… because it’s three days worth of news in one post!
First up, more from the Valencia game: I don’t know why any Madrid player would complain about not getting any playing time, because the bench is the place to be! Look at how fun it is over there! Prior to the Valencia game, we had Pepe overcome with a desire to touch Marcelo, repeatedly, and Marcelo and Pepe doing balancing games. For once, Cris didn’t join in their madness.
Marcelo had a small wound on his face, and when asked if it was from the celebration, he said no, that Kaká was guilty of causing it! Which just begs the question, what exactly were the boys doing?
Then we had the pairing of Pepe and Mesut, with poor Marcelo caught in between. Mesut poked Pepe, and then pretended it wasn’t him. It’s like they’re in elementary school! And then Mesut hurried to put something (a water bottle) on Pepe’s seat before Pepe could sit down. They’re really regressing back to their childhoods… Or else they just never grew up! I’m leaning towards the latter.
Marcelo and Pepe then teamed up to jump with Cristiano, until Mou told them to get out. And later on, Pepe tried to pull down Pipita’s shorts, but Gonzalo was too quick on the uptake. Marcelo wasn’t and so he retaliated by throwing water at Pepe.
I love that Pepe and Marcelo have contaminated Mesut with their craziness! Somehow, Marcelo got a hold of Mesut’s jersey and proceeded to kiss it, to the delight of Pepe and el propio Mesut.
As you can see, at the end of the game, Marcelino was still wearing it, unless Mesut somehow managed to get his hands on the wig that Manu wore in the Copa del Rey celebrations.
And befitting their role as the canteranos’ biggest cheerleader, Pepe and Marcelo were the first ones to Nacho after the game (Pepe sprayed him with water – notice a theme?) to hug him and congratulate him.
Good news on the injury front, as Ángel di María and Manu Adebayor look to be recovered from those pains that impeded them from playing against Valencia. They will be available for José Mourinho to choose from when deciding his line-up for Wednesday’s CL semifinal against Barcelona. Meanwhile, Sami Khedira is more optimistic regarding his adductor, as he said via Facebook that “I will do everything possible to return as soon as possible,” adding that he’d like to play in a possible CL final. He said the decision as to when he will return will be made between himself, the Madrid doctors and the doctor of the German national team.
Madrid will train today at 15:30h (before that, at 14:45, Mou and Marcelo will speak to the press). The team had also trained on Sunday, but just a light session as “I want them to enjoy Easter Sunday with their families and begin to prepare the semifinal game on Monday.” That’s what Mou said after the Valencia game. So, the Sunday session consisted of of stretching and light movement for the starters, and a bit more strenuous work for the substitutes (or the starters on Wednesday). On Monday, there was another session.
Mou conceded mini-vacations to the two Rickys. Ricky Carvalho is suspended for Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal first leg, and so he got to take a break, which he’ll spend in Portugal. And Kaká made a lightning fast trip to Brazil to see his newborn daughter, Isabella. Once he received the news that he was a father again, he asked Mou to give him some time off so that he could visit his family. Mou granted him permission, and the man in charge of Madrid’s travel arrangements found him a seat (in business class) on a flight to Sao Paolo on Saturday night. The team arrived back in Madrid from Valencia at 22:15h and at 23h, Kaká was on his way to Brazil, which took 11 hours. He’ll be back in time to participate in today’s training session.
I know that’s a barrette in Isabella’s hair, but since she has so little hair, it looks more like a leftover piece of confetti from the celebration on Wednesday that fell out of her father’s hair. And when will little Isabella travel to Madrid, so that she can meet her future husband Cristiano Jr.?
Kaká told the press in Brazil that “I’m happy. I’m feeling good. Mourinho is a “10,” he’s been very good with me, and he’s helped me a lot in difficult moments. My idea is the stay, play and triumph in Real Madrid. It’s been a great week. My birthday, two goals, the birth of my daughter, Easter.”
Looking ahead to the Champions League game and the card situation, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ángel di María, Raúl Albiol and Sergio Ramos (who are all expected to start the game) are all one card away from being suspended, meaning that if they get a card on Wednesday, they’ll miss the return leg of the semifinals in Barcelona. Anyone who receives a red card will miss that game as well. And looking even more into the future, the following players have one card, meaning that if they get one in the ida and another in the vuelta, they’ll miss the final: Carvalho (he’s clear at the moment, but since he’s already been through one cycle, he’ll be suspended upon receiving two yellow cards), Adebayor, Iker, Lass and Granero.
Iker will debut new gloves for the semifinal game on Wednesday, ones incorporating the latest technologies and materials. On the wrist parts, there is the logo of the Iker Casillas Foundation. And unamadridista favorite Rafa Nadal will be in the Bernabéu to watch his beloved Madrid take on Barcelona, yay! He’ll also be playing in the Mutua Madrid Open next week, and I’m sure a lot of our players will return the favor by showing up to support him!
On Sunday, Castilla ALSO scored six goals while using their A1 team (four of their usual starters were out), as they beat Montañeros 6-0 at the Alfredo di Stéfano. “On-loan” Óscar Plano, Dani Carvajal, Pablo Sarabia, Antonio Martínez and Joselu scored for Madrid, with Joselu notching a double. Their non-losing streak is now at 16, and there are three games left.
Nacho Fernández watched the game from the stands, as he had played with the first team on Saturday and thus was ineligible for this one.
