REAL SOCIEDAD QUALIFIES FOR THE SEMIS OF THE SPANISH CUP AFTER GAME SUSPENSION

We have the four remaining teams left in the Spanish Cup - Copa del Rey which will meet next week in semi-finals:

Atletico de Madrid - Real Madrid
Real Sociedad - FC Barcelona

Real Sociedad qualified for the Spanish Cup semis without playing their 2º leg return game against Racing de Santander. The players of Racing refused to play because their demand that the Club President Angel Lavin quit his position along with his Directives Team was not met. The Team Coach Paco Fernandez along with his players announced formerly to referee Gil Manzano 40 seconds after kick-off their decision & the game was suspended.

The Racing players have had no other choice than to take on this drastic decision after months of no salary payments & broken promises from Club President that they would soon be paid. The Club is in serious financial problems along with a fierce in-house political power struggle that has the historic Club in complete turmoil. The players are fully backed by the majority of the supporters & the people of Santander who also call that President Lavin & his team leave the Club immediately.

Sad state of affairs for Spanish Football, the historic Club of Racing de Santander & the city of Santander.

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SPANISH CUP - KINGS CUP - COPA DEL REY GAMES RESULTS

Spanish Cup - Copa del Rey - 2º leg return leg tonight with two matches scheduled. Here are the final results - scores with all the goalscorers.

The 1º st leg match finished in a 1 - 1 draw. Tonight Almeria hosted Racing de Santander & were knocked out of the Copa del Rey after losing 0 - 2. Racing is a lower Division Club which is technically "bankrupt" & they pulled off a big surprise to their merit.

Racing had a clear strategy, defend in the first half & wait for their chance with a more tired Almeria. They managed to pull off their plan as the goals came in the 62nd min from Mariano & in the 79th min by Ruben Duran. Racing de Santander goes into the quarter finals of the Kings Cup with a final 1 - 3 aggregate.

The first leg match ended in a 1 - 1 draw. Atletico de Madrid eliminated Valencia CF from the Spanish Cup after winning 2 - 0. Perhaps Valencia deserved more as they did have their chances but as all season their problems surfaced with goalkeeping-defensive mistakes & ineffective upfront.

Atletico de Madrid is a "tough nut to crack" & are well tuned this season. Super well organized in defence with an extraordinary goalkeeper in Courtois who once again made a couple of very important & decisive saves.

Atletico de Madrid gave new incorporation Sosa a start & was average which is excepted as he has to adapt. Diego Costa was powerful but is going through a minor dry spell which calls our attention. The goals came via a header from defender Godin in the 51st min & from  Raul Garcia in the 89th min that "killed" things. Special mention to Arda Turan who is in a current "state of grace" with his Football.

Atletico de Madrid wins the tie 3 - 1 on aggregate & advances into the quarter finals of the Kings Cup.

Tomorrow more games of the Spanish Cup scheduled.

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SEGIO CANALES MAY GO ON LOAN TO RACING DE SANTANDER IN WINTER MARKET

According to Spanish radio “Onda Cero”, young REAL MADRID & Spanish U-21 International player SERGIO CANALES may see himself back at his old Club Racing de Santander in the Winter Market period. The operation would be a loan & thus guarantee that Canales receives playing time which is something that he is not achieving at this moment with Real Madrid.

Soccer player Sergio Caneles with Real Madrid

German International Mesut Ozil has made himself with a permanent spot in the Real Madrid midfield & it is expected that Brazilian star KAKA will be fully recovered in January to also fight for the same playing position. These two names make it difficult for young Canales to have a regular run & thus Real Madrid prefer him to go on loan to Racing where he would play each match & keep his Football progression in line.

Stay tuned. Tweet

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SERGIO CANALES | VIDEO GOAL VILLAREAL SEVILLA FC | NEW REAL MADRID SIGNING

Source: Sp Ftball Sports Blog /
New Real Madrid signing SERGIO CANALES currently still with Racing de Santander, scored a brilliant goal yesterday against Villareal. The young man is turning out to be some kind of fans sensation & is causing mania within the female sector of the Football - Soccer - audience.

