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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: The 100 club

/noticias.info/ by Paul Saffer

In 2006 four players - a goalkeeper, a defender, a midfielder and a forward - formed an exclusive club. Oliver Kahn, Roberto Carlos, David Beckham and Raúl González became the only men to make 100 UEFA Champions League appearances since the competition was launched in 1992/93. The quartet can all claim a special place in the history of the UEFA Champions League as they have eight winners' medals between them - not to mention 20 domestic championships and more than 400 international caps. All have at least at once been widely considered the best in the world in their position.

Raúl feats
Raúl, perhaps the UEFA Champions League's most consistent record breaker, was the first man to reach his century on 21 February. It was a day of mixed fortunes, as Real Madrid CF lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal FC on their way to last 16 exit despite the striker's 63rd-minute introduction as substitute. That defeat was a rare reverse for Raúl who helped Madrid to victory in 1998, 2000 and 2002 - scoring in the latter two finals. In September 2005 he also became the only man so far to score 50 goals in the competition with a header against Olympiacos CFP that took him past Alfredo Di Stéfano's total of 49 in the European Champion Clubs' Cup.

"I've had some magnificent moments"
Raúl González

'Magnificent moments'
Raúl made his tournament debut as an 18-year-old in Madrid's 1-0 defeat by then-holders AFC Ajax in Amsterdam on 13 September 1995 and his first goals came in his third appearance the following month, a hat-trick in a 6-1 demolition of Ferencvárosi TC. "I've had some magnificent moments," Raúl said. "The hat-trick against Ferencváros and, of course, the three Champions League trophies."

Left-back supreme
Lining up with Raúl in all three of his finals, and the only other member of the 1997/98 team still at Madrid, was the second player to reach the 100-appearance mark, Roberto Carlos. A left-back whose defensive skills go hand in hand with his famed bullet-like shot and set-piece prowess, the Brazilian has set the standard for his position in the modern era, where athleticism up the flanks and a desire to attack are now standard issue for those who wish to be considered in the top class.

Swift century
Appropriately, it was alongside Raúl that the 2002 FIFA World Cup winner completed his century in September on Matchday 1 at Olympique Lyonnais - coincidentally also a Madrid defeat. Roberto Carlos's 100 games came in less than a decade, beginning against Rosenborg BK on 17 September 1997, and he struck a creditable 16 goals. Certainly €6.7m well spent after his unhappy spell at FC Internazionale Milano. And at 33, it is far from clear he will be fulfilling his wish to breed racehorses in retirement any time soon, having extended his contract until 2008 last month.

"To be on the list with Roberto Carlos and Raúl is an honour"
David Beckham

Beckham breaks threshold
A month after Roberto Carlos, another Madrid player passed the 100-game threshold, but one who made most of his appearances for another club. Beckham barely needs an introduction, beneath the celebrity whirl a midfielder who has worked at his game, especially his free-kicks and crosses, with almost obsessive rigour. He began with Manchester United FC, scoring on his UEFA Champions League debut in 1994 against Galatasaray SK, and the highlight of his 77 competition games for the Reds was of course the dramatic 1999 final against FC Bayern München, when he took over in central midfield due to Roy Keane’s suspension. He moved to Madrid in 2003 and was accompanied by his fellow centurions when Beckham reached that mark at FC Steaua Bucuresti in October. "To be on the list with Roberto Carlos and Raúl is an honour," he said. "They are two great players who have done almost everything in the game."

Kahn highs and lows
Oddly enough, the last of the quartet has a differing view of the 1999 decider. Kahn conceded two injury-time goals and called it “hell”. Still, two years later he was, in his own words, "in nirvana" after his penalty shoot-out heroics against Valencia CF for Bayern. It was the highlight of his competition career from his 1994 bow against Paris Saint-Germain FC to his Matchday 6 milestone appearance versus FC Internazionale Milano. In all he has appeared in 130 European games, a figure bettered only by Paolo Maldini and Luís Figo. It is perhaps telling that no other goalkeeper is in the top 20 of the UEFA Champions League appearance list, such has been the longevity of Kahn as one of the supreme practitioners of the art.

Fitting occasion
But then the same can be said for all the men in the 100 club, not to mention Paolo Maldini, hovering on 99. To remain proficient enough to appear regularly in the UEFA Champions League for more than a decade takes some doing. It will be a fitting occasion when Raúl, Roberto Carlos, Beckham and Kahn come face to face in when Madrid take on Bayern in the first knockout round. notas_de_prensa_archivo