SPANISH CUP 2008/09: LAST 32 TEAM PHASE - THURSDAY RESULT

The last & only game left to play in the 1ºst leg of the SPANISH CUP
ended in a surprise REAL UNION 3 - REAL MADRID 2. The 2ºB
Division side put in a grand game against a Real Madrid team full
of substitutes. The result is bad at first sight, but encouraging for
Real Madrid in their return 2ºleg game were Real will enjoy the away
goal advantage.

Huge scare in the 13th m, as memories of Sevilla player Antonio
Puerta came racing back, as DE LA RED ( above) collapsed
unconscious & was rushed to hospital were he is currently undergoing

tests & is being observed.

See VIDEO

Union started well with a 1st min goal by JUAN which was matched
by HIGUAIN in the 9th min. However, Union was not scared & JUAN
scored again with a header in the 19th min to take his team ahead.

The 2ºhalf was a "fair fight" with both going after a win, when SAVIOLA
drew in the 53rd min, but Union again went ahead with the winner in the
63rd min via GOIKOETXEA. Memorable win for Real Union who will
remember this night for a long time, now they have to continue with the
job in the next match in the mighty "Santiago Bernabeu" Stadium.

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SPANISH CUP 2008/09: LAST 32 TEAM PHASE - 1º LEG RESULTS

Some surprise results tonight in the Spanish Cup, like the defeat of
Villareal (5-0) & Sevilla FC. See all the results below.

SPANISH CUP last 32 team phase, Wednesday 1ºleg results:
Benidorm 0 - FC Barcelona 1 (Yesterday)
Ponferridina 1 - Sevilla 0
Portugalete 1 - Valencia 4
Orihuela 0 - At.Madrid 1

Poli Ejido 5 - Villareal 0

Hercules 1 - Valladolid 5

Rayo V 1 - Almeria 2
Celta 2 - Espanyol 2
Castellon 0 - Betis 2

Murcia 2-Racing 1

Elche 0 - Deportivo 2

Numancia 0 - Sporting de Gijon 1
Malaga 1 - Mallorca 1

At.Bilbao 2 - Recreativo 0
Getafe 0 - Osasuna 0

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FIFA WORLD PLAYER: 6 SPANIARDS IN NOMINATIONS

The list of 23 players nominated for this years "FIFA World Player"
has 6 Spaniards: Casillas, Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta, Torres & Villa, plus
a whole lot more who play in Spanish Clubs. See list below:









Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) & Iker Casillas (Real Madrid).

Defender: John Terry (Chelsea).

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Deco (Chelsea), Cesc Fábregas
(Arsenal), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Andrés Iniesta (FC Barcelona),
Xavi Hernández (FC Barcelona), Kaká (Milan), Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
& Franck Ribéry (Bayern).

Forwards: Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real
Madrid), David Villa (Valencia), Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Sergio
Agüero (Atlético de Madrid, Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Samuel Eto'o
(FC Barcelona), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit),
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) & Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona).

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SPANISH CUP 2008/09: LAST 32 TEAMS - FC BARCELONA THANKS TO BOJAN

The SPANISH CUP has entered the last 32 team phase with the
big mayor 1º Division Clubs making their appearance tonight.
FC BARCELONA played inferior BENIDORM away in the 1ºst leg
clash to win by a solitary goal by BOJAN in the 55th min.
















Barça left some big names at home: Xavi, Iniesta, Valdez, Messi
... & suffered all night against a team that decided to "build" a
defensive wall, wait & counter-attack. Benidorm even hit the post
in the 12th min from a header that nearly rocked Barça.

However, the Catalans got away with an away win which should
set them up nicely for the return clash at "Camp Nou" & seal the
tie for the next phase.

More, & the main Spanish Cup clashes tomorrow night! Tweet

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REAL MADRID IS DICTATOR FRANCO FOOTBALL CLUB.

The Manchester United Manager/Coach Sir Alex Ferguson has
given an interview to "GQ" were his comments have let SFS down.
So much so, that my estime for this Football professional has fallen
to a level that I believe this man is a complete idiot, a clown &
a morron.

It hurts me to say this, really, but to comment in 2008 that Real Madrid
is the Football team of Dictator Franco is absolutely absurd. It´s even
worst, he has called the team a Fascist Club, this explains why they
always get their way... Rubbish, what the fuck is this man talking
about?













