A quote from Cris, the hippest cantera trio you’ll ever see, an interview with Iker, plus Castilla!
Let’s start with Cris. In an interview with magazine DT, Cristiano was asked if his teammates place as much importance on their style as he does. Cris’ response:
Of course they do, but no one dresses as well as I do!* Ask them! I like to look good, to have good boots, to dress well… I can open my closet in the mornings and stand there looking for one hour before choosing what to put on. That’s how I am!
On Sunday, the third edition of the Torneo Benjamín de Mejorada del Campo, organized by Antonio Adán, was held (the benjamín level is for children aged 9-10). Antonio had always wanted to promote football in his hometown, and he’s been able to do that with this tournament. In addition, there was also a collection for toys, food and clothing to help the unemployed. Antonio and Esteban were of course on hand to watch their teams, and so was José Callejón, just as I had said!
In addition to watching the games, they helped to hand out the trophies. Esteban also said Antonio did a great job organizing the tournament.
Eight teams participated in this edition: Real Madrid, Atlético, Getafe, Barcelona, Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano, Los Piratas de Granero and Nuevo Mejorada (Antonio’s team; he founded the club). I guess since José didn’t have a team, he “adopted” the Real Madrid team. In the final, Sevilla beat Real Madrid’s Benjamín A team.
They’re all so adorable, no? Both the kiddies and our boys! Esteban and José were looking good!
Iker Casillas will reportedly wear boots, clothes and gloves from Adidas starting from next weekend’s game against Mallorca. Prior to that, he’s scheduled to be officially presented as an Adidas player on Thursday at the Adidas store inside the Bernabéu. Iker had been with Reebok for the past 10 years or so, and now he will be with Adidas until 2017. Hopefully his new gloves will have the same magic as his old ones…
And here are a few excerpts from an interview he did with magazine Sport Life, one of the last times we’ll see him in Reebok.
on becoming emotional during the presentation of his book, La Humildad del Campeón: it was a special moment, because everyone has seen me lift up the World Cup or the Eurocopa, but not many people know that my father took me to train each day in the old car we had, or that my mother cleaned my boots after each game. Not many people know about those kids with whom I shared my beginnings; there were 300 of us and I was the only one lucky enough to make it, but they also tried hard to achieve their dreams. I got emotional because my family was there and it was the perfect occasion to tell them that without them, I wouldn’t be here today.
on what he feels when he looks at the book and see the photos of a small boy who would become the first Spaniard to lift up the World Cup: joy. All of that I dedicate to my mother. She never imagined that I would bring her so many problems and happiness.
on when he started to play football: when I was two, my uncle bought me a Bilbao kit and when I was five, I already had a goalkeeper’s one, that of Arconada. When I was five, I would play with my father, he would shoot and I would play in the goal. I would leave the house with my sweatsuit, my knee pads and my gloves. I’ve never played on any team, not in school and not in my neighborhood. My first and only team has been Real Madrid. I had a tryout when I was eight and since I was very small, they didn’t accept me until the following year. I entered in the benjamines category of Real Madrid and here I am still. My heart, my mind and my soul are with Real Madrid. [These are literally the best answers in the world, well, in my madridista world.]
on whether he minds that he can’t take a peaceful walk anywhere in Spain: I accept it with gratitude; people show a lot of affection towards me. Footballers should always be grateful towards our fans wherever they are.
Castilla beat Vecindario 2-1 on Sunday in the last game of the first vuelta to end as “winter champions,” meaning they’re at the top of the table at the halfway point of the season, with a three point lead over Lugo. Despite having two players sent off during the game, our boys held onto their lead, which they got early in the first half after goals from Juanfran (12′) and Joselu (14′). Then Pedro Mendes was sent off in the 20th minute, and late in the game, with five minutes lesft, his substitute Pablo Gil was shown the door. This was the fifth game in a row where Castilla had players sent off. Special mention goes to Isaac, who made his debut as a starter. Our third keeper (Jesús was called up with the first team and Tomás Mejías was suffering from the flu) had a terrific game and stopped a penalty.
One of Madrid’s players got a lot of affection from the crowd, Jesé. This was because he is from Gran Canaria. By the way, I love them in purple! The boys look great, no?
The number of points is not the only thing that Castilla leads in, they also lead the Segunda B division with 13 expulsions – seven from direct red cards and six from double yellow cards. This means that they have ended nine games with less players than their opponent, and one game without their coach. Today is also the first anniversary of Alberto Toril taking over the reins of Castilla; I think he’s done very, very well in his time here, no?
Plus, the boys’ twitters gave us this adorable photo. Love Dani on the pony, and the others crowded around the mini-train!
