Spanish Football | Soccer

ATLETICO DE MADRID PLAYER SALVIO SIGNS WITH BENFICA

The Argentine International EDUARDO SALVIO has never found a place, or himself as a player at ATLETICO DE MADRID. Perhaps its because he arrived too young from Argentine Football or simply because he was not given the chance & playing time to show his true qualities.

The 22 year old player was given on loan to BENFICA back in season 2010/2011 & was a star of Portuguese Football, which lead to Atletico recalling him back for duties. However since then Salvio has not been given the opportunities & has spent more time on the bench than on the field

Salvio

Portuguese Club Benfica has not forgotten the Argentine & has made a formal offer of 11M€ to Atletico de Madrid & a 5 year contract offer to Salvio. The Clubs are in agreement & the player is now in Lisbon to pass the medical exam which is the pre-requisite before signing the official contract.

Salvio thus returns "home" to a place where he is appreciated & admired. We wish him all the luck in the World, & personally as an Atletico fan for all his services. Thank you Salvio!

TRANSFER RUMOURS | REAL MADRID OFFERS 40M€ FOR WITSEL?

News coming out of Portugal ( via the paper "A Bola" ) is that REAL MADRID has returned to put its "signing eyes" on BENFICA 23 year old Belgium midfielder AXEL WITSEL. They go further & announce that negotiations are advanced & that the Spanish Football Club has put on the table a cool 40M€.

Witsel

However, lets all hold our horses. The story coincides right at the moment when the Real Madrid - Tottenham Hotspurs negotiations for Luca Modric have gone into a stalemate. Real Madrid will not move from 35M€ & Tottenham asks for 50M€. But there is another "odd" piece, is Real willing to pay 40M€ for Wistel when they won´t pass 35M€ for Modric? Does´nt it sound odd?

Hey, don´t take any notice of me, Real could want to have both. Stay tuned!

SEVILLA FC SIGNS BRAZILIAN CICINHO

Brazilian 26 year old ALEXANDRO MENDONCA DOS SANTOS, aka "CICINHO", from PALMEIRAS is a new signing for Spanish Football Club SEVILLA FC. The player comes at a cost of 2M€ & signs for the next four seasons.

Cicinho

Sevilla FC Football Manager "Monchi" has a well known reputation for having a fine eye for Football talent. The ex-Sevilla player, now Club Directive, has a history of signing relatively low costing players who are not on the agenda of the big Clubs & later turning them into star players which are sold later for a huge profits (eg Dani Alves) .

Is this another Monchi find? I personally did not know who he was until now.

Cicinho becomes the sixth new player signed this season for Sevilla FC along with Bryan Rabello (Colo Colo), the midfielders Javi Hervás (Córdoba), Geoffrey Kondogbia (Lens), Hedwiges Maduro (Valencia) & goalkeeper Diego López from Villarreal.

LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES FOOTBALL | SPAIN ELIMINATED LOSE 0 - 1 TO HONDURAS

SPAIN was eliminated from the 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES after losing 0 - 1 to HONDURAS in the second match of Group D. Once again the importance of winning the first game of any Football tournament with the Group system comes true as the pressure & the nerves of a "must win situation" in the following match can be a mountain to climb.

The Spanish team were unlucky, very unlucky, they hit the wood-work 3 times ( Adrian 55th min, Muniain 68th min & Rodrigo 82nd min), plus the Venezuelan referee did not call two clear penalties that will be talked about & gave rise in the end to controversy.

Mata laments a miss

However, congratulations to Honduras which played their game & with their strengths. Another defensive mistake by Spain lead to the first goal in the 6th min when BENGTSON scored with a header. Here is the true reason for the Spanish elimination from the London Olympic Games, as with Japan in the first game, the defence lapsed & was undisciplined in the crucial moment & allowed the header which later was to eliminate them.

From here the Spanish youngsters played well & bravely pouring their hearts into everything, but as time went on & the final whistle got nearer, everything was rushed & the nerves along with the frustration made things more difficult.

In the end, everything went wrong, posts & no called penalties included. That´s Football!

Spain now will meet Morocco in the final Group game & then return home. At least the boys tried & they will have the Olympic experience & spirit to tell the children.

