Okay, the weather HAS to clear up in Madrid. I’m running out of fog and mist related puns. Sergio may be sending Mesut and us a saucy wink (C’mon you guys, we can SEE what you’re doing! You might want to be more discreet!) but he’s definitely not smiling about the verdict on his sending off yesterday. He’s been suspended for 5 games, 2 Copa Del Rey (vs Valencia) & 3 La Liga (vs Osasuna, Valencia & Getafe). 1 game was for the red card, the other 4 were for mouthing off to the referee. He took to Twitter today to make some protesting comments. It might be best to zip his lip so he doesn’t get further sanctions. Just sayin’.
How about some Arbie tongue to make everything all better? Between the Sex Beard and the tongue action, suddenly everything is beautiful and nothing hurts.
Carlota is reportedly having a boy. Due to a pact that Alvaro made with his brothers to name their sons after each other, his son will be named…Raul. Does a nice double duty as a tribute to his brother and his true bromantic love, doesn’t it? (Always thought it was neat how the Double As chose the similar names Alba and Alma for their daughters).
In addition to Coentrao returning to training, Tomas Mejias, Jose Rodriguez and Diego Llorente joined in.
There’s our rock star – he just tore it up yesterday, didn’t he? Absolutely amazing.
The international press was full of praise for Cristiano and rightfully so. The man is an absolute beast.
Iker was at an H&S event in Madrid today, thankfully not getting his hair washed midway through like the commercial. He did take some time to talk to the media about some of the controversy that has been swirling around the team.
FROM REALMADRID.COM
Casillas: “This club is wonderful and I would like to retire here”
by Edu Bueno
“I have done what I have had to do to make people feel proud when I wear the shirt”, said the Real Madrid goalkeeper
Iker Casillas was the star attraction at a publicity event held in the Spanish capital. The captain responded to questions from the media and said that the tokens of affection he receives from fans move him: “I have to thank the people for the affection that they’ve always shown for me. Since I was 17 years old I have been under the microscope. I’ve done what I have had to do to make people feel proud when I wear the shirt. It is gratifying that they would remember me. I have a special sort of affection and it is appreciated. This club is wonderful and I would like to retire here”. Casillas again played down the importance of him being on the bench: “What I have to do is train more and be as driven as possible to make my return. My toughest battle is with myself and regaining the coach’s confidence”.
The Spanish international summarised the mentality with which he approaches every training session, as always with the same humility: “The truth is that I love challenges and especially if they are with myself. I have to prove my worth to the profession. I have to enjoy it and grit my teeth more. I have to support my teammates and train more to prove to myself that I can come back and get that confidence back, if it was ever lost. That makes me feel stronger”. Casillas, who has already been through worse situations, said: “I’m not struggling. It’s a different situation and I have to live with it. I have to prove I am worthy of starting and have that healthy competition with Antonio. I am grateful for the awards during 2012 but that is in the past. Hopefully next year they will think that I am the best in my position, because that will mean that things have gone well”.
When asked about his future at the club, Casillas had no doubt that this is the best place for him to be: “I don’t know what the club have decided. Mourinho has a contract and I do too and what I want is to fulfil it. This club is wonderful and special and it brings everything together to be here. I’m from Madrid and play for the best club possible and would like to retire here if possible”. He also had words of affection for the fans: “I have to thank the people for the affection that they’ve always shown me. Since I was 17 years old I have been under the microscope because of the position I play. I have done what I have had to do to make people feel proud when I put this shirt. It is gratifying that they would remember me. I have a special sort of affection and that is appreciated”.
The world champion discussed the goalkeeping debate naturally and said his aim is to keep working to be the best, regardless of individual opinions: “What Mourinho said about whether he was accommodating me did not bother me. It comes from the person in charge of the team and it is all about what he thinks and believes. What I have to do is train more and be as driven as possible to make my return. My toughest battle is with myself and regaining the coach’s confidence. I have to push much more… especially for the Real Madrid faithful, who are behind me”.
When asked whether he asked his coach for an explanation for him being on the bench, Casillas was very clear in his response: “We have not discussed anything. He did not speak with me when I played as a starter and does not have to do it when I’m not. I have a great friend and teammate in Antonio (Adan). If he didn’t choose to tell me at the time, I am not going to ask for an explanation now. The club and the fight for success are more important than me.”
He also had words of support and understanding for his goalkeeping teammate: “We’ve all had situations like the one that happened in the match against Real Sociedad. It happened to me two years ago in the second 45. He the support of all of his teammates and we have full confidence in him. You always have to take positives out of things. It has been good to push me to work harder and to be better. There’s room to improve at this club, which is what the Real Madrid fans want”.
Casillas took the opportunity to be self-critical about the first part of the season, both on a personal and on a collective level: “I don’t think that the season has been so bad. I’m not a machine. It was acceptable. Yesterday I found where I need to be and I hope it is the beginning of something. I do not like to talk about myself, but I have to live with it. I have to strive for more. Our performances compared to last season have not been the same. We won a very tough and long league season, but it was a very good league season. We want to find that continuity. Now we have to keep thinking about fighting for the league. I went through it five years ago and we managed to close the gap. We will try to scrap and fight because we have a lot of excited support behind us”.
