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If we are to believe local news, ATLETICO DE MADRID has finally managed to secure the loan & services of Brazilian midfielder DIEGO RIBAS from German Club WOLFSBURG. Nothing is as yet official, but recent negotiations & the players desire to play in Spanish Football give weight to the optimism being expressed by Atletico & the Spanish Sports press this afternoon.
Brazilian midfielder Diego
The incorporation would fill the urgent need of a "creative" midfielder so desperately desired to balance the "new" look Atletico de Madrid squad for this new season. The arrival of Diego would shut the squad & make the player the 11th new incorporation this year. The list of new players, along with Diego, are:
According to Spanish Sports paper "As" SPANISH FOOTBALL Club REAL MADRID has Oked the Italian Club AC ROMA suggestion to loan Argentine International midfielder FERNANDO GAGO for this season with the option to buy for 6M€ if desired to continue at the Italian Club thereafter.
Gago
The news comes from Italy, concretely "La Gazetta dello Sport" & from the Italian intermediate in the operation - E.Bronzetti - who claims that the player himself is in agreement. The only thing now is that AC Roma finalize the OK with an official announcement which has yet to be made.
The departure of Gago virtually secures that midfielder Lass Diarra stays at Real Madrid another season. The Frenchmen rejected the Tottenham Hotspurs offer apparently shut to surprisingly affirm that he wished to continue at the Spanish Club. A decision which has surprised everyone as he has not a guaranteed place on the team. Said this until the transfer "window" shuts tomorrow at 12 midnight , anything is possible.
LATEST (last minute) ...Italian Club PALERMO enters the GAGO picture. Stay tuned! Tweet
When one thinks about Scottish Football, one thinks Celtic Glasgow or Rangers. These two Clubs dominate & always win (with the odd exception) the Scottish Premier League. Its the typical "two horse" race that limits the chances & opportunities of the other Clubs present & active like Aberdeen, Dundee Utd, Hibernian, Motherwell ... etc..
Some Spanish Football observers & Club Presidents have predicted that the Spanish Football League is headed towards the "Scottish Model", with FC Barcelona & Real Madrid always winning & always taking all the titles ( & the money) . Yesterdays 5 - 0 victory by Barça over Villareal gave the pretext for Villareal President Roig to voice his concern publicly about the imminent "death" of Spanish Football in the coming seasons, if things do not change. Sevilla FC President Del Nido has been very active in this area & also predicts the "Scottish Model".
Will the below image be the future Real Madrid or FC Barcelona uniform?
Traditional Scottish Outfit
There maybe part truth & part over exaggeration. The truth is that Spanish Football is undergoing a severe financial crisis that is limiting many top Clubs in being competitive, but this is due mostly to bad business management than to the "Braveheart" effect. What is the true issue is the money cake that Spanish Football generates ( mostly due to the "Big Two" by the way) & their desire to shift the balance of power away from the two dominating powers: Real Madrid & FC Barcelona.
The current model is simple. The "big two" have the biggest numbers in fans, thus the biggest TV audiences - here & globally. Said this they get the biggest slice of the Media rights (TV) & money which allows them to invest in the "Best Players in The World". This last point makes them super competitive over the rest of the Liga Clubs & naturally difficult to beat, which added with continued European Football presence, more richer & more powerful.
The "smaller Clubs" like Sevilla, Villareal, At Madrid, Valencia CF etc. are claiming that the "cake" be cut into more equitable pieces, or said differently, they all wish a better & bigger slice of the Spanish Football money cake. They claim they can therefore invest in better World class players to compete better with the "big Two" & thus add extra attraction & excitement to Spanish Football.
Its an age old situation that is not new in Spanish Football. Although there could be some truth in the "smaller Clubs" claims, what needs to be done I think is to better manage their Clubs financially (administrative & marketing wise) & begin nurturing (investing) & building the local young player base. The future of Spanish Football - as in all countries - is in its local young talent , which is far more economical & could be a good exporting model to generate those wished extra cash flows. The example is Barcelona with its "Masia" ( young talent school), that is, churning out players which are allowing to generate money by exporting if they dont make the A team: Bojan, Jeffren, Nolito, Romeu etc etc.
Said all this, as with most things, the difference between the economical & the political (power) is a question of perspectives. My brief summary here is just that, very brief & more arguments exists which makes it all more complex. But I do think that in its essences its all out power & money, & some claiming, where is my piece of the action. Tweet
SPANISH FOOTBALL action tonight with the last game scheduled of Round 2 of the Spanish League with FC BARCELONA defeating 5 - 0VILLAREAL FC . Barça started with the “romantic” & past famous 3 – 4 – 3 “Dream Team” system by Cruyff & with the following 11:
The observation was that the defence looked undermanned without being able to count tonight on Alves, Pique, Puyol, & Maxwell, while Coach Guardiola left on the bench Xavi Hernandez & David Villa. The final result proved that it made no difference to the Barça game & that the team is maintaining the high level of dominance that has made it the current “Best Football Team in the World.
Thiago scores against Villreal : La Liga 2011-2012
Villareal tried, they tried hard all they could to attack Barça in their own half but was slowly overrun by the Barça midfield lead by Thiago, Iniesta, Messi & CESC FABREGAS. The last was omnipresent on the field until substituted mid-way throught the 2º half. However before leaving he left his personal mark with the teams second goal in the 48th min, with THIAGO opening the goal scoring before in the 25th min.
