There’s not much news; this is all we’ve got.
He’s definitely got arte: Spanish singer Huecco is currently preparing his new song “Dame vida” (Give me life), and he has collaborated with a variety of athletes, from Jorge Lorenzo to Fernando Verdasco to Pepe Reina, as well as our very own Sergio Ramos!
In his segment, Sergio is seen playing the cajón flamenco, and according to Huecco, he also raps! Of Sergio, Huecco observed, “qué arte, he was so impressive with his ball technique in one square meter, and one of the surprises of the video is his duende while playing the cajón flamenco… you can totally see his Andalucían blood.”
“Dame vida” is the first single off of Huecco’s new album, and the song is a tribute to sports and renewable energy through music. Proceeds will go to help out Haiti (the players are seen kicking a ball around, and with each touch, energy accumulates until it has enough energy to reach Haiti). Short clips will be released each day until June 2, when the finished product will be presented in Providence, the “headquarters” of La Roja during their American trip.
I can’t wait to see the finished product! And Sergio looks like he had a great time, no? Watch the little clip here.
Ins and outs: the players may be on vacation, but the front office is still working, deciding which players will be leaving and which ones will be coming in. José Mourinho wants 23 or 24 players on the first team, but right now we have 28 under contract, so that means some will be shown the door. One of those is of course Jerzy Dudek, who already said goodbye to the club and the fans. He’s the only confirmed departure at this point, to go with five confirmed entrances: Sahin, Altintop, Callejón, and the return of Mateos and Drenthe. The first four will have a spot, but it looks like the club will be dispensing of Drenthe’s services. As for Adebayor, it will cost €16 million to buy him, and he’s willing to reduce his salary demands in order to stay. Madrid would like him to stay, but they’re not willing to pay that much to contract his services or for his salary. It looks like the players whom Madrid are willing to negotiate for are Garay (his contract runs through to 2014), Lass (Mou wants him to stay, but he wants to leave), Drenthe (he has one year left on his contract), Gago, Canales (the club will only loan him out or sell him with a buyback option) and Peter Lion (who apparently doesn’t want to leave).
Meanwhile, Madrid has told Getafe that they won’t pay to recover Dani Parejo, as his buyback option expires on June 30. Getafe, on the other hand, is interested in Madrid loaning out to them MFC, Sarabia and Juanfran.
On the international front: Sami Khedira is all recovered from his muscle injury and will be available to play in Germany’s upcoming 2012 Euro qualifiers on June 3 and June 7.
And four madridistas made Argentina’s Copa América pre-convocatoria. Three were expected – Pipita Higuaín, Eze Garay and Ángel di María – and one was not… Fernando Gago, as he’s only played seven games this season, due to his 195 days on the injured list. I guess this means that his wedding might have to be postponed? The team will begin preparations for the tournament on June 8, when the list is reduced from 26 to 22 players.
By the way, on the press release facilitated by the Argentine football federation, they listed Garay’s club as “Benfica.” Do they know something we don’t?
Go Norwich City! The English club has prohibited a fan from ever entering their stadium again, after he tweeted racist comments about the club’s new signing James Vaughan, who has Trinidadian origins. The club’s explanation was that they “don’t tolerate any type of racism.” The fan has since apologized.
I’d love to see Sergio Busquets show up next season to the Bernabéu to play Madrid, only to be prohibited from entering the stadium! By the way, during La Roja’s training session yesterday, while the players were lying down and stretching, Busquets placed his hands on his face. I think it’s gotten to the point where it’s just pure reflex, instead of any calculated actions on his part, because it’s something he does all the time now.