MESSI BEST FOOTBALL - SOCCER PLAYER EVER?

Its an impressive picture, Lionel Messi with 5 FIFA Golden Balls, the last won yesterday for season 2015. The interesting thought is that if the Argentinian avoids serious injury & maintains his form we could see 2 or 3 more Golden Balls added to his trophy shelf before he retires from Football, & that would be unbelievable (at this moment).

     

Lionel Messi the Best Football Player in the History of Football - Soccer? If Awards are the mark, Yes! However, as with everything context is of vital importance along with tastes & preferences, with some saying Alfredo Di Stefano was the Greatest because he played everywhere on the field & scored. While others will say Pele was the biggest & most brightest natural talent that ever played Football. 

I was not around to see either, but have seen Cruyff, Maradona, Van Basten, Ronaldinho, Romario, Zidane, Platini, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi. I am - we all are - privileged to see so many good & wonderful players co-existing in the last 30 - 40 years. 

Lets keep enjoying the Sport!

Tweet

Share

THREE SPANISH FOOTBALL PLAYERS IN TOP 100 WORLD CUP LIST

The English newspaper the "The Guardian" has elaborated & released its "List of Top 100 World Cup Football Players". Three Spanish Football Players are represented within the list:

• Xavi Hernandez Nº15
• Carles Pujol Nº64
• Andres Iniesta Nº65

The voting was done by 6 World Cup ex-players (Barnes, Khune, Matthaus, Oliseh, Smith y Zico), 20 journalists from "The Guardian" & 12 International journalists. The votes from the ex-players had greater weight than the rest.

List of Top 100 World Cup players:

 1. Pele   (3 World Titles in 4 World Cup appearances)
2. Maradona
3. Beckenbauer
4. Ronaldo
5. Zidane
6. Cruyff
7. Matthaus
8. Müller
9. Garrincha
10. Platini
.../...  

15. Xavi
64. Puyol
65. Iniesta
Tweet

Share

REAL MADRID | TOP SIGNING-TRANSFERS IN THE HISTORY OF THE CLUB

Spanish Football Club Real Madrid is the most "Valuable Sports Club in the World" according to "Forbes". Part of that distinction comes due to their income generating power which also puts the Club in the highest positions. This allows Real Madrid the facility of signing the Worlds Best Football Players & if really demanded at prices that simply eliminates competition.

Thought I post today the "Top Real Madrid signings - transfers" in the History of the Club. Cristiano Ronaldo still remains in Nº1 position behind newly signed Gareth Bale. This last is said from the UK to have cost 101M€ which would place Bale as a "World Record" but from Spain & from Real Madrid the figure is 91M€. 

Here is the list:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo ( from Manchester United ) 94M€
2. Gareth Bale ( from Tottenham Hotspurs ) 91M€
3. Zidane ( from Juventus ) 75M€
4. Luis Figo ( from FC Barcelona ) 71M€
5. Kaka ( from AC Milan ) 65M€
6. Ronaldo Nazario ( from Inter Milan ) 45M€
7. Illaramendi ( from Real Sociedad ) 39M€
8. Arjen Robben ( from Chelsea FC ) 36M€
9. David Beckham ( from Manchester United ) 35M€
   Xabi Alonso ( from Liverpool FC ) 35M€
   Karim Benzema ( From Lyon ) 35M€€

Add up the figures & just wonder on the huge amounts of money the Club moves & Football around the World in general.

Tweet

Share

SPANISH DEFENDER GOIKOETXEA NAMED "TOUGHEST DEFENDER IN FOOTBALL HISTORY"

German magazine "11 Freunde" has given its list of  "The Toughest Defenders in Football History" with Spanish International & Athletic Club Bilbao defender Andoni Goikoetxea taking the Nº 1 position. The only modern - contemporary - player in the list is Real Madrid defender Pepe with the Nº 6 spot & lastly Spanish International & Real Madrid defender José Camacho is given the N º 14 position.

