UEFA has handed in their "IDEAL BEST 11 TEAM" for this season 2010-2011 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE . The list is dominated by Manchester United & FC Barcelona players, as one would expect, plus two from Real Madrid & representatives from Shakthar & Tottenham.
But the notable surprise is the absence of Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, whose place has been give to veteran Spanish Football player, ex - Real Madrid & now Schalke 04 forward RAUL.
Spanish FootballPlayerRAULnow with Schalke 04
The internet voting, along with the opinion of the UEFA picked experts, have prized the following 11 players as the best in Champions League:
Van der Sar (Manchester United)
Srna (Shakthar) Pique (FC Barcelona) Vidic (Manchester United) Marcelo (Real Madrid) Özil (Real Madrid) Iniesta (FC Barcelona) Giggs (Manchester United) Bale (Tottenham Hotspurs) Messi (FC Barcelona) Raul (Schalke 04)
One of the greats of SPANISH FOOTBALL & of REAL MADRID still very active at German Club SCHALKE 04, RAUL GONZALEZ BLANCO, has giving a great interview to English paper "The Guradian" as part of the build up to the semi final Champions League clash against Manchester United next Tuesday night.
Raul Gonzalez
I put the link below for you to visit & read the excellent interview by Football journalist Sid Lowe, where Raul talks about Schalke 04, German Football, Manchester United, team-mates, Iker Casillas, Real Madrid & Champions League...:
REAL MADRID visited TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS in their 2º leg CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Quarter Final match to win 0 - 1 ( 0 - 5 Agg) & secure their place in the Semi - Finals. Real Madrid will now meet FC BARCELONA the 27th of April in the "Santiago Bernabeu" Stadium in their 1º leg clash.
Cristiano Ronaldo scores against Tottenham
Tottenham did not win tonight but they showed a better performance that should allow them to leave the competition with their heads high. The main player to note from the English side - from both matches - is the impressive BALE who I feel will be on the agenda of many Top European Football Clubs next season.
The English side had some chances & would be not too happy with two situations that "may" have been penalty occasions, but CRISTIANO RONALDO scored the winner in the 50th min with a "power drive" that bent the hands of Tottenham goalkeeper Gomes to allow the ball into the net.
The bad news for Madrid was the yellow card to defender Carvalho who will miss the 1º st leg semi final clash against Barça.
Champions League 2011. Road to Wembley
The other "Spanish Football News" was Schalke 04 defeating current European Champions Inter Milan 2 - 1 with goal from ex Real Madrid Captian RAUL & the other for Schalke 04 thanks to his assist. .
Above is a table - courtesy of Marca - that shows the 4 European Teams left in Champions League & the semi - final dates. Tweet
You don´t have to be physically exercising your profession in Spain to get a post on Spanish Football Sports. Even less are the prerequisites if you happen to be a Spanish Football living legend like RAUL GONZALEZ BLANCO. The age old saying of "never keep a good man down" has never been so relevant as when applied to Raul & his new found "Football life" in German Football. After leaving his long time Club REAL MADRID virtually under the "has been" cloud, the player has rejuvenated at SCHALKE 04 helping the Club break records in Europe with one foot in the semi-finals of Champions League & Raul adding to his Champions League goalscoring record.
Raul - Schalke 04
Schalke 04 won 2 - 5 yesterday reigning Champions League title holders Inter Milan in the 1ºst leg of the Quarter-Final, with a goal from Raul included expanding his record numbers in Champions League. Here are some figures:
139 games played in European Cup (Champions League). Just one game from equalling all time record holder Paolo Maldini, a feat assured if he runs on the field for Schalke 04 in the 2º leg return match
70 goals scored in the European competition - Champions League. Current all time record holder
The man keeps going, playing & scoring...
A just think, he never won a the Golden Ball, with the closet being the year Michael Owen won just ahead of the Spaniard.
Spanish Football Players have historically been very timid in their majority in leaving home shores to play elsewhere in Europe, the language & the cultural difficulties have often been cited as importante causes.
That has all changed in the last few years with many Football players going & currently playing in the English Premier League, the Budesliga, Greece, Russia, Italy, Turkey...etc. The fact is that many are doing quiet well indeed for themselves & with their team becoming local stars & heroes.
