All my fears, all my inner desires to do it were encapsulated in how we did it that night, to score the two goals in the last three minutes. You couldn't do it a better way because there was no comeback. You know, if you're going to do something special, as late as that is fantastic."