Some more information on Nacho’s debut: the game ball that Pipita ceded to him was signed by all his teammates and Mou, but not his shirt, because Madrid wore the black ones on Saturday. Álex had had the same problem when he debuted against Racing in Santander on March 6. Nacho also walked away from the game with the shirt of Valencia winger Joaquín, as Nacho is a fan of Betis, Joaquín’s former team. And Joaquín had a detallazo with Nacho: Nacho had offered up his shirt in exchange, as is the custom, but Joaquín said no, knowing that this shirt was very special to him as it was the one from his debut, and gave his to Nacho as a gift. After the game, Nacho said everyone on the team is really nice, and “they’re already like friends to me.” Nacho is 21, the second captain of Castilla, and he studies physical education and is in the process of getting his coaching license as well.
Álex and Nacho’s debuts this season mark the first time ever two brothers have debuted with the first team in the same season.
Also in the stands watching Castilla: MFC, looking all adorable!
And apparently, if your name is Álvaro, you’re the one responsible for confirming or denying whether your teammates have twitter or not. MFC Álvaro Borja Morata Martín told us that both Nacho and Juan Carlos are on twitter!
This was MSFC’s brilliant first tweet, since deleted: I. Am. New. To. Twitter.
But apparently, it didn’t take long for him to get the hang of it, because yesterday, he tweeted up a storm, with photos too! Is the line to help him with his English already forming?
Remember how I said a while back that Iker is the new image of the Liga BBVA? Well here are some of the things he’ll be doing this summer as the face of the league. Iker will go on tour to promote the BBVA-Iker Casillas Foundation Campus, whose goal is to teach football to children while also transmitting to them the values that the captain of Madrid and of Spain have. One of those must be the importance of learning English, because the campus also includes the teaching of footballing concepts in English! Maybe Iker will sit in, as his vocabulary (that we know of) consists of the words Peter, Lion, worst, goalkeeper, in, the, world, and amazing.
There will be stops in Chile, Mexico, Colombia, the U.S., Peru and China, and of course Spain, concretely in the area of Madrid: Boadilla del Monte, Móstoles, Hortaleza and Vicálvaro, as well as Navalacruz (Ávila), of course.
For those of you who are now madly changing your summer plans: the two week-long campuses are for children between the ages of six and 16, and there are no restrictions on condition, quality or capacity. Iker will personally visit each campus, so the participants can get to know him in person. In addition, all participants will receive a gift bag consisting of the official kit of the campus, a ball signed by Iker, and a diploma signed by Iker.
Iker will also be in the U.S. with the national team in June, and with Madrid in August, as well as China.
More nice things from Iker, and Sergio: they will be the patrons of a padel tournament organized by the Clínica Menorca this Thursday to raise funds for breast cancer. Among the big names (many, many unamadridista favorites!!!) who will take part are Vicente del Bosque, Míchel, José Antonio Camacho, Aitor Karanka, Miguel Torres, Jordi Codina, Rubén de la Red, Fernando Hierro.
Meanwhile, Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa are also ambassadors of the “Vencer el Cáncer” (beat cancer) campaign.
Say goodbye to the encyclopaedia! You know that thick book that Aitor Karanka flips through each time with a player who is about to be subbed in? Well, that’s to be a thing of the past soon, because of the “Mou-Pad!” According to Marca, a Portuguese tech company, at Mou’s request, has designed a program called the Mourinho tactical board to have all that information at one’s fingertips with several clicks. It’s designed for coaches of all categories, or even obsessed fans. Buy yours here and become a bit more special.
And some photos that Sergio Canales did for Adidas, via his FB.
Highlights from Sergio’s recent interview with Madrid’s web site. The pictures are surprisingly quite nice (no thumbs up, and luckily the shoot took place at Valdebebas rather than the TV studio with their strange mirror and camera props), and I suppose there wasn’t anything the photographer could do about Sergio’s colorful scarf, other than demanding that he remove it (that’s what I would have done, and I also wouldn’t have stopped there, I would have demanded that he remove his shirt as well).
on the team: the most important thing is the team, not the individual players. It’s true that this group is more united than ever, with a lot of desire to continue achieving great things. We’re “súper ilusionados” with the moment that we’re in right now.
on Mou: it’s clear that he won’t change his philosophy, his style, his customs. He has very clear ideas and we’re going to continue working in the same way, we’re not going to change anything due to whatever rival we’re facing.
on playing Barcelona in the CL: what I would most like is for this to be a clean and sporting game, without theater and with a referee that neither benefits nor prejudices anyone [me too!]. The other day, even a correct decision in the final was criticized! [Sergio is alluding to Pep Guardiola’s remark in a press conference on Monday that Pedro’s goal in the Copa del Rey final was legal.] But above all else, I want el madridismo to enjoy this game. We know the responsibility that we have from defending these colors and we’re going to give it our all.
on Madrid being the favorite?: we don’t like assuming the role of favorite because I don’t think it brings anything to us. If there’s anything that brings success, it’s simplicity, humility and hard work. And those are the values that we need to have present [I’m so glad that our team personifies those values!].
The nostalgic news section. Zizou, Figo and their families spent part of their Semana Santa vacations in Ibiza. Both Zizou and Figo have still got it.
According to Marca, Madrid is studying the possibility of reincorporating Fernando Hierro into the structure of the club. Hierro will leave his position as sporting director of the RFEF at the end of June, and is considering taking a yearlong sabbatical, but an offer from the club could change his mind. The newspaper also says that Mou has to give the green light before anything can happen.
And a couple of quotes from an interview Raúl did with El Mundo:
I spent 16 years in Real Madrid. It’s my club, my home. Many madridistas have demonstrated that to me: some of them even come here [to Germany] to watch me train, to watch games.
[My friendship with Guardiola is] from the national team. He assisted me on the first goal that I scored. That’s an anecdote, but we’ve always gotten along very well and we talk whenever we can. We love football.