So listen to this. Going into the Euro 2000, the Czech Republic had one weapon no other team could match. Yan Ker, a massive striker standing at 2 m and 2 cm tall. But forget the fact that he was taller than Peter Crouch. The most impressive part is that he reportedly weighed almost 110 kilos. He was virtually unstoppable. But unfortunately for the checks, right on the opening game, they were matched up against the Netherlands. And waiting for them right from the start was Yap Stam 191 cm himself and with a head just as bald. It was like they had agent 47 men marking Mickey Knox. And as the checks got closer and closer to taking the lead, it happened. Caller went up, got on the ball, and hit the bar. So 4 minutes later on their very next aerial duel, Stam went into it so hard he smashed his forehead right into the back of Coler's head and cut open his own eye socket. Yet he had no reaction. And when told he couldn't stay on a pitch like that, he walked up to the bench and asked to be stitched up on the spot with no anesthesia, nothing. But again, even though the doctor himself couldn't stop shaking, Stam showed no emotion whatsoever. I'm not sure what went through the heads of his opponents as they saw that. But one thing is sure up till then it was nil nil with all three big chances coming from the checks but 23 minutes later as the game ended the Netherlands had taken the three points. That was the power of Yapstam. He didn't say much. He hated the cameras rarely gave interviews and would according to Ryan Giggs himself put his own teammates in a choke hold at times one in each arm if they ever annoyed him in training. Yet, despite Maldini and Gatus meeting, they would convince him that the Inter Milan players had been talking trash about him before every Debonina just to rile him up and get the beast out of its cage. He only got handed his first red card 3 months off of his 30th birthday. And that's the thing a lot of people now get wrong. He wasn't just a thug. What made Stam great was that despite his size, he was just as fast as most wingers, could carry the ball up the pitch, played a perfect pass, and even hit a proper screamer. You see, Stum barely had any academy training as a defender. Back then, he was actually a tiny technical midfielder. In his own words, "People still don't believe me, but I was the smallest boy in the team." However, at 16, like in a science fiction movie, he suddenly doubled in size. Still, none of this meant anything. He was only playing at an amateur club named Do Campen. He never tried to or thought that he would go pro. In fact, the guy almost quit the team after the coach moved him to right back. But amazingly, after a couple seasons in the senior squad one day, Theo De Young, a former Dutch international who lined up alongside KF in the 1974 World Cup final, spotted him and his childhood friend and offered them unpaid amateur contracts playing for Pexola in the second tier. But Stam said no. Why? Because he was taking up an apprenticeship to become an electrician, and that was more important to him. In fact, already 20 years old, he may have never given football a proper shot if it wasn't for Enry coming back and convincing him a year later. But still, things quickly got complicated. Before Stam could even play a match under the young's command, the manager paid money out of his own pocket so he could leave and join Kamboo in the air visi. So a year later, having been proven right as Stan dominated the second tier, being so strong for a right back, he barely needed to dribble since he just shoved players out of his way. The young signed him again, only for the two to get relegated once more now that Stam was already approaching his 23rd birthday. Though actually, it was precisely there that he hit a whole new level now that he had been finally made into a center back. assuring that for one final time once the young took a job at villain back in the Erdzi he brought him and his friend Vanver onto his team still arriving at the club under heavy skepticism as the fans believed the young was just wasting their money on two no-name former boys the two scored five goals between them in their first four games as even St man managed to get on the score sheets five games in they were top of the table nine games in they were still undefeated by his 12th match match. Stam was locking down R9 himself as they faced PSV and by January he was putting up a men of the match performance against league leaders Ajax to hold on to their place in the top three. For reference, their best ever finish had been fourth and unfortunately they would have dropped down to 12 by the end of the season as with a release clause of only 1.3 million that very same winter PSV locked down the signing of Stam thinking that well the only way to make sure R9 remained unstoppable was to sign the one guy who had been able to stop him. the one who when asked about him replied, "Ronaldo, he never gave me any problems." Again, five games into his time at PSV was already shocking everyone by squeezing his massive frame in between a couple players before smacking in one of the goals of the season. Only a few months later, he was already winning the Dutch Cup. Matter of fact, the boy had only once been called up to the youth national teams, being told to warm up for 45 minutes, only to get