So much is the adoration towards some Spanish born players overseas that "field chants - songs" have been created by the local fans to cheer them on, the most recent famous example being Liverpool with their ode to Fernando Torres with the local super-hit "Liverpool´s Nº9" before leaving to Chelsea.
Now we have another song getting on the "airwaves" from German team fans SCHALKE 04 & towards their Spanish foward , ex - Real Madrid Captain, RAUL GONZALEZ BLANCO. Spanish musician Rafael de Alcala & German Forster Volker have recorded "HOLA RAUL". Apparently it is a local hit!
The song is the least of the news, great to hear obviously, but not the main point. The caption is that RAUL has settled in nicely with his new Club, has won the hearts of the Schalke 04 fans & is again enjoying playing Football & added to this, is still creating milestones. Thats the big & good news, great story & happy fun song at that...
The EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE competition began again tonight with the last 16 team stage with Spanish Football Club VALENCIA CF hosting German Team SCHALKE 04 in their 1º leg match. The final result was a 1 - 1 draw after an intense, rapid & chances filled game of soccer.
Raul scores for Schalke 04
The first half was basically all Valencia CF dominanting & creating chances. One of those chances turned into goal when Aduriz crossed into the path of SOLDADO who scored in the 16th min. The Germans created a few chances but Valencia kept them under control.
The second half was another story as Valencia looked tired from their first half efforts & the defence looked wobbly. Valencia Goalkeeper Guaita was stopping more & more German shots until ex-Real Madrid player RAUL GONZALEZ did his "party-trick" in the box to leave his defender & score the equalizer. The goal left the stadium cold with disbelief as Schalke 04 had come back & taken control of proceeding. Things remained that same until the end & Schalke go home with a great result that forces Valencia to go all out in the 2º leg.
Staying with the "incredible" RAUL, he overtakes German legend Gerd Muller with his goal tonight as the "Hightest Goal scorer in European Competitions" with now 70 goals in 142 European games. Gerd Muller had the record until tonight with 69 goals in 77 games.
The current REAL MADRID Captain RAUL GONZALEZ BLANCO is expected back at the Club from holidays this Monday. However, everything points that RAUL will not be back to work but to announce the end of his many years at the Spanish Club & a move to end his career at German Club SCHALKE 04.
The 33 year old Spanish Football “legend” believes he still has a lot of Football left in him, does not wish to spend another season on the bench at Real & desires to keep playing at the highest level. Schalke 04 offers a new adventure & the possibility to play in the Champions League where he has a chance to break the all time “European tournaments” goal scoring record of German Gerd Muller (69) who is just 2 goals ahead of Raul who currently has 67 goals. The German Club is said to have offered Raul a two year contract.
It is reported that the Real Madrid Captain has already made his decision to leave & will announce it to the Club this Monday with a possible press conference to say goodbye ( if it is all correct) to the fans.Tweet
REAL MADRID Captain RAUL GONZALEZ BLANCO has communicated to the Club that he is willing to leave at the end of this season. He only asks that Real Madrid pay him the rest of the year of contract that he has with them that economically speaking is worth 12 M€ ( salary, bonus…etc). The communication comes directly from the player’s representative Gines Carvajal who made the statement to Spanish Football – Soccer – magazine “Don Balon” online edition.
The Real Madrid Directives now know that if they wish to start next season without Raul, that the price will be a cool 12M€. If they accept to pay & “liberate” Raul from his legal duties, the player is rumoured to be considering a move to English Football or even US Soccer.
Source: Spanish Football Sports Blog / Spanish Sports daily “AS” publishes today news that most of us already suspect, that REAL MADRID’s legendary & record breaking Captain RAUL Gonzalez Blanco could be living his last months as a player at the Club.
Raul has another year of contract & his deep desire is to finish his legal obligations. But after three months on the bench & the knowledge that the Clubs President & Football Directives do not count with him, the Captain desires not to be a “problem” & may well decide to say GOODBYE at the end of the season. It is commented in the corridors of the Real Madrid offices that Raul is not in their plans for 2010-2011 & Raul is waiting for either President Perez or General Director Valdano to communicate this officially to him so that he can begin planning his future asap & thus get the farewell that he so richly deserves in front of his home crowd at the “Santiago Bernabeu Stadium”. That moment could well be the 9th of May in the Real Madrid vs. Athletic de Bilbao match.