It all seems to come from Real Madrid´s attempts to sign Cristiano
Ronaldo, who by the way is an individual old enough to decide for
himself & take decisions on his future by himself. Real Madrid made the
offer, the player took the decision to attempt to leave Manchester
United because it was his dream to play at Real. That he decided to
stay has nothing to do with the outragous comments made by
Ferguson, if fact, why say it if you/Club got its way: keep Ronaldo at
Manchester, you won the battle!

It seems that he has an obsession with the Spanish Club, an inferiority
complex that maybe becoming a psychological problem. Using terms
as Fascists & mixing it with Football & Sport is appalling & shows
no knowlegde what so ever of anything outside of his office & the
Old Trafford sideline. No respect at all for honest folk who suffered at
the hands of Franco during the Spanish Civil War, folk who are Real
Madrid fans. By the way, SFS is not defending Real Madrid, all SFS
regular readers know SFS is Atletico. But Ferguson is a Buffon! A
stupid primative in a track suit who has put a serious stain of shit
on the term "SIR" that the Queen of England has given him.

But this man has no limits, as clowns do when on a roll. He accuses that
Real Madrid signed Heinze only because he is Cristiano´s best mate & it
was a way to get to Ronaldo. A sick mind indeed & dangerous.

SFS is really sadden by this & it could be a sign that the reign of Ferguson
at Manchester & in Football is coming to an end. Lets hope so, because the
man is insane! Tweet

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5 SPANIARDS IN THE 2007/2008 WORLD 11 FIFPRO SIDE

A total of 57,500 Professional World Footballers have placed their
votes as part of the FIFPro Association & have given Manchseter
United Portugues International CRISTIANO RONALDO the Best
Player for 2007/2008 Award.


















Aaprt from this, the Association elected it´s World 11 Team for
2007/2008 with 5 Spanish players in the side: Casillas (Real
Madrid); Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid); Carles Puyol (FC
Barcelona); Xavi (FC Barcelona) & Fernando Torres (Liverpool)


















The other members of the World 11 side are: John Terry (Chelsea);
Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd.); Steven Gerrard (Liverpool); Kaka (AC Milan);
C. Ronaldo (Man Utd.) & Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) Tweet

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/09 - ROUND 8 SUNDAY RESULTS

Great Sunday of Spanish Football in Round 8 of "La Liga". Here are
the results, scorers & images of the night.

















Great & crazy game at VILLAREAL who saw how ATLETICO DE
MADRID with 10 men came back from the dead to equalize to see
the match finish in a 4-4 draw.

Atletico started on fire with SIMAO scoring in the 1ºst min & then
DIEGO FORLAN in the 21st. Then the disaster, when Atletico midfielder
Benegas received a Red card to leave his team with 10 men & gaps for
Villareal to exploit.





















Villareal did precisely this scoring in the 47th min via SENNA after
a goalkeeper Leo Franco fumbled. The nerves set in & LLORENTE
equalized in the 50th min to see Atletico collapse with more goals
from GONZALEZ in the 57th min & the fourth for Villareal by
ROSSI (below) in the 67th min.

Then the miracle happened when SIMAO broke out of midfield &
ran into the goal area to score his second in the 83rd min & Atletico´s
third. Two minutes later RAUL GARCIA who came on scored the
fourth & equalizer for Atletico to finish the crazy night in all square.


















NUMANCIA defeated RACING 2-1 after another crazy last minutes.
BAKERO put Numancia ahead in the 25th min & it seemed that it
would finish this way. But a 95th min penalty to Racing was converted
by TCHITE to see another penalty a minute later to Numancia in which
CISMA scored & won the game for Numancia

Big surprise here with SEVILLA FC losing 0-1 to MALAGA who

are now 6th on the ladder. The winner was from ADRIAN in the
15th min

MALLORCA gave ESPANYOL a good whipping with its
3-0 victory with goals from ADURIZ with two (49th &
60th min) & VARELA with a brilliant chip in the
76th min. Good win to Mallorca who needed the 3 points

to consolidate its middle table position.

VALENCIA came from behind to draw 1-1 with RECREATIVO
& keep the top spot of the classification ladder. CAMUÑAS

put Recreativo ahead in the 47th min, to later see DAVID
VILLA draw in the 62th min & save Valencia´s day.

