The 2011-12 season (actually, pre-season) kicked off this morning at Valdebebas, as the players arrived one by one or in pairs to begin the new season. José Mourinho was of course the first one to arrive, at 07:40h, or more than an hour before everyone else was asked to arrive. The first players to arrive were the canteranos Jesús, Jesé, Joselu and Jorge (Casado, but it looks much better like that with only first names, since they all begin with the letter “J,” no?), who entered the training grounds at 08h, perhaps looking to start off on the right foot. Nuri Sahin was the first first team player to arrive, at 08:15h. The majority of the players got there by 08:30h, and in the meantime, the likes of Aitor Karanka, FP and Zinedine Zidane also showed up. Cristiano and Sergio appeared at 08:45h, and José Callejón and Álvaro Arbeloa rounded out the group, arriving together – and late – at 09:10h. Kaká will join the team in California.
And since the players showed up in their own clothes – with the exception of the canteranos and several of the new players, who were already dressed in the official traveling clothes – I’m going to do a bit of fashion commentary. Iker showed up with a bunch of boots in hand. From what I can see, they’re sort of yellow, but not bright yellow like his kit for next season. Thus, I foresee a bit of mismatching once again in Iker’s future. On the bright side, he showed up without his favorite purse, opting for a backpack this year. That is a great start to the season! It fills me with optimism! Meanwhile, Álvaro Arbeloa and José Callejón looked like they could have exchanged t-shirts yet still stay true to their own styles – indeed, José’s tee is totally something I can picture Álvaro in. And it looks like José has somewhat tamed the height of his hair a bit. Those jeans have to go though.
Fábio Coentrão’s cap is something else that needs to go (it makes him look really old), along with Sami Khedira’s cuffed denim shorts.
Thoughts on the official traveling clothes? They’re much more casual than last year, and judging by the shirt as modeled by Jesé, much more transparent as well. Jorge Casado, with all the stripes on his body, looks like he should be piloting an airplane. All he needs is a hat. Sergio showed up in a shirt that he may have purchased while in the U.S., and while I don’t like that brand, I do appreciate how snugly the shirt fits around his arms. He looks great in those sunglasses too.
And Marcelo and Xabi looked like they had gone directly from the beach to Valdebebas. We can always count on Marcelo to add a little color – love the purple watch! – and Xabi to keep things muted.
FP was there to greet all the players, including the apple of his eye, Karim Benzema, who looked a little worried about his status when FP turned to say hi to José.
And I’m including these pictures just to show how great the guys look, from Álvaro in his sunglasses (though he should have taken them off while speaking to FP, no?), Sergio’s highlights and Esteban’s laid-back cool. I also like how FP and the photographer caught Esteban in the middle of UNDRESSING (look at the belt) but unfortunately the photographer, who was probably busy shouting, “hold your thumb up!,” DID NOT TAKE ANY MORE PHOTOS. Idiota.
Iker and Cristiano looked fairly happy to see each other (and we also get a better glimpse of the purse-replacing backpack), while Mesut and Sami had a serious conversation.
The players went through their medical check-ups, including blood tests, an EKG, and a weigh-in. Mou was quite upset when Benzema and Marcelo showed up overweight at the beginning of last season, but this year, Dr. Carlos Díez pronounced everyone in “phenomenal shape.” The RM photographers once again failed us, only bringing us ONE photo of a topless player, in this case Tomy Mejías (or else the web site was being selfish). But at least there are no thumbs-up!
Luckily, other media outlets came to the rescue.
The team then listened to FP talk and then headed for the airport to catch their flight to Los Angeles. They’ll train at UCLA and stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel, just like last year. I like how Mesut flanked Nuri, and Ricky did the same to Fábio as they headed out of Valdebebas.
Meanwhile, the Spaniards continued to look hot hot hot, ignoring Sergio’s abundance of LV bags, of course.
At the airport, the Portuguese speakers seemed to be naturally drawn to each other. I wonder if anyone will end up learning Portuguese by the end of the season? And this might have been Nuri and Raphael’s reactions when they learned that they might have to carry a purse in order to fit in with the team, following the example of the captains.
José really, really, really reminds me of former canterano and current Pignoise singer Álvaro Benito. They could be twins. Well, triplets, because José and Juanmi are identical twins.
Meanwhile, Royston Drenthe, Lass Diarra, Peter Lion and Sergio Canales are staying behind in Madrid, though they will have to train at Valdebebas while the rest of the team is in the U.S. Sergio Canales will join the U-20 team on July 16.
While Peter Lion may be down on his luck, his brother, cyclist Louis Lion (Luis León) is faring better, as he won the ninth stage of the Tour de France yesterday, moving into second place overall. His younger brother bears a strong resemblance to him, no? Their body types, however, are quite different, as Louis Lion has the typical very lean cyclist body. Here’s a picture of the Lion brothers together, from about two years ago. There’s a third Lion brother, Anthony Lion (Antonio León) who plays indoor football (the oldest Lion brother, Lion (León), passed away in a motorbike accident several years ago).
Meanwhile, Marca posted this video of Nuri Sahin, Mesut Özil and Hamit Altintop getting down during a wedding. However, I don’t think the trio of Pepe-Marcelo-Cristiano will have to worry about the competition. These three, especially Mesut, look a bit timid. Or perhaps Altintop was restrained by his back. In any case, they need more practice and confidence. Hopefully the locos will lend them a hand.
Iker Casillas will have made the equivalent of three trips around the world by the end of this summer, clocking up a total of 115,000 kilometers from the end of May until the middle of August. He will have traveled to four different continents and 16 different cities by the end of the summer. Right after the season ended, Iker headed to South Africa, to participate in a World Cup one-year anniversary special. One week later, he was back in Spain, ready to travel with the national team to the U.S. and then Venezuela. Once the games were over, Iker traveled to Mexico to visit his campus, stopping in Mexico City and Monterrey. Then it was onto Santiago de Chile, also for a campus visit and to do some charitable work. Iker and his girlfriend Sara Carbonero then spent a few days in Brazil and New York City. Then it was back to Spain, to Navalacruz, concretely, before Iker and Sara once again jetted off, this time to Beijing. With Real Madrid, Iker will return to the U.S. and China, as well as travel to Germany and England. Iker will also travel to Italy with the national team in August. That is a lot of time on airplanes, no?
And Pablo Sarabia was presented as a Getafe player today. Mucha suerte Pablito! I hope to see you back in white soon, and I don’t mean the shirt you wore to the presentation…