a handshake and be told, "Great warm-up." by the manager, was now debuting for the actual national team, locking down R9 yet again on his first ever start, just in time to squeeze his name into the 96 year skullup. But if that was impressive, then as his teammate Ronald Vater put it, it's simple. With a defender as good as that, you're bound to win a lot. End of discussion. So, as he celebrated his 25th birthday, he was coming off of his first full season with PSV with a league title in hand. And of course, a defensive record so impressive that as Christmas rolled around, the center back succeeded the likes of Van Baston, Mario, Gulit, and Peramp as the league's player of the year. And that's precisely when Sir Alex came calling. At first, weirded out by the request to meet him at a secret safe house by the Amsterdam airport, Stam actually rejected United. But as per usual, Sir Alex didn't exactly take no for an answer. So at the end of that third season, he came back in and dropped €17 million on the table, more than what Barcelona had paid PSV for R9, which had been a world record fee 2 years earlier. In fact, if you take into account that PSV rejected that offer regardless, forcing Stam to hand them his €2.4 4 million euro sign on fee so the move could be completed. Well, add those two together and even if unofficially, you could argue it was also the Premier League's all-time record signing. That summer, despite Stam insisting he never meant to cultivate an image that he only did it to hide his bald spots, in the words of his childhood friend Vanderv, who by the way had also just secured himself a big move to the Syria, well, when he shaved off his head, he became a different beast. It was like he grew even bigger. According to Ferg himself, the day he arrived in Carrington, he walked into his office without even knocking, barely paid any attention while he negotiated his contract and stopped him as he tried to show off his trophy room by telling him, "Excuse me, mister, but I don't care about any of this stuff. Just let me sign the contract because I want to start winning." And the thing is, first, as Fergie admitted, no one had ever talked to me that way, but I liked him. And second, Stam was not lying. He was so determined to win that after dragging our nines Brazil into penalties, nearly robbing him of his spot in the World Cup final, he literally had his first starters birth induced two weeks early so that he wouldn't have to miss their preseason camp. And then, well, then he won everything. Having lost Cantona a year earlier and having just watched Arsenal take the double, there wasn't really much fate being put into United those days. especially not after they opened their season with a three-nil defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield. Don't get it wrong, Stam struggled at first, but by struggled, I mean that he took two defeats until November and then went 30 matches without ever losing despite the fact that United did lose twice in the few games where he got rested. This guy was ragged in Zamoranu in a Champions League quarterfinal. Worse, when skin got sent off in the FA Cup semi-finals against Arsenal, he basically became a one-man defensive fortress in order to get them through extra time. So unbeatable that Peramp himself admitted that it's impossible to beat him on your own. You need the whole team to gang up on him. Yet, as the Red Devils began singing that, Yip Yap Stam is a big Dutch man. Get past him if you think you can. With three matches left in the season, that FA Cup final, the Champions League final itself, and the last match day of the league season where only a win would secure the title, Stam injured his Achilles. He wasn't supposed to have made it back. Some even argue that that was why his Achilles would give him so many problems over the next few years. But Stam had made a promise to Fergie, a promise to the Man United fans, and above all to himself. though resenting that he had to watch from afar as they clutched the league title by a single point on that FA Cup final as the fans called out for his name. He made it back onto the pitch just in time to properly celebrate once that final whistle was sounded and 4 days later he was on the starting 11 for the Champions League final. However, despite making no obvious mistakes all game, he watched as his two defending partners gave away a free kick for the game's only goal. Or at least that's what I would say if the miracle hadn't happened. 2 minutes, two goals in injury time and United were champions of Europe. The first ever English side to win the travel. As Sir Alex once famously said, "Attack wins you games, defense wins you titles." And well, Stam was one of only three players to not miss a minute of game time over that whole campaign. He gave everything so he could come through on his promise. In his own words, "As the celebrations got going, I just went to bed. I was so tired, I ran out of energy the moment the alcohol kicked in." Regardless, it seems nothing Stam did for United was enough to stop Fergie from betraying him. The following season, after taking the UEFA Defender of the Year award for a second time in a row, being named the world champion and winning the league by an absurd 18-point margin, all while still having time to strangle Patrick Vieiraa once he