a campus, a ball, a notepad & a contract

The latest (fun news) in the world of Real Madrid, today featuring Iker, Sergio, TSO and David Mateos!

One. Iker held his annual campus yesterday in Navalengua.  He and the 120 kids, from Spain, Mexico and Angola, all wore the same Reebok shirt, which had a picture of Iker and his gloves on the front, and “Reecasillas” on the back.

Iker also talked to the press during his time visiting with the kids, and said that when he was young, he would have never believed that one day he would become the captain of Real Madrid and of the Spanish national team, saying that it’s “a dream come true.”

And we also found out a bit about the hair on his body: Iker said he shaved after Spain lost to Switzerland in the World Cup for superstitious reasons.  When asked about the question whether he’d prefer shaving his head or getting married if Spain won the World Cup, Iker said neither, but that he’ll have to start doing the former once he begins losing his hair, and the latter will occur “one day.”

He also went into the goal (in flip flops no less) to try and stop penalty kicks launched by a girl named Inés and a Mexican kid named Iker, who was named precisely in honor of Iker.  Being the nice guy that he is, (big) Iker allowed some of them to go in.

My favorite part came courtesy of a very smart fly, who just wanted to get close to Iker.  Who can blame it?  Iker’s reaction?  ¡Joder con la puta mosca macho! Jajaja!!!  Watch the video here.

Navalengua is quite close to Navalacruz, the pueblecito where his parents are from, and where he is building a house.  On Aug. 30, Iker will head to Navalacruz to be named a favorite son of the town.

Two. Sergio, meanwhile, was busy helping to present the Nike ball, the “T90 Tracer” which La Liga will play with this season.  There, Sergio spoke to the press and of course used his two pet phrases, when he said he was “súper orgulloso (proud)” of José Mourinho’s project and the group that is forming, and “muy contento“ playing as a central defender.

Sergio also talked about his new role as captain, “a tremendous commitment and source of pride.”  He said he learned a lot from Raúl and Guti, such as the significance of the Real Madrid shirt, what it’s like to feel the escudo and the colors of Madrid, and that he’ll try and pass those things on to the new and younger players.

My favorite part came when he spoke about Rafa van der Vaart, saying that “if anyone has been an example of commitment and hard work, it’s Rafa.  Rafa continued working hard even when the former coach decided not to count on him, and he represents the values of this team.  I think he’s a great player and if he stays, we will be a much better team.”

And, Sergio’s t-shirt design matched nicely with the logo of the LFP behind him and on the ball.  Did he do a lot of yelling during the game on Tuesday?  Because his voice sounded a bit hoarse.  Or maybe he was just out singing flamenco after the game.  Video here.

Three. Remember Mou, Karanka and the notebook?  According to AS, Mourinho wanted to take advantage of the 15-minute halftime to make some tactical changes.  So, he gave Karanka the new system (two pages of notes) that he wanted to use in the second half and Aitor headed to the locker room before the half to write it on the chalkboard in order to avoid wasting any of the descanso.  This included who would be the next substitutions, who would play on the wings, as well as some tactical corrections.  Meanwhile, José Morais received some notes (one page) on how the rivals were playing.

Four. Mou is a man of his word!  He really does have faith in the cantera!  At least that’s what the case of David Mateos is showing.

The story: Mateos is a central defender and captain of Castilla.  With the injuries to Albiol, Garay and Pepe, we’re quite thin in the back and thus Mourinho would like Mateos to fill in.  The problem is that David is already 23 years old, and league rules only allow a player younger than 23 years of age to float freely between a youth team and the adult team (i.e. they can go back and forth between playing for both teams without taking up any of the 25 slots on the first team).  And as you all know, we currently have 26 players for those 25 spots.

The only exception is when the player, as long he hasn’t reached 25 years of age, has a professional contract, and so that is the solution that Madrid is studying now at the behest of Mou.  That way, Mateos will be eligible to play for both Real Madrid and Castilla without filling up one of the 25 spots on the first team.  But once he plays 10 official games with the big boys, he won’t be allowed to return to play for Castilla.

According to the press, Mateos is either wants to belong to the first team or to go to Racing Santander, which has been interested in him since June.

Let’s see what happens…