nicknames, a new shirt & excited Xabi!

ONE. Madrid and Castilla held a joint training session this morning!  After all the players warmed up together, Madrid took on Castilla in a training game!  The good news was that Sami Khedira was back in training, having recovered from the injury to his left leg.  On the Madrid side, Albiol, Khedira, Lass, Granero, Canales and Adebayor played with Isaac, MFC, Casado, Carvajal and Juanan.  They faced Mejías, Juanfran, Goni, Pablo Gil, Luis Hernández, Álex, Martínez, Denis, Juan Carlos, Rubén Ramos and Joselu.  Castilla ended up winning 1-0, behind a goal from Denis.

Meanwhile, Pepe, Sergio, Marcelo, Xabi, Mesut, Di María and Benzema, along with Nacho, trained less intensively with Rui Faria, while the three goalkeepers were off with Silvino, although everyone joined in in the game at the end.  The absences were Kaká, Cris, Arbeloa, Gago, Garay, Higuaín, Carvalho and Peter Lion (knee problems), who were indoors.

The other big news of the session was Adebayor’s new hairstyle!  He’s now sporting a much shorter style.  I like it, he looks like he has a lot more energy!  And he makes Mou look absolutely tiny!

And at the beginning of the session, when Álvaro Arbeloa made a brief appearance on the field, Xabi Alonso said jokingly, “look at that mug.”

TWO. And we finally got a player press conference today!  The club probably wanted to take advantage of EVERYONE talking about Mesut Özil, so they trotted him out in front of the press.

During the press conference, Mesut said his first words in Spanish to the journalists:  “quiero muchos títulos con el Madrid” (I want [to win] many titles with Madrid).  Ozi also replied “de nada” (you’re welcome) when a journalist thanked him.  He also revealed that he’s still studying Spanish, and “I understand a lot already, although speaking it is difficult… I have no problems understanding my teammates, with them I speak Spanish and English on the field.”

Ozi also asked that no one compare him to Zinedine Zidane because “Zidane has had success on the world level and I haven’t.  He was world-class and I’m still growing and I have a lot left to prove.”  As for his thoughts on the last game, he said, “you could see in the last game that we have a good team and that we’re strong.”  He also called Cristiano “a world class player” and said he hoped he would return soon.

THREE. Marca, once again showing that they’re not a serious newspaper at all, has as their headline story today… the nicknames of Real Madrid!  It’s accompanied by this extremely scary cover.

Now, this is not serious news at all, but it is the kind of news that this blog likes (assuming it’s all true, of course).  The story describes the team as a group of school friends, since they spend the whole day together, they have to obey professor Mourinho, and they have fun at recess.  So, the following are the nicknames they’ve given to their “classmates.”  Also, apparently, these nicknames are much nicer than the ones in the past, with Míchel Salgado and Gaby Heinze mentioned as two of the players who came up with the best ones, which is kind of disappointing, because the truth is (to borrow from Pipita) that most of these nicknames are very, very tame.

Iker, for obvious reasons, is “El Capi,” although he’s also called “Culote” (look it up).  Dudek and Adán don’t have nicknames.  Sergio Ramos is “Cuqui,” which is what he’s called at home, and Pepe is “Pepinho.”  Raúl Albiol‘s nickname comes from the national team, and is “El Chori,” for the size and shape of a certain part of his body.  Carvalho is “El Abuelo” (grandfather), though this is out of respect for how he behaves on the field.  Garay is “El Negro,” while Marcelo is “El Loco” (the crazy one).  Arbeloa is “Robocop” because he spends a lot of time in the gym working out.

The nicknames for the midfielders are for the most part less original.  Xabi Alonso is “El Señor.” Sami Khedira is just plain “Sami,” Lass is Lass, Kaká is “Ricky” and Gago replies to “Fer.”  Granero is called “El Bohemio” for his tranquil character and because he likes retro things, while Özil is “Nemo,” for his resemblance to the title character from Finding Nemo.  Di María is “El Angelito,” and Pedro León – in addition to Peter Lion, I assume – is called “El Tomate” as that’s a very important crop in his home province of Murcia.  Finally, Canales is “El Niño.”

Cristiano is “Máquina” for his strength and ambition, and Iker usually greets him with a “¡Qué pasa, máquina!”  Adebayor (already!!!) has several nicknames: “Manolito,” “Avatar” or “Adenabor” (look up what the fourth through seventh letters mean together as a word; this nickname has already become a twitter trending topic in Spain) while Benzema is “Monsieur” for obvious reasons and Gonzalo is “El Pipa.”  No word on if the players have a secret nickname for teacher Mou that they wouldn’t dare say to his face.

FOUR. We’ve talked a bit about the movie Torrente 4 in the past because Álvaro Arbeloa, Gonzalo Higuaín and Sergio Ramos make guest appearances in it.  At a promotional event for his movie yesterday, Santiago Segura described Gonzalo as “the most entertaining” in front of the cameras: “he was funny, and it was surprising to see how comfortable he was.  Álvaro was a bit more serious, but he seemed to me to be the perfect boyfriend that every mother wants for her daughter.”  Santiago also revealed that he believes José Mourinho would be the perfect villian for Torrente 5, for his ability to express himself and put everyone in their place, although he knows that would be impossible.

This is Álvaro’s latest tweet.  In it, he asks if Santiago Segura will somehow manage to get Gonzalo and Sergio nominated for the Goyas (the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars) or the Oscars themselves?  Álvaro is too modest – who says he won’t get nominated?

FIVE. And a look at Madrid’s shirt for the next season!  The main change is the band of color extending from one side of the collar.  No word on what colors the goalkeepers will wear!  Some of the players will participate in a photo shoot wearing the new shirt today in the Bernabéu.