SPAIN EUROPEAN BASKETBALL CHAMPION 2015

The "Golden Generation (1999)" of Spanish Basketball have put Spanish Sports back on top after proclaiming this evening the 2015 European Basketball Championship title. Spain defeated Lithuania 80 - 63 in a controlled Final from the Spaniards point of view.

Few gave Spain hopes of going so far after 2 defeats in their difficult Group, which included Serbia & Italy, however the team went from less to more as the competition continued & they won with self believe, pride & with some fabulous Basketball. Its the 4th Euro Final of this group & tonight their 3rd Gold Medal. The win takes Spain directly ( along with Lithuania) into the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

The player that has taken all the headlines is Spaniard & Chicago Bulls pivot PAU GASOL, who has lead Spain with leadership, sacrifice & with an extraordinary level of Basketball. Pau Gasol was included in the EURO 2016 Ideal 5 & was award MVP of the tournament.

Another Spaniard prized for his extraordinary effort was RODRIGUEZ who was also included in the EURO 2016 Ideal Team. Said this, the triumph is collective as the Spaniards apart for the individual talents mentions rose to the occasion as a unit, a solid bloc.

Lastly congratulations to Lithuania for their tournament & I am sure both will again meet in the future to battle again. 

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REAL MADRID EUROPEAN BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS

It has taken 20 years for Spanish Basketball Club Real Madrid to proclaim themselves European Champions. They did this tonight in the Final Four Final winning 78 - 59 Greek Club Olympiakos. Tonight’s victory was even sweeter for the Spaniards as it "erased" their previous three finals where they failed to win.

The Spanish Club neutralized Olympiakos most dangerous player Spanoulis & managed themselves to put in a flawless exhibition of Basketball to defeat the Greeks in the final.

Real Madrid players Jaycee Carroll & Andres Nocioni lead their team with 16 & 12 points respectively, helping Real Madrid win historically its 9th European Championship.

The MVP went to Andres Nocioni.

Congratulations, great night for Spanish Basketball & Spanish Sports overall.

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FC BARCELONA WINS ACB LIGA TITLE | SPANISH BASKETBALL

FC Barcelona won tonight the Spanish Basketball League (ACB) after defeating 83-81 Real Madrid & taking the "Best of 5 games" Final with a final 3 - 1 aggregate. Rough & tough game with controversial referee decision along with Real Madrid Coach Pablo Laso being expelled from the game. Very tension as Real Madrid needed to win to stay alive.

FC Barcelona player & Captain Juan Carlos Navarro was named MVP of the Finals, while tonight Barça player Tomic was outstanding with 22 points.

Real Madrid will be very disappointed as they finished the regular season on top of the ACB ladder. But the team went from more to less in the latter part of the season. Real Madrid felt their loss in the Euro-league final & has not did recovered since from the blow. 

Congratulations to Barça for winning the ACB Basketball League Title.

Details of tonights fourth match:

Result: Barcelona 83 - Real Madrid 81

Barcelona: Marcelinho (9), Navarro (14), Papanikolaou (3), Nachbar (10) & Tomic (22) —starting—; Dorsey (2), Sada (2), Abrines (8), Oleson (10) & Lampe (3).

Real Madrid: Llull (8), Rudy Fernández (13), Darden (6), Mirotic (11) & Bourousis (12) —starting—; Felipe Reyes (11), Sergio Rodríguez (5), Carroll (5), Slaughter (-), Dani Díez (-) & Mejri (10).

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SPANISH SPORTS | TENNIS | RAFAEL NADAL WINS MEXICAN OPEN

Best Sporting news read this morning. Spanish Tennis ace Rafael Nadal won the Mexican Open in Acapulco in stunning fashion & continues on with his recovery. The Spanish Champion won fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6 - 0 , 6 - 2 in 65 minutes. Rafael Nadal said that it was his best game in a very long-time, I add that it was also a relief to experience that his knees are holding up well & the he is gaining his form. This Final was against an excellent "sparring" partner & another Spanish Tennis Champ that gives Nadal an excellent benchmark on his progress & to decide if he goes onto Indian Wells Masters, a tournament on hard surface not great for his delicate knees.

But the real joy here is that Rafael Nadal is seeing the light out of his personal tunnel. The man has suffered months of severe pain & doubts on whether he could carry on with his Tennis career. The fighting spirit of the player is taking him pass the uncertainty & returning believed lost sensations  Spanish Sports needs it greatest representative in action & World Tennis needs Rafael Nadal back in top form. As Nadal has said many a time, its a step by step, game by game process at this moment. I am delighted at this big leap & hope that it continues on forward & positively. 