PRE-SEASON | RAJA CASABLANCA 0 FC BARCELONA 8

Pre-season games are just that pre-season fine-tuning with Clubs testing players, especially their youngsters. Yesterday FC BARCELONA ( without their Spanish Internationals ) travelled to Morocco to play RAJA CASABLANCA. The Spanish Football Club won 0 - 8 & the news - or no news - was that LIONEL MESSI scored a HAT-TRICK with two goals from ALEXIS & one each from ALVES, SERGI GOMEZ & DEUFOLEU.

Barça are warming-up pre-season & their key players already look to be tuned-in:

Messi vs Raja Casablanca

Here is a video of all the goals ( lets hope Youtube does not take it down )

REAL MADRID US TOUR 2012 PRE-SEASON

Spanish Football Club REAL MADRID flys off today to the United States for its pre-season overseas tour. The whole team, Kaka & Sahin included & the Internationals, will be in Los Angeles tomorrow except Carvalho who stays in Madrid to clear up this future.

Real Madrid will train on the UCLA Campus grounds & play four friendly matches:
2nd of August Los Angeles Galaxy
5th of August Santos Laguna ( Las Vegas)
8th of August AC Milan ( New York )
11th of August Celtic Glasgow ( Philadelphia )

The four matches have been titled the "World Football Challenge"

Good news for all the American readers of Spanish Football Sports which will have a chance to see Real Madrid. Hope its close to your town.

LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES FOOTBALL | SPAIN 0 - JAPAN 1

Unexpected start for the SPANISH OLYMPIC FOOTBALL TEAM this afternoon against JAPAN after losing 0 - 1 in their Group London 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES match opener. Yes, the direct red card given in the 41st min to IÑIGO MARTINEZ was maybe harsh in its interpretation & left Spain down with 10 men for the rest of the game. However, this should not serve as an excuse & serve more as a motivational sign that this is more serious than initially thought with the "favourites" tag around their necks.

Japan scores against Spain

The Japanese goal came before the red card to Spain. In the 34th min OTSU scored inside the square basically alone from a defensive mark. A well deserved goal for the "quick" Japanese team as Spain was no where up to this point & not playing its usual dominating Football game. In fact, if they were "out" before the red card Spain was even less favoured thereafter with 10 men. Spain did improve late but the "psychological damage" was already done & the nerves frozen the young Spanish players from being effective.

This has a positive side effect on Spain, as it will get their heads into the work mode & forget about past Championships glories this year. The loss is not a disaster as the two other Group teams Morocco & Honduras drew their match. What is clear is that Spain must win their next Group matches which beforehand are possible but are also dangerous.
Match details:

Spain 0: De Gea; Montoya, Domínguez, Íñigo Martínez, Jordi Alba; Javi Martínez, Koke (Tello, 81’); Mata, Isco (Oriol Romeu, 62’), Rodrigo; & Adrián (Ander, 55’).

Japan 1: Gonda; H. Sakai (G. Sakai, 73’), Yoshida, Suzuki, Tokunaga; Kiyotake, Ohgihara (Yamamura, 86’), Yamaguchi, Otsu (Saito, 46’); Higashi & Nagai.

Goals: 0-1 (34’) Otsu

REAL MADRID | KAKA - AC MILAN TESTING THE WATERS AGAIN

REAL MADRID & AC MILAN have always had good relations. The rumours that KAKA could return to the Italian Club that made him a "great" have always persisted, & as weeks pass the rumours looks more & more like a reality.

Kaka with Galiani & Perez

Today Kaka´s representative-agent Paolillo was seen in Milan visiting the AC MILAN offices. This comes days after Kaka meet with his Coach Jose Mourinho at the Real Madrid offices to be told that he would have a "secondary role" this season & that he should look elsewhere if he wishes to play more. KAKA has been said to have asked Madrid to lower their economic pretensions if a transfer offer arrived.

Milan has always been the natural place of return. Loved by the "tiffosi" & by the AC Milan staff-directives-owner, Kaka always considered the Italian Club his home. The problem has always been the 11M€ salary per year & Madrid asking for 35-40M€ transfer fee. Things may have changed now & positions could be getting closer. With the sale of Thiago/Ibrahamovic Milan can invest in Kaka & Madrid could use that fresh money for Modric, not to mention the availability of the midfield place for Modric.

So stay tuned. It all looks as if the pieces are falling into place for Real Madrid, AC Milan & Kaká.