Meanwhile, speculations are that Raul may consider finishing his career either in England, Germany or in the USA. It is still rumour & speculation at this point, until Raul goes public & makes his announcement, but its fairly obvious & logical observing & hearing what is occurring & being said “around town”.Tweet
The German Ex Real Madrid player & Coach Bernd Schuster has never been one to hold back on his words. During an interview on Spanish late night Sports radio, the controversial Football personality let these two “bombs” go:
The 1st Bomb: "Sin Cristiano, el Real Madrid sería una pastilla para dormir"
“Without Cristiano, Real Madrid is a sleeping pill”
(photo: ex Real Madrid Coach Bernd Schuster_marca.com)
The 2nd Bomb: "Yo hubiera traído a Villa. Pero había mucha gente que no quería que viniera. Desde el equipo, hasta arriba, empezando por el equipo y luego arriba se echaron atrás"
“I would have brought in David Villa. But there were a lot of people who didn’t wish him to come. From the team all the way to the top who finally went back on the idea”
This last comment insinuates that it was current Captain RAUL who campaigned against Villa arriving at Madrid. Schuster was directly asked by the radio host to which he answered in an ironic fashion: “mmm...What a cough that I have”Tweet
Imagine RAUL playing for the NEW YORK RED BULLS? This is the news piece & question put up by Spanish daily “Marca” which claims that the American Club has made en economic offer comparable with the conditions that the REAL MADRID Captain now has on contract. It is not the first time that the “American adventure” has popped up in the media as the player himself has said in public that playing Soccer in the US is an enticing option.
(photo: Raul scores _ Rafa Casal Marca.com)
The New York Red Bulls has a plan to boost the level of its team for next year with the aim of being the “Biggest Soccer Team in the US” as a priority. FC Barcelona player Thierry Henry is also on their list of players to attract over to the “Big Apple”. Real Madrid would facilitate the departure of Raul, in terms of contractual & legal issues, if the player asks to leave.
It must be one of the biggest “late career” decisions that Raul is undergoing at this moment. One supposes that his ties to both Real Madrid (has contract until 2011), his family, culture & local friends is not facilitating a smooth flow of ideas, but the option could be enriching both economically & personally. Whenever he finally decides to leave he must be given a legendary farewell with all the glitz & fanfare. Stay tuned! Tweet
The American newspaper “The New York Post” is solid on the information,which has been picked up by local daily’s “Mundo Deportivo” & “AS”. According to comments made by FC BARCELONA French International THIERRY HENRY, the player sees favourable the offer from the US SOCCER MAJOR LEAGUE Club RED BULL NY for next season. The Frenchmen ends his contract with Barça at the end of the season & the US looks like his new destination.
Added to this, another Spanish “Liga” player is being enticed to cross the Atlantic & play in the US Soccer Major League. REAL MADRID Captain RAUL is being connected with LOS ANGELES GALAXY. According to local sources, Raul has made the comment that he sees with “good eyes” a possible move to the US.
Both players have entered into the twilight of their careers & have no longer an assured regular place in their respective teams, a move to the US maybe their final “swan song” before hanging up the boots. Stay tuned! Tweet
According the Sports daily "AS", REAL MADRID General Director Jorge Valdano has given clear instructions to Coach Pellegrini; stop rotating the team & begin establishing a "prototype" 11 team.
This has two implications:
1. the below photo is the team we should be seeing from now on, with
the only difference that Cristiano Ronaldo will take the place of Marcelo
when he returns from his ankle injury.
2. as we can see Raúl & Guti have no place. Both will begin to participate
less as Real Madrid continues with its efforts to "revolutionize" the team.
Stay tuned to witness how the "old guard" handles their new role. It should
It is very rare for a low level Club, who continually struggles to stay out of the 2º Division,to have a player who has debuted with them with a young age & has remained there all his playing career (except 2 seasons in 2º Division Clubs, to later return).What this means is that the player (Spanish International) has refused numerous offers to bigger & better Clubs because he considers his present Club to be far above all personal ambitious. Apart from this his numbers speak for themselves, 15 years at the Club with more then 175 goals, the Clubs all-time goal scorer. Who is the player? Which is the Club? RAÚL TAMUDO &RCD ESPANYOL
The player has 31 years of age & ends contract the 30th of June 2010. Raúl Tamado, a legend at the Club, wishes to continue & renew. But as history shows by experience in other Clubs, when you’re not wanted, but however loved by your fans, you need to find a method & a way to get rid of the player without seeming to show it. Said another way, in plain simple life language, be a coward.
