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Teddy Sheringham today revealed how German cockiness and showboating inspired him to play the starring role in Manchester United's miraculous European Cup triumph in Barcelona.
As United's heroes flew back home after one of the most extraordinary comeback victories in sport, Sheringham was bathing in 'the most amazing roller-coaster ride' of his life after his second match-winning peformance in five days following his decisive strike in Saturday's FA Cup Final.
This time, he came off the bench to score the injury-time equaliser with Bayern Munich leading 1-0 and United seemingly beaten and seconds later was celebrating United's historic treble as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the other 'super sub', netted the winner in a disbelieving Nou Camp stadium.
Afterwards, Sheringham explained how he had become infuriated while sitting on the bench and watching Mario Basler, Bayern's goalscorer, waving to the German fans as if the game was already won. 'The Germans were getting flashy and it gave me the hump,' he said. 'I watched Basler showboating and waving and it wasn't good to see.
'It was very un-German, not the sort of thing you expect to see and as I was sitting there it just geed me up. So to go out there and score and help us win just made it all the sweeter for me.'
Alex Ferguson had told Sheringham at half-time that he would bring him on after another 20 minutes if Bayern were still leading. When ushering him on to the field, the United manager had told him: 'Go out there and get us that goal.'
After injecting fresh life into United's ailing challenge, Sheringham answered the call in the 91st minute, completing an amazing reversal of fortunes at the end of a season where, through injuries and acting as a third-string to Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke he had been almost a forgotten bit-part player at Old Trafford.
'But I don't want to be labelled as a super-sub like David Fairclough,' he said, while refusing to be drawn on speculation that, with one year of his United contract still left to run, he is still unsettled enough to want to leave Old Trafford.
'Let's not get into that,' he said. 'I'm enjoying the moment, I'm involved again and I'm a contented man.'
He could be even more contented tomorrow if, as widely predicted, Kevin Keegan drafts him into the squad for England's two crucial European Championship qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Ryan Giggs was offering no comfort to United's domestic pursuers as he hailed Ferguson's team as now being able to stand comparison with the greatest in the history of English football.
'We are only going to get better,' he warned. 'We won't lose our appetite just because we have won the treble. The great teams keeping on winning. Juventus reached three successive finals and we want to emulate that.
'It won't be a two-horse race at home - Arsenal are still there, Liverpool will rebuild this summer and Chelsea will keep getting better - but though it won't get any easier, I think we have the spirit and the quality to go on and dominate like the Liverpool of the mid-eighties. I think we have to be ranked alongside them.'
United's victory also gave a boost to Chelsea, who because of last night's victory go through to next season's Champions' League, rather than the qualifying rounds