ARSENAL OFFERS 20M€ for MALAGA PLAYER CAZORLA

Spanish International & MALAGA FC midfielder SANTIAGO CAZORLA is not happy at his current Club. The recently crowed European Champion charged Malaga for non-payment of contract to the "Spanish Footballers Players Association" (AFE).

A strange situation for a Club that finished in Champions League table positions last season & apparently has cash flow problems with other players apart from Cazorla under its Arab millionaire owner.

Cazorla

According to the UK newspaper "The Guardian", English Premier League giant ARSENAL has come to an agreement with Cazorla & has put on the table a 20M€ transfer offer. All that is needed is that Malaga accept the cash & allow the player to fly off to London. Cazorla as a 45M€ contract release clause but Malaga could be forced to accept.

If all this is true, Arsenal has on its hands a fine midfielder that will boost its creative play area & give the side a boost in class. Stay tune for developments.

REAL MADRID - KAKA TALK ABOUT THEIR FUTURE

REAL MADRID Brazilian midfielder KAKA was joined by his father - also his rep - for a meeting with Manager-Coach Jose Mourinho at the "Santiago Bernabeu Stadium" offices around 1.00 pm this afternnoon. This has sent off a string of rumours which are exaggerated, pure speculation or coincidental.

Mourinho-Kaka

What is true is that Kaka & Real Madrid need to co-ordinate their future & make some real strategic decisions. The Brazilian has not settled at the Spanish Football Club & his salary is 9M€ per year, thats a lot for cash for someone who only plays around 20 matches a season. This & the fact that Real Madrid has Luca Modric of Tottenham Hotspurs in mind as the natural substitute. Before one can join someone must exit & Kaka is the firm candidate.

Thus the meeting today by both parties may have been about:
1. Mourinho communicating officially that the role of Kaka in the squad will be minimal.
2. Real Madrid wishes him out to make room for Modric, thus with the Kaka transfer pay Tottemham.
3. Kaka may have asked the Club to lower their transfer price pretensions in order to
open up the offers options: AC Milian, Courithians...
4. That Kaka has an offer already & wishes the Club to know about it.
5. That Kaka aint moving as he has 3 years more of contract.
6. None of the above.

Stay tuned, as what is a certainty is that Kaka is figuring out his future at this moment.

FC BARCELONA - NEYMAR | DONE BUT WHEN?

Wondering what's up with Brazilian & SANTOS Football player NEYMAR & his connection with Spanish Football? Remember last year the REAL MADRID almost done deal?

Neymar

The lastest from local Spanish press & Sports media is that FC BARCELONA is the next destination for Neymar. The deal is said to cost Barça 60M€, that is, the amount that Santos will receive from the Spanish Club.

The unknown is when will the deal be made official ( public ) & when will the Brazilian join FC BARCELONA. Some speculate after the Olympic Games which is very optimistic & at the sametime unlikely. What looks as a real option is next season 2013 - 2014, however I personally do not discount a possible "Winter Market 2013" incorporation. If Barça are not firing on all pistons this Xmas the Club could accelarate the processes.

What is a sure thing is the Barça has a Marketing "goldmine" & a potential "time-bomb" in the dressing room. We hope the clash of egos ( Messi ) will stay in a theory, we assume beforehand the upmost professionalism of the Footballers.

Stay tuned for more developing news in this front.

ARSENAL THINKS IN FERNANDO LLORENTE

This piece of news out of Great Britain & ARSENAL FC is not new & again hits the local Spanish Football papers & media.

Fernando Llorente

The "Gunners" seek to have an alternative if Van Persie finally leaves the Club this summer. A name sounding loud to replace the Dutch striker is Spanish International & ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO forward FERNANDO LLORENTE.

According to the the English paper, "DailyMail", Arsenal Coach Wenger wants to finalize with the Clubs transfer dramas & prepare quietly for next season. The 27 year old Athletic Bilbao strike has a contract release clause of 35 million € which Arsenal could pay with the departure & the cash received from Dutchman Van Persie.

Stay tuned!

