The boys are long gone now, some back to Madrid & some in Puerto Rico on NT duty, but here are the piccies from Saturday’s match. It wasn’t the most exciting of matches, it actually was pretty hard to watch thanks to the kit choices of both teams! I was hoping RM would switch to their away kits at half time…no such luck, but we came away with the win and a clean sheet (finally!).
The boys were looking mighty fine, weren’t they? And good ol’ Sese took his captain duties seriously, showing us what he’s made of, an ab flash, booty stretches, and a peek at the manty lines, WOOT WOOT! I think these rituals should be adopted for every match here on out….*cough* Iker *cough*
“Those screams are for me & the Moubs.”
Callejon, who with five goals this pre-season has become RM’s top goalscorer, scored the opener in the 22nd minute. Pipa worked his booty magic on that one, with his fab run & slick pass right in front of the keeper. It’s little touches like this that get me giddy for the season to start already!
At halftime, Iker, Benz, & Pirata came on for Adan, Sami, & Kaka and then in the 57th minute, Sergio, Cris, Arbeloa, Callejon, & Xabi came off for Ozil, Nacho, Varane, Lass, & Di Maria.
Benzy came in and scored the 2nd and final goal of the match in the 67th minute, off of a long pass from Ozi. The finish was all Benz though, all Benz & just a little of the goal post. I think we can all agree we like his goals, but how are we feeling about his hair? I think I’m Team Buzzed Benz, his hair looks like it’s in the awkward growth stages…I am curious to see how long he lets it grow though.
Morata & Nuri came in for Pipa & Coentrao in the 70th minute and two minutes later Nuri was involved in a collision that knocked Dylan McGeough out. We’ve seen too many players go down on the pitch recently so it was very scary to see McGeough lying there unmoving. I felt bad for both of the guys, Nuri looked very worried and I know I wouldn’t want to be responsible for knocking someone out like that. McGeough was eventually stretchered off and it’s suspected that he has a broken jaw 😦 We wish him a speedy recovery!
It sucks to wrap up a match with an injury like that but that’s pretty much what happened. Well now that the pre-season is over, we have many things to look forward to! Successful Pre-season – check. Successful 12/13 season – hopefully check, check! HALA MADRID! Oh and here’s to a season full of homina homina homina like below 😉
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Post Match Comments
Karanka:
“The worst was the big scare during the match, which we hope isn’t too serious, and in our team the incident with Alex and the scare over his knee, which turned out to be nothing. Everything else has been perfect. It’s been quite a good pre-season and the training sessions have gone as we wanted them to. It’s all been positive.”
“The better the players are in a squad the easier everything is. We have an excellent squad and we’re getting to know each other better and better. Being here with these players is a privilege and we hope to continue with the same ambition and unity and on the road to winning more titles. They are still keen to win titles.”
“It’s a sign of the quality of this team. The competitiveness between the players brings out the best in each of them. This can be seen in the matches and it’s good for everyone. In each match and training session there’s competition to earn the positions and we hope to continue along these lines when la Liga begins next Sunday.”
Xabi:
“There’s a little way to go, but the base is there and the pieces have come together. It’s been a short pre-season because we haven’t had much time and now we’re heading off with the national team and we’ll be away for a few days, but we’re used to it. It isn’t anything new and we hope to start the year well. Many things are already prepared and it’s a step forward.”
“It’s a good sign because we have a good foundation and everything that comes after will be improvements. “What’s important is that everything that is in the squad right now will serve for what we face during the season.”
“We have to be ready because they are matches that require you to give 100% and we have to be in peak form right from the start. We can’t think that it’s going to be easy. They are both important matches. We know that all Liga matches are very important and the first more so. In addition, the Spanish Super Cup is the first title and we want to win it. We prioritise both. Neither is more important than the other. The Spanish Super Cup is important because you’re playing for a title, but I don’t think it offers any advantage for the future.”
“I’ve played everything. I really like sports. I’ve had a really good time here playing baseball and American football.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pics via leyenda-personal, marcelosunshine, lukaszpodolski, alinnyderis, sergonzo, iyzx, GFSports.
-Maisougio
Of Headbands and Heartbreak
watishistacorrespondents
Of Headbands and Heartbreak... 
