An open training session and a player press conference, all on one day? It must be international week!
ONE. José Mourinho only has seven players from his first team to train with this week, with the rest on international duty or injured. So, Adán, Dudek, Granero, Peter Lion, Lass, Adebayor and Higuaín were joined by RMC players for yesterday’s session, to play a practice game of two 30-minute halves. Pipa played the entire game (yay!) and even scored some goals! And his fellow-coming-off-of-an-injury-and-almost-fully-recovered-Argentine, Fer Gago, trained alone, while Kaká and Cristiano stayed inside gossiping and doing bromantic things working out in the gym.
One side was made up of Adán, Tano, Suárez, Poley, Capote, Peter Lion, Lass, Granero, Marc, Adebayor and Higuaín. Pipa scored the first goal (1-0), then assisted Manu for the second (2-0). Marc scored once for the other team before the half, so the halftime score was 2-1. In the second half, Óscar Plano scored for RMC (2-2), then Lucas did as well (2-3), and they held the lead until Pipita scored the equalizer (3-3). Fran Sol made a penalty to win it 3-4 for the canteranos (Antonio Adán didn’t agree with the penalty call at all).
TWO. And in other injury news, Gago is nearing the end of his recovery process. If you don’t remember, he’s been out since March 4 with a right groin injury. He trained alone outside yesterday, and did some ball exercises. Our poor Fer hasn’t had much luck with staying healthy this year. He’s accumulated 139 sick days so far this season from four injuries: he sprained his left knee on Aug. 24, re-injured it on Oct. 7 and re-re-injured it on Nov. 8.
THREE. Esteban Granero spoke to the press, and when asked about Iker giving Madrid a grade of “9” for the season, his response was that “what the captain says goes. It’s a good grade and I think we deserve it. Things are going well and the best thing would be to wait until the end of the season, but he, as captain, has reflected the fact that we’ve been on the right path up to this moment.”
FOUR. Antonio Adán is the next player to get the Real… interview treatment! His segment will be shown today at 18h. He’s one of the least known members of the team, so it will be great to find out more about him, especially because he’s a canterano and so he’ll have a lot of things to share about the Real Madrid experience.
FIVE. Iker, speaking to Onda Cero’s “Al Primer Toque” on Wednesday night, asked “a bit more education” from the fans who scream insults in stadiums, especially to Mou and Cris. He said, “I understand that it gets to a point where you can’t handle any more. It’s normal, you go to a football field but you’re also a person. I also have a father, a mother, a brother, a girlfriend… there are people who have children and there are things that people don’t understand. I understand that people go to watch football to forget about things, to support their teams, but you have to have a bit more education, at least that.” Some of the parts of the interview can be found here.
He also spoke about Mou: “Now that I know him, and I’m with him 24 hours a day, I can say that I will defend him, that I will fight for him because I think he’s a 10 as a person, and as a coach.”
SIX. Juan Carlos, Nacho Fernández and Sergio Canales all started in Spain U-21’s friendly against France last night, but unfortunately Spain fell to the hosts 3-2, and had to play with 10 men after Juan Carlos (MSFC) was expelled with a direct red in the 40th minute for a late tackle. Both Nacho and Sergio C. went on to play the full game.
SEVEN. A couple of videos. Cuatro has some promos for a special they’ve shot, Guti in Istanbul. Promo one here, promo two here.
In the videos, Guti says that he had doubts about this new adventure because he had never lived alone, and because of the language and the food. We also see him informing us that his coach is “a very good person” (in English!). Guti also takes us around his team’s training complex, tells us that he sits next to Ricardo Quaresma during meals, and that room A12 is his assigned room in the complex. We also get to visit Casa Guti.
EIGHT. A wonderful video showing that Zinedine Zidane has still got it, that he really is one of the most amazing footballers ever, and that he’s also a gentleman.
NINE. As the referee of the Atleti-Madrid game did not note the racist chants against Marcelo and the death threats against Cristiano and Mou during the match, the Competition Committee had no way to act. And the National Antiviolence Commission won’t be doing anything either, because the report presented by the Calderón’s security coordinator to them yesterday also did not reflect these chants (not surprising, no?). If nothing is reported, then no actions can be taken. The Commission did fine Atleti €3,750 for allowing people to carry into the stadium five bottles of beer. Good to see that this country has its priorities straight.
TEN. To end on a good note, some photos of our internationals on duty.