REAL MADRID TRANSFERS GAGO - CANALES TO VALENCIA CF

REAL MADRID Argentine International midfielder FERNANDO GAGO, on loan to AC Roma last season, was sold & transferred to VALENCIA CF today. Along with Gago who signs for 4 years, young REAL MADRID player SERGIO CANALES, also on loan to Valencia, was "thrown" into the package but in this particular case with a buy-back preference clause. The deal puts into the Real Madrid bank account around 9M€

Gago

It is reported that Gago accepted a salary cut in order to stay in Spanish Football & to be able to enter into the Valencia plans. Sergio Canales continues with his long recovery of a serious knee injury ( his second).

SPANISH FOOTBALL PROMISE | JESE

Continuing with posts that highlight some upcoming & bright young SPANISH FOOTBALL talent, today we give the stage to JESE RODRIGUEZ RUIZ. Born in the Canary Islands back in 16.02.1993 the player was brought over to REAL MADRID CF when he was scoring more than 100 goals a season at the junior levels at Club Hurracan.

Jese

Big talent that is accompanied by a "hot" character the youngster is slowly maturing both as a person & player to the stage that he got some minutes (scored on the last pre-season China tour ) with the senior Real Madrid team under Coach Mourinho. Explosive forward that helped lift the Real Madrid B team - Castilla - into the 2º Division with 10 goals, Jese has "exploded" during the U-19 European Championships.

Maximum Spanish & U-19 European tournament goalscorer (Golden Boot) with five goals, the Spanish International was also voted MVP of the Final which Spain won 1- 0 against Greece with his goal.

This does not guarantee anything at Real Madrid, many young forward stars have had to leave to find a place in Spanish Football. Roberto Soldado ( Valencia CF ), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla FC) & Juan Mata ( Chelesea FC) are just three - now - big names. Up to Jese to find & fight for his place.

SPANISH FOOTBALL PROMISE | OLIVER

Couple of days back I did a post on young Barça & Spanish Football talent Gerard Deulofeu. This time around & continuing with Spanish Football promises, here is another name to list. OLIVER TORRES of just 17 years of age & crowned U-19 European Champions with Spain last Sunday.

Oliver

The "kid" is a midfielder & admires Xavi & Iniesta, so much so, that the player moves & pushes the ball like them. The insiders say the "boy" has talent, lots of talent & is headed towards big things. His current Club ATLETICO DE MADRID has invited Oliver to do the pre-season with the "big guys", that is another sign that Coach Simeone also sees something special in the youngster. Who knows, we may see a 2012-2013 season debut in LA LIGA or in other big time level game for Atletico.

Take note, Oliver is the name.

UEFA BEST PLAYER 2011- 2012 CANDIDATES | NINE SPANISH PLAYERS

UEFA has revealed its list of 32 players elegible to be prized the "Best European - based - Player" for season 2011-2012. Seven players on the candidate list are from REAL MADRID & four are from FC BARCELONA. Apart from Clubs their are nine Spanish born Football Players, including the now veteran Raul Gonzalez.

On the 14th of August UEFA will announce the three finalists after 53 associations of Football Sports journalists have handed in their votes. On the 30th of August the winner will be named.

casillas - xavi

Here is the full list of candidates:

Sergio Aguero (ARG) - Manchester City FC
Xabi Alonso (SP) - Real Madrid CF
Mario Balotelli (ITA) - Manchester City FC
Jakub Blaszczykowski (POL) - Borussia Dortmund
Gianluigi Buffon (ITA) - Juventus
Iker Casillas (SP) - Real Madrid CF
Petr Cech (CZE) - Chelsea FC
Fábio Coentrão (POR) - Real Madrid CF
Leslie Davies (WAL) - Bangor City FC
Didier Drogba (IVC) - Chelsea FC (now at Shanghai Shenhua FC)
Cesc Fabregas (SP) - FC Barcelona
Falcao (COL) - Club Atlético de Madrid
Joe Hart (ENG) - Manchester City FC
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (SWE) - AC Milan
Andres Iniesta (SP) - FC Barcelona
Shinji Kagawa (JPN) - Borussia Dortmund (now at Manchester United FC)
Vincent Kompany (BEL) - Manchester City FC
Frank Lampard (ENG) - Chelsea FC
Lionel Messi (ARG) - FC Barcelona
Luka Modric (CRO) - Tottenham Hotspur FC
Mesut Özil (GER) - Real Madrid CF
Pepe (POR) - Real Madrid CF
Andrea Pirlo (ITA) - Juventus
Sergio Ramos (SP) - Real Madrid CF
Raúl González (SP) - FC Schalke 04 (now at Al-Sadd Sports Club)
Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) - Real Madrid CF
Wayne Rooney (ENG) - Manchester United FC
David Silva (SP) - Manchester City FC
Fernando Torres (SP) - Chelsea FC
Yaya Touré (IVC) - Manchester City FC
Robin van Persie (NED) - Arsenal FC
Xavi Hernandez (SP) - FC Barcelona