Andoni Goikoetxea won his "fame" with two famous tackles that nearly ended the careers of Diego Armando Maradona & Bernd Schuster. From the former he won - perhaps harshly - the nickname of  "The Butcher of Bilbao" which has hang over his head & image ever since. Here is the infamous video & tackle on Maradona:



Real Madrid defender Pepe has won his fame with the "freak-out" tackle & "head-kicking" of Getafe player Casquero & rest of Getafe players. Here is the video of that impacting incident:



There are other well known names on the list of the "Toughest Defenders" that also earned their reputation & not with "sweet talk".

Here is the full list of player as given by "11 Freunde":

1. Andoni Goikoetxea (Atletic Club Bilbao)
2. Claudio Gentile. 
3. Uli Borowka. 
4. Vinnie Jones. 
5. Nobby Stiles. 
6. Pepe.(Real Madrid CF)
7. Graeme Souness. 
8. Roy Keane. 
9. Norman Hunter. 
10. Helmut Rahner. 

... 14. Camacho (Real Madrid CF).

Tweet

Share

WORLD SOCCER | TOP 10 HISTORICAL TRANSFERS - SIGNINGS

This is a "trivial pursuit" question: what are the Top 10 transfer signings in the History of World Football to date? I say to date because until the 31st of August 2013 the signing season is open & we may see surprises.

Spanish Sports paper "Marca" has done a write up that I think will interest the Spanish Football Sports Blog readers & global visitors.

The Nº 1 World Football Historical transfer signing is Cristiano Ronaldo when Real Madrid paid 96M€ to Manchester United. In fact Real Madrid has two more players in the top 5 with Zidane when they paid Juventus 69M€ & Kaka when Real Madrid paid AC Milan 65M€. Uruguayan Cavani jumps straight into the Nº 5 position with this weeks transfer from Napoles to Paris St Germain for 64M€.

Real Madrid may get another player in this elite list if they finally manage to convince Tottenham Hotspurs to sell Gareth Bale. The figure being speculated is between 80-100M€ which if the latter would put Bale ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Below is the list of the Top 10 transfer signings in World Football - till now.

Will we see new additions this summer to the above list? Stay tuned!

Tweet

Share

THE GREATEST 11 PLAYERS - COACH OF ALL TIME | WORLD SOCCER

Football Magazine "World Soccer" has asked the question, which is the "Best XI" of all time & the "Best Coach" ? To get an answer, the magazine, asked all its journalist correspondents  around the globe. The answers & voting were varied but there was overall consensus that gave the following players & Coach.

Yashin; Cafú, Bobby Moore, Beckenbauer, Maldini; Zidane, Cruyff, Di Stéfano, Maradona; Pelé & Messi.

Coach: Alex Ferguson.

Fabulous & awesome names indeed. I personally miss George Best ( Manchester United ) but this is my opinion. The only player actively playing Soccer professionally is Lionel Messi. 

You can see all the names voted with the Magazine. 

Tweet

Share

WORLD SOCCER | SPAIN WORLD RECORD AS DEFEATED IN OFFICIAL FOOTBALL MATCHES

An important current of International Football observers, Sports media & ex-Footballers are going on the record claiming the the current Spanish Football Team is the "Greatest National Football Team" of all time. Huge acclaim & honour as those some commentators insist that Spain is better than the 1970 Brazil squad of Pele & the 1974 Dutch squad of Cruyff. The back to back European Championships of 2008 & 2012 & the in between FIFA World Cup are solid arguments that give faith to the Spanish dominance of World Football since 2008.

Said this there is more evidence & arguments to the idea that this Spanish Football Team is the "Greatest of all History". The last time the Spanish Football National Team lost in an official match was against Switzerland in the opening Group match of the FIFA World Cup the 16th of June 2010. From here onwards Spain has been undefeated in official games.

With yesterdays 3-0 victory over Nigeria in the FIFA Confederations Cup, Spain notched up its 28th straight official match undefeated ( 24 victories & 4 draws)  & in the process gained a new "World Record". Spain surpassed the last record holder France which had 27 games undefeated which they achieved from 1994 to 1999. The current third placed World Record holder is Argentina with 26 games undefeated which they managed between the years 1945 - 1956.

