It’s time to return our focus to the Liga, after the international break. Madrid will train today at 16h. Meanwhile, here’s a look at the “important” news from the last several days.
ONE. In the absence of more than half their team due to the international break, the eight players left in Madrid (Pepe, El Pirata, Kaká, Sergio C., Peter Lion, Manolo, Dudek and Adán) trained with Real Madrid C yesterday by disputing a mini game. The first team was reinforced with Castilla’s Juanfran, Jorge Casado and Iván González, while RMC and the first team also “exchanged” players so that Gonzalo Poley played with the first team and Antonio Adán defended the goal of RMC.
The first team ended up winning 2-1 behind goals from Canales and Kaká, while Óscar Plano scored for RMC.
And a bit of good news: it looks like Ricardo Carvalho will be available for Sunday’s game against Espanyol, after missing out on Portugal’s game due to injury.
According to Marca, Sergio C. is once again a happy camper in Madrid after a heart-to-heart with Mou. The club had received an avalanche of offers during the winter transfer market for Sergio’s services, but Mou asked the Cantabrian to stay, because he knew that working with players of the caliber that Madrid has would be great for him. He didn’t promise him minutes, and also said that he wouldn’t stand in his way if he decided to leave, but Sergio C. felt comforted by that conversation.
TWO. Afterward, the first player press conference in a long time took place (the last time was Esteban Granero on Dec. 31). Emmanuel Adebayor spoke to the press (in English), using the opportunity to clear up some rumors about him. He said, with regards to his reputation as a polemic footballer, “I come from Africa, from a very poor country, and playing in Europe is fantastic. I want to win titles and when things don’t go as I want, it affects me on a personal, emotional level, but I don’t create problems… People judge you without knowing you… I’m a nice person. I like to play and joke around with my teammates. I’m not problematic. The people who know me say I’m friendly, that I’m always laughing.”
With regards to his adaptation, Manu said, “Casillas and the rest are helping me to integrate, and I feel the affection they have for me. I don’t have any problems in communicating, because a lot of my teammates speak English: Ramos, Ronaldo, Pepe, Granero, Marcelino – he loves speaking English.” Wait a minute, the Brazilians and Sergio speak English? I hope the club starts making them give press conferences in that language (if we return to having players hold press conferences, that is). I can just hear Sergio, “I’m super happy, no?”
As for Mou, Manolito said “he’s an excellent person. He knows what to say to make you understand. It’s always important to know what he expects of you. For me, it’s great to work with someone like him. I know it won’t be easy, but I believe that by working hard, I’ll carve out a space for myself.”
He also revealed the first Spanish words he learned: “buenos días, cómo estáis, gracias afición y gracias compañeros” (good morning, how are you, thank you fans and thank you teammates). There’s no way that those were the first words he learned. The first one was probably “joder” followed by “tío” and then “súper contento, no” if Sergio were around.
THREE. In an interview with L’equipe, Zizou made clear that his position in Real Madrid is not “fictitious” and that it’s an actual job. He said, “I go to every training session, I meet with the coach and other personnel every day, and I have my office.” He described his tasks as “observing, analyzing and talking with José Mourinho to provide him with another point of view,” as well as traveling with the team to Champions League games.
FOUR. The international friendlies round-up. Our players did very well, but the important thing is that no one came back injured!
France beat Brazil 1-0 in Paris, behind a goal by Karim Benzema. But he had to suffer to get that goal, because he was on the receiving end of a karate kick from Brazilian player Anderson Hernanes (much like the one Nigel De Jong gave Xabi in the World Cup final) in the 40th minute. This time, however, Anderson was immediately given a red card and ejected. Poor Karim! He played 86 minutes in the match, while Marcelo didn’t play any minutes. Zizou was at the game as well (as you could see in the video).
Over in Switzerland, Argentina beat Portugal 2-1, but there were no losers for Real Madrid because both Ángel di María and Cristiano scored. Cristiano played almost 60 minutes, while Di María was subbed out at the 65-minute mark. Fernando Gago played about half an hour, coming in for Ever Banega. Eze Garay didn’t play.
Both Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira played all 90 minutes in Germany’s 1-1 tie with Italy.
And at home – in Madrid and at the Bernabéu – Spain beat Colombia 1-0. Iker, Sergio and Raúl Albiol played the entire game, while Arbeloa played 35 minutes and Xabi 75 minutes. According to AS, these five will be allowed to travel to the Vatican with the RFEF on Monday (since it’s an off day anyway) for an audience with the pope. The trip is optional for the players, but the RFEF would like as many players to go as possible. Raúl Albiol said last night after the game that he would go if the pope agreed to baptize his daughter.
FP, Jorge Valdano, Miguel Pardeza, El Buitre, José Mourinho and Aitor Karanka all attended the game.
FIVE. It appears that Dani Parejo will be returning to the Bernabéu next season. Getafe recently communicated to Madrid that they would like to footballer to fulfill the four years of his contract with them (ending in 2013), but Madrid’s response was that Parejo is already in Mourinho’s plans for next season, as the natural substitute to Xabi Alonso. If Dani does come back, Madrid will have to pay El Geta €5 million (pocket change for them) in compensation.
SIX. More cantera news: apparently, Mou is thinking of taking Juanfran and MFC along with the rest of the team to the Copa del Rey final, in order to reward them for their contributions, as they both played in earlier rounds of the competition. What a nice gesture!
SEVEN. And have a look at this video of the best goals of the cantera. Of course, MFC Álvaro Borja Morata Martín makes several appearances, both as a goalscorer and as a cheerleader!