SPAIN WINS U-19 EUROPEAN TITLE

SPAIN keeps up with its winning ways in European Football claiming the U-19 EUROPEAN TITLE after defeating GREECE 1 - 0 in the Final. Extraordinary year for Spanish Football at all levels, with the Female Spanish U-19 team nearly winning their U-19 Final yesterday against Sweden ( lost 0 - 1 extra-time) which would have put the cherry on the cake.

Jese for Spain

Take note of these names as they are the Spanish U-19 starting 11 in the Final:

Kepa, Castro, Grimaldo, Ramalho, Derik, Campaña, Oliver, Suso, Deulofeu,Jesé & Paco Alcácer.

Most already are playing in the top class or are about to get in & many are still around the 16 - 17 year old mark. The MVP of the tournament & the European U-19 Leading goal-scorer with 5 goals is JESE RODRIGUEZ, forward with REAL MADRID ( Castilla, their B - team ).

The match victory was well deserved for Spain as they created chances all match & dominated. Greece was solid in defence all game & very rocky which made Spain work very hard to find the winning goal which came finally in the 80th min when Deulofeu found Jese who scored.

Congratulations to the Spanish U-19 boys, well done!

30 MOST VALUABLE YOUTH PLYERS WORLD 2012

Portugues Football Finance web "Futebolfinance" has an interesting post which lists the Top 30 Valuable Youth Players in World Football for 2012. Brazilian Neymar heads the list , but there are 4 Spanish Football players in the Top 30 : Thiago Alcantara, David De Gea, Iker Muniain & Bojan Krkic. Check out the full list below.

Thiago

The 30 most Valuable Players Youth World 2012

# Player Nationality Age Club Minimum Value

1 Neymar Brazil 20 Santos € 30 million € 55 million
2 Mario Götze Germany 19 Borussia Dortmund € 30 million € 45 million
3 Mario Balotelli Italy 21 Manchester City € 30 million € 40 million
4 Eden Hazard Belgium 21 Lille € 27 million € 35 million
5 Jack Wilshere England 20 Armory € 22 million € 30 million
6 Thiago Alcantara Spain 20 Barcelona € 20 million € 30 million
7 Yann M'Vila France 21 Rennes € 20 million € 25 million
8 Phil Jones England 20 Manchester United € 18 million € 25 million
9 David de Gea Spain 21 Manchester United € 16 million € 20 million
10 Alan Dzagoev Russia 21 CSKA Moscow € 16 million € 20 million
11 Jack Rodwell England 20 Everton € 16 million € 20 million
12 Iker Munain Spain 20 Athletic Bilbao € 15 million € 22 million
13 Romelu Lukaku Belgium 18 Chelsea € 15 million € 20 million
14 Jordan Henderson England 21 Liverpool € 15 million € 18 million
15 Andrew Schürrle Germany 21 Bayer Leverkusen € 14 million € 18 million
16 Bojan Krkic Spain 21 Rome € 13.5 million € 18 million
17 James Rodriguez Colombia 20 FC Porto € 13 million € 20 million
18 Erik Lamela Argentina 19 Rome € 13 million € 20 million
19 Christian Eriksen Denmark 20 Ajax € 13 million € 20 million
20 Danny Welbeck England 21 Manchester United € 13 million € 18 million
21 Kyle Walker England 21 Tottenham € 13 million € 18 million
22 Xherdan Shaqiri Switzerland 20 Basel € 12.5 million € 18 million
23 Douglas Costa Brazil 21 Shakhtar Donestk € 12 million € 16 million
24 Szczesny Poland 21 Armory € 12 million € 15 million
25 Aaron Ramsey Wales 21 Armory € 11 million € 16 million
26 Miralem Pjanic Bosnia 21 Rome € 10.5 million € 16 million
27 Danilo Brazil 20 FC Porto € 10 million € 18 million
28 Oxlade-Chamberlain England 18 Armory € 10 million € 20 million
29 Gastón Ramírez Uruguay 21 Bologna € 10 million € 15 million
30 Lucas Brazil 19 São Paulo € 10 million € 17 million

FC BARCELONA | DEULOFEU THE FUTURE

I have given the youngster a couple of posts already. However, I will like to remind you to keep track & an eye on 18 year old FC BARCELONA player GERARD DEULOFEU.