There is one fact that is definitely undisputed, that we are all witnessing an extraordinary & perhaps never again repeatable generation of Spanish Footballers. This encourages me to advise everyone to keep watching & just enjoy this team for it can´t last forever. If Spain can win this edition of the Confederations Cup it would be another milestone & if on top of this they can once again manage to win the 2014 World Cup it would indeed be historical. These last two are very difficult more so the latter. 

Tweet

Share

SFS FLASHBACKS | MANCHESTER UTD 4 - REAL MADRID 3 | YEAR 2003

If tonight´s Champions League 2º leg return match between Manchester United & Real Madrid CF at "Old Trafford" looks anything like the 23rd of April 2003 match between these two giants of World Football, we will be indeed blessed.

That night in 2003 World Football fans witnessed a game that still remains clear in the mind & is still talked about with footy mates as Brazilian Ronaldo scored a "hat-trick" to be applauded by the local fans, while Manchester United majestically came back each time to eventually win 4 - 3. However, the English Club was eliminated on aggregate ( 5 - 6 ) as Real Madrid won at home in the first leg 3 - 1.

Below is a video,  a "flash-back" in time. We see plenty of known names with some still with their baby faces. Also we see some "galacticos" like Roberto Carlos, Figo, Zidane & of course Ronaldo. Later David Beckham was to leave Manchester United for Real Madrid & become the other "galactico".

Nice video to warm up the pre-match atmosphere for tonight's big European Football clash that has basically eclipsed the rest of the scheduled games. Good luck to both teams.

Tweet

Share

THE MANCHESTER UNITED - REAL MADRID CONNECTION

REAL MADRID & English Football giant MANCHESTER UNITED meet again this Wednesday night at the "Santiago Bernabeu Stadium" ( Madrid ) for the 1º leg last 16 Champions League clash. The English Press have already tagged the game as "the match of the year".

The label is very close to the truth, every time these two Clubs meet the spectacle & the emotions are assured. 

Yet the Clubs have more in common than just emotional & historical Football games & results. They also have a history of sharing players, an interesting list of players that have either played at Manchester United & gone to Real Madrid, & some vice versa. Check these names:


DAVID BECKHAM: 11 seasons as red, 4 as white: 35 M€ transfer fee

VAN NISTELROOY: 5 seasons as red, 4 as white: 15 M€

CRISTIANO RONALDO: 6 seasons as red, 4 as white: 94 M€

GABRIEL HEINZE: 3 seasons as red, 2 as white : 12€ millones.

MICHAEL OWEN: 1 season as white, 3  as red

LAURIE CUNNINGHAM: 3 seasons white. Loaned to United. 5 games

United sells & Real Madrid buys: 160 M€ for Beckham, Van Nistelrooy, Heinze & Cristiano Ronaldo.

As we can see both Clubs share more than just playing Football games

Tweet

Share

EURO 2012 FINAL | SPAIN 4 - ITALY 0 | SPAIN MAKES FOOTBALL HISTORY WINING EURO TITLE

SPAIN has made Football History after defending & winning ( retaining ) the 2012 EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP 4 - 0 against ITALY in the Final.Never before has a team (nation) won the "triple crown" : Euro 2008- Fifa World Cup 2010 & now Euro 2012. The below team pictured as the starting 11 has managed to shut many mouths - happily mine as well - throwing into the rubbish bin criticisms about internal disunity between Real Madrid & Barça players, the use of the "false forward" tactic, why Torres & that the team had lost its spark. 

Starting 11 vs Italy : Euro 2012 Final

The Italian team will feel upset about two unlucky events that obviously influenced in the result in some way. The early injury to defender Chiellini in the first half cahnged the tactical set-up & the muscle injury to Motta that forced him off when Italy had done their 3 substitutes already & thus left Italy down to 10 men most of the second half. But these unfortunate events are part of Football & takes nothing away from the fact that Spain are deserved & worthy winners as they clearly dominated the match & controlled things well when Italy played well. Spain may claim that a penalty to their favour was´nt called but now with the title this all seems irrelevant.

