Thank you to everyone who sent things in! Let’s get started…
Álvaro Arbeloa-Carlota Ruiz wedding photos
I had just mentioned Álvaro’s wedding in a previous post, and here we have photos from that event, courtesy of LaBlanca. How beautiful is this couple? View the rest here.
Pipita’s dream comes true
Andrea Paola sends this video of Gonzalo Higuaín as a kid, saying that he wants to go to Real Madrid. She recorded it off her TV! See, dreams do come true!
Here’s the same video from Mokia, which also includes one of Pipita’s brothers talking.
Our worst enemy
Fátima says this “is probably really stupid, but I cannot stop laughing.” Go here to see what it is!
Isabella on Madrid’s players
Isabella was in Valdebebas a couple of weeks ago, and she got to meet some of the players. She says, “Some things I will say are not nice, but I will be careful because I know how many fans are here and I don’t want to hurt anybody’s ‘imagination’ of a particular player. There is also information that I will and I must keep to myself for various reasons. Therefore I may not be able to answer all questions that you might have.” Here’s her report.
Manu Adebayor – unfortunately, nothing nice to say here; he was signed for Madrid two months ago and already acts like an offended diva. He mercifully agreed to say a few words for me in French although it was more like ‘yes’ ‘no’ answers than a conversation. It do not consider it a ‘bad mood day’ because as far as I’ve been told he acts like this all the time. Moreover, he completely ignores the fans.
Raúl Albiol – he looks much better in real life than on TV, very positive overall impression.
Karim Benzema – one of the nicest players in the whole team; he acts humble, he’s always ready for an interview, gives you all the time you need, agrees to photos, gives autographs to the fans: I remember a quiet big group of French fans waiting for him in the fan zone of Valdebebas, they literally threw themselves at him and he didn’t say a word, posed for as many photos as they wanted and gave a zillion autographs. I spoke to him in French but his Spanish is quite good as far as I heard.
Álvaro Arbeloa – after he gave me a personal present (which almost made me pass out) and a dozen of kisses I’ve become platonically in love with him. I don’t think it needs any further explanation.
Ezequiel Garay – he’s a hottie for all the women who like black hair, earrings and Hollywood white teeth; apart from that he’s rather distant, it’s quite hard to speak with him, you need to force him to say anything.
Gonzalo Higuaín – three words that say all about him: he is fantastic; he has beautiful eyes and he likes flamenco. I can even forget about his terrible teeth and bitten nails considering the sweet conversation that we had.
Iker Casillas – a classy, elegant man, very well behaved with women, likes young girls who ask for autographs (especially the blond ones as far as I noticed); it’s a pleasure to speak to him. He’s very calm and measures carefully all his words. Likes grey clothes and scarfs. The good news is that he’s able to let go of his cell phone at least for the time of the interview. I was thinking about Una all the time we spoke and I almost mentioned her to Iker.
Sami Khedira – he speaks perfect English and doesn’t like the attention. Reluctantly agrees for photos and interviews.
Marcelo – he listen to outrageous music, all right maybe it’s too harsh, so to music that is very loud and that I didn’t like 😉 he has a tattoo on his right hand finger, unfortunately I didn’t have time to ask him what it is, but it looked like the first letter of his son’s name (Enzo?). He is very patient with kids who tend to jump on him, but he gets very angry when you try to touch his hair.
Jerzy Dudek – I’m of course a bit biased when talking about him because he comes from my country. He was the only player who called me ‘Miss’ and not ‘you.’ Very kind to the fans and well… speaking Polish with him made me so happy that I didn’t pay attention to much else 😉
Aitor Karanka – saying it in Sergio’s way: ‘super nice’ guy, very open, smiling, says all the time nice things about Mou (it’s part of his job, no? 😉 adores the fans (and a super plus to him for that!)
Ricardo Carvalho – I got the impression that he borrows sunglasses from Cristiano 😉 Besides, he’s a sweet pie, seems a very gentle and loving person; of course it may be just a superficial impression but he was really sweet with me. Unfortunately, my Portuguese is pretty terrible so he spoke his semi-Spanish and English with me.
Pedro León – he always has a very disgusted face expression which can be appealing. He has an utmost respect for the fans (a huge plus here as well!).
Sergio Canales – the sweetest boy on earth who drives a car that is ten times bigger than him; I loved how he adored my eyes. He must shave however, because his facial hair does not suit him.
Sergio Ramos – a bigger description here because I know you want to know as much as possible about him. I spoke to him twice. It was difficult to get to him but I managed. He’s very often surrounded by his assistants, PR specialists, stylists or whoever they are. He’s rarely alone at Valdebebas.
He wears contact lenses that change his eye color. It is impossible to have two so much different colors only because of the light. Once they are very light brown, like nut or caramel (much like his hair) and another day they’re almost black.
When I saw him for the second time he had very short sleeves so I could see most of his tattoos. Personally, I think they are very ugly (says a tattoo fan) but it’s of course a matter of taste.
I got a sweet kissing dedicated autograph from Sergio and we also have a nice photo together. I also discovered his personal weakness, but I’ll keep that as my sweet female triumph secret 😉 and oh, and I got him to speak English. He’s very ashamed but he tries and he’s not doing bad.
A not-so-nice remark at the end: it’s actually a warning to all SR fans; do not ever try to throw yourself at him or force him to give you an autograph.
It took me three days to figure out what his weakness is and therefore how to easily get him to speak to me (it’s not enough to just ask, he’s a complicated person). The first interview I got was a piece of trash, just like those I got back in October at Las Rozas. You need to try harder than hard with Mr. Ramos. It requires a good dose of observation spirit.
There is a journalist joke that I heard at Valdebebas: if you cut off Sergio Ramos’ head it flies because it doesn’t weigh anything, it’s completely empty.
Bonuses: I saw Zinedine Zidane at Valdebebas (doesn’t his son train there?) but unfortunately I had no chance to speak to him. He looks amazing.
I found Cristiano’s house in La Finca. It’s nicely visible since there’s no fence 😉 I also found out that he has a discoteca there so he doesn’t need to go anywhere for fiestas. He also has a private DJ. Very comfortable solution.
Pepe’s long lost twin?
Lexi Jessica says, “it’s not much but I think Pepe and actor/musician Evan Ross look quite similar, especially from some angles. Whenever I watch the TV series 90210 and Evan Ross appears on the screen, I’m immediately reminded of Pepe. Could just be me but you might see if too…”
Marcelo and Pedro León
Paul Galactico sends two articles he wrote for Bleacher Report. The first one deals with Marcelo and his rise to prominence, while the second is about Pedro León’s sticky situation.
The Special One
Readers Kat and Christine both sent these two Grant Wahl articles about Mou. First one here, second one here.
Fan art
Robbert Schefman is a graphic designer and he made these cool Real Madrid pieces!
