Anelka set to be Real hero

Anelka: From villain to hero?

Nicolas Anelka's departure from Arsenal was not one he will fondly remember.

He was lambasted as greedy by the Arsenal faithful after he signed for Real Madrid for £22.5 last August and he blamed the English press for becoming a football outcast.

Anelka has been battling to justify the tag of the second most expensive player in soccer history after a difficult start to his Real career.

But on Wednesday he could silence all his critics and be the memorable match winner when Real take on Valencia in the Champions League Final at the Stade de France in Paris.

Until April, the moody French striker had scored only one league goal and had to bear jokes about a one-goal-per-millennium strike rate.

I knew that everything would take care of itself as soon as I started scoring because that is the feature of a forward's life

Nicolas Anelka

His days at the Bernabeu looked numbered when he was slapped with a 45-day suspension for failing to show up for training.

But in the last month Anelka has slowly started winning over Real Madrid's demanding fans, scoring two vital goals in the team's 3-2 aggregate win against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final.

Anelka said: "I always knew that I would be back.

"I haven't played like I did at Arsenal but I have never told myself `I don't know how to play any more.

Scared

"I initially held back because I knew that people would only be looking at the 220 million francs that I cost, and wouldn't leave me the right to make an error.

"Sometimes I told myself, `I am going to try something difficult' but didn't because I was scared of missing. Now there is less pressure."

Anelka, who comes from the Paris suburb of Trappes, is now eager to strike at nearby Saint-Denis.

"I knew that everything would take care of itself as soon as I started scoring because that is the feature of a forward's life.