The second half was all FC Barcelona with their personal show on the “Camp Nou” stage. MESSI changed roles from passing for others to score to score himself twice in the 51st & 74th min. New signing ALEXIS SANCHEZ did miss out on exhibiting himself with his first LIGA goal & third for Barça in the 47th min.
In conclusion, FC Barcelona sent a clear message to all opponents, & especially to their main & direct rival Real Madrid, that they too are on fire, on course & in place to repeat last years objectives. Tonight Barça “brushed” aside a very competent team in Villareal who are in Champions League, as compared to Real Zaragoza who nearly relegated last season & which Real Madrid defeated 6 – 0. Lastly, it looks that we are in for another exciting season with the personal “battle” between Ronaldo & Messi in the goal scoring area back on course. Messi was outstanding tonight & could have scored his own hat-trick had he been more lucky, more "selfish" & accurate in some of his executions. Tweet
The 32 year old Uruguayan International DIEGO FORLAN has said officially goodbye to SPANISH FOOTBALL & to all the ATLETICO DE MADRID fans in a Press Conference this afternoon. The player is on the verge of shutting the final details with Italian Club INTER MILAN. As an Atletico de Madrid fan & follower I can only give publicly my sincere thanks to Forlan for the services given to the Club during his stay:
96 goals in 198 official games
European Golden boot 2009 - 2010 with 32 goals
Europa League Champion 2010
European Super Cup 2010
Thank Diego, wish you all the luck in the World at Inter Milan.
Diego Forlan
However, once again the Atletico de Madrid Club Directives & their negotiating skills continue to baffle - at least me. The player was sold to INTER MILAN for only 5M€ - yes, there is no typing error - & the Club will give that money directly to Diego Forlan because the Club owns Forlan 5M€ in salary payments. Therefore, Inter gets Diego Forlan for ZERO cost, & Atletico just watches as a valuable asset flys away. I have my own personal reasons that may make sense of this non - business action, but have no proof, thus will not comment, but you have to say after witnessing the outrageous 40M€ (+7M€) Falcao operation & now witnessing the Forlan transfer that Atletico - the Club - is a busniess "anomaly".
The man about to substitute Forlan is young Portuguese 21 year winger/forward PIZZI from SPORTING DE BRAGA. Here too are "unexplained" transfer - signing questions, but if he can score goals why dig in the dirt. Tweet
SPANISH FOOTBALL - Soccer - kicked off this weekend with Round 2 of LA LIGA - last week players striker moves Round 1 to another future date - with nine games of the Spanish League. Wasgreat to see the Football relaxing with a weekend break, but I am also glad to be back & posting up some results for the regular readers.
Here is a summary of the Spanish Football League results this weekend:
Zaragoza - R. Madrid 0-6
Mallorca - Espanyol 1-0
Getafe - Levante 1-1
Athletic - Rayo 1-1
Atlético - Osasuna 0-0
Sevilla - Málaga 2-1
Sporting - R. Sociedad 1-2
Valencia - Racing 4-3
Granada - Betis 0 - 1
Last reminding match is tonight : the "Monday Night Spanish Football - Liga Game"
FC Barcelona - Villareal CF
Soldado with Hat-Trick ball
Apart from the many draws in the results , & the Real Madrid demolition job on Zaragoza, the Round gave sus2 HAT TRICKS - Cristiano Roanldo ( Real Madrid ) vs Zaragoza - Roberto Soldado ( valencia CF ) vs Racing ( image above)
To finish off this brief summary , below is a video of the Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick & the rest of the Real Madrid goals:
The EUROPA LEAGUE Groups for season 2011 - 2012 were drawn this afternoon in Monaco with the following match ups. Spanish Football Clubs ATLETICO DE MADRID heads Group I & ATHLETIC DE BILBAO in Group F.
Two SPANISH FOOTBALL Clubs will go into tomorrows EUROPA LEAGUE 2011 - 2012 Groups draw after the preliminary games were played tonight. ATHLETIC DE BILBAO went straight through without playing their 2º leg against Turkish side Trabzonspor which was lifted into Champions League taking the place of suspended fellow Turkish Club Fernanbache for match fixing.
At. Madrid Europa League 2011
The other Club through was ATLETICO DE MADRID which took a 2 - 0 advantage to Portugal & to VITORIA GUIMARAES to finish winning tonights game 4 - 0 ( 6-0 agg). Excellent match from the Spaniards who dominated & gave a good exhibition.
GABI opened proceedings with a penalty in the 2nd min, followed by two goals from ADRIAN in the 17th & 58th min, with SALVIO scoring the 4th goal in the 80th min. The result could have been more for Atletico as they missed many more chances.
Sevilla FC Europa League 2011 elimination
The bad news for Spanish Football was the elimination of SEVILLA FC which drew at home 1 - 1 to German Club HANNOVER which came into this match with a 2 - 1 1ºst leg advantage, thus Hannover winning & going through 2 -3 on aggregate.