Here is a video of the young man with yesterdays goal & others included:

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REAL MADRID MAKES OFFICIAL THE SIGNING OF SERGIO CANALES

REAL MADRID has communicated via its Web that the signing of 19
year old RACING DE SANTANDER "Football Wonderkid" SERGIO
CANALES is now official.
(photo:Sergio Canales_as.com)























The youngster signs a contract for 6 years & will do the pre-season with
Real Madrid next season before returning on loan once again to Racing
for another year so as to continue with his evolution. Real Madrid will
pay Racing 5M€ in transfer fee. Tweet

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REAL MADRID: SPANISH FOOTBALL "WONDER KID" SERGIO CANALES SAYS YES

The hot news today is that young 17 year old Spanish Football
sensation & RACING DE SANTANDER player SERGIO CANALES has
given his OK to sign with REAL MADRID. The father of the player
– also his representative - travelled to England to hear offers from
Chelsea FC, Manchester City & Arsenal, plus had offers from
Bayern Munich , FC Barcelona & Valencia CF on his table to
consider. This afternoon Real Madrid General Manager Jorge Valdano
has come to an agreement with the father of Sergio Canales for a 5
year contract.

The final piece of this story will continue next week as both Real
Madrid & Racing will sit down to set the transfer figure. The
speculated transfer price is rumoured to hover around the 6M€
mark, plus Real Madrid could allow the player a further year (or
two) at Racing as a loan so that the young player can continue
with his development & Football evolution.

Here is Canales; uses both feet & the skill work isn’t bad at all:
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VIDEO: RACING DE SANTANDER 5 - ATLETICO DE MADRID 1

This will be good to watch, the disaster at Santander yesterday pratically
sinks any hope of finishing in Champions League positions for Atletico de
Madrid. A terrible defence, no idea of play at all that will lead to some
serious changes that will no doubt be coming up in the future at the Club,
they have too!



A stiff six Rounds left for Atletico of this seasons Spanish League. The new
frustration & anxiety, not to mention the fanbase backlash will not do any
good at all for the team in the coming weeks. Tweet

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SPANISH CUP 2008/2009 2º LEG: VALENCIA CF - RACING DE SANTANDER. THE COLSA GOAL

The 2º leg SPANISH CUP clash played yesterday between VALENCIA
& RACING was a grand spectacule with the former winning in extra
time 3-1 & thus qualifying for the Q/Finals. YOU CAN READ ALL THE
DETAILS OF YESTERDAYS SPANISH CUP RESULTS ON THE
BELOW POST

However, the highlight was this increible goal scored by Santander
midfielder COLSA to equalize after Valencia got ahead early on in the
1ºhalf . Pity this effort was´nt enough for his team to qualify. Here is the
video:


Magic! Did you notice the brilliant touch from Munitis to set up Colsa? Tweet

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UEFA CUP 2008/09 QUALIFIERS: 4 SPANISH TEAMS BEGIN THE LONG ROAD

The long road of the UEFA Cup kicked off tonight with 4 Spanish
teams in action. Many consider the Uefa Cup more difficult & much
more unpredictable than the Champions League. The 1ºpart set up of
the Uefa Cup is a home & away knock out leg which then turns
into a Group ( Champions League format) stage to see the top teams
of each group later fight it out till the final. It is basically a tooth-grinder
of a competition which takes the punch out of most teams.

















The first team to feel the true nature of Uefa is DEPORTIVO who went
down away 2-0 to Norweign side BRANN BERGEN. The goals come
in the 20th min via a penalty that BJARNASSON converted & in the
36th min via SOLLI.

Bergen deserved the win as they were superior & will make the return
leg a must win game ( & with 3 goals) affair for Deportivo who face an
uphill battle.
























