all set for Osasuna!

You know what… I’m starting to get a little bored by the blog, and I’m sensing that some of you are too.  After all, there are now lots of other sites that do the same things I do.  So, if you have any feedback for me, or suggestions, I’d love to hear it, and if not, well, it’s been a good run and thank you for reading.  Anyway, I had already started preparing this post, plus a few others, so here it is.

The marathon of games continues… the team returned to training at Valdebebas at noon on Friday, apparently in a move to get them acclimated to playing at this hour (they had to also arrive by 09:30h).  The session saw the return of Álvaro Arbeloa (who had missed the last game due to injury) and Fábio Coentrão (who had to be subbed out of the game against Lyon due to pain), who joined 18 of their teammates on the field, plus Tomás Mejías.  That leaves Kaká, Carvalho and Marcelo as the injured players.

On Saturday, the team returned to training at the unusual hour of noon, with the final preparatory details for Sunday’s game against Osasuna being hammered out.  Once again, 20 players from the first team plus Tomás Mejías worked out, while the three injured players continued with their recovery processes.

Following the session, the list of players called up for the game was revealed, and on it was a name that everyone has been anticipating for a long time, that of Nuri Sahin.  He’s finally well enough to be called up!  Meanwhile, Álvaro Arbeloa returns after missing out on the last game, and Esteban Granero and Hamit Altintop were left out due to the coach’s decision (no, not Esteban!).  The team is due at the Bernabéu at 21:15h tonight, and as next week is the beginning of an international week and a half, the next training session won’t be until Wednesday morning.

I love the three distinct hair colors on the left, and how much everyone loves Manolín.  They were especially affectionate with him today because it was his cumple.  Anyway, the list of players called up is the following:

Goalkeepers: Iker, Adán, Tomás Mejías.

Defenders: Arbeloa, Ramos, Varane, Pepe, Coentrão, Albiol.

Midfielders: Özil, Sahin, Di María, Xabi Alonso, Callejón, Lass, Khedira.

Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Higuaín, Benzema.

Earlier in the morning, Mou spoke to the press in his usual pre-game press conference.  This was where we found out that Nuri Sahin would be making his first ever call-up in Madrid, with Mou saying that he’s ready to play and that he “gives a protection” to Xabi that he hasn’t had up to now because they have similar qualities.

on playing at noon: we will have the support of the public after two away games, one in San Sebastián and the other in Lyon.  We have made changes to the eating habits, because you don’t know if you’re eating lunch or having breakfast, but the technical chat has not changed.  We usually have small chats starting three days before the game and it will be the same for this game.

on Sergio Ramos as a centerback: he’s playing very well, he’s comfortable, he’s tranquil… the team has grown with him in this position, he has grown in this position, if everything is good and we have Arbeloa and Coentrão, then tomorrow we won’t change anything.  And if I lack Fábio or Arbeloa, we have Varane, who can play if we need him to.

on winter signings: I’m not looking for a right fulback, I don’t want any players in the winter transfer market.  We know the squad we have and Ramos will be a centerback until we need him as a fullback [yay!].

on the cantera: they’re prepared to help.  Last year, in some moments los niños responded very nicely and if we run into a real difficulty, they’re able to help.  I don’t believe there is anyone who can come here and say “I’m here, this position is mine, I’m a starter” but if we don’t have fullbacks, there are some there, and if we don’t have attackers, we have some there.  We’re tranquil because it appears that our squad is made up of 50 players.

on Cristiano’s Golden Boot: the Golden Boot is an award that is not subject to criteria; it’s an objective thing.  That’s why I have to give him more than mere congratulations, I want to give him a “super congratulations” for his fantastic numbers, which he achieved in what is probably the best competition in the world.  He’s fantastic.