Fierce stuff at Sevilla as Hannover put a shock into the local team with a 24th min goal from ABDELLAOUE for the Germans. From here it was all desperate play & unlucky missed chances - including posts - for the Spaniards. Sevilla FC managed the draw in the 37th min when German POGATETZ put in an own goal.
From here it was a nail bitter with chances to both sides with Sevilla growing with frustration as they saw time pass & their qualifying chances diminish. The frustration was so high that at the end Sevilla player MEDAL was sent off with a Red Card in the 90th min. End result, eliminated.
The Top European Football Clubs - along with the four Top Spanish Football Clubs - have been drawn in Groups for the upcoming UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE season 2011 - 2012 competition. The most notable observation is Group A where VILLAREAL has been drawn in a "killer" group which beforehand is the most difficult of all the Spanish teams. REAL MADRID is in Group D & repeats with Lyon & Ajax, while VALENCIA CF in Group E has Chelsea FC & will meet up with ex player just transferred to the English Club Juan Mata, & FC BARCELONA is in Group H & should be relatively happy with the draw.
courtesy of sportyou.es
Straight after the European Club Groups draw for Champions the voting by 53 European journalists (Live) was celebrated with three candidates up for the inaugural "UEFA Best Player in Europe Award 2010 - 2011". The journalists had to give their winners vote to either Xavi Hernandez (FC Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Fc Barcelona) & Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) with the final outcome not surprising anyone as it was given to LIONEL MESSI.
Lionel Messi 2011 - courtesy as.com
This new personal Award makes the Barça & Argentine International "hot favourite" candidate to given next January the "FIFA World Player - Golden Ball" which would be his 3rd if actually awarded. There is ( & cannot be ) any doubt that Messi deserved totally to win the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award tonight, congratulations! Tweet
Spanish National Football Team Selector & Coach Vicente del Bosque has handed in his list of 24 players to make up the Spain Football Squad for the upcoming International matches. The first is a Friendly International against CHILE on the 2nd of September in Geneva (Switzerland), followed by a European Championship Group qualifier against LEICHTENSTEIN the 6thof September in the Spanish city of Logroño
Botia, Dominguez & Montoya
The list announced three new names, all Spanish U-21 Internationals & Euro Champions: Botia (Sporting de Gijon), Dominguez (At.Madrid) & Montoya (FC Barcelona B). Absent are Gerard Pique who is injured along with the veterans Capdevila & Carlos Marchena.
Here is the full list of Spanish Football players:
Three names are down as candidates for the first & new "UEFA Best Player in Europe" Award 2010 - 2011. The names are LIONEL MESSI (FC Barcelona) , CRISTIANO RONALDO ( Real Madrid) & XAVI HERNANDEZ (FC Barcelona). Thus Spanish Football has the honour of having all three play in its Football League (LA LIGA) & a Spanish born representative in Xavi Hernandez.
Messi, Ronaldo & Xavi Hernandez
The winner will be announced along with the draw of the UEFA Champions League Groups at Montecarlo tonight. The voting was done by a team of 53 experts of the "European Sports Media" group. The other 7 names that make up the Top 10 are:
4.- Andrés Iniesta (SP) - FC Barcelona (33 pts) 5.- Falcao (COL) - FC Porto/At.Madrid (17) 6.- Wayne Rooney (ENG) - Manchester United (15) 7.- Nemanja Vidic (SER) - Manchester United (5) 8.- Zlatan Ibrahimovic (SWE) - AC Milan (4) 9.- Gerard Piqué (SP) - FC Barcelona (4) 10.- Manuel Neuer (GER) - FC Schalke 04/Bayern (3)
The hot favourite is LIONEL MESSI. Stay tuned! Tweet
REAL MADRID celebrated its "Santiago Bernabeu Trophy" tonight which showcases the team to their members & fan-base before the real business of the new season kicks off. The invited Club this year was Turkish team GALATASARAY which the home team defeated 2 -1.
Karim Benzema
Both teams used the occasion to give all their players a run & some extra playing time as both continue improving their squad form. Real Madrid started with almost a "B team" ( including Callejon, Varane, Kaká, Higuain, Di Maria & Adan) & were pushed in the early part by a very serious & intense Galatasaray. So intense was the Turkish start to the match that they opened the scoring in the 10th min via INAN.
However, from here Real Madrid progressively got better & slowly began taking control of the match. Real Madrid defender SERGIO RAMOS equalized in the 33 rd min & the whole team began connecting with their play.
The second half saw more chances for both teams with Real Madrid putting on some "big guns" & currently in form names: Benzema, Ozil , Ronaldo, Carvalho...etc, & it was BENZEMA who scored the second from a precision Xabi Alonso pass in the 49th min. From here Madrid created chances & as the match went on Coach Mourinho began giving some "youngsters" a run, like Morata, Nacho, Mandi, Alex & Mendes to showcase these players to the Real Madrid memebers.
The "bad news" for Real Madrid was the injury to Marcelo ( awaiting diagnosis) with the good news the excellent play from Xabi Alonso ( MVP) & the performance of the tiredless Coentrao. In conclusion , good game , a victory & a satisfied Real Madrid fan-base tonight.