Narrow but important win to GETAFE by the minimum 1-0
over VALLADOLID. DIAZ ( above) headed the winning goal

in the 62nd min. Getafe consolidate themselves in the higher ladder

positions

SPORTING OF GIJON managed its 3ºrd straight win after winning

0-3 away to a poor DEPORTIVO. BARRAL ( above) transformed a
penalty in the 22nd min. More goals followed with CARMELO in the

26th min & D.CASTRO in the 84th, which could have been more.

REAL MADRID won a tough game against a traditionally difficult
rival in ATHLETIC DE BILBAO 3-2. The win takes Real into 3ºrd
position on the ladder on equal points with FC Barcelona.

Real started well with a cracker from SNEIJDER in the 12th min
(above) & a second by HIGUAIN in the 28th min. Then the
concentration level dropped & allowed Bilbao to equalize with

goals from ETXEBERRIA in the 34th min & IRAOLA in the
44th min via a penalty.

However, in the 2ºhalf , concretely in the 59th min HIGUAIN came to

the rescue with Real´s 3ºrd & his second to give the victory to Real
Madrid.

The other news of this game was the punishment handed by Coach
Schuster to Sergio Ramos by putting him on the bench after declarations

came out via the media of Ramos criticism of the teams playing system.
Ramos voiced that he was the "scape goat" to the fact that a winger was

missing on his side that he had to make up for. That did not go down well.

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/09 - ROUND 8 SATURDAY GAMES RESULT

FC BARCELONA steamrolled ALMERIA 5- 0 with a HAT TRICK
from SAMUEL ETO´O included. Here is the VIDEO off the highlights
with other goals from HENRY & ALVES



The commentator is great!
























OSASUNA just can´t get it right, they try hard but still need to find
the that extra somthing & luck to break a win. Last night REAL
BETIS won 0-2 away with goals from AURELIO & PAVONE
(above) Tweet

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FOOTBALL (SOCCER) HUMOUR

Its Saturday, its a wonderful sunny day in Madrid & life´s good
at this "zen" moment. Allow SFS to share with you this funny video
& hopefully pull a smile out of you. Enjoy!

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BUSQUETS - SPANISH FOOTBALL REVELATION - CATCHES THE ATTENTION OF ARSENAL & JUVENTUS

FC BARCELONA is a World famous "factory" of producing Football
talents as its "youth policy" & Club set up has proven throught the

years: Messi, Xavi, Cesc, Iniesta, Puyol, Bojan, Pique...etc.

Another name gets added, that of SERGIO BUSQUETS (below) son
of former Barça goalkeeper Carles Busquets, who is becoming the
player revelation of this season & is catching the interest of the big
European Clubs.

According to "Sport", the 20 year old player finishes contract on the

30 of June 2009 & is negotiating with Barça. However, the news is

that ARSENAL is preparing a "mega offer" to try to bring over to
London the young midfielder. Added to this Italian Club JUVENTUS

is also very interested in Busquets.

No doubt, Barça will do everything to keep the pearl at Camp Barça,
but the sirens of Europe are attractive at times.

*thanks to "Mundo Deportivo" for the Club header

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THE REAL MADRID 2009 SIGNNING STRATEGY

Here are news stories from the two main Spanish Sports dailys
"As" & "Marca" at times contradictory. The first gives the scoop
on the REAL MADRID 2009 Signning Strategy & the second on the
new Real Madrid signning objective.
















According to "As", REAL MADRID will not make any signnings
in the January 2009 Winter market & will instead go all out for
CRISTIANO RONALDO. If the Manchester United star becomes
again a difficult affair, the substitute star will be 20 year old OLY.
DE LYON forward BENZEMA.

Real will also go all out for a class winger - area they are short at this
moment. The names on the list are both from BAYERN MUNICH:
RIBERY &/or SCHWEINSTEIGER.

Real Madrid are currently working right at this moment to secure things
as tight as possible. Obviously, learning from past experiences.














With all this "Marca" announce that REAL MADRID will sign in the
January 2009 Winter market & they coincide with "As" that it will
be a winger although differ in names. The name is Russian DZAGOER
(above) from CSKA MOSCOW who precisely scored 2 goals yesterday
to sink Deportivo in their Uefa Cup match. Here is a clip of the Russian
in action:



Which paper is right? How cares, all for the love of Real Madrid &
the selling of papers. Stay tuned! Tweet

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UEFA CUP GROUP QUALIFIERS 2008/09

Three Spanish teams in action tonight in the UEFA CUP Group
qualifying stage with varied results.


















