Pierluigi Collina helping Sammy Kuffour back on his feet
One of the most iconic photos in the history of the UEFA Champions League is the photo of Italian referee Pierluigi Collina offering assistance to a distraught Sammy Kuffour.
The photo was from the famous UEFA Champions League between Bayern Munich and Manchester United in 1999.
Bayern Munich had taken the lead and Kuffour and his colleagues were confident of victory with just injury time to play.
But Manchester United mounted one of the best comebacks in UEFA Champions League to score twice within two minutes of injury time to pluck the cup from the jaws of the German giants.
Sammy Kuffour who was at the pinnacle of his career and had done incredibly well for Bayern on the night had no option but to break down into tears after United got the second goal through Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
With some seconds still left, Collina who was the referee on the day was captured giving a helping hand to Kuffour to help him back on his feet.
That is the genesis of the iconic photo that is often used to reminisce a standout moment in the history of Europe’s elite competition.
In 2020, Pierluigi Collina, in revealing his best game as a referee disclosed why he offered Sammy Kuffour a helping hand.
“It was the last two minutes of the Champions League final. I saw the Bayern players on the bench getting ready to celebrate the title.
“The fans in the stadium were happy that their team was crowned with the Champions League title. He continued: “Suddenly Manchester scored two goals in two minutes and overturned the result. "I will never forget how the English stands were filled with great noise as if they were roaring lions, while there was a funeral silence in the Bayern stands
“The Manchester United players were celebrating their second goal hysterically when I saw one of the Bayern players falling to the ground completely desperate and feeling great disappointment. I approached him and found nothing to say to him except 'Get up and fight, you still have 20 seconds.' At that moment I saw the true face of football, death and life in one stadium, people celebrating madly and desperate people to death” he said.
Two years later, it was all joy for Sammy Kuffour and his Bayern Munich teammates as they won the 2001 UEFA Champions League.
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