The e-mail account of Spanish Football Sports is almost collapsed by readers around the World asking why I am not posting on the after shock-wave effects, or stating an opinion about the FC BARCELONA - REAL MADRID brawl & Mourinho "eye-poke" incident during the Spanish Super Cup last week. Why? Because everyone has already voiced an opinion, the majority from their own "coloured" glasses perspective charged with "reptilian" like instincts where rationality is something still a 1,000,000 years down the evolutionary path.
For starters everyone is to blame, from Football Presidents, Coaches, assistant, trainers, the players, the press, fans...the ball boy, everyone. The actions of Mourinho are inexcusable & not justifiable under any circumstances, they are simply out of all order & punishable. However, just before the famous "eye poke", FC Barcelona assistant Coach Vilanova ( or Pito to his mates) had been calling out to the Real Madrid bench that they were a "bunch of son of bitches" & just after the Marcelo tackle, that same Vilanova was racing out blind & firing "F*C+ing B*as*rd, Y++ Cun^" ( + or - understood but never verified) out of his month until Guardiola had to pull his assistant back to save a potential box up. Said this, maybe , just maybe, I to would stick my finger in the eye of someone who had just called me & my team everything under the sun. But there is more, according to Spanish paper "El Mundo" , Guardiola himself shouted "your all a bunch of *******", yes that some Guardiola that grabbed the neck of the Danish Coach a while back. As far as I can judge, all (everyone) have a part in this disgusting & embarrassing spectacle.
Heated moments, emotional, tense , charged & there was the whole World watching the two best Football teams in the World turn themselves into Baboons with shorts - with no offence to the Baboons, of course. But this part does not bother me at all, the veterans of Spanish Football will look back the last 30 - 40 years & remember events between Barça-Real Madrid, At.Madrid-Real Madrid, Betis-Sevilla, Sporting-Oviedo, At.Bilbao- Barça ...etc that would make your eyes turn. What occured at the "Camp Nou" last week was children stuff.
But here is the serious part that makes me wonder what is this player/s (personalities) on about & is perhaps more serious than Mou sticking the finger - in & Vilanova telling someone to go & F**k off; the post match comments of Mr. Gerard Pique, Xavi Hernandez, & numerous out of the wood works Barça directives .
Allow me to get out of Spain, in case you think I´m playing on home turf, & focus on the out of bounds, exaggerated & totally unnecessary comments from the "Rhodes Scholar" Gerard Pique. This alarming World circulating headline is from the UK paper the Guardian:
Who is this guy? What is he on about? Who made him king for the day? The official self proclaimed institutional spokesman for FC Barcelona?
Allow me to diverge & use another story not related to Football but about character & credibility that drives my thoughts on the above. A New York Court has just let of the "hook" (jail) ex IMF Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) charged with "allegedly" rapping a hotel maid on the only ground that the maid was of "dubious" character. Now I have my thoughts on who is "dubious", but have to follow ( like it or not ) judgement by a justice institution ( in agreement or not). Now back to Mr. Pique & his charge that "Mourinho is destroying Spanish Football" ....that its all Madrid ...bla, bla, bla". Here is the true character of Mr.Pique:
Apart from being pissed as a fart ,representing his country ( or we think it is) , the character is dubious to say the least, in fact its disgusting &offensive. Perhaps spitting on a Spanish Football Directive behind his back for some great laughs with his "Barça" mates has credibilty. According to some Courts of Law, the dubious character of Mr.Pique is sufficient to let off the hook people who allegedly are destroying Football.
The fact is that no one is destroying Spanish Football at all, that this has occurred since the time someone thought about kicking a ball around without touching it & that the Football Business machine realized ( as the Romans) the apart from bread, the masses need circus. Yes, this will continue being headlines & people will continue talking about it while they swing from their Football trees. The real truth is the following: if the Spanish Super Cup was seen on TV around the World by 500,000,000 viewers the next "clasico" will be watched by 2 billion & that means $$$$$ plenty of $$$$$ loads of $$$$$.
So lets get this episode out of the mainstream, back into the past & think before we take note of some of the "characters" statements as holy truths - those same who throw a stone & then hide the hand - as wise opinion. Lets talk & continue marvelling at the unprecedented & spectacular level of Football played during the last 2 legs of the Spanish Super Cup. With Barça & Real Madrid playing at that level, I don´t see at all Spanish Football in danger, in fact I see it as the envy of the planet.
Spanish Sports paper "Marca" has published in its online section that REAL MADRID & English Premier League Club TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS have come to an agreement to transfer French International midfielder LASS DIARRA
Lass Diarra
The Clubs are said to be finishing now a few "minor" technical details before making an official announcement at a price speculated to be around 12M€. Real Madrid put the bidding price at 20M€, but the pressure to find a Club for the disgruntled player & the soon coming to an end of the transfer window ( 31st of August) has worked in favour of Tottenham. Tweet
The SPANISH FOOTBALL NATIONAL TEAM has "suffered" the effects of being defeated 2 - 1 by Italy in their last Friendly International match by losing the Nº1 FIFA World Ranking position. The current FIFA World Champions have dropped to the Nº 2 position to see HOLLAND now be ranked as the "Best National Team" ( Nº1 ) for the month of August.
