Chelsea FC’s Makelele, The Goal Scoring Genius

10 years ago today Claude Makelele scored what is probably the most celebrated Chelsea FC goal of recent years.

It was the day Chelsea FC were to be awarded the Premier League trophy after a 50 year wait since last emerging as top flight champions.

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The side show that day was a match against Charlton Athletic which had to be played first before the celebrations could begin. The match itself wasn’t particularly exciting as these end of season games tend to be with everyone more focused on the after match partying as the trophy was to be finally received. Then in the 90th minute the party really started! Frank Lampard was fouled in the box, the penalty was awarded and up stepped Claude Makelele!

94 matches into his Chelsea FC career and the man who rarely ventured beyond the half way line was heading into the opposition’s penalty area to try and win the match!

Jose Mourinho frowned at the sight of Makelele being pushed forward by the players to take it, the Chelsea FC bench was on it’s feet and Stamford Bridge held it’s breath ……

In true Makelele style he ran up with 6 paces, struck it cleanly with his right foot and Stefan Anderson saved it!!!!!

Cue the instant groans from around the ground………

However the ball rebounded back into Makelele’s path and with a swing of his left foot the ball bounced into the ground and over Anderson’s despairing dive and into the back of the net.

CLAUDE MAKELELE HAD SCORED!!!!

Jose Mourinho led the charge from the assembled Chelsea FC substitutes and backroom staff, and a mad melee in front of the Stamford Bridge delirious faithful commenced.

Just why were the celebrations so euphoric and so spontaneous?

It wasn’t just the fact that Chelsea FC had won again, it wasn’t just that Chelsea FC were now 1 point behind Manchester United’s Premier League record of 92 points with 2 more games still to play, it was because the most selfless player in the squad had scored his first ever goal for Chelsea FC.

Who is this player that caused the most memorable goal celebration then?

Claude Makelele Sinda was born in Kinshasa, Zaire on 18th February 1973.

With his family he moved to Paris aged 4, and after playing for several French clubs moved to Celta Vigo in 1998 where he started learning and mastering the Defensive Midfielder role. After 2 years he was signed by Real Madrid where he became the unsung hero among the title winning “Galacticos”

Credit to: http://carefreelee62.wix.com/chelsealee

He handed in a transfer request in 2003 after being denied an improved contract. Claudio Ranieri signed him for Chelsea FC, with Ranieri describing Makelele as the battery of the team. Several Real Madrid players famously spoke out about his departure with regret. The most notable of these, Zinadine Zidane was quoted as saying after his sale and David Beckham’s signing as his replacement “Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?”

Under Jose Mourinho the Defensive Midfield role was renamed by the British press as “The Makelele Role”, such was his success at being the player that protected the defensive back four. They recognised that “The Makelele Role” was different from the traditional defensive mid-fielders, who used to be hard tacklers and generally used to scythe down opponents.The Frenchman was simple, efficient,had great positional sense and was highly disciplined.

Claude Makelele knew and enjoyed his role in the team and when interviewed about how he saw his role he was quoted as saying ” “In every team you need to know what your role is and one of the keys to my role is to keep the balance of the team right. So when Didier [Drogba] goes here, I do this. When Frank [Lampard] goes there, I go there. Same with Michael [Ballack]. When one person moves out of position, then someone else comes in and covers for them. When you play in my position you have to enjoy it. You can’t be thinking  I don’t get any goals’. You just enjoy it, you enjoy playing football, tackling, giving the ball. Just enjoy it. When you are small you have to tackle at the right moment. He might be tall, he might be strong but if you tackle at the right moment you’ll win it. It’s about timing.”

So that is Claude Makelele, the man who was so good they named a football position after him.

And that is why everyone connected with Chelsea FC celebrated his goal 10 years ago today with such gusto and enthusiasm.

As a footnote, Claude Makelele scored a second goal the very next season!

The date was Bonfire’s Night (November 5th) 2006 and the opponents were Tottenham Hotspur and it was a worldy!