With All Star Players, Madrid Lost

Jidan the best player in the world (30), Louis Pigu (30) the best passer, Karlos (29) the best free kicker, Raul Gonzales the best striker of Spain and Ronald (26) New Emperor of Soccer.

What would happen if these 5 world`s best star players team up together?

That happened in the first game between Real Madrid v. AS Rome (Group C) of the round of 32 of the European Champions` League 2002-2003, which took place on Oct. 31, in Madrid, Spain.

Manager of Real Madrid, which is one of the most renowned soccer clubs in Spain, pitched in all of the 5 star players, taking on the strong team of AS Rome. This is the first time of this kind since Ronaldo jointed the team.

But the result was against Madrid: a 0-1 loss. Early in the game, Raul`s shootings barely missed the goal posts twice by a hair`s margin. The other players did not even get close to making a threatening shooting.

On the contrary, at ’27, it allowed a goal to Toti, the striker of AS Rome, which called the game for AS Rome. Real Madrid recently ended up the Spanish pro league, ranked at 4th with 3 wins and 3 ties (and 1 loss). The team is in slump.

Adding up the salaries of the five, the total comes to approximately $25 billion. Why is Madrid in slump with all of these star players? Experts point out the "malfunction" of Ronaldo, who is supposed to spearhead Madrid`s attack. Ronaldo, who got over from his knee injury and demonstrated excellent performance at the World Cup, failed to maintain his fitness in the process of moving to Madrid, from which he has not shown any sign of getting well.

Real Madrid secured a ticket to the round of 16 with 2nd position in the group, even with the loss to AS Rome. In the meanwhile, PSV Eindhoven, which is led by Guus Hiddink, failed to advance to the round, ranking third in the group.

stt77@donga.com