Football Genius: Ryan Giggs

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Ciao Steemians!

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A man with a single loved city: Manchester. Born in the youth of City and then move to the opposite side, that of United. From 1987 to 2014 he remained in the Red Devils without ever moving, 24 years as a professional football player with only one jersey and the number 11 on his shoulders. Born in 1973 in Cardiff he changed surname because of the bad relationship with his father who was Wilson, in addition to this he also changed nationalities, from English to Welsh. He has played more than 1000 professional match and is the second player with most appearance in Premier League history.

Flag and myth united in one. Ryan knew how to enthuse the crowd that came to the stadium to watch this amazing players, speed, technique, tenacity and class fused together, advanced midfielder who knew how to score with the same easiness with which he turned out assist for his teammates, just take a look to his statistics, 157 goals scored and 167 assists made, simply crazy. For opponents it was really difficult to stay behind him, a mix of excellent skills at very high speed were able to jump defenders and goalkeepers with great ability, in fact all this was made easy by him but just few players would be able to imitate him.

Giggsy has played and witnessed the passage of generations and generations of champions who have participated in making Manchester United great. So in love with this city that he remained 3 years after his retirement as a professional footballer, in the role of assistant coach, interim coach and vice coach, in chronological order. A scream bulletin board trophies, to do envy at anyone: 4 League Cups, 13 championships, 10 between Charity and Community Shield, 4 FA Cup in Anglo-Saxon territory. Very well with International competitions too, with a Cup Winners' Cup, a UEFA Super Cup, 2 Champions League, an Intercontinental Cup and a World Club Cup. With his own national team, Wales, he never managed to win a trophy, but he always been their light and captain for 16 years and which is now the Technical Commissioner.

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Under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson he learned a lot, master of free kicks, lightning-fast insertions to head shots, even though he was not very tall he had an excellent elevation, dribbling and impressive progression, flying shots as if it rained, he knew inventing unbelievable lobs and bombs without any problem, loved to "umiliate" a lot of defenders and then put the ball on the net with hallucinating violence, certainly the variety in his playing mode was a strong point that could make him unpredictable.

If you ask me a player who made me fall in love, for his class, elegance and personality on and off the field, I tell you Ricardo Kaka. It was the semi-final first match at Old Trafford, that evening he was uncatchable, he had that touch of magic than in evenings like that one make the difference. I had never seen him play live until then. There was an episode, in which Ricardo made a foul in midfield, and I protested with the referee for a possible yellow card. Seeing that gesture, he gets up and takes me by the neck. I knew he was a God fearing, a religious, I thought inside of me: 'One who professes the word of the Lord takes me by the neck?' After the match, inside our locker rooms came Gattuso to tell me that Ricardo wanted to clarify. I told him 'no problem we are men'. Ricardo hugged me, and gave me an image of God, telling me that at that moment he did not realize the gesture. I told him: 'Ricardo, no problem, we are players, and in the field we transform sometimes, we are playing a Champions game, it can happen.' Gattuso translated the whole thing, and than Kakà knelt down, thanking me. All my teammates applauded, we also exchanged the shirt. That holy image I still keep it today, reminds me of one of the most significant moments of my career.

This curious anecdote of the fight with Kakà, which you saw in the picture above, says a lot about what kind of person he was, sometimes irascible and sullen but sporty, he knew how to accept the risks of the job without getting too many problems, estimated by all colleagues and football lovers have always been an excellent example of what can easily be defined as a real champion that will hardly be forgotten, even for generations to come. His mentor Sir Alex Ferguson, in 1977, told to the press:

I remember the first time I saw him he was 13 and he ran around the field like a cocker chasing a piece of silver paper that rises in the air.

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Logo by @ryo-6414

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