Colosimo suffered a serious knee injury after Cole challenge in 1999.
Former Manchester United striker Andy Cole says he wants to forget his horror tackle on Simon Colosimo ahead of the club’s return to Australia.
It was in 1999 that United made their first pre-season trip Down Under but they ended up leaving on bad terms after Cole’s infamous challenge on the then 20-year-old rising star Colosimo in the match with the Socceroos at the ANZ Stadium.
The defender suffered a serious knee injury that kept him out for a majority of the 1999/00 season, curtailing reported interest from Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, and prevented him from reaching his charted potential after being dubbed as one the Socceroos’ most exciting young talents.
Old wounds will be reopened when Cole, representing the Premier League champions on their legends tour alongside Bryan Robson, Denis Irwin and Dwight Yorke, returns to Australia but the 41-year-old insists he is keen to move on from the incident.
“I’ve never actually had the chance to speak with him about what happened,” Cole said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.
“It’s not something I’ve thought much about ever since. A lot was made of it at the time, but we all have to move on from that. I’ve done that, and no doubt he has.”
Manchester United will meet an A-League All-Stars side in the inaugural match of its kind in Australia at the ANZ Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 7.30pm AEST)
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