(I really should go to bed XD)
On Benz’s hair (yeah, let’s not talk about that *other* topic :P) … Am curious to see where he’s going with this. Buzz looks good, but how long will he let it grow? Since he’s always hanging around them, maybe he will go long like Ozil and Khedira? LMFAO Good grief! Benz with flowing hair! Ahahaha!! I can’t decide whether that would be horrific, epic or both. Also, is it just me or does he look leaner nowadays?
And speaking of leaner: I wholeheartedly support Ozil’s bizarre determination to remove his shirt after every game. Showboating? Maybe. Appreciated? Oh yes! Om nom nom nom!
Hope Dylan has a speedy and full recovery ❤
Ha! Judging by Benz’s hair texture, I don’t think he could ever have flowing locks, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t try
I think I’m equal parts worried & curious now!
If Benzi let his hair grow, his afro might rival that of David Luiz!
I was at that game, too! It was my first game! That collision was seriously scary, right?! There were some highlights to the day, though: Ramos was delightful, Xabi was a boss, Mesut gave the best little wave to the fans before kicking a corner, and Iker… I’m kind of still in awe over the fact that Iker Casillas was on a field in front of me. Also, yay, parade of shirtlessness at the end!
Did you have an awesome time or what? I got a sunburn but had a great time. The collision was so scary. I just kept praying that it wasn’t his neck. Poor kid. He tweeted the next day and thanked everyone for their concern. Nuri tweeted him as well.
Suuuuuch an awesome time!!! I dragged my cousin to the game with me and now she’s as much a Madridista as I am. We agreed we’ll make it an annual trip as long as RM keeps showing up to play.
I was glad to see that Dylan got to fly out with his team. Nothing quite as crappy as being hurt and far from home, so it’s good that it wasn’t for long and he’s getting better.
I would like to give a special shout out to Xabi’s right quadriceps which make a cameo appearance in picture #27 of the above post. Very nice. Thank you.
That collision happened right in front of us. As soon as Nuri’s shoulder hit him my hand flew to my mouth. It was terrifying. Nuri seemed so upset over it. At one point Pirata actually put an arm around Nuri to comfort him.
so much shirtless pirata, it’s heavenly!
We watched Mourihno and the rest of the coaching staff stand on the balcony of the Ritz Friday night and watch the scene below, they all came down to the bar except for Mourihno of course. On Sat. my 10 year old desperately wanted to see Ronaldo leaving the Ritz (and I of course didn’t mind getting a close up of Sergio) but unfortunately after 2 hours of waiting all my son got was trampled by a bunch of crazies and he barely saw the players as they headed for the bus. He came up from the under the crowd in tears. It was so sad. I’ll watch from the stands from now on……lots of great photos from the game!
OMG! I’m so sorry that happened. That’s so horrible! Who the hell would do that to a child? I mean, I’d like to see the players too but I’m not going to trample kids to do it. In fact, I’d put the kids or shorter peeps in front of me because I’m 6 ft tall. Is he okay? That must have been such an upsetting experience for him. I hope you son enjoyed the game at least.
Mou was sitting in the bar on Thursday night as a couple of watishistas can attest. 🙂 If you’re interested in sharing any of your game pix here, send ’em on to the HB & HB gmail and we’ll watermark them.
He was totally fine, at one point the police officer brought him up to the bus door with her (I think he almost peed 🙂 but then for some reason made him come back, when he did he was sitting in front of the barriers when the team came out and the people behind started pushing the barrier over. It was nuts! He did punch one person in the shin to get them off him 🙂
is the e-mail address headbandsandheartbreak@gmail.com?
HA! Good for him! 🙂 The email is hbandshbreak@gmail.com
when the celtic guy was layed out like that. OMG it was horrific! I didn’t see the collision, but anytime you see a guy laid straight and unconscious (looking) like he was…i tried all night to find out from the celtic fans if he was alright (of course half of them thought i was talking about their drunk friends)
the game was so fun. i’m glad i’m not the only one who was a bit bored. sami bossed that match while he was in though. and of course shirtless footballers are always great fun 😉 i busted out laughing before the match bc sergio threw his shirt to the crowd and three guys squabled over it like fangirls. also, barca fans…if you are going to come to a rm match in your jersey, try to be more like the 95% of your fans that were there and not like the 5% of your silly fans that had to make a spectacle.
i am so getting a better (zoom) camera before next year!!
also, i’ll send in more of my nakie ozil pics if y’all would like. some are not so bad
aka more than my nakie ozil pics, lol. sorry… it’s post usa v mex match right now
Of course we would like! 🙂