David Silva

Spain once again put in a repeat 11 as with Italy in the opener of the Group C game & with the now famous "false forward" in Cesc Fabregas. It was Cesc that made a fabulous run up to the line to find the head of DAVID SILVA in the 14th min for the opener.

Italy then attacked & gave Spain their hardest moments of hard work. It was 20 minutes of Italian pressure that thankfully for Spain had goalkeeper IKER CASILLAS who stopped everything & claimed without any doubt the "Best in the World Goalkeeper" status. Some even may claim, & rightly, the perhaps it is time that the FIFA World Player Award be given to a goalkeeper & Iker Casillas should be that player. 

Jordi Alba

Spain recomposed themselves & managed a psychological 40th min second goal when defender JORDI ALBA scored. The man has been a revelation & has claimed his place in European Football as possibly the best right-back at this moment. Spain finds a perfect substitute for many years to come after Capdevila left his spot.

The second half saw Italian make some changes with Di Natalie in for Cassano & Motta in for Monteolivo in an attempt to make a comeback. The big blow was the injury to Motta that forced him off & left Italy down to 10 men. It was basically all over at this point as Spain took over the ball totally & ran Italy into the ground. Spain brought on fresh feet in Pedro & FERNANDO TORRES who got the 3rd for Spain in the 84th min.
By the way, the heavily criticised Torres ( myself included as a critic ) wins the "Euro 2012 Top Goalscorer" over Barotteli with his 3 goals + assist of goal. Now that´s how one shuts the mouth of the critics...ouch!

Fernando Torres

Spanish Coach Del Bosque than gave JUAN MATA a run & in the 88th min Torres unselfishly passed to Mata in the goal square who scored the fourth goal.

Mata - Torres

Historical & a team of 23 players that now sit in the "Football Olympus" as National heroes. Unique as we may never see this again in our lifetime, although there is a high percentage that Spain & these players - with a new flow of players - may continue this glory run onto the FIFA Brazil 2014 World Cup. But that is far away for now & we must enjoy the here & now.

Lastly, as for Italy, they should go home with their heads high & proud. They have changed their Football philosophy from defending to wanting the ball & practising attacking Football. I have no doubt that they will be back soon to give teams a hard time &, why not, give Spain a run for their money again in the future.

Congratulations to the Spanish Football Team, thanks!

Tweet

Share

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM 1986 - 2011 TEAM PHOTOS

Though I post up some SPANISH FOOTBALL NATIONAL TEAM photos for all the Spanish Football Sports readers & fans. Below are various team pics spanning from 1986 - 2011 on how the Spanish National Team has evolved & its "key" members have chanced.

Great to see some Spanish Football legends when players...now Club directives, National Team Coaches, Club Coaches, TV announcers & retired from active sport.

Spain 1986 (Mexico World Cup)

Spain 2004

Spain 2006

Spain 2010

Spain 2011

Tweet

Share

SFS FLASHBACKS | 15 YEARS AGO | THE "FAMOUS" RONALDO GOAL

Fifteen (15) years ago the below occurred in the Spanish Football League when FC Barcelona played away Santiago de Compostela.



Spectacular goal from the Brazilian star RONALDO , bit more younger & slimmer, that has comeback to all our memories after 15 years. Great player, one of the best Nº9s in Football History.

Tweet

Share

SPANISH FOOTBALL FLASHBACK | BIGGEST HISTORICAL LOCAL DEFEAT

SPAIN plays SCOTLAND tonight in their last Group I qualifying Euro 2012 match. The home team are the current World Champions, have already assured top spot  & are looking to equal Holland & France in their 14th straight wins official games record. One may think beforehand that even though Scotland is playing for the second place ( against the Czech Rep)  in the Group that Spain are the "hot favourites".

That may well be correct for tonight, but SCOTLAND has a record over SPAIN which was created back in 1963. Spain´s biggest historical home defeat was 2 - 6 against Scotland lead by the great Denis Law. 