When the rumour arises from within the Club that RCD Espanyol maybe thinking of axing a “big name player”, Tamudo´s representative approaches the Club to inquire if it is his player they are thinking. Let’s not forget that if Espanyol does not renew Tamudo before the 1st of January 2010 the player under UEFA/FIFA rules is free to negotiate his future with any Club he wishes. It is of courtesy for the player to ask & to wish to know the intentions of his Club in reference to his future. If Espanyol don’t wish him, simply say it & Tamudo could leave in the “Winter Market”
with any problems.
But this all comes from a few months back with new Coach Pochettino. You see, Tamudo is thought off as the “old school”, blocking the path for another younger player & the new Coach Pochettino feels the Club needs a “generational change”. So to force things, you take away the Captaincy from Tamudo & you lament in public the continuous injuries that the player is experiencing to justify your thoughts. Then you grab onto the last incident, that Tamudo´s agent has asked that the player be freed to leave if the Club does not wish the player– which according to Tamudo is false - & you have the right ingredients to sell to your fans that their heroe wishes to leave them.
Raúl Tamudo, who doesn’t do press conferences precisely to not enter in controversy, had to call one yesterday to clear things after the day before Club Directives called one to manifest that the player wanted to leave; very opportunistic by Espanyol really, the Club was waiting for the final argument that was handed in by a “naïve” players agent to throw their ex-Captian to the lions.
Here is the video of the press conference. It´s in Spanish, but
suffice to say the player goes on to say: 1. He is indignated with the Club & wishes to clear things 2. He wishes to finish his carreer at the Club 3. Will happily sign an extended contract 4. The Clubs arguments are false
5. Asks for an apology. Something the Club will not do.
Lastly, the player gets emotional & leaves distressed. What makes a grown man cry?
This story has been posted to highlight that Raúl Tamudo, is the Raúl Gonzalez (Real Madrid), of RCD Espanyol. The difference being that the latter doesn’t suffer unlucky injuries, keeps scoring goals & is a Spanish Football Legend. But the same “exit” arguments are being used to attempt to force an early retirement for the Real Madrid Captain – except the argument that he wishes to leave. Secondly, it proves that in modern Football values such as loyalty, honour, colours…& the rest of rubbish are terms without substance & that fans should reflect & bring back into perspective their at times "mindless support" for Football Clubs. These entities do not care about their players &/or fans in reality except to generate cash via titles with a "win at all cost" ethos. When the times are great Clubs will pour out all the slogans & heart warming words to manipulate & keep the heard in place for their ends. Look at Figo, Robben, Sneijder,Salgado, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto´o …just to name a few recent examples out of hundred cases across Spanish Football.
In the case of RCD Espanyol one would have thought that to differentiate them from the rest & especially from their city sharing rival FC BARCELONA one would embrace values such as loyalty & honour. However, it seems Espanyol is just another Club, a low struggling Club in First Division that have gone lower after witnessing how they treat their players, fans & in this case, a living Football Club legend.
Thanks for the emotion of humour. Saw this cartoon in elmundo.es
by its cartoonist "Ricardo" giving his view on the REAL MADRID
signing & spending to get over to their squad CRISTIANO RONALDO:
After the laugh, there is something to think about & SFS will post soon
more on the subject, if Real Madrid has Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo & are
soon to get David Villa - with Silva & Ribery (the Frenchmen only wishes to go to Real if sold) on the cards & still a possibility - what will happen to RAUL?
Obvious SFS suspects & thinks, right?
Finally staying with humour, Cristiano celebrated his transfer to Real Madrid with a "serious" & "camara shy" PARIS HILTON in Los Angeles
yesterday as seen in the clip:
Fews things, what is Cristiano doing with this "left over" or better
said "roll over"? There are "cossy" & yummm photos inside the LA Club
circulating internet. Reasons: 1. Mutual public relations? Cristiano is being introduced into the US market by Hilton, & Ronaldo is lifting Paris profile in Europe.