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SPANISH FOOTBALL SPORTS BLOG REACHES 3 MILLION VISITORS

Spanish Football Sports Blog started out many years back as a way off getting across to the World fans news on Spanish Football & Spanish Sports in English. I realized that not everyone understands Spanish & decided to write in English to get across to a wider audience. I too years back "suffered" from not being able to get updated news when living overseas & missed a source that would give me quick bullets (summaries) of information on results, news, transfers...& Spanish National Football team endevours.

This blog is a one man effort, a hobby, & I have enjoyed it enourmously since starting. I have learnt, shared, inter-changed ideas, been written by the most fascinating people from around the globe & expanded the channels via Social Media which has given a wider & diverse audience.

Today the blog celebrates its 3.000.000 visitors. This a figure that was beyond my thoughts at the beginning & thus from here I would like to thank all the regular readers for their support & all the visiting readers for coming in & sharing. THANK YOU!

Spanish Football Sports Blog

Spanish Football Sports Blog will attempt to keep up the posting & keep up the interest. Lets put a new goal & we will attempt the 3.5M€ mark, only possible with your help. Again  THNAK YOU!

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RAFAEL NADAL WINS HIS SIXTH ROMA MASTERS 1000 TITLE

Playing on a Monday at 12.00 makes it difficult for the working folk ( myself included ) to watch a great Final of Tennis. That was the case for the ROMA MASTERS 1000 Mens Final between NOVAK DJOKOVIC & Spaniard RAFAEL NADAL as it was delayed from Sunday due to the bad weather.

Rafael Nadal wins his sixth Roma Masters 1000

Spanish Sports & Tennis got a great boost with the news that Nadal shook off the "Djokovic Finals Boogy" & managed to defeat the Serb in 2 hours & 21 mins with a 7-5 6-3 final score. Yes, Djokovic had a bad day & made plenty of mistakes but Nadal managed to get the psychological edge,  played great & of course was playing on his favourite surface which is clay .

The victory gives Nadal his sixth Roma title & puts him back into the Nº2 World Ranking position, plus it gives the Spaniard a boost for the upcoming Roland Garros Tournament.

Congratulations Champ!

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SPANISH FOOTBALL THE BEST BY THE IFFHS

The FIFA backed "International Federation of Football Statistics & History" (IFFHS) has endorsed SPANISH FOOTBALL as having the "Best League in the World". The organization has released its yearly Top 10 list with Spanish Football holding the top spot.

Surprising to see Brazil so high, while traditionally strong Leagues like the Italian & German are relatively low placed.

La Liga 

Here is the Top 10 World Football Leagues as give by the IFHSS:
1. Spain 1.194,0 pts
2. England 1.103,0
3. Brazil 889,0
4. Portugal 886,0
5. France 883,0
6. Germany 880,0
7. Italy 873,0
8. Argentina 840,0
9. Holland 791,5
10. Chile 741,5

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MOTO GP SAN MARINO | SPANISH RIDERS WIN IN ALL 3 CATEGORIES

Excellent day at the track - Motorbike track - for SPANISH SPORTS with Spaniards proclaiming themselves winners in all three categories of the SAN MARINO MOTO GP. 

San Marino GP podium 2011

Current Spanish World Champ JORGE LORENZO put in a great race to win & cut back a few points in the World title table against Australian Casey Stoner. The Yahama team has worked hard to find some extra power for their bike & today Lorenzo showed how good he & his bike were from the start. Spanish Rider DANI PEDROSA came in a grand second after overtaking a tired team-mate Casey Stoner who himself claimed post-race that he has not been recovering from his tiredness these last days & that effected him today.

The Australian still has a comfortable cushion in the World Championship points table & looks hot favourite with 5 remaining races. Said this, Lorenzo will take things race by race as anything can still happen.


MotoGP final race standings:
1. JORGE LORENZO (SP/Yamaha)
2. DANI PEDROSA (SP/Honda)
3. Casey Stoner (AUS/Honda)


MotoGP current World Championship standings:
1. Casey Stoner 259 pts 
2. Jorge Lorenzo 224pts
3. Dovizioso 185pts
4. Dani Pedrosa 135pts


Spaniard MARC MARZQUEZ again showed why many consider him the "next Rossi" with another victory that cuts back the lead from current WC table leader Bradl. A true exhibition of riding by the 18 year old that has GP team Honda seriously looking at the youngster for the following season. The next 5 races promise to be exciting as Marquez has the World Championship in his sights.


