The serious, almost Spartan expression of Juliano Haus Belletti (Cascavel, Brazil, 20 June 1976) changes completely when he is reminded of what he experienced (and what Barça fans experienced) on 17 May 2006. The scorer of the decisive goal against Arsenal is now the coach of Barça Atlètic, after a successful spell with the U19 A team. He knows no path other than effort and teamwork, and that is what he passes on to his players. In this conversation with BARÇA MAGAZINE, he makes that very clear. 

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the goal in Paris in 2006?
My celebration, with so much emotion, and also that so many people around the world talk to me about that day (smiles). I remember kneeling down, with my hands over my face… On TV, it’s always shown in slow motion… It was a flood of emotions. I scored a goal in a Champions League final, when scoring wasn’t really my thing!

How do you remember the moment just before the shot? What went through your mind?
As a full-back, you always try to get forward to provide the assist. So when I got the ball from Larsson, the first thing I thought was to control it and play a pass back. But it was raining heavily, I was arriving at speed and I was very close to the byline, so I had no option but to shoot…

And your shot went through Almunia’s legs and into the net.
When I controlled the ball inside the box, there was a defender stretching to block my shot. I focused more on the ball than the goal because of the speed of the move. And yes, in the end the ball went through Almunia’s legs and in.

At that moment in the match, were you aware you were doing something that would go down in Barça history?
While I was playing, no. There were ten minutes left and Arsenal had had very clear chances, one for Thierry Henry, which Valdés had saved. When Larsson and I came on, they changed their defensive strategy. Then, at 2–1, the four of us at the back (myself, Puyol, Márquez and Gio Van Bronckhorst) decided not to push forward, because we didn’t have any defensive-minded players in midfield. We were tryinh to hold onto the result.

What did Frank Rijkaard say to you before you came on, with the score at 1–0, to try to change the game?
Rijkaard knew I was an attacking full-back, so before I went on he asked me to get forward down the right, to try to provide assists from the byline. It was the same thing he had asked of me in the quarter-finals against Benfica and in the semi-final against AC Milan. We were losing, we had a player sent off and they were very compact in the middle. So we had to try it down the wings. And that’s how we turned it around: the first goal came from the left and the second, from the move with Larsson, from the right.

With the perspective of time, how do you assess the importance of that goal on a personal level?
I learned just how worthwhile it is to work for the team. I was a futsal goalkeeper until I was 15, I didn’t have outstanding natural talent for football, so I had to create something to be useful in a team. And that was working for the team. That idea has stayed with me to this day. I tell my children and my players that they have to put their talent at the service of the team.

Now you coach players who weren’t born, or were very young, when you scored that goal. What would you like the new generations of culés to understand about that goal and that team?
That goal made me the protagonist, and Barça fans all over the world thank me for it. But I always say we had an incredible team. Valdés in goal; Puyol and Rafa [Márquez] at centre-back; in midfield, Edmílson, Iniesta, Deco; and up front, Ronaldinho, Samuel [Eto’o], Giuly, on my side… In 2006 we brought joy back to this club, which has always worked to achieve a style of play people enjoy. So I tell the players I coach, who weren’t born or were very young in 2006: “What a team!” We won that Champions League because we followed Barça’s values: a lot of effort, a lot of ambition to improve, a lot of humility to understand that you have to work to achieve your goals, and a lot of teamwork from day one. I scored the goal, but the real protagonist of that Champions League was the team.

THE FULL INTERVIEW WILL BE PUBLISHED IN ISSUE 129 OF BARÇA MAGAZINE