Gerard Deulofeu

The "kid" is possibly the best placed future promise at Barça & perhaps in Spanish Football. Deulofeu has been calling the attention throughout the lower levels & is progressing in an extraordinary manner. The player made his debut with the FC Barcelona senior team under Guardiola last season against Mallorca & in Champions League against BATE Borisov. Deulofeu is currently starring for the Spanish U-19 Team in the European Champions & was pivotal in getting Spain into this Sundays Final against Greece with his 3 ( penalty shoot out included ) goals in the semi final against France.

New Barça Coach Tito Vilanova will undoubtedly be keeping a close watch on the youngster & we may see the "kid" more often than not having more minutes next season with the Barça seniors.

REAL MADRID TRANSFERS | MODRIC VERY CLOSE, KAKA ALMOST GONE

The Croatian International & TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS midfielder LUKA MODRIC is "stealing" the headlines of most of the Spanish Sports newspapers & other media channels.The news coming in is that REAL MADRID & the player have total agreement in joining this season & playing in LA LIGA. The Spanish Football Club is currently dealing & negotiating with SPURS to shut the deal which is rumoured around 40M€, while the player will sign a 5 year contract.

Modric

However a few events have to occur to set off the domino chain. Confirmation 100% has to come in that Ibrahimovic & Thiago have been sold to PSG from AC Milan. With the fresh money from PSG, AC MILAN can buy back KAKA from Real Madrid. This will leave a midfield place & give Real Madrid funds to make the Modric signing. Typical chain of events that happens in the World of European Football.

So stay tuned, Modric is very close to Real Madrid, while Kaka is very close to AC Milan, all awaiting the PSG operation.

EURO U-19 SEMIS | SPAIN WINS FRANCE IN PENALTY SHOOT OUT

Marvellous run of wins & achievements for SPANISH FOOTBALL National Teams in all levels. The U-21 Team are the current European Champions, SPAIN won 10 days back the European Nations Cup & this afternoon-night the SPANISH U-19 TEAM won FRANCE 3 ( 4 ) - 3 ( 2 ) in the European semi-final. Spain will meet Greece in the U-19 European Championship Final & attempt to pull off a special string of titles, with the permission of Greece of course which will not be easy to beat.

Deulofeu

The semi - final went right down to the wire, with extra-time & then the dreaded penalty shoot out, with Spain ( Campaña ) missing its first shot. But Spanish goalkeeper KAPA stopped two French shots that allowed FC Barcelona youngster DEULOFEU to score the winner.

Goals:
0 -1 Umtiti ( 24 m )1 -1 Deulofeu ( 61 m)
2 -1 Alcacer ( 78 m )
2 -2 Umtiti (91 m)
EXTRA TIME
3 - 2 Deulofeu
3 - 3 Pogba

Spain wins penalty shoot out 4 - 2 . Spanish player Deulofeu obviously starred y goalie Kapa.

DAVID SILVA SENDS SIGNALS TO REAL MADRID ?

Could it be really true? Can one really interpret that Spanish International & MANCHESTER CITY 26 year old midfielder DAVID SILVA is making signs to REAL MADRID? Apparently this is the "in-between the lines" speculation by English newspaper "Daily Mirror", which says that the refusal by Silva to renew his contract with City maybe a tactic to pressure his Club.

David Silva

It is believed, or better said, rumoured that Real Madrid has made a 45M€ offer for Silva to which the English Club has refused. Silva finishes contract with City in 2014 & refusing to renew makes it now the right moment for City to reap in the money as next season his selling figure will "drastically" drop. This type of pressure is often used by the player to at least open some kind of negotiation which was initially non-existent.

Funny thing is that Silva days back voiced his desire to re-sign another 5 years for City. What has changed? Possibly nothing & we as in England are just looking for news where there is none. Or not? Stay tuned, we still have a very long hot summer ahead.