Spain 1963

The Spanish Football National Team 1963:
Standing: Vicente, Mingorance, Reija, Koldo Aguirre, Rivilla & Glaría.
Bottom:  Amancio, Adelardo, Veloso, Guillot & Lapetra


So there is a call from the past for Scotland. Independent to whether the visitors can win or not tonight, we will be assured a top match. 

Tweet

Share

SPANISH FOOTBALL | REAL MADRID - FC BARCELONA - MOURINHO - DESTRUCTION - BUSINESS - BABOONS

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:


Mourinho 'destroying Spanish football', says Barcelona's Gerard Piqué


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.
 

Tweet

Share

SPANISH FOOTBALL FLASHBACK | THE MIGHTY ATHLETIC DE BILBAO TEAM SEASON 1983 - 84 | SPANISH LEAGUE - CUP WINNERS

spanish football sports
Great reception from the REAL SOCIEDAD fans to the post here on the the Clubs 1980 - 1981 Spanish Football League title. The "Basque Region" domination of Spanish Football would continue seasons later but this time with rival ATHLETIC DE BILBAO winning the Spanish League title in season 1982 - 83 & again in season 1983-84 their last with the added glory of also winning the Spanish Cup against FC Barcelona 1 - 0 in a match with goal from Argote & that was marked by a violent finish with all in brawl & Maradona at the center.

A marvellous Bilbao team lead by Coach Javier Clemente & with great players like Andoni Zubizarreta (later Barça goalie) , Urkiaga, Liceranzu, Goikoetxea, Núñez, Patxi Salinas, De Andrés, Urtubi, Dani, Endika (Sarabia), y Argote (Gallego).

Here is a great video of the "historical double" with Bilbao winning 2 - 1 Valencia to place themselves close to the Spanish League title, which they sealed in their last League match "paradoxically" defeating rival Real Sociedad 2 - 1,  & lastly highlights of the 1- 0 Spanish Cup win over FC Barcelona. Also worth staying to the end of the video to see the the images of the celebrations at Bilbao.



Tweet

Share

SPANISH FOOTBALL FLASHBACK | REAL SOCIEDAD WIN THEIR FIRST LEAGUE TITLE SEASON 1980 - 81

SPANISH FOOTBALL - SOCCER has been traditionally dominanted by Real Madrid & FC Barcelona, but there has been seasons ( plenty ) were the two Club dominantion has been broken & the impact so outstanding that they stay burnt in the the memory of local  Football History.

Spanish Football Sports would like to dedicate a FLASHBACK post to season 1980 - 81 & remember the historical REAL SOCIEDAD team that won the Spanish Football League title in a dramatic & historical fashion in the very last second. 


Here is the run down to put things into context. Real Madrid & Real Sociedad had chances to win the League Title in the very last round. Real Madrid needed to win their last match at Valladolid, which they did 1 - 3, while Real Sociedad only needed a point ( a draw) for the title.

While Real Madrid waited at Valladolid after winning 1 - 3 their game, news via the radio gave the score at Sporting de Gijon 2 - 1 with Sociedad losing in the 90th min. The Real Madrid players thought they had won the Spanish League Title & celebrated at the Valladolid ground. But in extra-time at Gijon with the home side 2 -1 up, Real Sociedad player ZAMORA scored the equalizer ( 2 - 2 ) in the LAST SECOND, thus giving them the Spanish Title for the first time in the Clubs history. Real Madrid back at Valladolid celebrating could not believe it. Watch this must see VIDEO with the first part observing how Real Madrid win ( in blue) & later how Real Sociedad pull off the miracle:



Amazing, & Spanish Football history worthy of a Flashback.


Real Sociedad would again win the Spanish Football League Title season 1981 - 1982, making it back - to - back Liga titles & putting the Real Sociedad squad in the Olympus of Club memories eternally.


Tweet

Share

REAL MADRID CF | WHO WILL SCORE THE 700TH GOAL IN EUROPEAN CUP - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ?