SEVILLA FC did the job as was expected with a 2-0 victory at
home against SALZBURG. Young CAPEL ( above) scored the first
goal for Sevilla in the 6th min. From here Salzburg stood firm until
the 90th min when CHEVANTON scored Sevilla FC second goal.

In theory, Sevilla should´nt have problems for the return leg.
























RACING with all the illusion in the world won an even affair against
HONKA ESPOO by the narrow margen of 1-0. The goal come in a
moment of a lapse of concentration from Honka as the 2º half had
just started. In fact, in the 46th min PEREIRA got in & scored Racing
only & winning goal.

Racing has the advantage for the return leg, but needs to be cautious
as it is not at all in the bag.
























VALENCIA flew to the Portugues Islands of Madeira to meet
MARITIMO, a good Portugues side with class. Valencia won 0-1
thanks to then 12th min fabulous goal from MORIENTES (above).
However, Maritimo was not daunted & put Valencia at times against
the ropes. So much so, that in the 2º half they hit the post twice & nearly
equalized in the last minute, but Valencia too missed their chances
( Villa missed a beauty) throughout the game to have the game turn to
a seesaw affair for most of the time.

Good win for Valencia, they escape from a tough ground & from a very
good Maritimo team. The 2º leg is going to be a grand game. Tweet

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SPANISH CUP SEMI FINAL 2008: GETAFE 3 - RACING 1

Around 4,000 Racing de Santander fans travelled to Madrid to
cheer on their team against Getafe in the 2º semi-final 1º leg
match played tonight with GETAFE defeating RACING 3-1 &
virtually securing a place in the final of the SPANISH CUP. If they
do, it will be the 2ºyear in a row & remarkable achievement for
such a modest side.
























Getafe scored first in the 23rd min thanks to DE LA RED, as
seen above celebrating with his teammates.
























Then 4 mins later Racing equalized thanks to SMOLAREK
(pictured), to put his team back with a chance.
























Back the 2º half saw Getafe take control & they were rewarded in the
57th min with a goal by CASQUERO, that was followed by a 3ºrd in the
83rd min by MANU DEL MORAL.
Big advantage that should see Getafe go through to the final if nothing
"strange" happens in the 2º leg game. Tweet

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FC BARCELONA JOIN TOTTENHAM, LYON, REAL MADRID, LIVERPOOL, MAN UTD IN PUSH FOR GARAY

It´s the type of headline all young 21 year old footballer wishes, to have
the best clubs in Europe "fighting" to get your services.The RACING
DE SANTANDER Argentine defender GARAY (pictured) is being
thrown flowers by LYON, TOTTENHAM,REAL MADRID,
LIVERPOOL, MAN UTD & now FC BARCELONA has entered the
picture, according to radio "Cadena Ser" & daily "Sport". So much so,
that Barça directives are following the player & have made a 17M€ offer.













That offer is 3M€ short of his contract release clause, & to add a hurdle
Real Madrid has an agreement with Racing that Real has 1º option in any
transfer deal. But Lyon, may surprise everyone & pay the 20M€ & thus
taking the player directly. The other mentioned clubs have´nt given up as well,
specially Tottenham who have come in the picture with force.
So Fc Barcelona has competitors & it looks like an interesting battle ahead
for this talented defender who scores goals. Stay tuned!

Leave you with an interesting VIDEO on Garay done 10 months ago, worth
watching to know better the player.

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LYON OFFER 15M€ FOR RACING PLAYER GARAY

RACING DE SANTANDER 21 year old Argentine forward
EZEQUIEL GARAY ( pictured) is a very fine Football player, &
half of Europe knows it. So much so, the French team LYON has
put on the table 15M€ in order to convience the Spanish club to let
to young player fly over to France.














English Premier League club, TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR, tried
earlier with a 10M€ offer that was rejected & Real Madrid was
in there testing the waters as well.

What´s certain is that Garay is on his way for big things. Tweet

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