When asked why he did not take the captain’s armband that Cristiano tried to pass to him against Real Sociedad, the Whites’ player said: “He was doing well and was pushing the team forward”. About Mourinho’s absence at the FIFA gala, the goalkeeper said that the coach had already given his reasons: “He has already said. He had to stay at Valdebebas to prepare for the match against Celta. Real Madrid was well represented by the president, who showed us his support. The coach made the decision for the good of the club and the team”.
Iker Casillas also spoke about how to combat the distractions in football and a team of the stature of Real Madrid: “This club is exposed to many comments. Every match has to be given the utmost importance. When you can’t meet these demands that would be the time to leave the profession. The most important thing in football is to have a strong mind. Good self confidence. In general football distracts me. It is something to enjoy because you and a lot of people enjoy it. After winning so many things at Real Madrid and after 14 years, what I like most is that people enjoy themselves and say that you are Real Madrid through and through”.
Finally, the Real Madrid captain sent a message to Real Madrid supporters: “I have to ask us the fans to be together and united with us, and that with your support we will be much better. We need to turn things around a league that looks difficult. If we are all together, it will go better. I support what Cristiano said yesterday, which was along the same lines”.
A couple of quick bits and bobs as I’m in midst of packing up my office on short notice. I’m moving to another floor (bigger office, whoooo!) and my desk is sheer chaos.
Clarice posted this fab shot with Marcelo at the Ballon d’Or ceremony. We can see a bit more of her dress. They look wonderful!
Mesut posted this on Facebook with the caption “I have the best fans in the world. Thank you very much for your great support.”
And finally, here’s the second installment of the Dream the Blues campaign. I enjoy Nando bitchfacing by the fridge immensely. He really looks excited to be there! Why no Mata next to a stove or something?
Okay, so let me get this straight. If your kid wants to train with Chelsea, you first need to buy a major home appliance and then attend one of the area training camps and then they choose the most passionate? So basically you gotta be made of money to enter. Doesn’t seem terribly fair. What if you have footballing dreams and your family can’t afford a new toaster let alone camp? Hopefully, there’s some sort of way that families without a lot of dough can get their kids into the contest too.
– Lozil
Of Headbands and Heartbreak
watishistacorrespondents
Of Headbands and Heartbreak... 
Oh Iker, just…. wow *__________________*
Is he preparing his beard for a new philips commercial or is he just growing it for fun?
it’s funny how we’ve been mourning the decline of his hairline before the summer break and now here he is, advertising for shampoo! He’s the best testimonial for whatever he did to make his hair look less bald.
ngl, I’m mad at Sergio for mouthing off to the refs when walking off the pitch. He knew exactly that they are very strict this season, since Pepe already got suspended for several matches. So doing it in a time, where there’s big matches ahead (Valencia cdr matches anyone?!) is rather irresponsible. Maybe he’s not as mature as he fancies himself to be after all.
Oh well, at least he gets to rest his back, if it’s still bothering him.
Does Samsung have small appliances that don’t cost much too? Makes no sense to make kids dream of taking part, but only if their parents got enough cash to buy some new kitchen stuff. SMH!
on the other hand even Xabi lost his nerves (I blame the blow to his neck beforehand :P) http://24.media.tumblr.com/b85c24d41e761ee7a14919ee1e922561/tumblr_mgdsvpaL8G1rn1mz3o1_500.gif
Ay Sergio. As if they don’t have enough problems with defense already. Future captain might want to start learning how to keep that temper in check. I guess they’re making another example out of him, because damn, 5 games? What the hell did he say?
Sergio is out for 5 games? Please excuse me while I go cry under the covers. That means this weekend we’re minus Cris, Pepe, Sergio, and maybe Xabi. What. The. Fuuuuuuuuuuu. On the other hand, Iker’s dorky smile and SO MUCH love for Cris bring on happy tears. So I guess there’s that.
Actually, much as I want to see our team whole and uninjured and unbanned, I think they’re turning in some of their best performances of the season when there’s extra hardship. It seems to put the fight into them. We’ve got a deep bench, and I think they can turn it up and win those games.
sergio really should not have gone bananas like he did. The back line is fragile as it is, with pepe and marcello out.
would have been smarter to realize that he cannot control the decision of the referee and accept the card. as a player no matter what u say to the ref once the card is up in the air it is a done deal. very immature of him and now the team will likely forget about clean sheets for a while.
the only + is that they know they can win playing with only 10 men on the pitch
did you guy’s hear mesut is getting his own wax statue at madam tusue’s in berlin 🙂 he is reportedly getting measured next week 🙂
Do they measure everything? 😉 (please excuse my perverted mind)
Heeeeeeeee. Is it too much to hope that the statue will feature his most wonderful hipbones?
