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SPANISH CUP FINAL RESULT | AT BILBAO 0 FC BARCELONA 3

FC BARCELONA has won this seasons SPANISH CUP FINAL ( Copa Del Rey ) with a 0 - 3 result over ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO. FC Barcelona Coach Josep Guardiola leaves the Club in the very best manner possible with another title under his belt & adding more to his legend status at the Club.

Excellent atmosphere tonight which bought the 2011-2012 Spanish Football season to an end.

Pedro

FC Barcelona started in a "Blitzkrieg" fashion catching a nervous young Athletic on a wrong foot continuously. The pace & intensity put in by Barcelona was too much for the Bilbao defence as Messi, Pedro & company gave signs early with near misses that they meant business.

The business came in the 3rd min when PEDRO, who wished to send a message to Spanish International selector Del Bosque, opened the flood gates with his 3rd min opener. LIONEL MESSI then found the back of the net from a precision Iniesta pass in the 20th min & PEDRO put in a third ( his second ) in the 24th min that KOed Bilbao.

Possible penalty

As with all finals there was a controversial moment when a Pique grab on Llorente in the penalty square was not called in the 26th min, an opportunity for Bilbao if called that we will never know if it would have changed anything at all.

Lionel Messi

In the second half we saw Bilbao make some changes ( in I. Perez & A.Herrera ) in the midfield & they put a "marker" on the dangerous Messi whiched calmed Barça somewhat as Bilbao played more with pride than with head. Barcelona with a comfortable 3 goals played with calm & allowed Bilbao to play more the ball but without causing any real danger. The end result was that Barça cancelled out all the attacks & managed in the end to win the SPANISH CUP 2011-2012. Deservedly & overwhelmingly superior was Barcelona which now has 26 Spanish Cup titles & Guardiola leaves with his 14th overall title since at Barça as Coach.

Sad for Bilbao which losses its second final in a row this season but this will serve to give experience to their young team which I am sure will be back fighting for titles in coming seasons.

Congratulations to Barcelona!

U-19 | SPAIN 2 ITALY 1

The Spanish National U-19 Football Team is a game away from securing its qualification for the next U-19 European Championships after defeating Armenia 2 - 1 earlier in the week & today 2 - 1 over Italy.

The Spaniards suffred in this game & had to make a comeback to pull back two goals ( Campaña 71 st min & Jese Rodriguez in the 83rd min).

Comeback victory over Italy

The "Euro XI Elite" mini-tournament is being current played in Italy & group winners manage to get a place in the upcoming Euros.

Brief match info:

Spain (2): 13-Kepa Arrizabalaga,3- Jonathan Castro,4-Jonás Ramalho (60´José Campaña), 12-Derik Osede, 14-Alejandro Grimaldo, , 17-Saul Ñíguez, 16-Oliver Torres (70´José Antonio Delgado "Nono"),10-Jesús Fernández "Suso", 18-Denis Suárez(45´Paco Alcacer), 7- Juan Miguel Jiménez "Juanmi"(c),11- Jesé Rodríguez [Selector: Julen Lopetegui]

Italy (1): 12-Mirko Pigliacelli, 2-Federico Barba, 4-Matteo Liviero, 5-Gianluca Rubin, 7-Francesco Zampano, 8-Massimiliano Busellato (63´Riccardo Fiamozzi) , 10-Andrea Schiavone(c),11- Valerio Verre,13- Elio De Silvestro (56´Matteo Politano), 14-Riccardo Improta,16- Andrea Belotti (66´Stefano Beltrame) [Selector: Alberigo Evani]

Goals: (0-1 Improta 10´); (1-1 Campaña 71´); (2-1 Jesé Rodríguez 83´)

SPANISH CUP FINAL | ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO - FC BARCELONA | THE DAY BEFORE

The city of Madrid is about to be visited by 1000s of ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO & FC BARCELONA followers as both are to play the Final of the SPANISH CUP ( Copa del Rey ) tomorrow at the "Vicente Calderon Stadium" (Home of Atletico de Madrid).

At.Bilbao - FC Barcelona.

A huge game to officially close the Spanish Football season with plenty of angles & stories in play:

At.Bilbao looks to overcome their Europa League Final loss
It will be FC Barcelona Coach Josep Guardiola last match
Bilbao Coach Bielsa looks to crown his great season with a title
Barcelona will be without Alves, Puyol & Abidal, thus needs a re-make of the defense
The Bilbao youngsters - Muniain, De Oscar, Susaeta, Ander Herrera - look to consolidate themselves as players in the true sense with a mayor title
Barça wishes to give Guardiola a goodbye title & send a message that their "winning cycle" has not yet ended.

Both teams have kept their cards close to their chest & are not giving hints as to what the line-ups will be.

What is clear that it will be a match not to be missed & promises to be very intense, exciting & a hard fought affair. May the better team win & good luck to both Clubs.

FRIDAY - 25th of MAY:
Official Starting line-ups of both teams:

Athletic Club Bilbao: Iraizoz; Iraola, Ekiza, Amorebieta, Aurtenetxe; Javi Martinez, De Marcos, Muniain; Susaeta, Llorente & Ibai Gómez.

FC Barcelona: Pinto; Montoya, Mascherano, Piqué, Adriano; Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Alexis, Pedro & Messi

SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM | EXCESS OF FORWARDS

The SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM Selector Vicente del Bosque has a dilemma, a glorious problem that most National squads would enjoy having , an excess of top class forwards. Del Bosque only wishes to take 3 forwards that will be finally named in the upcoming final definite EURO 2012 list.

Apart, the announcement by DAVID VILLA that he has failed to get to his playing peak physically after breaking his tibia bone, opens the door to a lucky player, but also puts a strain on Del Bosque & Spain which loses a vital element of the squad.

