In April 2007, Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov achieved a rare Premier League feat.
Tottenham Hotspur scored eight league goals that month, five were scored by Robbie Keane, two came from Dimitar Berbatov. For that feat, the Spurs strikers shared the Player of the Month award, making them the first joint winners of the accolade since Dennis Bergkamp and Edu during Arsenal’s historic Invincibles season.
At the end of the 2006/07 campaign, Berbatov finishing as Tottenham’s top scorer was enough to earn him a spot in the Team of the Year alongside Chelsea’s lethal sharpshooter Didier Drogba.
The Bulgarian forward earned the spot in that star-studded Premier League XI which included the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard and Ryan Giggs on his own merits, but he owes a lot to Keane for that brilliant season he had. For whatever reason, their partnership worked and Berbatov is appreciative of this fact.
Dimitar Berbatov's description of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is absolutely brilliant https://t.co/8npnraO3PU
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 27, 2017
Think of all the elite strikers Berbatov has played with throughout his storied career – Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney in his prime, Radamel Falcao and Javier Hernandez. Out of everyone he’s partnered up front though, the magic he created with Keane stands out above all others, as he told ESPN.
“More than good, it was my best partnership. We just understood each other. He knew who I was. He wasn’t going to bother me and ask why I wasn’t speaking and I respected that. We had an understanding on the pitch and I always knew where he was.”
Steven Gerrard, Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov and some bloke called Pele lead the Keano tributes! #faifootballawards #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/EF0EKNBTFe
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 19, 2017
The Dubliner had all the right attributes to compliment Berbatov’s style perfectly. He understood the forward’s game and knew how to make the most of it.
“Robbie was so passionate, always running, while I ran in my head, trying to anticipate the moves and see where the ball was going to go before it went there. That’s what good players do. We complemented each other very well and scored so many beautiful goals.”
Keano should be proud of these comments. Considering the top talent Berbatov has togged out alongside, this was one hell of a compliment.
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