ICYMI – the hot (weather and our players) edition

In case you missed it – RM vs. Philadelphia Union [2011-07-23, pre-season friendly, 2-1].

The good news is that Madrid finished 3-0 in their tour of the United States.  The team played well in the first half, and not so well in the second half.  As Aitor Karanka said after the game, it was the poorest showing out of the three games, so I’m not going to talk about that.  Instead, I’ll just focus – like I usually do – on the the players… and I’m sure that a lot of you went to the game – and the previous ones in LA and San Diego – and have anecdotes too, so send them over if you’d like, along with pictures, and I’ll dedicate a post to that!

ONE.  The intense heat and subsequent sweating may have meant that some players’ hair gel wasn’t working, so a lot of them seemed to be concerned with how their hair was doing.

TWO.  Continuing with the hair theme, Cris and Kaká attempted to cool down before going onto the field for the second half by pouring water down their throats and on their heads.

THREE.  The two goals by José Callejón and Mesut Özil came in the first 11 minutes.  One of the best things about José Callejón is that he is already a Crackòvia character.

FOUR.  Cris spent some time before the game signing autographs.  How sweet of him.

FIVE.  Iker is quite the boss out there – on one play, he gave Karim Benzema a good, hard shove into the correct position, and on another, he passed the ball while sitting on the field.

SIX.  If Zinedine Zidane continues to sit on the bench for the games, I’m going to have a hard time concentrating on the game itself.

SEVEN.  Marcelo Sunshine moments.  I love his little expressions and gestures!

EIGHT.  The Perfect Profile makes its debut for the new season on this blog.

NINE.  As Cris started the game on the bench, we got to see a couple of his pre-game rituals at the half.  He went from juggling a ball with tape in his hand to sitting on the bench, taping up his wrists.

The Union’s goalkeeper Faryd Mondragón also took advantage of Cris being out there on the field at the half to take a picture with him.  Cris should have smiled!

TEN.  A couple more moments – a smiling Karim Benzema, and Pepe putting the corner flag back up after knocking it down.

ELEVEN.  Iker said after the game that though the balance of this tour is positive, the team still needs to get to know each other, between the new guys and those that have been there for a while.  He also said they’ve achieved having a winning mentality, which was their goal for this pre-season.  When asked whether the team really does lack a forward, as the míster has said on more than one occasion, Iker replied, “whatever the míster says is welcome.  We’re happy with anything to improve the team.”

TWELVE.  The Xabi Alonso pose section.™

Xabi was back, and so was the posing!

And a little XIT.  Xabi would be proud of that smoldering look that Esteban threw out.

THIRTEEN.  The Mou/Karanka corner.

Aitor Karanka spoke to the press after the game instead of José Mourinho, saying that they had played better against the Galaxy and Chivas, with the negative thing about the tour being the injury to Nuri Sahin.  He also said that his role, as well as that of the others, on the team has not changed despite Mourinho becoming general manager.

FOURTEEN.  Prior to the game, several of the players decided to take a walk around Philadelphia, concretely to the Rocky Steps in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Iker, Álvaro Arbeloa, Raúl Albiol, Sergio, Esteban Granero and Xabi Alonso posed for pictures there and in front of the Rocky statue, looking like all the other tourists there, except that they were wearing their Real Madrid gear.

Whose pose do you like the best?  I’m disappointed that no one thought to imitate that pose…

FIFTEEN.  Álvaro also tweeted this photo of him showing off a gift he had received from a fan (apparently, Esteban Granero had passed the gift on to Álvaro).  But what’s more interesting is what the other guys are doing on the bus.  Kaká’s looking at his iPod, Iker is once again glued to his mobile phone, Jesús is being chatty and Rafa gazes out the window.  I hope someone is taking care of that boy!

Meanwhile, Iker posted these photos from the team bus.  He thought that not enough of them were wearing their matching UCLA caps in the first one, so he went back and got another shot where he, the A-team and Esteban Granero were all wearing the same hat.  How adorable!  Xabi can even pull off that backwards cap (note to Sergio: you can’t).  Esteban must know he’s not at that level yet, because he was the only one to wear the cap as intended.

One more picture from before the game, showing how attached to the caps the guys are – some of them returned to Madrid wearing them as well.  I wonder whose idea it was to get matching hats?

Iker also posted this photo of him with “the grand goalkeeper” and “fantastic person” Faryd Mondragón, adding that the team had won, that they had been dying in the heat, and that they’re happy to go 3-0 on the U.S. tour.  As you can see, it looks like even the record temperatures and the suffocating heat were not enough to separate Iker and his base layer.  The biggest mystery in the world is what would be enough to persuade Iker to not wear that layer.  The second biggest mystery in the world is what exactly does Iker carry around in that purse.

SIXTEEN.  Madrid left Philadelphia and the United States as soon as the game ended, arriving at Barajas at around 14:30h on Sunday, after a seven-hour long flight.  The team gets today off before returning to Valdebebas on Tuesday for a training session at 10h.  Their next game is the friendly in Berlin against Hertha on Wednesday.  As you can see, our players continued to favor not very attractive headwear and not very attractive ways of wearing that headwear upon their arrival back in Madrid.

Iker reverted to the third person to describe his happiness upon returning home (although it probably had more to do with the fact that he was writing in English).  Iker wrote on his Facebook, “I arrived in Madrid now!  He finished the U.S. tour.  Now monitor the preparation of the new season in Madrid.  He is happy to return home.  Hugs to all!”  And “she” is happy you’re back at home, Iker.  Esss true!!

SEVENTEEN.  I thought it was so cute how Jorge Casado and Nacho Fernández, though with the first team, tweeted their support for their teammates on the U-19 team, and how Jorge still refers to Pablo Sarabia as a teammate!  And the U-19 team was doing really well, beating Serbia 4-0 on Saturday behind a MFC Álvaro Borja Morata Martín hat trick!  He of course got the game ball as a souvenir, and all his teammates signed it.  Meanwhile, Dani Carvajal participated in a dancing celebration for the one goal that MFC didn’t score, the second one that was the work of Juanmi.  Watch the goal and celebration here.  With this win, La Roja qualified for the semifinals of the U-19 Euro, though they’ll have to wait and see the result of the third game to know whether they will finish first in the group or not.  The team got a rest day yesterday, which they spent in the pool – pictures of all four of our U-19 playes shirtless here.

By the way, when MFC was asked which player he’d like to play with one day, his reply was “Van Nistelrooy.”

He also spoke to AS on Sunday, saying he is very happy with his hat trick, and that he’s very grateful to his teammates, but that the important thing is that the team has qualified for the semis.  ABMM also said he’s received a lot of congratulatory messages from Spain, and that he’s following all that’s going on with Madrid via the Internet and from what people tell him over the phone.  He added that he’s content with his situation and his contract renewal, that he feels he has the confidence of the club, and that his hope is to continue with Madrid.