Figo 1998

[Melvina Kryder]

Barcelonahome shirt of the football season 1997/1998. Model round neck and half sleeve. On the front are embroidered the patch of the team on the heart side and the logo of technical sponsor Kappa on the right. On the back is applied sublimatic print FIGO and number 9. The LFP patch is applied to the right sleeve, again in sublimatic print.

He enjoyed five fabulous seasons in Catalonia, claiming the Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1997, followed by the Spanish league and cup double in 1998 and a further Liga title in 1999. Figo joined arch-rivals Real Madrid in 2000 in a world-record transfer and maintained his form at the Santiago Bernabu, winning two Liga titles plus the2002 UEFA Champions League during a five-year spell.

He was a mainstay of the Portugal team for 15 years, appearing in three UEFA European Championships and two FIFA World Cups. His international career peaked with a dazzling performance at UEFA EURO 2000, the year he won the Ballon d'Or.

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Following on in the footsteps of Johan Cruyff, Figo was a figure who was seen to embrace and embody Catalonia, having been drawn in and absorbed by a hypnotic part of the world, he had become one of their own. Figo may not have been born of Catalonia, but he was deemed to be of Catalonia.

So much has been said and so much has been written about the invective nature of Barcelona-based feelings towards Figo, and also about the vagaries and conundrums of his summer 2000 transfer to Real Madrid, that it has served to largely obliterate the image of Figo the Barcelona player.

Figo was well on his way to being canonised by the Barcelona faithful when he turned his back on them. As a result, his time and his achievements at the Camp Nou have almost been stricken from the record. Whitewashed from existence. Yet the pain of his departure, or more pertinently the destination of his departure, is still felt.

The idolisation of Figo at Bara was at fever pitch. The depth of positive feeling towards him is something which still sits uncomfortably on the shoulders of the supporters of the Blaugrana. In the eyes of the Culs, Figo betrayed them. He will never be forgiven.

Third place in LaLiga, defeat in the final of the Copa del Rey to the double-winning Atltico Madrid, and a narrow loss to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup semi-final brought the end for Cruyff, in what was a decision born of a power struggle between coach and president, rather than for on-field failings.

While Euro 96, and an unexpected quarter-final loss to the Czech Republic, went on to set the tone for a series of glorious shortfalls when it came to the international scene for Figo, his club career was on the brink of a silver-laden future.

Despite the combination of promise and success during 1996/97, change still came. Robson was reluctantly moved to desk duties, making way in the dugout for Louis van Gaal, and the club cashed in on the force-of-nature which was Ronaldo, as he left for Internazionale.

Like previously, political issues came into play at the Camp Nou. During their centenary year, Bara retained the LaLiga title, in what was the bare minimum requirement. The hierarchy had, however, fully expected to see their club grace the Champions League final on home soil, yet they instead exited the competition at the group stages.

Figo, having seen his nation fail to qualify for the 1998 World Cup finals, was feeling the vague sense of a lack of prestige by the summer of 1999. He felt the adoration of the Culs but a degree of under-appreciation from his employers. He wanted to be on the most elevated of platforms. He wanted wider recognition of his talents, and he reportedly wanted that with Barcelona, with a club and within a city he had taken as his own.

Yet again, Figo carried the hopes of the Culs onto the turf at the Camp Nou. It proved to be a bridge too far, however, as Bara were comprehensively out-thought. It was the last time that the Portuguese star strode into the Camp Nou as a Barcelona player.

Beyond the wall of hate which met his every return to the Camp Nou, the novelty-sized currency with his face on it, the pigs heads thrown in his direction, the request from the club itself to UEFA for him to be removed from a combined Barcelona-Juventus representative game prior to the 2015 Champions League final in Berlin, the lingering pain is still there as we approach two decades since his infamous transfer.

Comenz su carrera deportiva en el "Barrocas B", un modesto club del barrio de trabajadores donde naci. A los nueve aos, ingres en los infantiles del "Os Pastilhas", un equipo menor que debe su nombre a su patrocinador, una marca de pastillas digestivas. En 1985 firma su primer contrato profesional con el Sporting de Portugal, donde milit durante diez temporadas (1985-1995). En el verano de 1995 con apenas 22 aos, varios clubes punteros de Europa se interesaron por el jugador, acabando finalmente en el Ftbol Club Barcelona, tras una duplicidad de contratos con dos equipos italianos, Parma y Juventus.

