Until these days, there are only two Mexicans who have been able to win the UEFA Champions League, the most important club tournament in the world, however, only one of them has been able to participate in the final to lift the scepter, being Rafael Marquez, as Jonathan Dos Santos won the trophy for having participated in the Group Phase, while Javier Hernandez and the Manchester United succumbed to the Barcelona.
With these data, it is more than evident who has been the Mexican with the best performance in a Champions League final, because although El Chicharito participated the 90 minutes with the Red Devils In the final of the 2008-2009 season, he could not make any difference on the field, thanks to the spectacular style of play implemented by the Barca from Pep Guardiola, who defeated them 3-1, which meant the second orejona for El Kaiser even though he did not participate in the duel because he was injured.
The first time that the five-time World Cup winner was in the competition was in the 2005-2006 campaign when the Catalans beat 2-1 to the Arsenal under the command of the dutch Frank Rijkaard, with the Cameroonian annotations Samuel eto’o and the brazilian Juliano Belleti, where the Aztec dumbbell next to the Blaugrana legend Carles Puyol, pillars in the tactical scheme of the technician.
This meeting, held in Paris, was not easy for the youth squad of the Atlas, since it had to cover one of the best French in history, Tierry Henry, who managed to elude him at times, but the archer Victor Valdes was attentive, he also had to be attentive at all times because the Gunners they had other outstanding elements like the Swedish Fredrik Ljungberg, the Spanish Cesc Fabregas, the Belarusian Aliaksandr Hleb and french Robert pires.
Added to this, the Barcelona had to row against the current, as the English surprised first with a header goal from Sol Campbell after a free kick. It is worth noting the good work they did in defense for the second half, because containing the French Greyhound sprinter was not easy and he could only prowl twice, thanks to the attentive interventions of Tarzan when Márquez was overtaken or vice versa, also guided by the brazilian Rondaldinho, who was in charge of pulling the strings of the midfield and the African Eto’o who never gave up in his attempts to pierce the goal.
Finally, it is not at all strange that the central defender has been a key piece for the conquest, since his resume shows us the value he had when he was active in Mexico, France and Spain, where his best characteristics were always the game changes, lengths, the passing game both to defend and to score, his crosses in perfect time, the iron mark and leadership.
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