Today is Madrid’s 109th birthday, and this date has been both good (they’ve won nine times, tied six times and lost three times) and bad (el centenariazo) for madridistas. Other fun facts later on in the post, but first:
Side note: I always imagine MFC to be very small, since he’s like a baby to me, and each time I see him at his 1.87m height, I’m a bit shocked at how big he is.
Madrid traveled to Santander yesterday, with Sergio Canales the most sought after player upon arrival in Parayas. Naturally, he was chosen, along with Xabi Alonso, to sign autographs and pose for pictures with the fans once the team was installed in their hotel.
Meanwhile, Iker Casillas was honored by Cantabria’s peñas, who presented him with the Trofeo Paco Gento, named after the legendary Cantabrian player, which is given to the best player (in this case, it was for last season). The trophy consists of a small fishing boat (to scale) named La Galerna, which is Paco’s nickname (La Galerna del Cantábrico).
And some tweets from yesterday. Sergio tweeted this picture of him and Karim and shockingly, Karim is NOT – I repeat NOT – doing a thumbs up. I guess the two of them must be the cool kids on the team who sit in the back of the bus. Sergio also tweeted in English (three words and without the use of contraction, but still) and this picture of the beautiful view from his hotel room.
Meanwhile, El Pirata provided more recommendations.
Meanwhile, Álvaro Arbeloa. who is resting up at home on this Sunday, tweeted an adorable photo of his dogs Sawyer, Bauer and Mulder, and said that he’ll take it easy today because “others will be working!”
And Madrid’s head of press Óscar Ribot (now familiar to all of you as he’s the interviewer on the Real… series of interviews) denied reports from SER that José Mourinho had been the victim of an attempted stabbing. In addition to saying the information was false, Ribot also revealed that “Madrid’s security guard felt something brush against his back but didn’t think anything of it; there simply is no incident. Upon arrival at the hotel in A Coruña, the wound was treated, it was just a scratch, with no importance. If it has been a stabbing, it would have resulted in a much different wound.”
Here are some fun facts about March 6, courtesy of AS:
– Benguría, the record goalscorer: José María de Benguría has scored six goals on March 6, followed by Raúl with four, and Paco Gento and Amancio each with three. Benguría scored all six goals in one game (in 1927 against Extremeño), while Amancio got his three with a hat trick in 1968 against AC Sparta Prague.
– the one and only Raúl: Raúl is the only Madrid player to have scored on three different March 6s, in 1996, 2001 and 2002. He’s also the only player in club history to have scored in two different competitions on this date – the European Cup and the Copa del Rey.
– two times for La Galerna: Paco Gento is the only player to have scored in two different Liga games on this date.
– a-head: only one opposing team has scored more than one goal against Madrid on March 6: Cabezas, in 1927.
– not so boss: only two own goals have been scored on this day – Tottenham’s Perryman in 1985 and Xabi Alonso against Sevilla last year (Madrid won 3-2).
– oh no!: the last local player who scored against Madrid was from Racing – Xabi’s friend Benayoun, in 2004.
– the dynamic duo: only two players from the current squad have scored for Madrid on Madrid’s birthday – Sergio Ramos and Cristiano, both last year, against Sevilla.
And good luck to Castilla today as well, as they take on Conquense this afternoon in search of their ninth straight victory, but without four of their habitual starters: MFC, Álex Fernández and Jesús. Jorge Casado is also a starter, but he’s suspended for this game.