Desde su primera temporada 1995/96, es titular indiscutible. Ese primer ao bajo las rdenes de Johan Cruyff, el equipo no logra ningn ttulo, alcanzando las semifinales ante el Bayern en Copa de la UEFA, siendo subcampeones de Copa ante el Atltico de Madrid y terceros en una Liga que tambin ganaran los atlticos.

La temporada 1998/99, el equipo revalida el ttulo de Liga, pero vuelve a ser apeado en la fase de grupos de la Liga de Campeones por segundo ao consecutivo. En la Copa, es eliminado en cuartos por el Valencia CF, a la postre campen de la competicin.

En su quinta y ltima temporada como cul, la 1999/2000, el Bara no consigue ningn ttulo, tras acabar subcampen de Liga y caer eliminado en las semifinales de Copa del Rey ante el Atltico de Madrid, y de Liga de Campeones ante el Valencia CF.

Figo es el primer gran fichaje de Florentino Prez, recin vencedor de las elecciones de 2000. El presidente, que hereda una plantilla vigente campeona de Europa y una institucin distinguida por la FIFA ese mismo ao 2000, como Mejor Club del siglo XX, acomete una remodelacin de la plantilla, en la que abandonaron el club destacados jugadores como Fernando Redondo o Nicolas Anelka, para sufragar las nuevas incorporaciones.

En la temporada 2003/04 y con el portugus Carlos Queiroz en sustitucin de Del Bosque, llega al Real Madrid el cuarto galctico, el centrocampista ingls David Beckham, que es desplazado al mediocentro, manteniendo Figo su titularidad en la banda derecha y completando a nivel individual, una de sus mejores temporadas como madridista.

Portugal no logr la clasificacin para la Copa Mundial de Ftbol de 1998, en Francia. Dos aos ms tarde, Figo form parte junto a jugadores como Vitor Baia (capitn), Fernando Couto o Rui Costa, de la seleccin lusa que disput la fase final de la Eurocopa 2000, en la que quedaron apeados por la Francia de Zidane en semifinales.

El 18 de febrero de 2004, Figo alcanz las 100 internacionalidades en un amistoso ante Inglaterra (1-1), disputado en el Estdio Algarve. En la Eurocopa 2004, que la seleccin portuguesa disputaba como anfitriona, capitane como titular al equipo hasta la final de Lisboa, en la que Portugal cay derrotada contra pronstico 0-1 ante Grecia.

Figo disput dos Mundiales, el Mundial de Corea-Japn 2002 en el que fueron eliminados en primera ronda y el Mundial de Alemania 2006, su ltimo torneo como internacional, en el que alcanzaron las semifinales, finalizando en cuarta posicin. El 8 de julio de 2006 ante Alemania, disput su ltimo encuentro internacional, totalizando 127 internacionalidades y 32 goles.

Relive Figose's impressive time at Barcelona with this 1998/00 away shirt. Number 7 celebrates the Portuguese star's technical brilliance and creative flair that made him a crucial player in the team. The shirt bears the memories of Figose's fantastic contribution to Barcelona's matches in La Liga and the Champions League, where his dribbling and ability to create chances were key to the club's success. Figo's influence on the team's performance and his iconic presence on the pitch make this shirt a tribute to his time at Barcelona.

Football had never seen anything like Real Madrid's "Galacticos." They were box office: a team made up of the world's most high-profile players, assembled at great expense, who would steamroller opponents on the pitch and build a global brand off it.

That was the plan, anyway. It fell apart (of course it did) but for six years, from 2000 to 2006, it was hard to beat the Bernabeu for transfers, trophies and tantrums. Here are 10 of the key moments from that star-studded era.

The summer of 2000 wasn't an obvious time for a change at Real Madrid: the club had just won its second Champions League in three years after going 32 years without. In fact, Lorenzo Sanz had called elections early, hoping to capitalise on that European success to secure the presidency ahead of the club's 100th birthday two years later. Behind the scenes, though, all was not well. The club's severe debt was growing, and that gave Perez, one of Spain's richest businessmen, an opening. He had made his fortune in Spain's building boom with construction giant ACS. Now Perez pledged to sort out Real Madrid's finances. That, and sign Luis Figo, the best player in La Liga. Those twin promises saw him beat Sanz by just over 3,000 votes on July 16, 2000. The race had been tight, but postal voting leaned heavily in Perez's favour. The presidential challenger had beaten the incumbent for the first time in the club's history.

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