“That’s the way to trigger me.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted that he was “pissed off” with Sir Alex Ferguson at half-time of the 1999 Champions League final.
As was often the case throughout his Manchester United playing career, Solskjaer started the 1999 final on the bench as Ferguson opted for the prolific pairing of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole up front against Bayern Munich.
United trailed from early on thanks to a goal from Mario Basler and it appeared as though Ferguson prioritised the introduction of Teddy Sheringham over Solskjaer.
In an interview with Four Four Two, Solskjaer recalls how Ferguson spoke to Sheringham quite a bit at half-time at the Camp Nou, while he didn’t have anything to say to his Norwegian super-sub.
“Nothing special,” Solskjaer answered when asked if Ferguson had any advice for him when he came off the bench.
Solskjaer on Ferguson
“But he did speak to Teddy at length at half-time and that pissed me off. I thought: ‘I’ve scored 17 goals for you this season, mostly coming on as sub – aren’t you going to speak to me?’ Then Teddy went on.
“That’s the way to trigger me; to make me feel: ‘I’m going to prove you wrong’.
“I forget what the gaffer said to me afterwards, but I’ve got a picture of us together and I will always remember thinking at that moment: ‘You deserve this – you deserve so much to win the Champions League’.
“We did it for him, as a manager. You almost well up when you think about it. He was that kind of manager.”
Sheringham was first off the bench, followed by Solskjaer fifteen minutes later and the pair’s goals in injury time remain the stuff of legend.
Sheringham equalised in the 91st minute before Solskjaer famously “won it” with his close-range strike in the dying seconds.
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