top 10 moments of La Décima (IX)

Next up, we have Xabi Alonso.  As you remember, Mr. Alonso was suspended for the final.  As such, he was forced to watch the match in the stands with those players who had not made the final list, those suffering from injuries and those who had taken part in the competition in the earlier rounds.

Xabi – looking very dapper in his suit – suffered with the rest of us, lamenting missed opportunities and taking out his frustrations on whatever happened to be nearby.

But of course, there was a happy ending for us madridistas, and that same joy was reflected on Xabi’s face and in his celebrations.  I think we all also breathed out that sigh of relief, no?

In his Adidas La Décima video, Xabi said, “all of us who weren’t on the field suffered a lot.  I knew that I was going to suffer a lot, but not that much!  As it turned out, that was probably the best way to suffer, no?  It was the best feeling.”

He also says, “it’s the greatest thing for any footballer to play in the shirt of Madrid and represent this escudo… I believe watching moments like this, and all the other ones that the club has experienced, shows you the responsibility, the demands and pride it takes to wear this shirt.”