We all know Roy isn't at home watching the DVD today. Maybe he hasn't even thought about it. But he should do. A 13th anniversary isn't exactly a conventional one but then Roy was never one for being conventional.
Manchester United and Keane rolled into Turin for the second leg against Juventus on the back of their incredible F.A cup semi-final win over Arsenal. They were also duelling with the Londoners on top of the Premier League while trying to win the European Cup for the first time in 31 years.
The balance of the semi-final was tipped slightly in favour of Juventus after a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in the first leg. The Italians were comfortably the better side and deserved more than their slight away goal advantage. When Filippo Inzaghi scored twice put Juventus 2-0 up after 12 minutes in the second leg the ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley remarked that United needed a minor miricle. The boy from Mayfield delievered a slow burning one.
The midfield four he faced that night bears repeating. Zinedine Zidane, Antonio Conte, Edgar Davids and Didier Deschamps. Juventus were the premier side in Europe during that period. The power and poise of that midfield was augmented with Alessandro Del Piero and Filippo Inzaghi up front. The central defensive partnership of Ciro Ferrara and Paulo Montero were the square jawed rocks that many strikers perished upon facing.
His header that put United back into the tie is the most replayed and best remembered image from the night. The captain's goal. It owed much to David Beckham's delievery and Keane's perfectly timed run. His matter of fact celebration summed him up that night. It was all business.
When Jesper Blomqvist played a loose pass to Keane in midfield midway through the first half, Zidane pounced and sped away from him. The foul in the context of some of Keane's other challenges was soft but a yellow card was given and he would miss the final if United got there.
His already impressive performance soared after this point. Alex Ferguson said afterwards he redoubled his efforts after getting booked. An awful lot has been written about Roy's game in Turin. Almost all of it focuses on his determination and stamina. While they were always some of his biggest strengths, it was his constant flow of possession that chipped away at Juve and eventually broke them down.
He explains in his book the point in which he knew Juve were gone. he went for a fifty-fifty with Davids and it was "no contest". United won, and marched to Barcelona to face Bayern. The United players bounced and screamed into the the pockets of red in the Stadio delle Alpi. Keane was never one for hiding his emotions and he couldn't that night.
[youtube
]He would never play in a European Cup final. He would lift the trophy at the Camp Nou dressed in a suit. A warrior in robes. The picture didn't look right, but sometimes it didn't with Keano. Happy 13th Roy.
