ICYMI – the lion taming edition
This date – Athletic playing Real Madrid in the Bernabéu – has been one of the highlights of my season during the past few seasons, and I always had the date circled on my calendar with a couple of exclamation marks next to it (three, to be exact). However, my enthusiasm for this date dwindled after the events during this past Aug. 28-29, and so with all the energy I saved from not screaming and not jumping over security barriers and eluding security guards at the Bernabéu on Saturday, I prepared a mini ICYMI post. Here it is.
In case you missed it – Real Madrid vs. Athletic [2012-11-17, Liga jornada 12, 5-1].
ONE. Warm up scenes! As you will see, there was a fair amount of winking on Saturday night. I really should go to games earlier to watch the boys warm up.
TWO. Inside the tunnel, we had Xabi posing warming up, and Cristiano giving his teammates special high fives.
THREE. This boy is a bit of a tease, no?
Álvaro had to change his shirt because during the celebration for Karim’s goal, José Callejón was a bit too enthusiastic. Álvaro was hugging Karim when José jumped on him from behind, causing Álvaro’s head to knock into Karim’s, and his lip to start bleeding. He used his shirt to wipe the blood away, and therefore had to change his shirt.
FOUR. Goal moments, from tumbling to sublime goals to celebrations and dedications (Sergio said after the game his goal was for Mesut, as he had promised, and the bird part of the celebration was for friends).
FIVE. Iker’s attempt at colorblocking failed (no big surprise, considering it’s fashion-related). Why didn’t he have matching compression shorts, if all his other accessories were carefully designed to match his jersey? By the way, Iker is currently tied for first place in the competition for the Zamora trophy, with a coefficient of 0.75 (nine goals in 12 games), the same as Málaga’s Willy Caballero.
SIX. I love Sergio and Fernando Llorente being all adorable together before and after the game. Sergio also greeted his newest La Roja teammate, Markel Susaeta, while waiting to walk out onto the field. By the way, the chants against Susaeta from part of the Bernabéu – extremely deplorable. But I did love the applause and support that Fernando received when he was warming up, it reminded me of the ovation that David Silva got. Hopefully it has given FP some ideas.
Fer also visited the Madrid locker room after the game (I would love to see him there not as a visitor, but as part of the team!) and we also got this photo of Iker, Álvaro and Luka after the game. Iker’s scarf is terrible, while the image on Luka’s shirt looks like it could be Fernando!
SEVEN. The Xabi Alonso pose section.™
So, so, so, so, so, so boss.
See? Lots of winking.
Thank you so much for this update on saturday night’s game against Bilbao – I missed it. Neither my TV nor my internet was working….I can tell you one thing that sucks!!!
From what I can gather this was one game not to miss…. And to make matter worse – even Khedira and Özil scored – I also missed Özil’s lovely free kick against Dortmund 😦
Following your blog for quite a while but this is my first comment. Glad you’re back 🙂
You’re welcome!
My goodness has Fernando L. grown ragged over the past few months.
I heard about the chants in the Bernabeu concerning Susaeta. So terrible. There’s a little bit I don’t understand, though. From some articles translated badly by Google Translate, I gathered that he said something that wasn’t taken well during the press conference with La Roja, but I can’t decipher exactly what he said. Do you know anything about it, Una?
Apologies for asking this here, I know it’s toeing the boundary between your Madrid and La Roja blogs.
Susaeta was talking about the team, and started off the sentence, “we know that this is not a qualifier, but we represent… a thing for which we have to give everything…” People took it to mean that he was avoiding saying the word “Spain,” and he later clarified that he was referring to Spain’s style.
aww beautiful boys. Thanks Una, love you
I presume you mean your enthusiasm was blunted by the departure of Javi Martinez then? One-time Athletic Bilbao player, under-wear model – currently with Bayern Munich?
Poor Una 😦
Yes!
i so enjoy these mini updates! thank you. 🙂
that scarf on iker is one of the ugliest things i think i’ve seen him wear, and that’s saying a lot. but then, if he thinks orange undershorts go with a neon red/pink overshorts, i really can’t expect much, can i?
do you really think there’s a chance el rey lion (is that why you called it the lion taming edition? 😉 ) might make it to our team? i know he’s very unhappy where he is. i’d love to have him join us! great pic of him and iker, too, i really like the scruffy face. 😀
i have been tracking the ‘goals against’ stats on the table after every match, and i’m thrilled iker is tied for first — i’d love to see him win this again, it’s been a while. and it would silence his critics.
Athletic is known as “los leones” – the lions.
I love Xabi!
I keep reading news about his renewal…what have you heard Una? Do you think he will renew?
I don’t pay attention to speculation… it just makes my head hurt.
Una you are amazing, please write a bit more often…
great post!
I am so glad you started writing again. I have missed your oats.Thank you!
I love having you back I look forward to visitng your website all the time!!! Thanks UNA!!!
I honestly would love to see Fer on the team I really like him it’s unfortunate his situation at Atleti right now.
I really don’t think that Sergio’s bird celebration is for friends haha Sources say that he is no longer dating Pilar Rubio. I will think of it as message he sent to us all saying “tias I’m single and free as a bird” hahaha just saying!
I like how you interpreted it, jajaja!
You just made me think of the first lines of Beyonce’s “single ladies”: 4x “all the single ladies…..now put your hands up”. Different context, obviously, but this line still fits. I will definetely be putting my hands up 😉
Una your ICYMI posts are amazing as always! thank you so much and I hope you continue to write some more 😀
ooooh, it’s so comforting to see the new posts, UnaMadridista, even though I’m just terribly busy and have little time for my favourite club!
I also miss (!!!) in La Liga, definitely….good boy, I wish him all the best, but still, come on, Athletic/RM matches are not the same without the chance of seeing him….
and geeez, those gifs are precious. thanks!
My daughter even thought Iker’s scarf was a fail.
It is!
Yea it’s really rare for a player to enter the opponent’s dressing room, no? Fer must be very much popular and welcome 😉
“Iker’s scarf is terrible” … Something about the simple bluntness of that statement cracks me up so much XD
And I must attribute my love for Xabi 100% to you, my good woman. Seeing the Xabi Alonso Pose Section was like meeting an old friend again. Maybe it’s the beard and red hair, but he’s slowly but surely turning into the Chuck Norris of football for me. (And I’m talking about young, kickass Chuck Norris of years past, not current old crotchety conservative boob Chuck Norris.) Or a combination of The Most Interesting Man In The World, the Old Spice Guy, the (bearded) Brawny Man and the Overly Manly Man meme … times fifty. The guy doesn’t even have to DO anything to be the most awesome thing on the pitch; he just is by default.
This comment is a bit delayed, since you’ve been posting again for a while now (yay!)- but I just wanted to let you know that I’m really glad you’re back! No one does ICYMI quite as well and as comprehensive as you do!