Lots of things going on yesterday, starting with a training session, a visit from Michel Teló (which of course got that song stuck in my head again) and Iker’s presentation as an Adidas player! Plus, interviews with Iker’s mother, Jesé and club legend Raúl!
Unai has the same profile and the same gestures! Even his hand looks like Iker’s!
Madrid trained on Thursday morning, after receiving Wednesday off. The training session had 21 players from the first team, who were joined by Castilla’s Nacho, Carva, Pedro Mendes, MFC ABMM, Joselu, Óscar Plano and Tomás Mejías. The starters from Tuesday’s game had a recovery session, while the rest of the players trained at a higher intensity. Meanwhile, Sami Khedira and Ángel di María continued to recover from their respective injuries and so they were absent from this session. Sami received treatment to his ankle, though he apparently has to stay off of it for several days – he wasn’t even able to drive to Valdebebas himself.
Jajaja, now Calleti knows what it’s like to be the rider, instead of the horse! El Chori gave him a ride into the training session. The two of them were polar opposites in terms of hair – while José’s was sticking straight up, Raúl’s was completely plastered down.
Michel Teló was on hand to watch the training session, as he was in Madrid to promote his new album. He also got the chance to meet all of the players, including his fellow Brazilians, and Marcelo presented him with a personalized shirt, which had his (Marcelo’s) number. Michel later got everyone on the team to sign it. He revealed that he was excited and happy to walk on the same field as these “persons whom I’ve always admired.” He also confessed that he never imagined he would be here, and that “I’m nervous.”
Michel also said that he always chooses to play as Real Madrid in football videogames, and that Cristiano Ronaldo is his favorite player. But why didn’t anyone dance together?? Why couldn’t they organize a dance-off, or even a duet?
Iker Casillas was presented as Adidas’ newest signing in a ceremony which took place at the store the brand has inside the Bernabéu. As we can see above, on hand were his parents, and his hot little brother Unai in between them. During the presentation, Iker said, “on a personal level, I’m happy. Each year you get older and more mature, and I’m much better now than I was years ago, both physically and mentally.”
Double the profile, double the fun!
Iker also defended Cris, saying, “Crís is a very competitive player who always wants to do his best and to give it everything he’s got. He’s always going to demand a lot of himself, as that’s the way he is. He wants the best on the collective and individual levels. The Bernabéu is demanding and that’s good. They’re like that because they know that we can do more. The other day, I didn’t hear any whistles, nor did I see any debate. Cristiano, when he was presented, filled the Bernabéu, which is something that has never happened in the history of football. The fans have always been with him to the death.”
¡Adorable!
During the act, Iker also left his handprints in concrete, though as we can see above, it took a while for him to make a deep enough impression. From now on, Iker will be wearing Response pro gloves and Predator boots. Will he ask them to make it in the exact shade of yellow of his jersey?
We also got to see Iker’s first Adidas ad, not counting his appearance in one for La Roja. The ad says, “we’ve always had the most outstanding athletes. Gymnasts who received 10s (Nadia Comaneci), young athletes who have already broken records (Derrick Rose), tireless athletes (Haile Gebrselassie), footballers who are artists (Zidane), creators (Xavi), geniuses (Messi)… we were only missing the best goalkeeper in the world.”
I love the close-ups of that beautiful face!
There are some print ads as well. I love seeing him with the captain’s armband, it’s so sexy, no?
The other day, I mentioned the reaction of la abuela de Iker when Sara’s name was mentioned. To keep things fair, here are Iker’s mother’s thoughts on his girlfriend. Mari Carmen was interviewed by Diez Minutos during the unveiling ceremony for the Avenida de Iker Casillas. When asked her thoughts on Sara Carbonero as a daughter-in-law, she replied, “she’s an impressive girl, very lovely, a very good person.” The follow-up question was if she would like to become a grandmother, to which Mari Carmen responded, “I’m already prepared for everything, but I’ll leave it up to them.”
“La madre que parió a Casillas” also said that “Iker is a very good person, but like everyone, he has his defects,” that fame hasn’t changed him and that she still can’t believe how famous her son has become because she never thought he would become a goalkeeper (“portero” in Spanish), as she thought he had a better chance of becoming a “portero en una casa” (a doorman). And although Iker is already 30 years old, “I still insist that he doesn’t speed when driving and for him to be careful.”
I love how Iker’s parents are showing up at many of the acts involving their son! They didn’t do much of that before this season…
Jesé recently spoke about playing in Gran Canaria, what the group is like, and sharing a flat with Omar in an interview with Madrid’s web site.
on the game against Vecindario: playing there is special because you love the people and the fans. There are a few Canarians (Canaries?) on the team such as Mandi, Omar and myself, and when we return home, people are very excited to see us play, because we don’t go there often, just once a year.
on the team: we are a fantastic group. We all get along very well, we joke around a lot and whenever someone is feeling low, each one of us will give him support. That’s very important for a team. [Sounds like the first team!]
on living in Madrid and sharing a flat with Omar: we’re compatible and we get along very well. I can’t get mad at him, we’ve been together since we were young. It’s already been six or seven years playing together, including on the Canarian regional team. He’s a great person and a great player, like everyone else on this team. I remember during the first year I came to Madrid, my parents had a bad time of it and I did as well, since I was very young. My parents took the risk that I would achieve something here and at the moment, we’re on the right path, but we have to continue like this and have a lot of humility.
In an interview with AS, Raúl revealed that his wishes for el madridismo are for the team to win the Copa, the Champions, the Liga, everything. Raúl also said he watches all the games, and he believes the team is getting better and is more competitive. He also joked that he sees himself playing until 2037. In reality, however, he said he’ll see how he feels each year before deciding what to do. Hopefully in 2037 he’ll be back in Madrid, working for the club!