Fernando Redondo

For the Argentinian canoer, see Fernando Redondo (canoer).

Fernando Redondo

Personal information
Full name	Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri
Date of birth	(1969-06-06) June 6, 1969
Place of birth	Adrogué, Argentina
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1985–1990	Argentinos Juniors	75	(1)
1990–1994	Tenerife	103	(8)
1994–2000	Real Madrid	155	(4)
2000–2004	Milan	16	(0)
Total		367	(13)
National team
1992–94; 1999	Argentina	29	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Redondo and the second or maternal family name is Neri.

Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri (born 6 June 1969) is an Argentine retired footballer. A defensive midfielder with the ability to contribute both defensively and offensively, he played one full decade in La Liga, mainly for Real Madrid, then finished his career (curtailed by several injury problems) in Italy with Milan. Redondo was a member of the Argentine national team in the 1990s, representing the nation in the 1994 World Cup.

Club career

Early years

Born in Adrogué, Buenos Aires, Redondo made his debut for Argentinos Juniors in 1985 in the first division, and played for five years for the team before moving abroad, to Spain.

He made his debut in La Liga with CD Tenerife, under the management of countryman Jorge Solari. During this period, Real Madrid twice lost the league title to arch-rivals FC Barcelona on the final day of the season, in matches against Tenerife, who were managed by Jorge Valdano and, when Valdano was appointed manager of Real Madrid in the summer of 1994, the player also made the move, for a fee of $5 million dollars.

Real Madrid

The key years of Redondo's career were spent at Real Madrid, where he was twice league champion and won two UEFA Champions League medals (in 1998 and 2000). It was during the second victorious campaign in Europe that he arguably turned in his finest performances, with new coach Vicente del Bosque utilised him in a powerful midfield combination with Steve McManaman: in the quarterfinals against Manchester United at Old Trafford, he was the author of a spectacular play in which he dribbled past defender Henning Berg by backheeling the ball around him, recovering it and assisting Raúl for Real Madrid's third goal (3–2 win, 3–2 on aggregate). Sir Alex Ferguson said after the game “What does this player have in his boots? A magnet?” After winning the final against Valencia CF, he was named the competition's Most Valuable Player.

In April 2013, Redondo was named by daily newspaper Marca as a member of the "Best foreign eleven in Real Madrid's history". He amassed Spanish top division totals of 268 games and 12 goals over the course of one full decade.

Milan and retirement

In 2000 Redondo transferred to Serie A club A.C. Milan, in a highly controversial £11m move, which left many Real Madrid fans perplexed. However, he was injured in one of his first training sessions and was unable to play for the next 2½ years due to his injury. He suspended his £2.74m-a-year salary, and even tried to give back the house and car which the Milan board had given him.

In 2004, at the age of 34, Redondo retired from professional football following yet another knee injury. Following his retirement, he moved back to Buenos Aires to be closer to his family; he was good friends with Diego Maradona, who acted as a mentor early in his career. Upon playing Milan in the Champions League final Stevan Gerrard was quoted as saying that Redondo was an idol and the greatest midfielder of all time (citation needed).

Since entering retirement, Redondo often appeared in many high profile exhibition matches contested by select squads of past and present footballing greats, including; Franco Baresi, Franz Beckenbauer, Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit, Zlatko Zahovič, Aleksandr Mostovoi, Marco van Basten and Tony Yeboah, amongst others.

International career

Redondo played for Argentina 29 times, the bulk of his appearances coming during 1992–94 while Alfio Basile was the coach.

He turned down a call-up to the national team just before the 1990 FIFA World Cup, when it was coached by Carlos Salvador Bilardo. The player excused himself on account of not wanting to interrupt his law studies, but some say that he refused to play for Bilardo because he did not agree with his ultra-defensive strategy. Redondo later explained: "I was picked for Argentina's World Cup squad in 1990 but I knew I wasn't going to be in the starting line-up, I would just be another squad member, so I preferred to stay home."

His national side debut came on 18 June 1992, in a 2-0 victory against Australia. Redondo shone in the 1994 World Cup, starting in all of Argentina's matches, but was unable to prevent Argentina from falling 3-2 to Romania in the round-of-16.

Following the 1994 World Cup, Redondo did not play again for Argentina for several years. He refused to play under tough disciplinarian Daniel Passarella, coach from 1994 - 1998. Redondo refused Passarella's demands to have his hair cut, and Batistuta also said he could not play in the position Passarella wanted him for. In 1998, Argentina's coach Daniel Passarella excluded Redondo from the World Cup squad, stating: "Twice he was asked to play for the national team and twice he refused and gave a different reason each time. Then he announced publicly he did not want to play for the national team and I do not pick any player who does not want to play for Argentina." Redondo later explained: "I was in great form. But he had particular ideas about discipline and wanted me to have my hair cut. I didn't see what that had to do with playing football so I said no again."

In 1999, when Argentina was managed by Marcelo Bielsa, Redondo was recalled to the national side for two friendlies against Brazil. Although he was chosen Man of the match in the 2–0 victory in Buenos Aires, he refused any subsequent call-ups from Bielsa, preferring to focus on club football.

Honours

Club

Real Madrid

• Spanish League: 1994–95, 1996–97
• Spanish Supercup: 1997; Runner-up 1995
• UEFA Champions League: 1997–98, 1999–2000
• Intercontinental Cup: 1998
• UEFA Super Cup: Runner-up 1998

Milan

• Italian League: 2003–04
• Italian Cup: 2002–03
• UEFA Champions League: 2002–03
• UEFA Super Cup: 2003

Country

• South American Under-17 Football Championship: 1985
• FIFA Confederations Cup: 1992
• Copa América: 1993

Individual

• FIFA Confederations Cup: Golden Ball 1992
• Tenerife Player of The Year: 1992–93, 1993–94
• Real Madrid Player of The Year: 1996–97, 1999–2000
• ESM Team of the Year: 1997–98
• Trofeo EFE: Player of The Decade 1990–99
• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 1999–2000

Statistics

Club

Club	Season	League		Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Argentinos Juniors	1985–86	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	1986–87	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1987–88	14	0	0	0	—		—		14	0
	1988–89	36	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	36	0
	1989–90	14	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	1
	Total	65	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	65	1
Tenerife	1990–91	23	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	23	1
	1991–92	32	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	32	2
	1992–93	20	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	4
	1993–94	28	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	28	1
	Total	103	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	103	8
Real Madrid	1994–95	23	1	0	0	3	1	0	0	26	2
	1995–96	23	2	2	0	4	0	1	0	30	2
	1996–97	33	1	6	0	0	0	0	0	39	1
	1997–98	33	0	2	0	11	0	0	0	46	0
	1998–99	23	0	2	0	7	0	2	0	34	0
	1999–00	30	0	5	0	15	0	3	0	53	0
	Total	165	4	17	0	37	1	6	0	225	5
Milan	2000–01	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2001–02	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2002–03	8	0	3	0	5	0	0	0	16	0
	2003–04	8	0	5	0	1	0	0	0	14	0
	Total	16	0	8	0	7	0	0	0	30	0
Career totals		349	13	25	0	44	1	6	0	423	14

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• Fernando Redondo at National-Football-Teams.com
• SuperFutbol biography (Spanish)
• Futbol Factory biography (Spanish)
• L'Équipe stats (French)