Puskas and Di Stefano

Glasgow. Wednesday 15th May 2002.

It has just turned 8-30.pm at Hampden Park, and Real Madrid's extravagantly, talented Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, has produced a moment of genius to awaken white ghosts. A sumptuous, left-footed volley from the penalty area edge that soared high into the net. From the moment one of the finest keepers of the Madrileno flame, Zidane, let fly, glorious echoes of past deeds at this grand old stadium rippled back through the decades. The scene of Real Madrid's greatest night chilled the Scottish air. The white ghosts that flitted with such grace, pomp and style over the Hampden turf thirty-years previous, forever immortalised in the epic 7-3 final win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Every schoolboy knew their names. Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano, Francisco ''Paco'' Gento. All ensconced into Scotland's folklore. Beloved and cherished most of all in a city that took them to their hearts. They belonged to Glasgow back then and still do today.

This is the grand old tale of those times.