SEVILLA FC played STUTTGART & settled things in two minutes
that gave them the 2-0 victory in Group C. The goals came in the 15th
min via ROMARIC ( above)...

















& in the 16th min via RENATO (above); it was enough.

The Germans fought hard & hit the post in the 66 th min via Gomez,
but Sevilla took the points.

RACING lost by the minimum 1-0 away to TWENTE in its Group A
clash in which DENNEBOOM ( above) scored his teams only goal in
the 5th min.

Finally DEPORTIVO A CORUÑA was given a beating away by
CSKA MOSCOW 3-0 in it´s Group H match. The man of the match

was DZAGOER (above) who scored twice - 8th & 11th min -, along

with VAGNER LOVE in the 61st min.

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REAL MADRID : DOUGLAS COSTA IS THE MAN

"Of course, I would want to play in Real Madrid". These are the
words of young Brazilian & GREMIO midfielder DOUGLAS COSTA
to Spanish daily "Marca".














REAL MADRID, along with Manchester United, are after the services of
this promising player. Gremio does´nt mind transfering but will ask
that the player stay until Junio 2009 because Gremio is leading its
local League & are in Copa Libertadores. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile here is Costa in action:

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP C & D QUALIFIERS 2008/09: FC BARCELONA WINS & ATLETICO SAVES THE DAY

FC BARCELONA wished the top spot of Group C & did so in grand
style steamrolling BASILEA 5-0. The goals came all in 48 mins starting
with MESSI (3rd m), BUSQUETS ( 14th m), BOJAN ( 21st & 48th m)
& XAVI ( 48th min).

This sould secure Barça qualification for the next stage of Champions &
give the side a great moral boost to face the local League with confidence
& faith in its game.

Nice to see young Bojan back in the line-up & watch his two goals.
























Great atmosphere without incident at the ATLETICO DE MADRID
vs LIVERPOOL FC Group D clash which ended in a 1- 1 draw.

Liverpool scored first via KEANE in the 13th min in a goal that looked

offside. This distracted the Spaniards as past "phantoms" of defeat
hoovered through their heads. So much so, that Atletico Coach Aguirre

was playing tonight his future, which added to the local tension.

However, Atletico pulled out it´s true grit & turned on the play in the 2ºhalf
with a disallowed goal from Maniche & Simao hitting the post in the 57thmin.
Then the Portugues International - SIMAO - managed to bring down the
stadium when he equalized with his goal in the 83rd min.

Shared points & back to Anfield to see who finally leads this Group.

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VALENCIA CF WANTS TO TIE UP NICOLA KALINIC

VALENCIA CF has sent its´Football Director Fernando Gomez
to Split (Croatia) to attempt tie up HAJDUK SPLIT 20 year old
International forward NICOLA KALINIC (below).

Valencia is said to have offered 7M€ for Kalinic who has already
scored 10 goals in 11 games. Some local media have already tagged

the player the "new Suker".

News from Spanish daily "As" say that Hajduk will ask for more money

& the negotiations will be difficult. Apparently, more European Clubs

are intrested as well.

*Thanks to "Mundo Deportivo" for the Club header

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP H & E QUALIFIERS 2008: REAL MADRID LOSE & VILLAREAL WIN

REAL MADRID again lost at Turin against a disciplined & well
organized JUVENTUS that rocked the Spaniards early with a goal
& displaced them again in the early 2ºhalf to scored their 2º goal.
Real Madrid reacted late & was the owner of the 2ºhalf with a goal,
post & near misses, but it was too late. The final score was 2-1 to
put the Italians leaders of Group H.
















Real Madrid lost this match because of a poor strategy - 4, 3,3
against Juventus 4,4,2 that overran the Spaniards in the midfield
to allow DEL PIERO to score in the 5th min a grand goal.

Thanks Rafa.

However, there was more bad decisions from the start. Coach
Schuster favoured Raul over Robben & Gago over De La Red, & in
SFS opinion, neither Raul nor Gago were the correct men for this type
of game.

















Madrid struggled all the 1ºst half, Juventus started the 2ºhalf as
the beginning of the match, they overran again Real & scored early
via AMAURI (above) in the 48th min.

Then Coach Schuster did want was not done from the start, put on
ROBBEN who revolutionized the Spaniards & gave them options, the
wings & chances. Opportunities that came when VAN NISTELROOY
headed in a goal for Madrid in the 66th min to give them hopes of
drawing. Real dominated, hit the post & continued attacking, but the
Italians did what they do best & controlled the game by shutting the
defense & the door to Real Madrid. Too late, bad starting line up for
Madrid & great play from Juventus!