Here is some trivia that has come to my attention in reference to REAL MADRID CF & European Football (Champions League) participation. The Spanish Club is just 1º goal away from reaching 700 goals scored in the European Cup (Champions League) competition. They are the highest scoring team in its history with currently 699 goals, with the second far behind being Bayern Munich with 453 goals, followed by Manchester United with 416 goals & FC Barcelona with 403 goals.

Di Stefano scores Real Madrid 100th European Cup goal against Barcelona

The 1^st ever goal was in 1955 scored by Miguel Muñoz

100^th goal scored by Alfredo Di Stefano season 1959 – 60

200^th goal scored by Ferenc Puskas 1965

300^th goal scored by Jansen 1978

400^th goal scored by Losada 1990

500^th goal scored by Guti  2000

600^th goal scored by David Beckham 2003

David Beckham is the player who scored the 600th 
European Cup goal for Real Madrid

700^th goal scored by ?

Tweet

Share

REAL MADRID | IKER CASILLAS ENTERS TOP 10 ALL TIME PLAYING LIST

Here is an interesting fact concerning REAL MADRID & their Spanish International goalkeeper IKER CASILLAS. The 29 year old is not only considered to be currently the “Best Goalkeeper in the World” but has entered the Top 10 all time historical list of names with most games played at Real Madrid. If things keep going as they are currently, Iker Casillas could overtake 8th placed name Pirri this same season.


Taking into account that the “sporting life” of Goalkeepers can reach beyond the + 35 years of age, Casillas may be able to reach the incredible figure reach by Manuel Sanchis with 712 games, if he can maintain his high level & avoid serious injury.

Iker Casillas for Real Madrid CF

Below is the Top 10 REAL MADRID most games played names:


Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo: 712 games
Raúl González: 655
Santillana: 643
Francisco Gento: 605
Fernando Hierro: 598
José Antonio Camacho: 577
Míchel: 560
Pirri: 559
Roberto Carlos: 527
Iker Casillas: 527 Tweet

Share

SPANISH FOOTBALL HISTORY | FC BARCELONA CLOSES IN ON REAL MADRID IN OVERALL TITLES

bSpanish Sports daily “Marca” makes an interesting observation today in its online edition; that FC BARECLONA is close to overtaking REAL MADRID in overall historical titles. With yesterdays Spanish Super Cup title FC Barcelona has 70 historical total titles as compared with 72 that belong to Real Madrid.

Here below is a very good descriptive diagram taken from the mentioned source that depicts perfectly the situation. As you can see the reign of Real Madrid over SPANISH FOOTBALL may soon be a thing of the past if Barça continue to accumulate titles.

Tweet

Share

REAL MADRID CF - THE SPIRIT OF 1960

Real Madrid 1960 Team: Standing left - right: Domínguez, Marquitos, Santamaría, Pachín, Vidal y Zárraga; Below left - right: Canario, Del Sol, Di Stéfano, Puskas y Gento with the 5th straight European Cup

Tomorrow REAL MADRID CF will attempt to turn around a very difficult CHAMPIONS LEAGUE return tie against French team OLYMPIQUE LYON. The French won the home leg 1-0 & Madrid has to make sure that the visitors do not score & they win by at least 2 goals. This feat is not beyond the Spanish side that if anything has plenty of fire power upfront as the team is currently the highest goal scoring side in Europe.

To help serve them as an example, this year is the 50th anniversary of another great goal scoring REAL MADRID team which is legendary as the date 18th of May coincides with the European Cup match the many consider the “Greatest of all European Cup matches”. This date 50 years ago Real Madrid defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 in the Final to secured its 5th straight European Cup title.

Although this current Real Madrid team will have to go a long way to even get relatively close to the 1960 side they can take a leaf out of their book to find inspiration, the motivation & the winning spirit to get the job done tomorrow against Lyon. Let’s think that the spirit of the magnificent & possibly unrepeatable 1960 Real Madrid team will hover over the “Santiago Bernabeu Stadium” for the good of Spanish Football in its quest to reaffirm the local competition as the “Best League in the World”. Good luck!

Here is the VIDEO of the Real Madrid 7 – Eintracht Frankfurt 3 1960 Final …


Tweet

Share