news about Iker & a couple of those other guys

Well, when the training sessions are closed off, there’s not much training news to report.  That doesn’t matter much to me, because as you know, I’m all about the non-technical/footballing aspects of the players and team, so here is the latest news on that!

One. Another ad of Iker promoting Philips.  I guess this one is the one that shows that the electric razor can be used on dry skin, not just with shaving cream.

Iker looks good, and his skin looks so smooth, no?  But the sideburns kind of ruin it for me… (along with those couple of eyebrow hairs that I just want to attack with my tweezers).  But all in all, this ad gets the unamadridista seal of approval.

If you’re keeping track, this is the second ad we’ve seen so far.  So how long will it be before we see what Philips came up with in the pictures where Iker is not even holding the electric razor?

I wonder if there’s anything in his contract that says he must remain clean-shaven.

Two. Marcelo and Kaká were the eye candy – they were there basically to look pretty, since old Spanish businessmen in suits, the usual type at these events, don’t make for very good viewing – yesterday at the signing of an agreement between the Real Madrid Foundation and Endesa to help out needy children in Peru.

So, Kaká is alive and in Madrid!  He cleans up nicely, no?  And Marcelo is his usual adorable self.

Three. Meanwhile, Esteban Granero heated things up during the filming of a video for bwin, which you can see here (no video in the English translation).

Four. The twitter update.

Xabi proves he’s even more perfect than we imagined (currently hovering at the 15 point mark on a 10 point scale) by tweeting in three languages: English, Spanish and Basque.

And Álvaro Arbeloa took to twitter to send ánimos to all his injured former Liverpool teammates/friends: Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt, Daniel Agger and Fernando Torres.  That’s quite an injury list.

Kaká used twitter to deny published reports where he purportedly said that he wants out of Madrid, either in the winter transfer window or at the end of the season.

And Sergio told us today that he’s doubtful for the Málaga game!

The tweet says:

“Good morning friends… in the end it will be difficult to [play in] the game against Málaga… I will try to recover as soon as possible.  The injury is very irritating.”

Get well soon, Sergio!

Five. And reader LaBlanca kindly translated this interview with Sami Khedira, which appeared in the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel.

This is what we learned about Sami:

on a teenage injury: when he was 17, he had a serious injury to his meniscus and doctors told him his professional career would be over before it started.  This helped him to develop mental strength.

on meeting Mou for the first time: he was nervous before his first meeting with Mou, because he didn’t know what would happen.  Of the meeting, he says it was a normal dialogue, where they talked about their goals, mentality and view on football.  After a few minutes, he was sure that he wanted to make the move to Madrid because their views on football matched, which was a calming feeling.  Sami says he had no other choice, because of the way Mou talked to him.  He does not doubt that it was the right step to take.

on his family’s reaction: they were skeptical, but said he shouldn’t miss the opportunity.

on his brother: he plays for the VfB Stuttgart’s B-youth side, and is very proud of him, seeing him as a great motivating factor.

on his background: his father is from Tunisia, and the Tunisians are proud that he – in their eyes – is the first Tunisian to play for Madrid.

on languages: Sami doesn’t speak Arabic and only a little French.  He’s studying Spanish for a few hours a day, but doesn’t like to learn vocabulary by himself.  He found a fun Spanish teacher to learn from, and is feeling that he’s improving.  Right now, he doesn’t speak a lot, because he’s still missing the vocabulary.  But he believes there will be a point where he can just talk, since only with talking can he learn.  Sami says it’s the same with football: you make mistakes, and you learn from them.

on what Mou said about him and Özil: it was wrongly interpreted by the media.  Mou wanted to protect them to lower expectations.  Mou says he doesn’t care what they do privately, as long as they understand his instructions.  They want to integrate, and integrate 100%.

Six. And a fun video of Mou being, well Mou.