Spain vs Holland 2010
Here are the Top 10 Football Nations according to the August 2011 FIFA Rankings:
1. Holland (2) 1.596 pts 2. Spain (1) 1.563 3. Germany (3) 1.330 4. England (6) 1.177 5. Uruguay (5) 1.174 6. Brazil (4) 1.156 7. Italy (8) 1.110 8. Portugal (7) 1.060 9. Argentina (10) 1.017 10. Croatia (9) 1.009
ATLETICO DE MADRID has excluded this morning from the squad that will be travelling to Portugal for their 2º leg Europa League preliminary game against Vitoria Guimaraes forward DIEGO FORLAN at personal request. The Uruguayan International is negotiating with INTER MILAN at this moment his transfer, which suggests that it could be made official in the next hours.
Diego Forlan
Staying with ATLETICO DE MADRID & with transfers, the father of Brazilian & WOLFSBURG midfielder DIEGO RIBA was seen & caught by journalists outside the "Vicent Calderon Staduim" offices last night. There Mr. Ribas was asked about his son & he answered that Atletico de Madrid & Diego had an agreement & it was now up to the Clubs to negotiate.
The only hurdle is that Atletico desires the player on loan with a buying option at the end of the season, while Turkish Club Galatasaray has made a formal buying offer to Wolfsburg which is much more attractive. The advantage that the Spanish Club has over the Turks is that the player has said NO to Galatasary & wishes to play at Atletico.
SPANISH FOOTBALL will have four Clubs in CHAMPIONS LEAGUE this season after VILLAREAL defeated 3 - 0ODENSE ( 3 - 1 agg) in tonights 2º leg preliminary Champions League qualifier. The Spanish Club joins FC Barcelona , Real Madrid & Valencia CF, & its the third time in their history that they are part of the maximum level in European Football.
Villareal
Odense came to Villareal with a goal advantage & were a tough nut to crack with their goalie stopping everything, posts halting Villareal & missed chances by the Spaniards frustrating proceedings. The Danes even had a few opportunities that could have turned things around had they had some luck. However it was Villareal forward ROSSI who opened the can & lead the way with two goals in the 50th & 66th min.
Things then got messy with red cards given to each team that left both Clubs with 10 men. It was during these "delicate" moments that Villareal defender MARCHENA, who had just come on, scored the third & the sealer in the 82nd min to secure the Champions League Ticket for the Spanish Football Club. Tweet
Video highlights of yesterdays 5 - 0 victory by FC BARCELONA over Italian Club NAPOLES. The match was for the "Gamper Trophy", Cup that opens officially the Barça season along with their members & in remembrance to the Club founder - Joan Gamper.
Nine days left of the transfer "window" market & the situation has heated up with "last moment" operations & player movements. One Club that is experiencing the "last minute" rush is Italian Club INTER MILAN who is about to lose forward Eto´o to Russian Football & will needed to find a substitute forward & a World name to excite the fans.
Spanish Sports paper "Marca" opens today's edition with an interesting theory - or possibility; that Inter Milan will make a call to REAL MADRID to ask about & attempt the transfer of Brazilian KAKÁ (again, they made a 30M€ offer months back).
Kaka
It is well known that Kaka is not the preferred midfielder for Real Madrid Coach Mourinho. Ahead of the Brazilian is Ozil, & soon Sahin will be ahead of Kaka when the latter gets over his knee complaint. The Brazilian hasn't given arguments to the technical staff to think otherwise with good play. In fact, Kaka has not lived up to the expectations or has demonstrated the form once shown at AC Milan which earned him a "Golden Ball".
The injuries have been the main cause that has made Kaka a shadow of his past figure, & the recoveries have been long, hard & have been paid in a loss of pace & agility. Real Madrid has been willing to listen to offers for Kaka & had placed a 40-45M€ transfer price to begin talking. However, the above mentioned paper has written that Real Madrid is now willing to lower that price to 30M€ to which Inter Milan has now again stimulated its interest .
AC Milan showed interest & withdrew from the attempt due to his 10M€ / year salary. With ARSENAL FC it has been written that Wenger has asked / or has shown interest in asking Real Madrid for a possible loan - this option is still open. Now Inter is speculated that they will go after ATLETICO DE MADRID forward DIEGO FORLAN to substitute ETO´O, & is studying KAKA to cause a grand illusion within the fan-base & rub up the wrong way fellow city rival AC Milan.
Said all this, KAKA desires to stay at Real Madrid, he does not wish to leave as a "has been" & honestly feels he can regain is past form if only given the playing minutes needed to regain the "flow". But the Brazilian has others ahead of him playing better & a 10M€/season salary that is too steep for someone on the bench, plus he could be a "potential" dressing -room time bomb as personal frustrations may ruffle some "inner feathers".
Stay tuned, we may well see interesting developments in the coming days.
Got back from a couple of days off & find that VALENCIA CF & CHELSEA FC have come to an agreement to transfer Spanish International midfielder JUAN MATA. The official announcement was made on the Valencia FC web page this afternoon.
Spanish Football Player Juan Mata
The Spanish Football player has been signed for close to 30M€ & for a contract of 5 years with the "Blues". Local rumours have been circulating the past weeks that English Club Arsenal FC was in the front seat & favourites to sign Mata, but it has been seen that Chelsea FC has shown its true interest & has put up the cash.
