I feared, what if a crazy guy came on to the pitch: Figo on 2000 El Clasico

Its over a decadeandahalf ago and Luis Figo initially behaves as though he doesnt remember much about his then world record move from Barcelona to archrivals Real Madrid in July 2000October 21 2000 Barcelona fans burn a poster of Luis Figo during the Spanish League match between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Nou Camp in Barcelona Figo who had left the Catalonia club to join Real was playing in Barcelona for the first time since his move PicAFPSlowly but surely he opens up though Oh that was a long long time agohellip I dont remember anything now he says during a dinner for select media at a city hotel on Monday And then in a flash just like his brilliant body feints that could bring down some of the words best defenders in his heyday the stylish winger recalls his first Clasico at Nou Camp in October 2000Barca press buildupThe Barcelona press wrote a lot against me before the match But it was like any other match for me I went there and did my job but we lost 02 and thats how it was We were unfortunate says Figo in the city to launch Premier Futsal a fiveaside eight citybased franchise football league beginning in JulySo was it scary given the hostile 98000strong crowd was cursing abusing burning his posters and even hurling missiles at him Not really he insists going on to add I had no fearhellip I played normally You have to go out there and give your best My only fear was that if one man one crazy fan came onto to the pitch and did some damage to me then Id like to see what the Barcelona press would have written says the 43yearold with some conviction in his voice nowFigo joined Barcelona from Sporting Lisbon in 1995 and played for five seasons making a huge name for himself before shocking the world with his move Real Madrid in 2000 Less than a season at Madrid he reaped the rewards of his Barcelona brilliance winning the prestigious Ballon dOr or FIFA World Player of the Year award in DecemberGalactico eraFigo began the Galactico era under president Florentino Perez and went on to share the dressing room with some legends of the game like Zinedine Zidane Ronaldo David Beckham Raul and Roberto Carlos among othersIts no wonder he speaks so highly of former teammate Zidane who recently won his inaugural Clasico as manager of Real Madrid Hes doing very well as manager That was a good game I watched it I think he has lost just one game 01 to Atletico Madrid on Feb 27 before this in the La Liga as manager so far so thats very good says the Madrid residentFigo went on to represent Internazionale after five seasons at Real but insists the Clasico is more emotional than the Milan derby The fans in Spain are different They are more passionate about nonfootball stuff Fans in Italy have more respect for each other because its in the same city Finally it would be only apt to ask one Portuguese football legend about another Has Cristiano Ronaldo had a tough seasonRonaldo is like caviarI dont think so Hes scored some 40odd goals so its not a tough season The problem with Ronaldo is that hes like fine caviar and people like that but when he serves up tofu they feel hes not doing well I think because of him Portugal have a very strong chance of winning the Euro this time They are in a good group Group F alongside Iceland Austria and Hungary tooFigo leads us to another question What hurt more mdash losing the 2004 Euro final to Greece or 2006 World Cup semifinal to France The Euro because that was in front of our home fans The players fans were all so heartbroken because the connect with the fans was so great at the time No other Portugal team can achieve that Not even this one he signs off