SPAIN WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS | TWO YEARS AGO TODAY

Two years ago exactly on this day 11th of June SPAIN won its first ever FIFA WORLD CUP title defeating Holland 0-1 in extra-time with a now historical goal from Andres Iniesta. To live some of those memories again watch this video tribute to SPANISH FOOTBALL & its NATIONAL TEAM.

SPANISH FOOTBALL LIGA FIXTURE 2012 - 2013

All the Spanish Football - Liga agents have agreed today & have finally settled the SPANISH LEAGUE FIXTURE for season 2012- 2013. Below is a diagram in Spanish which gives a birds-eye view of the big matches:

- Start of LA LIGA ( Round 1 ) - 18/19 August
- 1º leg of Spanish SuperCup - 23 August
- 2º leg of Spanish SuperCup - 30 August
- Spanish Cup Final - 18 of May 2013
- End of LA LIGA ( Round 38) - 1 June 2013

Fixture 2012-2013

To give you more information here is a better explained list with the main big DERBY - CLASICO games, example REAL MADRID - FC BARCELONA, apart from Spanish SuperCup, in black below:

1st Round LIGA - 18/19 August 2012
Athletic - Betis
Barcelona - Real Sociedad
Sevilla - Getafe
Real Madrid - Valencia
Levante - At. Madrid
Zaragoza - Valladolid
Celta - Málaga
Mallorca - Espanyol
Rayo - Granada
Deportivo - Osasuna

30th September
Real Sociedad - Athletic

7th of October
Barcelona - Real Madrid
Levante - Valencia

28th of October
Celta - Deportivo

18th of Novenber
Sevilla - Betis

2nd of December
Real Madrid - At. Madrid

6th of Jan 2013
Barcelona - Espanyol

24th of February
Athletic - Real Sociedad

3rd of March
Real Madrid - Barcelona
Valencia - Levante

17th of March
Deportivo - Celta

14th of April
Betis - Sevilla

28 de April
At. Madrid - Real Madrid

Round 38 - Last Round (1 june 2013):
Granada - Getafe
Sevilla - Valencia
Real Madrid - Osasuna
Deportivo - Real Sociedad
Barcelona - Málaga
Celta - Espanyol
Mallorca - Valladolid
Zaragoza - At. Madrid
Levante - Betis
Rayo Vallecano - Athletic

REAL MADRID TRANSFER RUMOUR | KAKA ASKS REAL MADRID TO EASE HIS EXIT

The future of REAL MADRID player KAKA is still giving talk & news headlines. From Italy, concretely from "Corriere dello Sport", Kaka is said to have approached Coach Mourinho & asked that he do his best to facilitate his exit from the Spanish Football Club. That basically means that Kaka asks Real Madrid to lower their transfer price pretensions as to allow another Club to consider his signing.

Kaka

The Club best positioned is said to be AC MILAN, but Real Madrid at this moment will not go below the 35M€ figure. A relatively "low" number years back in an inflated market that is not the case in these hard economic moments. Another Club that has been asking is Paris St Germain, but this option fell when the French Club announced that Kaka was no longer a priority for them.

This can change of course as Football around transfer season is all words & less about truth.

Stay tuned!

AMARELLE GOAL VS UKRAINE | SPANISH FOOTBALL AMAZING GOALS

Check this amazing overhead bicycle goal from Spanish player AMARELLE. Amarelle was representing SPAIN against UKRAINE in the Beach Soccer match & put in this superb goal that was unstoppable.

TRANSFER RUMOURS | FC BARCELONA IS NOT FORGETTING JAVI MARTINEZ

Been sounding for weeks now, FC BARCELONA has´nt given up on its idea of incorporating ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO & Spanish International JAVI MARTINEZ. The player is liked by new Barça Coach Tito Vilanova & sees the player as a great promise to fill the Central Defender - defending Midfielder positions. Matrtinez, apart from being still young, is very versatile & has an attacking Football spirit the fits the Barça philosophy.

Javi Martinez

However there are some hurdles before FC Barcelona can really think about contracting Martinez:

Keita. The current Barcelona player would need to leave to make a position vacant & give Barça some money to finance a possible transfer operation
Bayern Munich & Real Madrid . The German Club have been very insistent & Real has been asking & seriously.
The 40M€ contract release clause from Bilbao

FC Barcelona have no intention of paying 40M€ but may put up 26M€ in an effort to get the Spanish International over. Meanwhile stay tuned, & watch Martinez play during the London Olympic Games representing the Spanish Olympic Football Team.