Moto 2 final race standings:
1. MARC MARQUEZ (SP/Suter)
2. Stefan Bradl (GER/Kalex)
3. Andrea Iannone (ITA/Suter)


Moto 2 current World Championship standings:
1. Bradl 213 pts
2. Marc Márquez 190pts
3. Iannone 112 pts


Spaniard NICO TEROL won the 125cc category in the very last breath after Zarco looked back before crossing the line - did something unexplained - to lose & give Terol the victory. The Frenchmen was asked post-race what he had done & Zarco responded "I dont know". Spaniard EFREN VAZQUEZ put in an excellent race & came in third.

NICO TEROL keeps looking ahead as he attempts to consolidate his WC table place in the next 5 races.


125cc final race standings:
1. NICO TEROL (SP/Aprilia)
2. Johann Zarco (FRA/Derbi)
3. EFREN VAZQUEZ (SP/Derbi)


125cc current World Championship standings:
1º Terol (Sp) 216 pts
2º Zarco 185 pts
3º Viñales (Sp) 161 pts


NEXT RACE: SPAIN - GP of Aragon - 18th of Septembre.

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TEAM PHOTOS 2011 | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | MANCHESTER UNITED - FC BARCELONA

SPANISH SPORT & FOOTBALL has an important date tomorrow in London. The emotional levels are rising & will be souring tomorrow in Spain, especially in the autonomous region of Catalonia & the city of Barcelona, along with fellow Football fans in the city of Manchester & in England. 

Courtesy from "Don Balon" Spanish Sport online
Football media

MANCHESTER UNITED plays FC BARCELONA in the 2011 FINAL of the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE to battle it out "head to head" to claim the prize of "The Best Football Club in Europe" & in World Football for 2011. As with all finals, difficult to say affirmative & categorically which team will win, although most media observers have Barça as the pre-match favourite. I personally am not brave enough to say which team will win except wish them both luck.


Thought that the Spanish Football Sports readers may appreciate a TEAM PHOTO of both MANCHESTER UNITED & FC BARCELONA. They are not by themselves an indication of the definite "starting 11 line-ups" , but I have tried to search for photos that get pretty close as possible.

MANCHESTER UNITED TEAM PHOTO 2011

FC BARCELONA TEAM PHOTO 2011

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SPANISH SPORT SUCCESS | CONTADOR IN TOUR E FRANCE ALONSO IN GERMAN F1

Spanish Sport continues with its string of success stories, this time in Cycling & in Formula 1 racing.

Spanish cyclist ALBERTO CONTADOR won his 3rd TOUR DE FRANCE (2010) today ahead of Andy Schleck & Denis Melchov. The Spaniard was emotional as this edition was the most fought especially after nearly “losing” the leaders grip yesterday in the 52 km time-trial that although he won Contador later let known that he experienced dedicated moments during the leg.

The other great Spanish Sports story today was that Spanish Formula One driver FERNANDO ALONSO won the GERMAN F1 GP ahead of Ferrari team-mate Massi with third place to Vettal. However, there was controversy as Felipe Massa allowed Fernando Alonso to pass him when he was leading to give Alonso the race. This off course led to a 100.000 US$ fine & Ferrari will have to wait to see want the World F1 Council has to say & what extra penalty they may place on the “Italian Stallion”.

Blemish aside, grand day for Spanish Sports

PD. JORGE LORENZO wins the USA Moto GP at "Laguna Seca". Grand!

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MOTO GP | SPANISH RIDERS WIN ALL 3 CATAGORIES IN GERMANY

Just a brief post to congratulate the Spanish riders that have taken the winners spot in all 3 catagories of the German Moto Gp. Extraordinary motorbike riding from young 125 cc star MARC MARQUEZ, brilliant comeback from last places by TONI ELIAS in Moto2 & DANI PEDROSA who beat follow Spanish pilot Jorge Lorenzo in MotoGP.

SPANISH SPORTS is experiencing a "sweet run" in lots of Sports & we should all be proud of our increible sportsmen/women. Great stuff guys!

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SPANISH BASKETBALL | LIST HANDED IN FOR 2010 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Spanish National Basketball Selector & Coach SERGIO SCARIOLO has handed in his list of 15 Spanish players to make up the Spanish Basketball Squad. The 2010 BASKETBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS will be held this year in Turkey with a starting date of the 28th of August until 12th of Septembre. The big name missing from the current European Champions list is LA LAKER Spanish star poivot PAU GASOL who has voluntarily opted –out from participating after a long & exhausting NBA session that ended with his team winning the NBA Championship.

