The Class of 92 Page #6

Of course he is, yeah."

Carried on sort of like getting ready.

And in the mirror, he seen the gaffer

walking up the stairs.

At this time, the apprentices

can hear his voice,

because there was a few

of the apprentices out.

They've hid in the wardrobe,

they've hid under the bed,

one of them jumped out the window.

And he didn't know about them.

They didn't get caught.

So anyway, he's caught me

and Sharpey red-handed.

And he's just sat us down

and he's absolutely battered us.

And I says, "You have no idea

what a life you're going to have now."

And I says, "You're in tomorrow, 7 o'clock.

I want you in at 7 o'clock."

And they were like that,

their eyes were going...

"Sharpey, you're going back in digs,

you're not having your own house.

"You've had too many chances."

And he said to me, he's gone,

"Do you want to end up like him?"

From that day on, really,

I was a little bit more focused,

and obviously I'd seen the gaffer

snap before, but not like that.

Fortunately, Ryan took heed.

Because if you look at him now,

playing at 41 years of age,

it tells you everything.

He's lived his life well, you know.

He's looked after himself,

and that was an experience that maybe

he might look back at and say,

"I'm glad that happened." You know?

He's a different kind of animal, Giggsy.

He came to a point where he said,

"Enough's enough.

I'm a footballer first and foremost."

Yeah, there was a time

where I just had to play within myself,

and sort of change my role where,

yeah, I couldn't be a flying winger,

I had to manage my game a lot more

and look after my body.

He looked at the bigger picture,

he looked at, "In 15 years' time,

"I still want to be playing football

for Man United."

So what sacrifices, now, do I have to make?

Diet, getting the right beds,

getting the right car,

doing different stretches, obviously

starting yoga, I'm seeing an osteopath,

doing acupuncture, ice baths, you name it,

I've done it, to sort of maximise

the time that I'm on the pitch.

And especially the last three months

of the season, you do everything you can,

because you know that's

when it all happens.

That's when you need to be at your best.

That's when the big games are coming.

COMMENTATOR:
The last thing that

either club needed was a replay,

but here we are.

United already committed to two games

a week between now and the end of May,

or they are if they're to keep thinking

about a treble.

And let's not forget

the double's still on for Arsenal.

Something's got to give here.

GIGGS:
We'd played, I think,

about three or four days before.

We had Juventus coming up,

we were doing well in the league.

So the manager decided to change things.

I'd played in the first game.

We'd had a goal disallowed,

and we felt that we should have won it.

And I just wanted to play in that game.

And I was subbed.

At that point in our careers,

Arsenal was the rivals.

It was such a great Arsenal team,

it was the best team

that, probably,

we played against domestically.

Power, pace, aggression, experience, skill.

They had everything. And...

They were such a tough

team to play against.

I mean, Martin Keown from England,

and they were all...

And David Seaman, they were all great lads,

I really like them.

But on the pitch, there

was just a real hatred.

And it had been such a tiring game.

You know, going 1-nil up,

then 1-1, and then...

Keaney got sent off, so we're playing,

obviously, a man down.

There were so many emotions as well.

I probably should have came off.

I was physically and mentally exhausted.

It was such an emotionally charged evening

that I just hit a brick wall.

The ball came across to Ray Parlour

and he was taking me on.

And I remember feeling shattered.

I actually remember him running at me,

to this day, thinking, "I'm dead here."

So I just collapsed on the floor,

thinking I've got to make a tackle.

And it was a tired...

I made the wrong decision.

And when I give the penalty away,

I remember thinking, "Life's over.

...l-m dead-

"I'd rather die than this penalty go in."

And it was one of those moments

when I honestly thought,

if Dennis Bergkamp would have scored,

my Man United career

would have probably been finished.

(FANS CHEERING)

(CHEERING WILDLY)

Me and Phil go to celebrate

with Peter Schmeichel,

he literally shoves us

the other side of the box.

He literally clothes-lined me away.

And I was back on it.

The game was getting a bit stretched.

So I think the manager thought

it would be perfect for me to come on now,

fresh legs, and the manager just says,

"I think the right back's tiring.

"Whenever you get a chance, run at him.

Make something happen."

You're 10 men, you're thinking

it's going to penalties.

You're hanging on.

Arsenal have sort of

wave after wave of attack.

And then Giggsy picks the ball up.

PHIL:
Patrick Vieira plays the ball square.

And I just remember Giggsy setting off.

When I sprint, you can tell I'm sprinting.

Everything is moving.

With Giggsy it's almost slow motion,

he glides on the top of the surface,

his feet don't touch the ground.

He picked the ball up.

And I was at left back behind him,

and I was shouting,

"Giggsy, Giggsy, I'm on my way."

Thinking I was going to overlap him.

And Giggsy just went further

and further and further away from me.

He starts running at players,

and I've seen Giggsy do this

since I was 15 years old.

I stood still and it was like slow motion.

In and out, gliding in and out.

He was like a gazelle.

He had this grace about him.

And he was making body movements

without even touching the ball.

And Lee Dixon went for one,

Martin Keown went for one.

BECKHAM:
I just saw him going through,

going through, keeping on going.

I'm thinking Scholes is

coming in back post.

Look at Scholesy, look at Scholesy.

And all he had to do

was square it to me

and I'd make a big run

and I tell you, I think

I was still 20 yards behind him,

and I was sprinting as fast as I could.

That was Ryan Giggs, whether

he was playing on Lower Broughton Road,

Littleton Road,

The Cliff training ground, Carrington...

That was what Ryan Giggs was all about.

This was Giggsy's moment.

COMMENTATOR:
What a goal!

You have seen a magician wave a wand!

And conjure up a trick

which the FA Cup

and all its glorious past can revel in.

You just lose yourself

and don't know what you're doing.

And everything...

Sanity just goes out of your head.

And I just decided

to take my shirt off and just...

start swinging it.

The team were coming over.

Fans were coming over.

They were on top of me and it's just...

unbelievable.

How many times are you going to see

a goal like that in your lifetime?

Especially scored

by one of your lads as well.

SCHOLES:
It is the best

goal I've ever seen.

Just for everything,

how important it was,

and the way he did it,

who he went past.

As a defender,

you look at those lads differently,

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