Speaking of the Golden Boot, on Friday at the Intercontinental Hotel in Madrid, Cristiano received the Golden Boot award, in recognition of him being the top goalscorer in Europe last season.  This is Cristiano’s second award of this type, as he first won it with Manchester United back in 2008.  Cris was presented with the award by Eusebio and Alfredo di Stéfano, and his family, including his mother and her partner, siblings and girlfriend Irina, was on hand for the ceremony, along with Jorge Mendes.  Also present were FP, Zinedine Zidane and Miguel Pardeza.

During the Q&A part, Cris spoke often and sincerely about how the team is above all individual accolades, and how he would trade this award for a Champions League or a Liga, because “I prefer to win something at the collective level.”  Cris added that he’s not even the least bit concerned about who wins the Ballon d’Or or if he’s going to break his own goalscoring record.  He dedicated the award to “my teammates, the coaching staff, the fans, the president, the employees of the club, all of el madridismo, my family, my son, my girlfriend… all of them have been very important.”

And the quote of the day was his response to a question about how everyone has a different opinion about him: “I try not to focus on these things.  If God can’t please the entire world, how am I going to do it?”  This earned him a round of applause from the audience.

Anecdotes from the event included Cristiano going out of his way to help Di Stéfano move around, and helping Eusebio to silence his mobile phone when it started ringing.  And thoughts on his patterned shirt?

Other news: the referee from the Lyon game, Nicola Rizzoli of Italy, revealed to the Italian press that various Madrid players, including Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos, asked him how Antonio Cassano was minutes before the game.  Rizzoli said, “I spoke with Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos.  The first thing they asked me when they arrived in the stadium was how Cassano was… all of Madrid was worried about Cassano.”  Antonio Cassano was successfully operated on on Friday to correct a malformation in his heart and his club said “everything has gone well.”

Over on social networks, Esteban Granero is recommending books to former teammates, Iker hung out earlier this week with two old “friends,” Pepe and Marcelo (these two are never afraid to wear color, are they?) visited tattoo artist/painter Beto and Sergio posed with his “glass boot” (nice sweatpants by the way), a gift from Cristiano to each of this teammates, before wishing everyone a good weekend.  Sami also posted a picture of him with his glass boot on his Facebook, saying, “Cristiano Ronaldo is not only a fantastic football player but also an amazing person! As thanks for his award to the world scorer he made us a little gift ! Thank you so much Cris and keep it up!!”

Plus, check out Iker’s little trick, and Mesut speaking Spanish, courtesy of reader LaBlanca!  He sounds just like Karim Benzema during his second year; they have the same vocabulary!

Over in Castilla, our canteranos play Toledo today at 18h at the Alfredo di Stéfano.  MFC Álvaro Borja Morata Martín is back with the team after recovering from his injury, as is Mandi, and Nacho, who missed the last game due to suspension.  Álex is missing this one due to suspension (though hoping MFC will score a goal for him), while Denis and Zamora are injured.  If Castilla wins, they will be the provisional leaders of the division, much like the first team of Real Madrid (first, not provisional).

In an interview with Madrid’s web site, Castilla captain Dani Carvajal said the following:

on his relationship with Álex and (MFC) Morata: more than teammates, we’re a trio of friends who get together to have dinner and that is reflected on the field.  You have to have a good atmosphere in the locker room to see results.

on whether he feels closer to the first team after being called up: I work to be the best I can be, and so that Castilla achieves its objective and I’m totally focused on that.  That the first team calls me up is a reward and reflects that you’re doing things well.

on his short- and long-term dreams: in the short-term, to ascend to the Segunda with Castilla, and in the long-term, to triumph in Real Madrid.  That’s been my dream since I was small.

He looks much better as a brunette, no?

Meanwhile, Dani was absent from the Madrid Football Federation awards on Friday, but who was there was Madrid’s three other Euro U-19 winning champions (and in suits and ties), Pablo Sarabia, Álex and MFC Álvaro Borja Morata Martín, as was Atleti’s Álvaro Domínguez, champion of Europe with the U-21 team.