There was only news yesterday on the two players that make up my favorite Madrid bromance. No, not the famous pairing of Kaká and Cristiano, but the original bromance, Sergio and Iker!
No Iker, not in front of the children!!!
Iker traveled to Geneva yesterday afternoon to be formally named a UNDP goodwill ambassador for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As the ambassador, he will “focus on issues affecting young people in developing countries, and promote poverty reduction, education and health,” according to the program. At the ceremony, held at the UN Palace in the Swiss city, Iker received a diploma, and thanked the UN for their confidence in him, and his parents and Real Madrid for the values that they instilled in him. (By the way, I’m disappointed that Iker didn’t speak any other language besides Spanish. I would have expected a more multilingual act.).
And of course, the day wasn’t complete without the requisite pun. Iker said, “while my job on the pitch is to prevent goals, my job at the UNDP will be to help score them. Bringing attention to the poor conditions people are enduring around the world is essential to motivate action on the world’s pledges to improve their lives.”
He added that he was proud to be part of this initiative, and that he hopes to always be there whenever he’s needed. Iker had been invited by the UNDP last July to join their team, which also includes ex-madridistas Ronaldo and Zidane (well, Zidane is sort of a current madridista, no?). In fact, it was Zizou who had suggested Iker as a participant. Other former madridistas working with the UN include Raúl with the Food and Agriculture Organization, and Figo and Becks with UNICEF.
During his afternoon in Geneva, Iker also presented the “Score the Goals” Comic Book, whose purpose is to teach children about the MDGs. The story line is that a team of 10 football goodwill ambassadors become shipwrecked while on their way to playing a charity game, and they have to tackle the eight MDGs in order to be rescued. The footballers include Raúl, Ronaldo, Zidane, Figo and of course Iker.
Read the entire comic book here.
The rest of the visit consisted of a tour of the palace, an introduction to the organization, and a meet and greet with children. Iker didn’t look bad in Switzerland, no? The purse was notably missing (imagine me throwing confetti in the air), but not his mobile phone of course. And you think he borrowed the skinny tie from Sergio? I’m surprised he didn’t wear a jacket, but maybe he’s as cold resistant as Pipa was in Chicago. This was Iker’s third trip to Switzerland in the past two months, after previously traveling there to promote the 2018 Iberian World Cup candidacy and for the FIFA gala.
Iker’s past charity work includes a trip to Sierra Leone in 2007 with the NGO DYES; trips to Peru in 2008 and Mali in 2009 with PLAN; two events against malaria in 2008 and 2009 with Rafa Nadal; other collaborative campaigns with PLAN; and the hope game with Luis Figo last month.
Meanwhile, over in Sevilla, the club Sevilla is preparing to head to battle – almost quite literally if you look at how they are preparing for tomorrow’s game – against Real Madrid. However, the federation of Sevilla fan groups has asked the people who will attend the game at the Sánchez Pizjuán to treat their former player Sergio Ramos courteously. They sent out a communique in which they said, “although Sergio Ramos’ exit from our club was not achieved in a way that we would have liked, we believe it’s now time to move on and put an end to this polemic. As a world champion, our canterano, a member of the national team that made us all so happy as Spaniards and as someone who has repeatedly and publicly honored the memory of our beloved Antonio Puerta on numerous occasions, he should be treated correctly and that’s what we ask of our fans.”
And I didn’t get around to this until today, but Sergio spoke with “El Larguero” after Sunday’s game. It was a nice long chat, and several of the topics he talked about were his relationship with the La Roja/Barcelona players, his own teammates, and his contract renewal.
When queried about whether he gets along with his national team teammates that play with Barcelona (we all remember what happened during el clásico, no?), Sergio responded, of course! He said that he talks with them on the phone a lot (and that they wished each other a Merry Christmas), that they’re in constant contact, that he doesn’t have problems with anyone and that he gets along with everyone. He added that the press always likes to take things out of context, and that it’s stupid to keep on looking back at that game. He concluded, “somos jugadores, compañeros y amigos” (we’re players, teammates and friends).
And then of course, he also had to refute those rumors that he doesn’t get along with his own teammates either, especially the Portuguese. He once again reiterated that he gets along with everyone. And since those rumors say that he wants out of Madrid for that reason, Sergio also clarified that his brother René is handling his contract negotiations, and that he’s staying completely apart from all that. For good measure, he repeated his desire to end his career at Madrid, saying that he’s very happy here.
One of those reasons is Mourinho, who has all of Sergio’s support, because, in Sergio’s words, “he’s the captain of this ship.” Sergio also said that all those who had the luck of sharing a locker room with RvN have a special affection for him, and that they would be happy if he came back. We also find out that he’s been in constant contact with Pipa as well, because they have a “muy, muy buena” relationship.
And Sporting coach Manuel Preciado – remember him? – told Radio Marca last night that “I have no problems with Mourinho, no problems at all. He’s the best coach in the world. I’ve never insulted Mourinho, I’ve never called him a canalla.” He added, “of course I’d go have a beer with Mourinho, or two. But he should be the one to pay because he has more money than me…”