Thank you for all the lovely comments yesterday!! They are very much appreciated! Now onto the news news news… and happy weekend!
ONE. Head here to see a video of a “Punto Pelota” reporter waiting for Sergio outside Valdebebas on Wednesday to present him with a birthday cake. She couldn’t light up the candles due to the wind, so Sergio took the cake into his car and lit them up, then made a wish and blew out the candles. I really want to know what’s inside that gold package on the seat next to him, and who gave him that present!
TWO. Last night, Sergio tweeted this photo of him with singers Manu Tenorio and Dani Martín last night, during a private concert by Dani for the presentation of the new magazine of Pullmantur. A couple of observations – how much has Manu changed since his days with OT! He looks like Guti now! Even the hair! Well, I guess when your career is going nowhere, you have to reinvent yourself to get some press. It must be working, because “manutenoriofacts” is currently trending on twitter. And I can’t believe Sergio found someone else who wears red pants!!! Sergio’s outfit is not too bad, if you remove the scarf and the belt. Dani is definitely the best dressed in this photo.
THREE. And here we have an article written by Sid Lowe about Álvaro Arbeloa. In it, Álvaro says that after both games against Tottenham in the CL, he’s going to get Peter Crouch’s shirts, for him and Raúl Albiol. Here are the highlights, although the entire article is worth a read, and there’s supposed to be more today!
“During the World Cup we were on the PlayStation constantly,” Arbeloa smiles. “It was always el Chori [Raúl Albiol] and me against Sergio Ramos and Jesús Navas. They were Spain, we were England and it got pretty intense. We always put Crouch up front – and he scored loads. We bought ourselves England shirts. You’d be there in the Spain hotel and there were two guys in white, “Gerrard” and “Crouch” on the back.
“Spurs might not be as famous as Chelsea or Manchester United but they will be very dangerous,” he continues. “I wasn’t pleased with the draw because it was easy but because I wanted to play in England. And when I saw Spurs, I said to el Chori: ‘We’re going to get Crouch shirts, so we can play in them – real ones, this time.’ It’ll be a bit big on me, but still …”
Álvaro added a few more details via twitter…
This prompted Xabi to tweet the “missing photo” for the article. I love El Chori’s smile!
Álvaro’s reaction was, “what are friends for? Wow, Xabi, are you bored on vacation or what?” [I assume that’s because Xabi’s not playing this weekend.]
And Álvaro said that he and Raúl were always the big winners (but how about at parchís?).
FOUR. According to Marca, Fernando Gago is injured again, pobrecito! The scar tissue of his right adductor muscle has opened up, sending him back to square one. Fer’s not having a lot of luck this season, is he?
FIVE. Speaking of Argentines, in a chat with readers of El País, Santi Solari was asked, “what team do you hold in your heart?” And his response was, “Real Madrid. Then River and Estudiantes, which I supported when I was a kid in Argentina.”
SIX. Part two of former players I feel nostalgia for, and quote of the day, via Marca stalking Rafa van der Vaart as he exited Tottenham’s training grounds:
The Bernabéu wants to see me again? I think it’s me who has more desire to see them. They’re in my heart.
SEVEN. Next season, Liga games will be played from Saturday at 16h to Monday at 21h. The league and the TV channels with broadcasting rights don’t want any games to take place simultaneously, which is why the games are now being spread out over three days. The idea is to have four games on Saturday (16h, 18h, 20h, 22h), five on Sunday (12h, 15h, 17h, 19h, 21h) and one on Monday (21h). That means it will theoretically be possible to watch all 10 Liga matches of the jornada! I’m sure Madrid will continue to be scheduled for the most convenient timeslots.
EIGHT. And in response to Barcelona president Sandro Rosell’s declaration that he would plump for a “5-0” score in the Copa del Rey final to “continue the tradition,” all I have to say is that I hope no one at Madrid sinks down to that level, because Barcelona deserves our respect. No offense to any of the culé readers, but can you imagine if someone from Madrid had made the same prognostic, how much some segments of Barcelona would milk out of playing the victim?