1991-2000
This
was the decade in which the Club won its seventh and eight European Cups. Real
Madrid sat on the European throne once more at the end of the 1990s, which had
an uneasy first half for the Whites with two League titles lost against
Tenerife.
Today,
6 March 2007, Real Madrid celebrate their 105th anniversary. In a meeting held
in Rome in 2000, FIFA decided to name the entity the Best Club of the 20th
Century or, by all accounts, the best Club in the history of football. Five
years after receiving this distinction, the beat goes on and the Whites are
looking to take on a new lease on life and relive the good old days, the ones
that put Real Madrid in centre stage of world football.
Mendoza
advances elections
Although
he still had a full year on his ticket, then President Ramón Mendoza advanced
the Presidential elections to 14 April 1991. Opposite him was writer Alfonso
Ussía, whose results were more than honourable in spite of his diminished
resources. The electoral success won Mendoza another four years in the
Presidential chair.
Tenerife,
the “cursed island”
Ramón
Mendoza dismissed coach Antic in mid-season. At the time, the Serbian coach had
led Real Madrid to a seven point lead during the 1991-92 campaign. He was
substituted by Dutch manager Leo Beenhakker, who had re-joined the Club as
Technical Director just weeks before. With the Dutchman coaching the team,
Madrid were robbed of the League title in Tenerife in the last day of the
season. It was exactly the same story the following year, this time with Benito
Floro at the rudder. After losing two consecutive titles in the last game of
the campaign in exactly the same spot, the Canary isle of Tenerife was tagged a
“cursed island ” for Madridismo.
Renovations
at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium
The
renovations of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium began on 7 February 1992 and ended
two years and change later, on 7 May 1994. The expense of the works was in
excess of ESP 5,000 million (EUR 30 million), including the ESP 300M (EUR 1.8M)
for the insurance that would cover both the construction workers and the
attending spectators during the time.
Valdano
returns to coach the team
After snatching two League
titles from Real Madrid and eliminating them from the King's Cup in his
capacity as coach of Tenerife, Jorge Valdano signed a coaching agreement with
Real Madrid set on putting the Whites back on the road to success and terminate
the 4-year Liga title drought. The Argentine did just that in his first season
at his former team and all Real Madrid fans got to sing along to the victory
chant at the end of the season.
Sanz
relieves Mendoza in Club Presidency
After
ten and a half years in office, Ramón Mendoza handed in his irrevocable
resignation on 20 November 1995. He was relieved by Lorenzo Sanz, who held recourse
to Club by-law 49 to get elected as heir to Mendoza by the 11 directors who
continued in the Board of Directors following the transfer of power.
Capello
makes his debut with Real Madrid
On
20 May 1996, Lorenzo Sanz presented Fabio Capello as new head coach of Real
Madrid. The Italian trainer landed in Madrid borne out by his five successful
seasons with AC Milan, with whom he won the 1994 European Cup. Although Capello
only stayed with the team during the 1996-97 season, he managed to win the League.
Seventh
European Cup
After
a less than impressive domestic run, coach Jupp Heynckes led the team to win
the very much awaited -last one was in 1966, 32 years earlier- European Cup.
The venue: Amsterdam Arena. Date: 20 May 1998. The Merengues conquered
their seventh top European trophy with a goal by now Sporting Director Pedja
Mijatovic against the Italian side of Juventus, who were the hot favourites
that night.
Second
Intercontinental Cup
Guus
Hiddink was the manager in charge of guiding Real Madrid to their second
Intercontinental Cup after the surprising resignation of Juan Antonio Camacho
in July 1998, before the actual season even began. An extraordinary goal by
Raúl in Tokyo sealed the more than fair 2-1 end result for the Whites.
Eighth
European Cup & First Spanish Final
Vicente
del Bosque took over John Benjamin Toshack as head coach of Real Madrid in
mid-season and spearheaded the Madridistas towards raising their eighth
European Cup -second Champions League title. The venue was superb: the newly
built Saint-Denis stadium of Paris would host the first ever Spanish final -as
well as the first ever final of the European Cup between two teams of the same
country- on 24 May 2000. It was a vibrant game which saw Madrid triumph over
Valencia with a final 3-0 result. It was the last European Cup of the 20th
Century and, as the first one, it belonged to the Whites.
Florentino
Pérez wins the elections
On
16 July 2000, Florentino Pérez was elected new President of Real Madrid after
defeating Lorenzo Sanz in the polls. Pérez's successful campaign was based on
two pillars: get rid, for once and for all, of the historical Club debt and
sign the best players in the world.
Best
Club 20th Century
On
11 December 2000, during the FIFA gala in Rome, Florentino Pérez and Honourary
Club President Alfredo di Stéfano received the accolade honouring Real Madrid
as the Best Club of the 20th Century
Source : http://www.realmadrid.com
