that interview…

I am speechless. (I’m referring to this.)

UPDATE: I translated most of it.  Read on if you’re so inclined.

a look back at 2014

What a year 2014 was for madridistas.  It was a thrilling, fantastic, unforgettable, magical, and extremely satisfying year.

To sum up, this year we won the Copa del Rey, which was then followed by the Champions League, the long-awaited La Décima.  And we did this in style, beating our archrivals Barcelona in the Copa final and Atleti in the Champions final.  Winning La Décima also allowed us to win two additional titles, the Supercopa de Europa and most recently, the Mundialito.  The result?  Four titles in one calendar year, something the club has never achieved before.

Zinedine Zidane at Vogue (and for Mango)

Zinedine Zidane has been in the news recently, and not just due to the controversy over whether he is properly qualified to coach Castilla.  In recent months, he has joined Instagram, been named as the image of Mango Man’s spring/summer 2015 line, and made an appearance in Vogue España.

Here are the images from the Vogue shoot, which resulted from Zizou’s collaboration with IWC Schaffhausen.

it’s all clear now…

… it was Drunk Xabi who made the decision, wasn’t it?

Okay, last sad post.  On to better and brighter things (please Madrid, cooperate with me on this)!

no, no and no

Why, Xabi, why?

How could you do this to us? I had only just begun to get my head around the fact that we Spain fans will no longer have the pleasure of seeing him being the boss of the midfield, and then this happens.

(At least he won’t have to wear the dragon shirt now.)

thoughts on the new shirts & other things

Real Madrid – represented by Iker Casillas, James Rodríguez, Xabi Alonso, Marcelo and Gareth Bale – presented their third kits for this season on Tuesday.  This shirt was designed by Yohji Yamamoto, and features two entwined dragons on the front, plus the designer’s signature on the inside of the collar.

I saw the shirt up close at my local Adidas store yesterday, and I have to say, I’m not the biggest fan.  I think it’s a bit jarring.  But I will admit it’s different and relatively original, but I don’t see what dragons have to do with Real Madrid (it kind of makes sense if the Spanish press is right and this was made to capture the Asian market).  As my madridista friend pointed out, it’s Barcelona that has a connection with dragons, as the patron saint of the city is Sant Jordi (Saint George).  (He also said, “I love it, it’s so tacky.”)

Besides, from a short distance away, it reminds me of this.

top 10 moments of La Décima (I)

How can the top moment of La Décima be anything but La Décima itself?  The tremendous bliss all of us madridistas felt in the moment the trophy was raised up, the feeling of relief after having waited 12 long years and inching closer with each passing year, the satisfaction from the way we won the final (and beating our longtime rival), the joy from being able to say “let the celebrations begin, we just won our tenth Champions League title”!

top 10 moments of La Décima (II)

Another moment (or moments) I loved was the multitude of kisses between Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas.  They normally start the game off with a kiss, but during this game, there were lots more to follow.  After Sergio scored the goal that tied the game, Iker rewarded him with a kiss.  This was because Iker had clearly failed in allowing Atleti’s goal, and Sergio had essentially saved his behind.