Manchester Utd v Millwall
The FA Cup Final
Millennium Stadium
22 May 2004


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"As soon as it was announced that The Cup Final was coming to Wales, I was excited about it and hoping we could get to one," he explains. "Cardiff is the city where I was born and grew up and my family live here.

"I’ve had loads of ticket requests – double my allocation – so I’ve been trying to call in a couple of favours from the boys."

Not only is Giggs on home ground, but he will also be facing a familiar Cup Final adversary out there this afternoon in the form of Dennis Wise.

"He has always been competitive and he might try and wind a few of the lads up," he says. "He was trying to wind Eric [Cantona] up before the first penalty in the ’94 Cup Final against Chelsea. I think he bet him that he would miss. He was never going to win that bet!

"He’s done really well at Millwall though. It’s a great achievement to get Millwall to The Cup Final and an exceptional achievement to get them into Europe."

The United stalwart has shown his versatility, playing on the wing, in midfield, upfront and even at left-back this season. So where does he imagine he’ll fit into Sir Alex Ferguson’s plans today?

"I don’t know where I’ll be playing!", he laughs. "As long as I am on the pitch, I’m not too bothered. With Louis being Cup-tied, there is a position available upfront but the Gaffer’s got so many options it’s difficult to predict."

Giggs is enjoying the evolving nature of his game.

"Ever since I’ve got into the first team I’ve always looked to develop my game and that’s no different now," he says. "There was probably a stage a couple of years after I’d got into the team, when I tried to develop the way I played a bit too quickly and temporarily lost focus of what my real strengths were.

"Instead of concentrating on running with the ball and beating people, I was probably overly conscious of things like my final ball, bringing other people into the game, scoring more goals and my running off the ball. It’s important to focus on your strengths. At the moment I think I’ve got a good mixture in my game."

Running with the ball and beating people – that sounds a little like someone else at United. Does Giggs see any similarities between himself and Ronaldo?

"In the sense that he’s a winger who has broken into the first-team at a young age and is exciting for the fans to come and watch, yes there are a lot of similarities between us. I played in a similar way when I first broke through.

"There are also differences though. Ronaldo has got so many tricks, whereas I used to try and unbalance defenders.

"I enjoy watching him play. You’ve got to with a player like that. He’s got so much ability.

It’s important that we nurture and develop him because he’s got the making of a very good player.

"He’s at no better place in that respect. It’s not like it’s the first time the Manager has been through this process. The Gaffer will look after him and rest him. Although, if he’s like I was, he won’t think he needs a rest!"

When he talks these days, Giggs has the aura of a young manager in the making. That’s probably because he is.

"There are four of five of us at United doing coaching courses at the moment so it is in our minds," he reveals. "It’s myself, Keaney, the two Nevs and Nicky Butt. We’ve been doing it over the last year or so and it’s certainly been interesting to see the other side of things.

"The PFA have been good enough to do it with us over the year. They are encouraging some of the top players to do courses while they are still in the game.

"With the experiences I’ve had, it would be a shame not to put something back. And, I believe that, while the foreign coaches have brought a lot to our game, it’s important that we keep the young British managers coming through too."

It’s amazing to think of Giggs as a potential manager. It seems only a moment ago that he was making his stunning emergence through the United ranks.

Giggs can still vividly recall his first training session with the ‘big boys’.

"The first time I trained with the first team I was 15," he remembers. "It was a practice match on the main pitch at The Cliff [the old training ground] and I wasn’t really expecting to be involved.

"The manager just asked me to join in for an eleven-a-side. I was against Viv Anderson, who must have wondered what they were doing.

I went past him a few times and he had a quick word in my ear to say ‘slow down’, or something tothat effect!"

A couple of years later Giggs was in the team, rubbing shoulders with his boyhood hero, countryman Mark Hughes.

"The first real memory I’ve got of Sparky is travelling down to Wales with him for an international match," he says. "It was the first time that I’d been picked to play for the Wales national team and there I was, travelling down the motorway with Mark Hughes in his Porsche.

As a 17-year-old, those are the things you tend to remember."

Ryan Giggs may have come along way since those days but today he’s back where it all started.