Spain will be in Group D along with France, New Zealand, Lituania, Lebanon & Canada

Here is the lista of players:

ASEFA ESTUDIANTES: Carlos Suárez.
BIZKAIA BILBAO BASKET: Alex Mumbrú.
CAJA LABORAL:Fernando San Emeterio.
GRANADA: Pablo Aguilar.
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: Marc Gasol.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS: Rudy Fernández.
POWER ELECTRONICS VALENCIA: Victor Claver & Rafa Martínez.
REAL MADRID: Sergio Llull, Jorge Garbajosa & Felipe Reyes.
REGAL FC BARCELONA: Juan Carlos Navarro, Ricky Rubio & Fran Vázquez.
TORONTO RAPTORS: José Manuel Calderón.

Three players will be dropped from this list closer to the start of the World Championships. Tweet

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MOTO GP | JORGE LORENZO & MARQUEZ WINNERS IN BRITISH MOTOGP

Spanish riders JORGE LORENZO in GP & MARQUEZ in the 125cc catagory flew the Spanish flag high this afternoon at Silverstone - British GP.

JORGE LORENZO put himself ahead of the race in the first turn passing Spaniard Dani Pedrosa & never looked back. In fact, the race had its exciting "battle" for the 2º & 3º place which eventually went to Dovizioso & third to Ben Spies. Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa had a deceptional day & race finishing 8th.

Jorge Lorenzo opens up a gap with the lead in the current GP World Championships table:
1. Lorenzo 115pts ; Dovizioso 78pts; 3. D.Pedrosa 73 pts.

MOTO2 catagory saw Cluzel win ahead of Luthi with Spaniard SIMÓN coming in third. The current Moto 2 World Championship table has Spanish rider TONI ELIAS first with 80pts , with Japanese rider Tomizawa second with 65 pts foloowed by Luthi with 53 pts

Great race in the 125cc catagory with Spaniard MARQUEZ winning his 2º straight race ahead of another Spaniard ESPARGARÓ who was second with Brit Smith coming in third. Spanish riders dominant the top places of the World Championship classification table:
1. Espargaró 98pts; 2. Terol 98 pts; 3. Marquez 82 pts. Tweet

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SPANISH FOOTBALL SPORTS BLOG PASSES 1,000,000 VISITORS

SPANISH FOOTBALL SPORTS BLOG
reaches 1,000,000 unique online site visitors

Readers from all around the World...USA, England, Europe, India, Middle-East, Australia, Africa, Far-East Asia, Russia, China.... 1,000,000 times THANK YOU for being loyal, pro-active, generous, constructive, funny, critical & importantly, for being the Global & Spanish Football Sports Fan that you are.

Spanish Football Sports Blog will continue as long as you - the reader - wishes it to continue & from here I will continue striving to keep up the level & standards that you have become used too.

Cheers, here is for another 1,000,000 soon!

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SPAIN WORLD CUP TEAM | THE FC BARCELONA CONNECTION

This is a curiosity, definitely a fact & information for the reader about the current SPAIN 2010 WORLD CUP TEAM. The below photo illustrates 8 players that are part of the current SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM: Pique, Valdes, Xavi, Villa, Puyol, Busquets, Iniesta & Pedro. All except goalkeeper Valdes would normally start in the SPAIN starting line-up or get a run during the course of a game. What do they all have in common? The are FC BARCELONA players!

Latest news is that the Spanish Football Team has safely landed in South Africa.

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SPAIN WORLD CUP TEAM | PREVIEW VIDEO TRAILER

Here is a video "mash-up" to support the SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM & its 23 team players who are about to fly off to South Africa with expected arrival tomorrow to begin the long road & attempt to become "eternal" if they can win the 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP. It will not be easy at all, the Spanish Team know it & go into the competition with humility & respect for all of their opponents. Spanish Football Sports Blog wishes the SPAIN WORLD CUP SQUAD lots of luck & I hope you - SFS reader - enjoy this video:

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SPANISH SPORTS | TENNIS RAFAEL NADAL WINS HIS 5TH FRENCH OPEN | SPANISH RIDERS HIGH IN MOTO GP

Great & outstanding weekend for SPANISH SPORTS in two areas were Spanish Sportsman are traditionally strong: Clay-court Tennis & Motogp racing.

Spanish Tennis ace & World Nº1 , as of tomorrow, RAFAEL NADAL won his 5th FRENCH OPEN after defeating 6-4 6-2 6-4 Swede Robin Soderling. The Spaniard regains all the lost ground after suffrering a terrible year with injuries that showed by his tears of joy straight after winning the Final. The Tennis Champ commented the media after the game that this was his most emotional victory.

