How swift forgiveness arrives in the Champions League, and how precious is the gift of pure technique. Eight years, almost a playing lifetime, separates Robinho, the wayward Real Madrid winger, from Clarence Seedorf, the eternal achiever with AC Milan. On Wednesday, when they scored two goals apiece, their performances transcended the rest in Europe.The previous day, Real Madrid had announced that Robinho could expect stern punishment for letting down the team by returning late from Brazil last weekend. However, after his skills lighted up the Bernabéu stadium and his goals helped Madrid to come from behind to beat Olympiakos, 4-2, the team coach said this: “Robinho is our player, and we need to find a way to treat him well because we need him playing like he did tonight.”Robinho apparently missed his flight from Rio de Janeiro after dancing the night away at the Catwalk discotheque. His dance steps on the pitch — the balance, the awareness, the extraordinarily quickness of foot — drew a standing ovation from 77,400 Madrid aficionados Wednesday.It is a misconception to regard Robinho — born Robson de Souza — as a player still in the making. His sparrow-like size and boyish inclinations give the impression of someone younger than his 23 years. But Wednesday, when the chips were down, he was man enough.Robinho was just 5 when Santos, the club that discovered Pelé, plucked this new young talent out of poverty, fed him and indulged him.We have since seen the impudence of his footwork, the extravagance of his movement. On Wednesday, no player for the Greek team got close enough or was quick enough. Robinho had previously scored only once in 16 Champions League encounters, but with Madrid 2-1 down, he stole in to head the equaliser, he created a goal for Raúl, he won a penalty that Ruud van Nistelrooy shot over the bar.And then — Robinho’s specialty— he drew defenders to him, darted away from them, and scored his second goal, Madrid’s third.Seldom embarrassed, seldom lacking in self-belief or professional responsibility, Seedorf has more in common with Robinho than many know.He was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, which is closer to Brazil than to Europe. He had a rebellious start in the Netherlands, but found his expression with Ajax, the Amsterdam team that finds and fosters young talents.Seedorf married a Brazilian and hankers for a swan song in Rio de Janeiro with Flamengo, the team that fired his imagination.Milan will not lightly let him go. He may be close to 32, but few can match his pedigree, his understanding of what it takes to balance a team, his personal record of having won the Champions League trophy with three different teams: Ajax, Real Madrid and Milan.The nomadic Seedorf has found his perfect place in the Italian team. Kaká, from time to time, illuminated the Milan game Wednesday against Shakhtar Donetsk, but for once there was no goal, no finish to the Brazilian’s virtuosity.It came, instead, from Seedorf. Having provided the cross for one of the two goals Alberto Gilardino headed in during the first half, Seedorf then completed the 4-1 rout with two of the finest volleys you will ever see.Seedorf has never struck the ball better in a European club career that spans 15 years and 128 matches and includes just 14 goals. He is not, per se, a striker. He is a team man, a creator.