dared to headbutt Roy Keane. Stam went into his third season and finally injured his Achilles for good, being sent into surgery and sidelined for 4 months. By the time he came back, there were whispers that he just wasn't the same, that he had lost his speed. Yet, he still made it three Premier League titles in three years with three nominations for the league's team of the year, even another for the Balandor. And it was all supposed to be fine. In a preseason interview, he was described as a man who worships Alex Ferguson, who has even acquired the Manunian accent and wishes to retire in Manchester. But then, with Fergie's permission, Stem released an autobiographical book, but fell for the mistake of giving the Daily Mirror early access to it. In his own words, wondering what they would publish kept me awake at night. Ferguson had told me not to worry about it, but the day it came out, I was told to meet him at his office. The papers had labeled it. the autobiography that is shocking football in nothing else mattered as he added a week later I was left out of the squad and that same day Ferguson called to say it wasn't about the book but later he called me again and asked me to meet him at a petrol station then got into my car and told me I either went to Latio or I'd be on the bench I felt I had no choice publicly sir Alex tried to blame the book for it but eventually everyone could see what really happened Fergie had flirting with the idea of signing Loha Blanc and suddenly got an offer of £18 million for a 29year-old center back with an Achilles problem. So before the squad time to riot against the manager, Stam was already gone and Fergie got to watch as what was supposed to be his final season before retiring turned instead into a trophless disaster. All while Yapstam song kept on being chanted every match. Eight years later, he called this the biggest mistake of my career. Look, no matter what, Yapstam was a Latio player now. And if it wasn't bad enough already that he had written in his book that he would have felt more threatened by a Teletubbi than by Simon Inzagi, well, then just 11 matches into his time at the club, he was hit with a 5-month ban for the use of Nandlong. No matter how many times he insisted that it had been a false positive, that he had never knowingly taken any substances, going from doctor to doctor doing all kinds of blood work, trying to prove his innocence. You see the thing is especially once his friend Vanderv was diagnosed with a heart condition and forced to retire. Stan began feeling like everything around him was collapsing. So by the time he came back he started losing it a little bit taking his first red card ever before closing out the season by locking down R9 in his boundar year. In the end almost taking a move out to Man City out of sheer piness. Though at some points it almost seemed that he might as well have taken it as the following season he'd be forced into playing right back once again with Lazio too broke to a further new one. Matter of fact not even being able to pay him his salary as he led them to a fourth place finish qualification to the Champions League and the UEFA Cup semi-finals only missing the final because an injury stopped them from facing Porto and by his third year in Rome. If there was any doubt that Stam was starting to lose his temper, then the club outright proposed that they should pay back what they owe the players in club shares, all while requesting that they all take a 45% reduction to their wages. After that, Stam was outright grabbing players by their throats with Carlos Parente looking at him like he just saw a ghost. And still through it all, he won them the copalia, their only trophy in a span of 9 years before retiring from international football after playing at Summers Euros and taking a 10.5 million euro move to AC Milan that already made him the most expensive 32-year-old ever. But you know what's worse? Juuve had offered 15 million, but he just couldn't say no to playing in a back four alongside Maldini, Neesa, and Kafu. There was no bigger proof than this move that regardless of what happened, Sir Alex had surely made a mistake. But if he needed a reminder, then when Stan met United in a Champions League quarterfinals and was asked whether he'd shake his hand, he replied, "Why not? I haven't done too badly since I left. Have I?" before knocking them out on his way to another final, even if to his great demise this time it would be the one on the other side of a miracle. Watching as Liverpool came from three goals behind at halftime to win in a shootout, meaning that in his own words, "When someone mentions a Champions League final, I always think of 2005 before 1999, the pain of defeat stays with you longer." And so after narrowly missing out on a third UCL final the following season with it mostly being remembered for the time he went forehead to forehead with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Then he came back to the Netherlands to complete his dream of playing for his childhood club Ajax instantly taking over as captain leading him to three trophies in the space of a year and retiring only two months into his second season claiming he just wasn't a player who could give only 50%. Though given the way his play at charity matches, I think he still had a bit left in the tank.