'Happy ending' hangs on Schuster
Monday, May 5, 2008
Article summary
Bernd Schuster described the 2-1 win at CA Osasuna that earned Real Madrid CF the Primera División title as mirroring an "American movie with a happy ending".
Article top media content
Article body
Higuaín role
Madrid had been a goal and a man down with two minutes remaining until substitute Gonzalo Higuaín inspired a comeback. The Argentinian midfielder replaced captain Raúl González midway through the second half and turned the match, and the title, in Los Merengues' favour by crossing for Arjen Robben to head in before driving in the winner seconds later, much to his coach's delight. "Now that we can say we're champions, we will enjoy every moment," said Schuster. "As the coach, there is more pressure to win the title and therefore a lot more happiness once you have achieved your objective. The most important thing right now is that we enjoy this with our supporters."
'Special moment'
Higuaín's last-minute winner at a rainy Reyno de Navarra stadium sparked joyous scenes among the men in white, who had played the second half with ten men following Fabio Cannavaro's dismissal for a second caution. "Scoring a goal like that is one of the most special moments for a footballer," said Higuaín. "I'm so happy because we wanted to achieve this as soon as we could." Madrid's goalkeeper Iker Casillas added: "When Higuaín hit that goal in the last minute, the happiness flowed. The only thing we want to do now is celebrate."
Big effort
Pepe was also ecstatic to be celebrating a title in his first season at Madrid, a triumph the former FC Porto defender attributes to hard work. "The key was the effort we put in day after day which helped us to improve in every game," he said. "We lost so much sweat wearing those shirts this season and that's what a team needs to do. The party in the dressing room afterwards was fantastic. We all gave Schuster a good soaking."
Rare header
Madrid's first successful title defence for 18 years also had Sergio Ramos hailing his side's strong work ethic. "We have shown that with perseverance, work and humility things will come your way. Tonight we proved why hope is the last thing you should lose. Moments like this stay with you forever; it was worth the wait." Arjen Robben, meanwhile, was stunned that he managed to find the net with a header: "This is incredible. I've won league titles with PSV [Eindhoven], Chelsea [FC] and now with Madrid. I've never scored a goal with my head; I still can't believe it, but what a time to do it!"
