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8532035
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# Manchester United's Ryan Giggs will need all his ruthless single-mindedness
to weather storm
## Sir Alex Ferguson will know from the Champions League final penalty shoot-
out in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium in May 2008 that Ryan Giggs can banish
distraction from his mind when the spotlight is at its most intense.
![Manchester United's Ryan Giggs will need all his ruthless single-mindedness
to weather storm][1]
Pressure point: Ryan Giggs focus will be tested after being name in injunction
controversy Photo: AP
[![Mark Ogden][2]][3]
By [Mark Ogden][4] 6:10AM BST 24 May 2011
[Follow Mark Ogden on Twitter][5]
With **[Manchester United's][6]** ambitions of lifting a third European Cup at
the mercy of penalty kicks against Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, a stony-faced
Giggs resisted the pressure by stroking his spot kick into the net in the most
debilitating of circumstances.
In a football sense, Giggs dealt with the pressure and blanked out the
negativity of potential failure in Moscow and now, three years on, the 37
year-old's focus is under scrutiny again. Yet this time the pressure of
hitting a ball into the back of the net from 12 yards might resemble a
training-ground kickabout in comparison to his current predicament.
As Giggs prepares for United's Champions League final clash against Barcelona
at Wembley on Saturday, he will do so at the centre of a maelstrom that has
been hovering over the Welshman like a dark cloud for almost six weeks.
For much of that time, internet gossip and the nudge-wink nature of the
football community ensured that the big secret was not really a secret at all.
Giggs's alleged relationship with Imogen Thomas was the elephant in the room,
but while the legal battle raged behind the scenes, the man himself continued
to perform as though untroubled by the legal machinery working away on his
behalf behind the scenes.
## Related Articles
* [Abidal Bara's inspiration][7]
25 May 2011
* [Giggs furore puts Ferguson on defensive][8]
23 May 2011
* [Ryan Giggs profile: from golden boy to tarnished idol][9]
23 May 2011
* [Ryan Giggs in pictures][10]
23 May 2011
* [Evra: Ferguson stopped me leaving United][11]
24 May 2011
* [David Cameron: the game is up for privacy injunctions][12]
23 May 2011
He was not named in Ferguson's squad for the FA Cup semi-final defeat against
Manchester City at Wembley on April 16, the first game after Thomas's name was
publicly linked with a leading footballer. However, Giggs still travelled with
the squad to London and watched from the stands as United lost to their
neighbours.
He returned to the team for the Premier League trip to Newcastle three days
later and has since performed in four of United's seven games since the trip
to Tyneside.
It has been business as usual. Off the pitch, Giggs has continued to speak to
the media about his and United's performances and his demeanour, publicly at
least, has not deviated from the relaxed, approachable personality he has
portrayed throughout a career spanning two decades.
In contrast to Wayne Rooney, whose form deteriorated following revelations
last September that he slept with prostitutes, Giggs has continued to produce
key performances for United in decisive fixtures against Chelsea and Blackburn
earlier this month.
What happens next is the issue which Ferguson and Giggs must address. How will
he now perform with his name now firmly in the public domain? Giggs is
expected to appear publicly for first time tonight since his name was
reported, when United face Juventus in a testimonial for former captain Gary
Neville at Old Trafford.
With Giggs being rested against Blackpool on Sunday, the plan is for all
players to appear at some stage in final preparation for the showdown with
Barcelona. It will be a soft re-entry into the public arena for Giggs. In
front of United supporters at Old Trafford, he can be certain of a supportive
reception.
At Wembley, with United supporters likely to heavily outnumber those from
Barcelona, he will again find himself, in a sense, among friends. Giggs once
remarked, however, how he relished fixtures at hostile venues such as Elland
Road and Anfield, where he would be tormented and abused by the home
supporters.
Back then, he used the vitriol as a motivating tool and, in Moscow, he
displayed his ability to be cold and ruthless in the most testing of
circumstances. He will be expected to show those qualities again, but Ferguson
and United have seen them countless times before.
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