SEVEN SPANISH PLAYERS IN "KICKER" IDEAL EURO 2012 TEAM

European & German Football magazine "Kicker" has published their Ideal 11 Euro 2012 Team. Their are 7 Spanish Football players, 2 Portugues , 1 German & 1 Italian in the "Kicker" team.

Spain Euro 2012 Champions

The Spanish names are Iker Casillas, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Andres Iniesta & Cesc Fabregas. The other names are Pepe & Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Sami Khedira (Germany) & Pirlo (Italia).

JORDI ALBA NEW FC BARCELONA PLAYER

This post - picture goes out to all the FC BARCELONA fans around the World. Yes, its the revelation player of the Euro 2012 tournament, JORDI ALBA, with his new Club outfit on & being presented to media as the new Barça signing. The man goes over from VALENCIA CF at a real bargain, only 14-15M€, for the next 5 years.

First "big" signing for Barcelona for the new 2012-2013 season.

Jordi Alba

THREE SPANISH FOOTBALL PLAYERS WITH GOLDEN BALL AWARD ODDS

The talk about the "Golden Ball Award" candidates & favourites at this time of the year is obviously premature. However, it is inevitable after we have been blessed with the recently finished Euro 2012 tournament along with all the World star players on stage.

In recent days, France Football has done its marketing strategy-tactic aimed at the Spanish Market, announcing that Spanish Goalkeeper & Captain IKER CASILLAS should be given this years Award. This & along with Brazilian & Football legend Pele announcing that Casillas was his favourite as well, casually while on promotion with a major Spanish/European Bank.

Golden Boot Candidates 2012

But Casillas is not the only candidate sounding at this early stage. There is also the habitual duo of Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo, along with Iniesta, Xavi, Pirlo & Drogba.

I personally am not getting into the "marketing hype" at this stage. My response will be worth more around Octubre. ¿Who is yourfavourite?

EURO 2012 STATISTICS

Found this interesting info-diagram with some statistics about the EURO 2012 competition. Plenty of Spanish Football Players in representation, but it has a bit on all the teams & thus enters the realm of World Football interest for all fans.

Hope you enjoy!

Euro 2012 statistics

FIFA RANKING | SPAIN CONSOLIDATES Nº1 SPOT

The World Football governing body "FIFA" has released its monthly ranking (June-July) of the Football Nations. It´s no surprise to see SPAIN consolidate its Nº1 position after recently winning the European Nations Cup. There is a notable drop in positions for Holland which was knocked out early in the Group phase of the Euro competition.

Spain Euro 2012

Here is the top 10 Football Nations according to FIFA

1. Spain 1691 pts.
2. Germany 1502.
3. Uruguay 1297.
4. England 1294.
5. Portugal 1213.
6. Italy 1192.
7. Argentina 1095.
8. Holland 1079.
9. Croatia 1050.
10.Denmark 1017.

IFFHS WORLD CLUBS RANKINGS JUNE | FC BARCELONA ON TOP

The FIFA backed "International Football Federation of History & Statistics" (IFFHS) has released their World Clubs rankings for the month of June 2012. There are 4 Spanish Clubs in the top 10, with Barça & Real Madrid leading the table with Nº1 & Nº 3 respectively.

Chilean Club Universidad sits in second place.

FC Barcelona

Here are the Top 10 ranked World Clubs according to the IFFHS for June:

1.	(1.)	FC Barcelona	Spain/4	356,0
2.	(2.)	CD Universidad de Chile Santiago	Chile/3	335,0
3.	(3.)	Real Madrid CF	Spain/4	295,0
4.	(4.)	Club Atlético de Madrid	Spain/4	292,0
5.	(5.)	FC Bayern München	Deutschland/4	290,0
6.	(10.)	CA Boca Juniors Buenos Aires	Argentina/4	268,0
7.	(6.)	Chelsea FC London	England/4	266,0
8.	(8.)	Club Libertad Asunción	Paraguay/3	241,0
9.	(7.)	CA Vélez Sarsfield	Argentina/4	237,0
10.	(9.)	Athletic Club de Bilbao	Spain/4	236,0

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