Okay, I’m confused… Is it normal to get bans from Copa AND league matches. I don’t recall ever seeing that off of something done in one or the other.
I don’t know what he said or what happened, so I’m not excusing Sergio at all. I’m just questioning the decision to ban him from both. Because I don’t remember it happening like this before, I find it extremely unfair. I would feel this way no matter who was receiving the ban. I’m torn between hating that Sergio has a 5 match ban and glad that the refs are attempting to take control of matches again. I just wish they’d taken control during Levante…
Sergio has done so well at keeping his temper lately. I’m sad that this has happened.
And I’ll leave this post on a happier note… I’m extremely cranky lately.
I adore Clarice and Marcelo
Has anyone mentioned anything about lodging an appeal to have part of the ban suspended? I haven’t been following any of the news… I know that other leagues have an appeals process. I thought RFEF did too.
Yeah, I believe that RM will be filing an appeal.
Sergio, the curse of Pilar Rubio strikes again. As they say in Spain.
Seriously lady? Grow up.
Yes lady. As they say in Spain. Apparently they’ve been saying it about her for years since she can’t hold a job or anything else. Look it up. El Gafe de Pilar Rubio. If you can’t take a joke, jesus christ on a bike….
We can’t take attitude either. Both of the previous comments have been saying something disparaging about Pilar. We don’t go in for the woman nastiness here. I’m guessing your new around these parts, but we have made it a point to shut down that sort of negativity in the past. We’re sick of seeing it everywhere which is why everyone jumped on your comment. We try to keep things civil. Got something to add to the conversation? Great. Just want to slag off some girl who is dating Sergio Ramos? There’s a wealth of places to do that besides here. You don’t have to love her, her clothes, etc but let’s try to keep the hater stuff away.
I’m sorry if you find it disparaging but it’s a fact of life that this is her reputation in her own country. I guess perhaps you didn’t actually know about it. Either she has been fired from every job she ever had or the show closed within 3 episodes. And whether you like it or not, it’s true. I don’t see how commenting about it is woman hating.
I did know about it. We just don’t want to hear about it. From the minute he started dating her all we’ve been hearing about is her tackiness, her unworthiness, her cootch flash, she’s bad luck, etc. We don’t particularly care and we just don’t want to keep hammering on and on about it. Anytime a woman starts dating a ‘baller this shit commentary. She could be Mother Teresa and people would talk smack about her. It’s tiring. Like most of us, she is most emphatically NOT Mother T (who had her own critics, RIP C. Hitchens) but we don’t need to constantly hear them harped on. It’s just how we feel around here, both blog owners and posters.
Well I see your point but really it was only a JOKE. Most people appreciate it as that. But anyway, for the record I like Pilar’s sense of humour and her full throttle approach to life, but she has been a bit decaffeinated lately, which is sad. & I don’t see that as a coincidence.
Then maybe he’s the curse? 😉
I wouldn’t be at all surprised 😉
But seriously though, I guess your joke landed with a thud because it came right after some comments were deleted talking about Pilar flashing her cootch by someone who has some sort of weird vendetta against her. It’s not the first time this person went off on her and we’re all just sick of it. Some of the shit being said on Tumblr, etc is just ridiculous so we here tend to be a bit sharpish when we perceive something as being headed in that direction. Peace.
Oh yes, let’s blame Pilar because Sergio NEVER had any on pitch troubles with his temper before he started dating her! Oh, wait… 😉
I read that on tumblr.
I specifically left tumblr so I wouldn’t have to read misogynist crap like that elsewhere.
*bangs head on keyboard*
i don’t think that’s really a thing.
I think it is, sadly.
It’s called woman-hatred – and Sara had to deal with it too!!!
i am having a hard time picturing who could hate sara… pilar is a little tacky but it’s slightly ridiculous to blame her for sese’s temper tantrum.
he can get into enough trouble on the field when he doesn’t have a girlfriend that can be picked apart by the media and fandom.
Yeah, but it’s apparently more fun to blame another woman. That sort of attitude is what keeps me away from a large part of the fandom. We don’t like here.
No one’s actually blaming Pilar, it’s called a JOKE. People have them from time to time.
The thing about Pilar being bad luck started long before she started dating Sergio. I think it was a show business thing. But of course it’s now turned into a convenient excuse for everything that goes wrong with the team. Wait till it really sinks in with the fangirls that Sergio has a bit of extra time coming in the next few weeks, so guess who he’ll be all snuggled up with at home? 😉
Oh Sergio, you hot little Spainard you……I did watch the video of the infraction, and gees, it’s a tough call. There’s the issue of pure physics – i don’t know many of us who, when falling on your back, wouldn’t have your legs fly up in the air…..but the sharp cleats so close to a guys’ face? A little scary….. but if you’re up 2 goals already, why WOULD you try to stop an opponents’ forward motion? the game is pretty much in the bag, no?