The other game saw VILLAREAL pass a tough time up to the
2ºhalf against AALBORG, to take control in the 2ºhalf to finally
win well 6-3.

















Aalborg got ahead first in the 19th min via SAGENOWSKI, to see
ROSSI for Villareal draw in the 28th min & get ahead in the 33rd
via CAPDEVILA. But Aalborg were in a fighting mood & drew via
ENEVOLDESEN in the 36th min.

However, Aalborg lost steam in the 2ºhalf & saw Villareal forward
LLORENTE grab a HAT-TRICK ( 67th, 70th & 84th min) along
with PIRES in the 79th.

An own goal by Villareal defender CAPDEVILA gave Aalborg its
3ºrd goal, to see the game end 6-3.

















Villareal secures its Group E qualifying place & should fly through
comfortably from now on into the next stages. Tweet

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KAKA ENDORSES DAVID VILLA FOR "GOLDEN BALL AWARD"

Last years "France Football Golden Ball" winner Brazilian &
AC MILAN midfielder KAKA, has publically gone on record to
give his "thumbs up" & support to Spanish International &
VALENCIA CF forward DAVID VILLA for this years prize.

















Kaka considers that David Villa should be in the Top 5 places, if
not, at least fighting for the 2009 "Golden Ball". He considers Villa as
vital for the Spanish National Team & a factor in its Euro 2008 title,
plus Villa´s current goal scoring streak is very impressive.

However, Villa is competing with 6 other Spaniards: Torres, Xavi, Senna,
Ramos, Casillas & Cesc, & not to mention the hot favourites Cristiano
Ronaldo & Lionel Messi. Stiff opposition who have won more titles & have
done more than Villa, even though he has the endorsement of a great
player like Kaka as support. Tweet

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA ROUND 7 - 2008/09 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

Great Sunday of Spanish Football with Round 7 continuing & giving
plenty of goals to the fans.















VALENCIA CF continues its merry way & remains the classification
leader after winning NUMANCIA 4-0. DAVID VILLA (above) scored
twice (3min & 88min) to take his personal tally to 8 goals from 7 games.
Along with Villa, MATA scored in the 72th min & VICENTE.
























VALLADOLID came back from death to grab a goal in the 91st min
from VICTOR to equalize the goal from RECREATIVO via RUBEN
in the 44th min



















RACING & DEPORTIVO played out a typical "dog day" match
with posts & missed chances that left it all in a 0-0 draw
























REAL BETIS finally won to ease their early season worries in a big
manner defeating MALLORCA 3-0. Betis scored early by rocking
Mallorca with a 1st min goal by DAMIA. Those were following by
PAVONE (above) in the 44thmin & EMAMA in the 84th min. Three
very valuable points for Betis.















REAL SPORTING battled a stiff OSASUNA under new coach
Camacho to pull out their second win with a 2-1 result. CARMELO
scored first in the 14th min to put Sporting ahead. EZQUERRO
would later equalize in the 14th min, too see later BILIC
put in the winner for Sporting in the 40th min. The 2ºhalf was
an open affair with chances but no goals. Osasuna remain last
on the league ladder!

MALAGA grabbed a very needed victory with it´s 2-1 win

over a complicated GETAFE. SOLDADO put Getafe ahead in

the 9th min to later hit the post, & see how BAHA in the 30th
min & DUDA in the 37th min put Malaga ahead & thus give
the final result.

FC BARCELONA keeps climbing positions & joins Real Madrid with

points with its tight 0-1 victory over a complicated ATHLETIC DE
BILBAO. Barça kept on the bench Pujoy, Messi, Xavi ...for rest &

battled with tooth & nail a messy Bilbao that frustrated play.

It was´nt until the 2ºhalf when HENRY controlled & placed a

magical ball into SAMUEL ETO´O´s path which he rifled into the

net in the 63rd min. That was enough, as Athletic tried hard to equalize

but failed in their envedour

ALMERIA are a very organized, disciplined & class side that at home
complicate the plans of any visiting team. Tonight was´nt an exception
as SEVILLA fought it out with its hard battled 0-1 victory. The winning goal
came in the 52th min thanks to ADRIANO. From then on, it was an end to
end game with chances for both sides, the balance went Sevilla´s way.

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