In a nutshell, SPAIN has an excess of forwards & candidates eligible be part of the SPANISH FOOTBALL Team for the upcoming EURO NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIPS:

Fernando Llorente ( Athletic Bilbao ) - not in the below photo, but looks a certain for one of the spots
Pedro (FC Barcelona ) - World Champ in South Africa but will need a "blinder" performance in this Fridays Spanish Cup Final. Slim.
Fernando Torres (Chelsea FC) - surprisingly called up after winning his Champions League medal.
Roberto Soldado ( Valencia FC ) - started strong in the Liga but went to less as the season came to its end. Scored 4 goals for Spain in his debut & last friendly International match.
Alvaro Negredo ( Sevilla FC ) - in form but an unknown element.
Adrian ( At.Madrid) - top season with Atletico, full Spanish International in lower ranks, is well placed.
Muniain ( At.Bilbao) - young promise who has been called up for the U/21 Squad which may indicate not this time.

Spanish Football Players

In any case, May the 27th is "D-Day" when Del Bosque gives his definite & final list. Some players will be disappointed, thats what occurs when a Football Nation like Spain is lucky & blessed to have so much current talent.

Stay tuned!

LIONEL MESSI | EUROPEAN GOLDEN BOOT 2011- 2012

LIONEL MESSI of FC BARCELONA with his 50 Spanish League goals not only creates an all-time Liga & European record but also wins this seasons EUROPEAN GOLDEN BOOT AWARD. The second placed is Real Madrid player ( last years winner) CRISTIANO RONALDO with also impressive & records numbers of 46 goals ( 92 pts ).

Lionel Messi

TOP 10 European Golden Boot Award places season 2011-2012:

1. Lionel Messi..........FC Barcelona.. 50 goals x 2 pts.= 100
2. Cristiano............ R. Madrid........46 goals x 2 = 92
3. Van Persie......... Arsenal............30 goals x 2 = 60
4. Huntelaar............Schalke...........29 goals x 2 = 58
5. Ibrahimovic..........Milan...............28 goals x 2 = 56
6. Rooney................Man. Utd.........27 goals x 2 = 54
7. Mario Gómez.......Bayern............26 goals x 2 = 52
8. Bas Dost.............Heerenveen.....32 goals x 1,5 = 48
9. Falcao.................Atletico Madrid.............24 goals x 2 = 48
10 Diego Milito .........Inter..................24 goals x 2 = 48

REAL MADRID | MOURINHO - HIGUAIN NEWS

REAL MADRID CF Coach JOSE MOURINHO grabs today's Spanish Football Sports papers headlines even in the off-season. The Portuguese Coach has renewed his contract with Real Madrid another two more years, that is, until 2016.

The Liga title has lifted his spirits & he sees a real chance to consolidate his squad & again go after next seasons LIGA title & the cherished Champions League title so important for Real Madrid. Mourinho sees it all as a stimulating challenge & one can read in between the lines that he has gained even more power within the Club organizational structure.

José Mourinho

The other related news is that the Father & representative of Real Madrid player GONZALO HIGUAIN has had a meeting with Mourinho & Club Directives at the Clubs Head Quarters at the "Santiago Bernabeu Stadium". The news is that Real Madrid & the player have significantly shortened ground in their tussle on whether Higuain leaves or not next season.

Mourinho - Higuain

Coach Mourinho let known that the Argentine International is an important part of next seasons squad & Clubs plans & desires that Higuain stay. Other local news source have gone further & communicated that Mourinho has finally convinced the player not to leave.

If this is the case, it gives weight to the persistent idea that the "threat" of leaving by Higuain is an orchestrated strategy by his Father to seek a salary increase for his son. Gonzalo Higuain has always wished to stay at Madrid but his Father believes that the Club does not truly value his worth. This has traditionally been a dangerous strategy to play & we want to believe that it will not finally back-fire as there is plenty of time still until the start of the new season & many other names are sounding for the Higuain position.

Stay tuned!

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM PHOTO

The SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL squad began training today in Madrid without the Athletic Club Bilbao & FC Barcelona Internationals which play the Final of the Spanish Cup this Friday.

The National team selector Del Bosque called up today Chelsea Fc players Juan Mata & Fernando Torres to join the squad as it prepares for upcoming International warm-up games against Serbia, Korea & China before the Euro 2012 tournament kicks off for Spain against Italy in their Group match.

The final & definite Euro 2012 list will be handed in on the 27th of May by Del Bosque.

Spanish National Football Team

Until then I thought you may enjoying having a SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM photo. Found this one which corresponds to the last Spain vs Chile International friendly.

Top: L to R : Casillas, Negredo, Sergio Ramos, Javi Martinez, Albiol & Busquets
Bottom: L to R: Silva, Arbeloa, Villa, Alonso & Xavi

RAFAEL NADAL WINS HIS SIXTH ROMA MASTERS 1000 TITLE

Playing on a Monday at 12.00 makes it difficult for the working folk ( myself included ) to watch a great Final of Tennis. That was the case for the ROMA MASTERS 1000 Mens Final between NOVAK DJOKOVIC & Spaniard RAFAEL NADAL as it was delayed from Sunday due to the bad weather.

Rafael Nadal wins his sixth Roma Masters 1000

Spanish Sports & Tennis got a great boost with the news that Nadal shook off the "Djokovic Finals Boogy" & managed to defeat the Serb in 2 hours & 21 mins with a 7-5 6-3 final score. Yes, Djokovic had a bad day & made plenty of mistakes but Nadal managed to get the psychological edge, played great & of course was playing on his favourite surface which is clay .

The victory gives Nadal his sixth Roma title & puts him back into the Nº2 World Ranking position, plus it gives the Spaniard a boost for the upcoming Roland Garros Tournament.

Congratulations Champ!