Graham Hunter

Football columnist

Latest articles from Graham Hunter

The man behind the moustache and Spain's World Cup win

He was badly wounded when Madrid brutally dumped him in 2003 after 35 years of excellent service as player and coach, but he has yet to hit back in the media, yet to vent any of his pain and anger. That's not his way. The most pungent thing he has ever said in public is: "Had they not removed me like that I am certain my team was equipped to carry on winning."

An Allianz of philosophies

Given the huge importance of these two clubs to European football across the decades (21 Uefa and four world club trophies between them), it's surprising that Bayern and Barça have enjoyed only six competitive meetings (with the Spaniards winning just once). But one catalysed the start of the Catalan's re-invention and another marked the natural culmination of that process.

A dream fulfilled by proxy

It was quite an experience travelling to the game on the team bus (passengers including Zola, Zico, Seedorf, Laudrup, Cafu and so on) while Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher told me how he was returning to a stadium he'd last attended as a fanatical seven-year- old Everton fan to see his team draw 0-0 with Bayern in the 1985 Cup-Winners' Cup semi-final.

Fabregas flies above the 'frivolous' flak

He left the club he adores because he was bored; bored of constantly winning games by double figures and bored of not being promoted to his ability level, pegged back by his date of birth. He was also the victim of a massive adrenalin rush when the club which was about to win the English Premiership title without losing a match asked him to play in their first team. Immediately.

AT PIQUE OF HIS POWERS

From the way he has played during Euro 2012, ahead of tonight's final against Italy in Kiev, you'd never guess that in the dark unhappy corners of his mind, while seated in a dark unhappy corner of the Camp Nou dressing room he started to doubt whether his future remained in the sport that has made him a national, European and world champion while earning him multi million-pound contracts and making him a superstar.

Roja and roll time

This man, who was player of the tournament when Spain won Euro 2008 and unleashed hell on the rest of the world, isn't just divinely gifted, he is fanatically in love with his sport.

Aware of his genius, but completely unaffected by it . . . Lionel Messi simply revels in playing the beautiful game, beautifully

Messi became the all time leading scorer for Barcelona aged only 24, the kind of vintage when a promising youngster might just be making plans for how to celebrate his 100th club goal in about a year or so. Instead this prodigy, this gift from God, surpassed a record which has stood for several decades by overtaking Cesar's 232 mark with a hat trick which brings Messi to 234 goals for Barca.