the awkwardness is back!

Last time, Iker, Cris, Sergio and Karim were the victims.  This time around, they’ve roped in Xabi Alonso, Álvaro Arbeloa, Ricky Carvalho and TSO himself, José Mourinho!  Do you think when the idea was proposed to Xabi, he groaned and tried to beg off of it, but couldn’t (I’m too classy for that!)?  At least there are no mirrors involved…

I can’t get over how awkward they look posing with the ball!  How long do you think they had to stand in that position before the photographers got the perfect shot?  And how many takes did they have to do, because I can totally imagine Álvaro cracking up?

I guess Ricky didn’t get the memo that they were supposed to look serious and not show any teeth?

I know this is not the intended effect, but these did make me feel a lot better after Saturday’s game!

The intended effect was to motivate the fans to be the 12th man on Tuesday night at the Bernabéu against Tottenham.  To do that, Real Madrid released this video and these photos of this quartet, because they “all have experienced in first person how much English stadium pressure.”  I suppose that is best expressed by gazing off into the distance with a súper serious expression on your face, no?

Look at Ricky trying not to crack up behind Xabi, and Mou wishing he were anywhere but with a Real Madrid photographer!

I don’t know about you, but I find these shots of the stadium, and the escudos much more motivating than any of the players.  These make me feel proud to be a madridista, not José and co. looking all serious.  That’s probably because these are eternal symbols of the club that transcend any players, coach or era.

Meanwhile, over in Guadalajara, Castilla eked out a 1-1 draw yesterday against Guadalajara, with MSFC Juan Carlos scoring a golazo!!!  The team’s non-losing streak now stands at 13 games (11 wins and two ties), and they continue in second place in their division.

And MFC Álvaro Borja Morata Martín tweeted this photo of Juan Carlos and Denis, saying, “look at how beautiful Denis’ face is!”  Plus, those are some big watches!

And in Barcelona, Sandro Rosell has apologized for his prediction that Barcelona would beat Madrid 5-0 in the Copa del Rey final: “I ask for forgiveness; what I said wasn’t appropriate.  Our values are humility and hard work, and my objective was not to slight anyone.”  You could have fooled me!  To me, it sounds like he was pressured into an apology, after even his own coach came out in disagreement, and he really doesn’t feel apologetic or wrong at all.  So, maybe Sandro needs to take a crash course in Barcelona’s values before he opens his mouth once more?