more bits and pieces…

… and that’s all you’ll get for one week, as with over half the team gone due to the international break, the world of Real Madrid is a bit silent.  However, there are still some things worthy of a couple of minutes of your time.

First up, more pictures of Cris’ visit to the Colegio Navas de Tolosa.  You can see him interacting with all the students, and singing along with the hymn of Real Madrid.  I love how enthusiastically Cris and Amador are singing and clapping!  Adorable all around.  I love that Real Madrid has the power to bring people together like that.

José Mourinho has been suspended for two games and fined €600 for the incident with Tito Vilanova during the Supercopa, with Barcelona’s assistant coach receiving one game and the same fine.  Meanwhile, Real Madrid has been fined €180 and Barcelona €90 due to article 52.3 of the RFEF’s sporting code.  Mou’s action was considered a medium-level infraction, not high, so he received two games instead of three, according to Article 123.  Both coaches can only serve the suspension during Supercopa games, so Mou can continue to be on the bench for Liga and Copa del Rey games.  The clubs have 10 days to launch an appeal.

Also on Wednesday, it was announced that Alberto Toril has been suspended for two games as a result of his sending off in Castilla’s last game against La Roda.

A Real Madrid clock; it’s a little past noon.

The few players left in Madrid returned to training on Wednesday morning.  Kaká, Lass, Granero, Adán and Callejón were joined by canteranos Óscar Plano, Mandi, Raúl Ruiz, Pablo Gil (all Castilla), Diego Caballo (Juvenil A) and Kamal (RMC) to play a game against RMC.  Meanwhile, Benzema, Carvalho, Pepe, Coentrão and Sahin continued with their injury recovery work.  Aitor Karanka and Rui Faria took charge of the session, with José Mourinho watching from the bench.

Pedro León spoke to radio program “El Larguero” on Tuesday night, during which he spoke about his days at Real Madrid.  Of course, what everyone wanted to know was what his relationship with José Mourinho is like.  Peter Lion said he always greeted the coach – “my mother taught me to say good morning to everyone, and he always answered me” – and doesn’t know why their relationship broke town, as “I always gave it my all during training because I’m a professional.”  He also stressed that he had a good relationship with FP, with Miguel Pardeza and with Jorge Valdano, as well as with his teammates, “even though in the end I saw them less because I had to train apart from the rest [¡pobrecito!].  For my jersey number, in the locker room I was always between Higuaín and Di María.”  And when asked if he felt humiliated by the club, he responded, “yes, that’s is how I felt.  I believe that everyone should be treated the same, but I have no complaints about Real Madrid.”  Have a listen here (I haven’t had time to listen yet, but if there’s anything to add after I do, I’ll update the post).

Thirteen of our boys are playing with their national teams during this international week.  Cristiano is with Portugal to play two games against Iceland and Denmark, Varane with France’s U-21 team to play Kazakhstan and Romania, the Spanish five with La Roja to play the Czech Republic and Scotland, Altintop with Turkey to play Germany and Azerbaijan, and Sami and Mesut with Germany to play Turkey and Belgium, so at least several of our boys will meet in the games.  All the teams will play their two games on Oct. 7 and Oct. 11.  Over in the Americas, Marcelo is with Brazil to play Costa Rica and Mexico, while our two Argentines will play Chile and Venezuela.  The games will take place on Oct. 8 and Oct. 12.

In Argentina, Gonzalo Higuaín told a local radio program that “I needed to have a game like that after suffering through inactivity… I feel very good now.”  Meanwhile, his brother Nico spoke with La Sexta about everything Gonzalo has gone through in the last 10 months.  He said, “he suffered a lot during the recovery process.  Federico [another brother] and I have a tattoo of a phrase that he put as his MSN message and on his Blackberry, which is from Che Guevara: “hasta la victoria siempre” (to victory always).”  Nico also praised Pipa’s mental strength: “his secret is that he has balls like a Miura bull [thanks for that image, Nico!].  After the game against Espanyol, he sent me a message – ‘I told you the day would come.’  He’s a boy with such willpower, he rises over everything, he has an angel (or an Ángel?), God has touched him, he has a supernatural strength which is impressive.”

Over in Portugal, Cristiano is with the rest of his national team in Almancil (it must be strange for him to go from having three Real Madrid teammates with him to zero), although he hasn’t trained with the rest of the team because he suffered a blow to his right hip, although it shouldn’t prevent him from playing in Portugal’s next games. In Germany, Sami Khedira told Sport Bild that his second yellow card against Levante “was a stupid thing but Mou spoke with me and he told me he was satisfied with how I play and I was calm.”  In France, Rafa Varane spoke to L’Equipe, telling them, “my debut was like a dream and scoring made the happiness complete.  It was unforgettable and exceptional.  However, I try to keep myself at a distance from everything that happens around me.  My teammates and my family are there to help me.”  Regarding the transition to Madrid, he said, “everything is going very quickly for me.  One year ago, I hadn’t trained with the professionals in Lens yet and now I’ve debuted with Real Madrid in the Bernabéu.  It’s grand, it’s a great stadium.  I realized that when I arrived at the airport.  I thought that from this moment on, I was entering another world.”  He also said that Zidane is helping him integrate into the group, the club and the city.

And Real Madrid is offering fans the chance to propose questions to ask Kaká during his Real… interview.  You can submit your questions here (scroll down to the “danos tu opinión” part at the bottom and fill in the form).  Should I ask if Isabella is engaged to Cristiano Jr. yet?