Rafael Nadal has won all the "clay-court" tournaments this season which apart from being extraordinary to say the least, confirms him as the "Best Tennis Player" on the surface. He now travels to London & changes surface for grass as he prepares for the Wimbledon tournament with his new Nº1 World Tennis ranking.

In MOTO GP celebrated in Italy today Spanish riders again had a fabulous day with wins & excellent positions in all catagories. The absence of Italian Champion Valentino Rossi was dearly felt & the track felt a loss of presence that from here we wish him a speedy & tranquil recovery.

In the MotoGP catagory Spanish rider DANI PEDROSA won from the start with Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo second followed by Italian Dovizioso third. JORGE LORENZO maintains his top spot in the classification & is favourite to take the World title this season although today was not his day & Pedrosa put himself up as a potential candidate.

The current MotoGp World Championship table stands as follows:
1. J.Lorenzo 90pts; 2. D.Pedrosa 65pts; 3. Rossi 61pts

In MOTO2 Italian IANNONE broke the Spanish dominance with a grand race that had Spaniard GADEA second & CORSI third. Spaniard TONI ELIAS who had a bad race still maintains himself Nº1 in the current World Moto2 standing with 75 pts with a healthy gap over second placed Japanese rider Tomizawa.

In the 125cc catagory Spanish riders dominanted taking the all 3 Top positions : MARQUEZ, TEROL & ESPARAGO. This follows basically the trend in the current World championship table also dominanted by Spanish riders with 1. Terol 85pts; 2.Esparagó 79pts; 3. Marquez 57pts.

Next race : British GP

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GREAT SPANISH SPORTS WEEKEND: NADAL TAKES ROMA MASTERS 1000 & ALL THREE IN MOTO GP

Source: SFS Blog /
Great Weekend for Spanish Sports with Spaniards dominating Tennis & MotoGP.

Spanish Tennis Champ RAFAEL NADAL defeated another Spaniard David Ferrer 7-5 6-2 in the rain interrupted Final of the ROMA Masters 1000. This is the 5th straight win in Roma for Nadal & he equals Andre Agassi with 17 Masters 1000 titles.

Nadal reconfirms his status as the "Best clay-court Tennis Player in the World" & is setting himself up form wise for the soon French Open; while at the same time he cuts points from Nº1 Roger Federer.

In the Spanish MotoGp held in the Spanish city of Jerez, Spaniards were winners in all of the 3 catagories:
In 125cc - Pol Esparago
In Moto 2 - Toni Elias
Moto GP - Jorge Lorenzo (below) with second to another Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, with Rossi third.

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R I P | SPANISH & WORLD SPORT LOSES JUAN ANTONIO SAMARANCH AT 89 YEARS OF AGE

JUAN ANTONIO SAMARANCH has died today at the age of 89 in Barcelona. I would be falling short saying that this man is directly responsable for where SPANISH SPORT ( in all its disciplines) is today. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) President from 1980 until 2001, he was the man who worked his heart out to give Barcelona & Spain its wonderful 1992 Olympic Games, apart from modernizing the Olympic Games as they are today.

Very sad day for Spain, Spaniards, Sportsmen/women & Spanish Sports as it loses a person who dedicated his life to Sport & who we will have to wait a very long time to see anything similiar again. Thank you José Antonio & RIP as you will be missed. Tweet

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FORMULA 1: FERNANDO ALONSO WINS 2010 BAHRAIN GP

Source: Spanish Football Sports /
Spanish Sports got off to a flying start in the motor category with a win in the first race of the new 2010 season of FORMULA 1. Two times F1 World Champion & Spaniard FERNANDO ALONSO won the Bahrain GP raced this afternoon ahead of team-mate Brazilian Felipe Massa & British driver Lewis Hamilton. The Spaniard has always said that given the a competitive car & team he would ensure titles & it looks as if this prediction has got off on the right direction. Alonso’s strategy was to ensure flawless driving with lots of patience that concentrated on steady & continuous lap times that maintained the pace & pressure on his rivals.

(photo: Alonso celebrates with Massa & Hamilton_ap_Luca Bruno)

The main race “tussle” was upfront between Vettel & Alosno with the former experiencing engine/car problems towards the end of the race to which Alonso found this the moment to move from "stalking" mode to attacking & overtook Vettel for the lead. This of course, made Massa & Hamilton react as they fought out the minor places.

Next race is the Australian F1 GP in Melbourne on the 28th of March. Tweet

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