From here to all Chelsea FC fans, the Club has bought a really talented player that will give lots of smiles & Football magic in the coming months. Just be patient with Juan Mata, & allow the player to adapt himself , & you will soon see why many consider the Spanish Football player & grand Football promise.
Lastly, as a Spanish Football follower, sad to see Juan Mata leave LA LIGA, but happy to see the player advance in his career. Good luck Juan!
SPANISH FOOTBALL SPORTS has found this photo of the FC BARCELONA starting 11 team that played the 2º leg of the Spanish Super Cup Final which defeated Real Madrid 3 - 2 & also taking the tie on a 5-4 aggregate.
A photo which I hope will please the many Barça fans around the World as it is basically the starting 11 "gala" side, with the exception of Puyol, Alexis Sanchez & Cesc Fabregas.
FC Barcelona Team photo Spanish Super Cup 2011
Top: Left to Right: Abidal, Pedro, Mascherano, Busquets & Pique
Bottom: Left to Right: Messi, Alves, Villa, Iniesta & Xavi Tweet
Three Spanish Football Clubs participated tonight in the 1st leg of the EUROPA LEAGUE pre-qualifiers with mixed results. Here is a very quick & brief summary of results.
Sevilla 2011
SEVILLA FC travelled to Germany to play HANNOVER & lost 2 - 1. The goals all came in the first 45 mins with German player SCHALANDRAFF scoring twice in the 6th & 45th min , while Sevilla managed a valuable away goal via KANOUTE in the 38th min. The tie is still wide open with Sevilla having the opportunity to seal things at home next Thursday.
At.Bilbao , Llorente 2011
Spanish Football Club ATHLETIC DE BILBAO drew at home 0 - 0 against Turkish Club TRABZONSPOR. Bilbao dominated the whole game & had many, many opportunities to score goals but failed to do so, & with the Turks down to 10 men early when Yilmez was sent off. Now off to Istambul to fix things, if they can.
At.Madrid, Thiago 2011
Good news here all-round as ATLETICO DE MADRID defeated 2 - 0 Portuguese Club VITORIA GUIMARAES, plus announced the signing of Oporto players FALCAO & MICAEL, with the latter going on loan to Real Zaragoza this season.
The action happened when Brazilian midfielder ELIAS came on for Salvio in the latter part of the 2º half & scored two goals, both in the 67th & 71st min. This give Atletico a healthy margin to travel to Portugal next week. Tweet
Here is the closest hint that OPORTO & Colombian International player FALCAO is about to land at ATLETICO DE MADRID. The Portuguese Club which finances itself via the Portugal Stock Exchange has just informed the local financial authorities that they have a 45M€ offer from Atletico for Falcao - & here is the surprise - along with his fellow team-mate midfielder MICAEL. The latter apparently is an Oporto demand for the Falcao transfer. That, or, both mentioned players just happen to belong to Football representative Jorge Mendes ( Ronaldo, Mourinho, Centrao, Pepe...) & there is a slight smell of extra business in the air.
Personally I think it is an exaggeration to pay 35M€ for Falcao & 10M€ for the Portuguese International midfielder Micael who is a substitute in the Oporto squad. Having said this , Atletico does need a creative midfielder & with Brazilian Diego of Wolfsburg getting complicated & messy one supposes that the Spanish Football Club sees it all as a solution.
Therefore , stay tuned for the official Club announcements - if nothing goes wrong - in the next hours or days.
Falcao
Staying with Atletico another rumoured transfer possibility OSVALDO from RCD ESPANYOL has gone cold again with AC ROMA returning as firm candidates, while DIEGO FORLAN does not wish to move from Atletico UNTIL he gets his 4M€ which is owned to him by the Club.
Lastly, while I´m posting & it has nothing to do with Atletico, Spanish Football Club GETAFE has announced the signing of ex Spanish International & FERNANBACHE forward DANI GUIZA.
LATEST: Its official FALCAO signs for Atletico de Madrid for 40M€ + Micael 5M€ (will be loaned to Zaragoza) . Crazy & inflated prices if you ask me, makes me wonder who takes the commissions...no it doesn't really... Tweet
Last nights Spanish Super Cup Final has given me two startling empirical results from the same unique experiment . Apart from the intense level of play, the Football, the aggressiveness, the tackles, the violence, the unfortunate & inexcusable actions of some on both teams, along with the out of order comments & controversy, what has been branded in my mind is the following outcome test result & this observable image:
Lionel Messi 2011
Sporting greatness ( not good,not excellent, but time transcendent Greatness & beyond ) is beholden on someone when that person takes it upon themselves to be the active protagonist , element, cause & instigator during the big moments, & during unique transcendental events. Not only does that person contribute - with a pass -, but defines the result - with goals. The evidence of the existence is experience, & when the above repeats itself on all levels it makes the observation into a fact. FC Barcelona player LIONEL MESSI could well be that example, a Football example, of theory being proven via continuous experiments that give the same viable & steady result which turns it into fact.
Invisible Man
Greatness ( same definition as above ) cannot be given if the theory cannot be proven, observed or experienced. The theory needs to be observed, but more importantly, needs to stand empirical testing on repeated occasions & experiments to make it a viable & stable truth. The "test tube" for greatness (Football in this case) are again as already said, the big moments, the all important events that gives the individual the World stage & all the spot lights, to be observed.
