Dwight Yorke played the full 90 minutes of the 1999 Champions League final but things might have turned out differently if he didn’t have the pace to outrun Peter Schmeichel.
Steve McClaren tells a fantastic story about how a piece of training ground cheekiness almost escalated into a bust-up on the eve of most unforgettable night for Manchester United.
Just before United took on Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou, the Red Devils’ players were put through their paces in training and received their final instructions for all potential outcomes.
McClaren had only just been appointed assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson and he was tasked with preparing the penalty-takers just in case a shootout was required after 120 minutes.
Speaking to BBC 5 Live Sport on Tuesday, McClaren revealed how a Panenka penalty from Yorke in training sent United’s notoriously temperamental goalkeeper into a fury.
“I always remember just before the Champions League final and we said: ‘What I want you to do is to take a penalty how you would take a penalty tomorrow night to win the Champions League’,” McClaren said.
“Dwight Yorke comes up and gets the ball. He dribbles all the way, faces up to Schmeichel, runs up and gives Schmeichel the Panenka.
“Oh my god! There was chaos.
“Schmeichel went mad, honestly. It was at Bisham Abbey we were training and he chased him all the way around Bisham Abbey but he couldn’t catch him.
“He was calling him all the names but finally stopped.
"Yorke gave him the Panenka. Schmeichel went mad."
Steve McClaren recalls antics in training before #MUFC's 1999 Champions League final. pic.twitter.com/nAzM9ywLaL— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) May 30, 2017
“Dwight Yorke was running away, weaving away and he never stopped smiling.
“Finally we stopped him and I said: “Yorkie, would you do that tomorrow night?’
“He said: ‘Stevie, you know I would do that tomorrow night!'”
