Have a great game tonight, boys, and beat Sevilla (and qualify for the final, obviously)!
ONE. Iker didn’t seem to have his purse (yay!) as he boarded the team bus last night (or else he hid it really well because he knew we would make fun of him), while Cristiano and Ricky made sure to sticknexttoeachother so that (probably) they could sit together on the bus. Can’t you imagine Ricky boarding, and then waving Cris over while patting the seat next to him?
TWO. Pedro León and Fernando Gago were not called up for tonight’s game because… they got into a fight during Monday’s session at Valdebebas.
It all started during the mini game, when Fer made a hard tackle against Pedro León, who responded by getting into his face and then the insults started flying. But nothing happened and the game continued. However, Pedro León then decided to return the “favor” by tackling Gago. When the session was over, as the players were walking towards the locker room, Pedro León yelled at Gago to apologize for the initial tackle, something which didn’t sit well with the Argentine. It progressed to the point where it looked like they were about to start exchanging blows, but then their teammates intervened and separated them. José Mourinho took note of what happened and didn’t call up either of the players because he didn’t like how the confrontation continued after the training session, and their lack of sportsmanship.
Let’s hope this just stays as an anecdote, with no other ramifications.
THREE. Karim Benzema spoke with Real Madrid before tonight’s game. Nothing he said was very interesting or original, which is not his fault, because if you look at the questions he was asked, there was only one way in which he could answer them. For example, he “revealed” that the Copa del Rey is a very “important” title for the team, that he’s going to continue working and hopes to play well tonight, and that he expects the stadium will be full of supportive people tonight.
On the other hand, Karim looks very cute in the pictures, and we also see that his Spanish has improved a lot and he seems much more comfortable speaking in it! In some cases, when he couldn’t find the right word to express himself, he found alternatives (but he still had some help off-camera for the most difficult moments). And his accent is adorable.
FOUR. And Castilla’s forward Joselu (full name: José Luis San Martín Mato) also spoke with the club’s web site (interview only in Spanish at the moment). Here are the most interesting things he said: the arrival of Alberto Toril has changed everything, and given the team and the individual players a newfound confidence; the locker room is harmonious and the team is happy; it took him a while to adjust to Madrid (this is his first season with Castilla, and he came over from Vigo, Galicia) but now everything is going well.
Well, there’s already one way in which Joselu integrates perfectly with the first team…
Joselu also talked about his experience with the first team (he played in the friendly against Hércules in the pre-season): “when I was told that I would train under Mourinho, I got as excited as little kid. It’s the dream of any player to get to the first team, especially when it comes to Real Madrid. I didn’t want the game to end because those are moments you never forget. I was upset when the final whistle blew because I wanted to play some more.” Cute!
FIVE. Iker spoke with Radio Marca as they celebrated their 10 years on the air.
Iker revealed that the best player he’s ever faced is Ronaldinho (from the 2005-06 season), that the best team he’s ever faced is the Bayern Munich from the period 1999-2001, and that he would like to face Chelsea, which he has never played against. Fernando vs. Iker? As for when he retires from football, Iker said he’d like to continue doing something linked to the world of football, because that’s what he’s done since he was nine years old. Iker Casillas, Real Madrid president? El capitán also said that he always remembers the bad things – for example, the 2002 World Cup still upsets him (and me too) even though it was nine years ago and Spain has won a World Cup in the meantime. He then lists a lot of games in which Madrid lost in all competitions and unfortunately it’s long.
SIX. And this little graphic comparing the canteras of Madrid and Barcelona from La Información shows a problem that we have.
As you can see, the majority of Barcelona’s canteranos still play for Barcelona. In the case of Madrid, we only have Iker Casillas. Yes, El Pirata and Álvaro “my favorite word is imbécil” Arbeloa are also canteranos, but they had to leave Madrid for a while in order to prove their worth. And as you can see, there are some very good players out of the ones that Madrid let escape, including Juanín Mata, Borja Valero and Diego López, who have all made the national team, and some very good (looking) ones too, such as Miguel Torres.
“Imbécil” does seem the perfect word to describe those who don’t count on our cantera, no?
SEVEN. And ¡¡IMBÉCIL!! (in capital letters and with several exclamation marks) is also the perfect word to describe Osasuna forward Walter Pandiani, who, if you remember, almost got into a fight with Cristiano Ronaldo at the half of the Madrid-Osasuna game last Sunday. He’s also the star in today’s edition of Senseless Insulting of Real Madrid Figures.
Pandiani said in his press conference today that Cristiano should “learn from the best player in the world, which is Messi, and get rid of his cocky attitude… when he wins the Supercopas and the Copas del Rey that I have in Spain, then he can say something.”
(The Supercopa? Really? We’re basing success on that cup? That’s the standard?)
But the insults didn’t stop there. Pandiani also said that Cristiano should be more humble and that “he has a screw loose.” He also expressed his belief that Cristiano should be responsible for the €602 imposed on Osasuna for the crowd’s ball throwing during the game. His reasoning is as follows (read it and then tell me who you think has a screw loose): “since it was Cristiano who kicked the balls into the stands during the warm-up, he should pay the fine.”
(Ummm, how about the fact that your fans held onto the balls, didn’t return them, and then decided to launch them onto the field while the game was going on?)