The proven & observable big names & stars (Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Di Stefano...etc) have all taken their opportunity, performed as expected, lead by example, pulled single handedly their own team onto collective, & thus individual glory. And here is the point, on repeated & continuous occasions during unique transcendental moments which makes them into an empirical fact.
Real Madrid player CRISTIANO RONALDO does not fit ( for the moment) this particular Football model & theory of greatness. The player ( not the person ) is still a Theory , we are all still waiting to observe events & actions that will turn the theory into experience & thus a fact. For the moment the only analogy I can give the "Cristiano Ronaldo Theory" is "the invisible man". In the unique, special & transcendental Football moments Ronaldo disappears on a regular basis. Thus observable & experienced.
His Manchester United Champions title & Real Madrid Spanish Cup title are flashes of the possible existent & potential of a stable theory that could develop into Greatness. While Lionel Messi is an observable, repeated & stable fact , not theory, of Greatness already in action. Tweet
The commentators have some harsh words, & the International image of Real Madrid is not doing to good either. "YouTube" may well cancel out this video in time, I will leave it up while its available. Tweet
FC BARCELONA has defeated 3 - 2 (5 - 4 agg) REAL MADRID to claim the 2011 SPANISH SUPER CUP in a very intense, aggressive game that finished with another all in brawl after Marcelo made a harsh tackle on Cesc Fabregas which earned the former the direct red card around the 91st min. A scene that has blemished the image, the good play of Real Madrid & of Coach Mourinho who "apparently" also "brushed" the Barça assistant Coach of Guardiola.
However FC Barcelona has won much more than a pre-season title, they had gained the all important "psychological victory" that will put very deep doubts within the Real Madrid "psyche". If Real Madrid had come into this game in their best form & Barça was still working "it out", the latter in their "worst" version still managed to defeat the "best version" of Real Madrid. But there is more, the Barça victory has taken the shine & the gloss off all the hard work of the Real Madrid pre-season & Coach Mourinho takes a brutal blow to his already diminished reputation.
Iniesta: courtesy Pablo Pueyo
Real Madrid was great the 1st half with pressure Football that again risked as they pushed their lines forward but by logical was risky allowed two magical moments for Barça; one with a precision pass from Messi that allowed INIESTA to score in the 14th min & then MESSI smashed his way through the defence in the 44th min to score. Real Madrid had managed to equalize earlier via CRISTIANO RONALDO who deflected a Benzema shot to make it a goal.
Messi: courtesy Pablo Pueyo
The 2nd half was less intense, which was natural, after the extraordinary physical efforts of both sides in the first 45 mins, & Real Madrid earned the merit to continue with their original game plan which paid off in the 81st min when BENZEMA equalled the game & the tie. Then MESSI again decided the match after Cesc Fabregas passed & found the Argentine to hook & hit the ball that flew pass Casillas into the goal in the 87th min for the winner.
With the title in Barça´s hands, the inbuilt tensions & frustrations surfaced that lead into & finished in a disgraceful sideline brawl after Marcelo was sent off, with more red cards to Ozil & Villa.
But allow me to comment on the most disappointing of all of tonight ; CRISTIANO RONALDO. The Portuguese disappears "out of sight" in the big Barça - Real Madrid games. After witnessing half a dozen "clasicos" with Ronaldo participation & with the exception of his goal in the Final of the Spanish Cup last season , Cristiano Ronaldo turns into an invisible player, he is not there, not decisive. His "sporting adversary", Lionel Messi, is totally the contrary & grows in stature precisely in the big occasions & has been the main "destroyer" of Real Madrid - not to mention Casillas - the last three seasons.
In conclusion, the "worst" version ( form wise) of FC Barcelona can still claim to be the Best Spanish Football Club & the Best Football Club in the World. Tonight's victory will put Barça on a cloud that will lift them all season, while Real Madrid has lost much more tonight than just the Spanish Super Cup. Real Madrid may have won this season a real "nightmare" of doubts that may cause "collateral" damage in the Real Madrid spirit, dressing room & fan-base. Cristiano Ronaldo is a real worry & the Madrid Club will need a lot of long therapy sessions to get itself back up & - yes - be able to save this new season which hasn't even began. Tweet
SPANISH FOOTBALL Club VILLAREAL travelled to Denmark to play their preliminary CHAMPIONS LEAGUE qualifier against ODENSE BK & finished with a surprising & "unjust" 1- 0 defeat result. The Danes started well & had their chances early but Villareal soon took over proceedings with some lovely touch Football & plenty of chances upfront - especially in the 2 half - with Rossi, Nilmar, cani & Valero all having their chances.
Villareal 2011
And here was the problem, that Villareal paid for not converting their multiple chances into goals. Added to this, a terrible defensive mistake allowed ANDREASEN to score the winner in the 83rd min for the Danes that poured cold water over the Spaniards.
Complicated finish for Villareal which must attempt to get back & finish off the Danes in the return 2º leg match at home. I think they can do it as Villareal was clearly the better side tonight but was unfairly "stumped" by Odense & by the "Football Gods".