2. They are mates & are having simple & innocent fun
3. Its all an act for publicity
4. Cristiano scored a goal last night, into a goal without a net.
The only thing of interest to SFS is point one. However a friendly WARNING to the soon to be Real Madrid player that will be living in Madrid. MADRID is not Manchester, or even London. It is a "very dangerous" city with a nightlife only surpassed by New York &
"vice" on every corner. We have reports from England media that CR is a "womens man" - literally - thus we recommend he keep focused on the job while here. Many have fallen or tasted the
French International & BAYERN MUNICH midfielder FRANCK RIBERY will decide his future in the next weeks. All points to the fact that the player has made up his mind & has decided to leave the German Club for new adventures. Ribery is has plenty off offers to chose from, the last being a 70M€ deal from Manchester United rejected by his Club, while Chelsea & FC Barcelona are also talking with the player.
However, according to French daily “L´Equipe” the first option of Franck Ribery is REAL MADRID. The key in all this is French star & ex Real Madrid player ZINEDINE ZIDANE who share Representative Alain Migliascio & are close friends. The latter is a key part of the new Florentino Perez project, a plan that Perez will announce on the 14th of May as part of his attempt to be elected the new Real Madrid President in the June elections. Zidane will be the Clubs “Ambassador” & that connection gives Ribery confidence that he will be heading to a winning team that will bring Real Madrid back to the Top of World Football & he wishes to be part of it all.
Staying at Real Madrid, Spanish Sports Daily “Marca” publish front page that MANCHESTER CITY has made a 40M€ offer for REAL MADRID Captain RAUL that goes along with a 4 year contract. The rich Arab owner wishes Raul to become the marketing image & leader of the Club, as ex Real Madrid player & team-mate Robinho has recommended the idea.
Beforehand it looks difficult that Raul will accept as he wishes to finish his playing days at Real Madrid. But, with the arrival of Florentino Perez the Club Presidency & the fact the he is “getting on” at bit, he may decide to take up the offer, although SFS does not see it happening.
The place was Tokyo (Japan), the occasion the 1998 Intercontinental Cup between REAL MADRID (Winner of the European Cup) & VASCO DE GAMA (Winner of Copa Libertadores) & the minute was the 82nd with a 1-1 result.
Then …
a young RAUL scorers the winner with one of his best goals.
PS. Did you see a very young Samuel Eto´o at the end?Tweet
German magazine “Sport Bild” has published its Top 50 list of "Best Forwards in EuropeanFootball". Spain grabs all the attention as out of the Top 10, 7 play in Spanish Football (3 are Spanish born). Argentine International & FC BARCELONA star LEONEL MESSI tops the list as Nº1 , with ex- German Football player, ex-National Team Selector & now General Manager of Bayern Leverkusen, RUDI VOLLER saying … “Messi for me is the absolute Nº1, you cannot not be a fan with the way he plays”. FC BARCELONA team-mate SAMUEL ETO ´O follows in second place & in third position is VALENCIA CF & Spanish International star DAVID VILLA.
Here is the Top 10 (from list of 50; link above):
.1. LEONEL MESSI (FC BARCELONA)
.2. SAMUEL ETO´O (FC BARCELONA)
.3. DAVID VILLA (VALENCIA CF)
.4. ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC (INTER MILAN) .5. CRISTIANO RONALDO (MANCHESTER UNITED)
Continuing on with Real Madrid Captain RAUL, who has captured all the media attention with his 309 record breaking goals for his Club (see the below post), we have more news of interest from Spanish Sports daily “AS”.
According to the cited paper, RAUL maybe given his final wish to play ONE MORE time with the Spanish National Team. Raul confessed to Spanish TV that his dream is to slip on the “Red shirt” even if it was for one last time.
That time could be next November when the Spanish Football Federation will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a friendly International at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home of Real Madrid, & in front of his fans, Football authorities & legends, plus local royalty, politicians & VIPs. The team that is being sounded as opponents would be Argentina, although this still needs to be confirmed.
This could be the right moment to pay a final tribute to Raul for his 102 Caps (2º most capped player in Spanish Team history) & his 44 International goals. A stunning & emotional farewell to International Football for a player that has given his best to the Spanish National Team. We will have to see if this idea & news finally becomes reality for Raul.
LATEST NEWS: 17.02: Raul does not wish handouts, wishes to get back by
Putting my grain of sand to help contribute in expanding Spanish Football - Soccer | Sports abroad. An ex-amateur Footballer long ago - alias Striker - is now a fan that has the game embedded in his Football - Soccer Sports heart.
