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The most telling insight into Teddy Sheringham's extraordinary European Cup winning performance was provided several weeks ago at one of London's most fashionable eating spots.
He and a fellow England international were out for a few quiet drinks and the talk turned to their careers. Neither was in his club's first team and Sheringham, without rancour or bitterness, simply could not believe that he did not merit a game at Manchester United.
Even though his move to Old Trafford seemed to be turning him into something of a forgotten man, Sheringham remained totally confident in his talent, convinced that he is still one of the best footballers in England.
Sitting on the bench at 23 is bad enough, but the youngsters who chafe and strain at that discomfort should try finding out what it feels like at 33 when you can almost feel the rust spreading through your joints.
Even though Sheringham remains an independent spirit, a man who does not greatly enjoy the traditional manager-player relationship which paints one as a benign dictator and the other as a serf, he decided not to rant and rave in the media or break down the door to Alex Ferguson's office.
Three medals, two cup-winning goals and a place in history later, his decision has been proved correct.
But in an age when the balance of power has swung irrevocably from the clubs to the players thanks to their millionaire status, it is remarkable that Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were even available to United for Wednesday's encounter with Bayern Munich.
David Fairclough made the supersub role his own with Liverpool in the 1970s. But the days of such loyal Sancho Panza types have long gone, along with the terraces at football grounds, bubble perms and managers in sheepskin coats.
At any club other than Manchester United - and under any manager other than Ferguson - Sheringham and Solskjaer would have been long gone, trailing 'kiss and tell' stories behind them.
Nwankwo Kanu has been the revelation of the season with Arsenal, yet people around him and the High-bury board know that he was considering his future when Arsene Wenger left him out of the FA Cup semi-final replay on April 14. That kind of wafer-thin patience is the norm these days.
In comparison, Solskjaer and Sheringham have put their international careers at risk, each has been the subject of transfer offers and they must have lost a lot of sleep worrying about their futures in the last few months.
To increase their uncertainty, there is the slight problem of a 53-goal partnership between Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke.
Yet there they were on Wednesday, coming off the bench to provide the most dramatic finish in the competition's history.
Sheringham said: 'The Germans were getting flashy and it gave me the hump. Mario Basler was showboating and waving to the crowd and it wasn't something I enjoyed watching.
'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.'
That feeling, their medals - and presumably a hefty bonus - were all the rewards Sheringham and Solskjaer had dreamed of when they remained loyal to a club which had decided that they were no more than auxiliaries.
In the same way that Ferguson gambled on their introduction to the match and won, the players had gambled with their professional futures and hit the jackpot.
But why, apart from financial gain, have these two talented strikers - who would play week in, week out in 95 per cent of the other Premiership teams - opted to stay at Old Trafford?
There is a team spirit - that is crystal clear. But there is a special kind of family spirit as well.
For example, when the trophy was put on to the podium it would have been normal for the winning captain, Peter Schmeichel, to lift it euphorically as soon as he possibly could.
But not one United player actually reached for the cup until every medal had been handed to each member of the squad - starters, substitutes and those who never changed out of their club suits.
All for one, one for all. That family spirit extends to the fans, who idolise Solskjaer for his remarkable strike rate as a substitute - particularly since it was his goal with seconds remaining which knocked Liverpool out of the FA Cup.
Loyalty is everything to the extended United family. And the patriarch of that family is able to inspire men to do extraordinary things.
In fact, Ferguson has done all this to Bayern Munich before, in virtually identical fashion, when he was manager of Aberdeen. In 1983, the year the Scottish club won the Cup-winners' Cup, they were losing 2-1 on aggregate to Bayern with around 15 minutes left. But they turned it round thanks to the arrival of another supersub , John Hewitt, who eventually scored the winner just as he did a month later to win the final against Real Madrid in extra time.
The temptation, once a player starts scoring as a substitute, is to keep him on the bench and pray that he will always be there to do the same thing for you.
So perhaps success will give United even more problems than did waiting for success. Given that both Solskjaer and Sheringham believed themselves to be worthy first-team starters before their historic achievements in the Nou Camp, what will their feelings be now?
'I expect all of my players to want to reach for the moon all the time,' Ferguson said yesterday.
Now, after all United have won in the last three weeks, it is a guaranteed place in the first team which represents the moon for Sheringham and Solskjaer.
Sheringham has no doubts. 'I don't want to be labelled as a supersub like David Fairclough,' he said. Asked about his future, he added: 'Let's not get into that. I'm enjoying the moment, I'm involved again and I'm contented.'
Next season is sure to be the most demanding in United's history, however. So, if anything, there will be even more expectant faces added to the squad photo when August comes around.
Ferguson not only faces his domestic treble of competitions but an even more extended Champions League, the Super Cup, the World Club Cup and FIFA's new tournament of champions next January.
Toss in the demands of his players' various international teams, the delayed effects of this season plus the odd injury, and the size of the task seems daunting.
Some day soon, the law of averages dictates that Ferguson will fail when he reaches into his top hat to pull out a white rabbit in the shape of a goal from one of his substitutes.
But it doesn't look as if he can afford that to happen next season, or the one after that...or the one after that.