SPANISH FOOTBALL again goes on the World stage tonight at 23.00hrs Sp local time when FC BARCELONA hosts REAL MADRID in the 2º - & definitive - leg of the Spanish Super Cup Final. The 1ºst leg finished 2 - 2 & the title is up for grabs tonight as Real Madrid must score & Barça has the away goal advantage. The kick off time is late, but this is due to the fact that the UEFA Champions League preliminaries take place tonight & the Spanish Super Cup cannot coincide with these games.
FC Barcelona - Real Madrid SuperCup 2ºleg : courtesy marca
Spanish Sports paper "Marca" put this diagram on their front cover today & also gave their idea of the possible starting 11 teams for both sides:
According to the papers "expert journalists", Busquets, Pique & Xavi come in from the start thus strengthening key areas, especially the midfield. There is talk that Cesc Fabregas may get some minutes if things are favourable for Barça towards the end.
Real Madrid: Casillas, Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho, Marcelo, Khedira, Xabi Alonso, Coentrao, Ozil , Ronaldo & Benzema.
The observers are pretty confident Coentrao will start ahead of Di Maria. However, some media sources speak of a possible big surprise, like Higuain starting ahead of Benzema. This is because at the last training session the Argentine looked to be part of the starting 11 set-up.
In any case, these ARE NOT the final line-ups & are totally speculative.
LATEST : Coentrao in for Marcelo at Real Madrid, Alexis on the bench with Pedro starting for FCB. Tweet
The SPANISH FOOTBALL Federation has announced today that SPAIN will meet CHILE in an upcoming Friendly International to be played in Geneva (Switzerland) on the 2nd of September. The cited game for Spain was originally meant for Brazil, which pulled out & cancelled without any real reason, which leads to suspect that they wished to confront the current World Champions under better conditions. Said this, Spain isn´t exactly in their best moment or in their best form either.
Spain vs Chile 2011
Things being as they may, the match against Chile is top notch, as the latter will look for "sporting revenge" remembering their defeat at the hands of Spain in their World Cup group clash last year. Plus the big Chilean community here in Spain & aboard will no doubt be excited, along with all Football fans, to be able to watch how this meet-up ends.
Take note of the date: 2nd of September - Geneva (Switzerland)
Things are "speeding" up on the transfer front as the 31st of August ( & Europa /Champions League inscriptions) deadline nears for Spanish Football Clubs. One of those, ATLETICO DE MADRID, has an ambitious plan: to sign two star forwards to replace Sergio Aguero & Diego Forlan. More on the last latter on.
Falcao
The first priority is Colombian International & OPORTO forward FALCAO. This operation has been a tough one with Oporto knowing well that Atletico has just received a healthy flow of cash. There has been various options & formulas for buying; spliting payments, variables & players etc, but it looks as if it will be a payment in parts & hefty (38M€). The key however was the players public comments this weekend saying that he would "love" to go to Atletico because its a fabulous career opportunity, important piece as it releases pressures off the Club with its fan-base. Apparently there is agreement between Clubs & they are discussing payment methods today before making things official: apparently.
Osvaldo
But Atletico wish to go all out up front. The second signing could be ESPANYOL forward OSVALDO to join upfront in the attack FALCAO. The Espanyol player has a juicy offer from AC Roma, but according to Spanish Sports paper "AS" Atletico & Espanyol bosses have already met to shut things & the operation would be 20M€ ( 16M€ cash plus 4 in variables). Plus Osvaldo has an "agreement" with Atletico which just needs the Clubs to only OK things.
So great. What about DIEGO FORLAN?
Here is the key. Atletico de Madrid has to sell first Forlan so as to sign Osvaldo, this may delay this last operation. The other player in this chess game is "INTER MILAN" who are about to lose Samuel Eto´o to Russian Football. The Italians wish to substitute Eto´o with Forlan - & here is another key - to which the Uruguayan has said that he would see well going to Inter Milan.
So, interesting couple of hours & days ahead at Atletico de Madrid as everyone awaits the fall of the first domino to set off the chain reaction of events. That is, first Falcao, then Eto´o, followed by Forlan & lastly Osvaldo.
Not too good news this morning, the SPANISH FOOTBALL U-20 NATIONAL TEAM say good-bye to the FIFA World Championships being held in Colombia after losing to BRAZIL in the penalty-shoot out 2 (2) - 2 (4). The Spanish youngsters pack their bags & fly off home with certain disappointment knowing that they had the potential of going further in the competition.
Spain U-20
Spain had to come back to equalize in extra-time to force the penalty shoot-out. Brazil played an excellent match, quick, with initiative & chances. The merit of the Spanish youngsters was that they never gave in , kept to their playing style & equalized Brazil in determination. But there can only be one winner & Brazil were far more accurate & calm in the penalty shoot-out. The latter now meet Mexico in the semi-finals
Details:
Brazil: Gabriel; Danilo, Juan, Bruno Uvini y Gabriel Silva; Casemiro, Fernando; Oscar (Allan, min.98); Philippe Coutinho (Dudu, min.79), Henrique & Willian (Negueba, min.63).
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Sports abroad. An ex-amateur Footballer long ago - alias Striker - who is now a fan that has the game embedded in his Football - Soccer Sports heart.
