Wednesday Training, Alvaro With The Kids, Sese In Sevilla, International Champions Cup Update & More

Wow, this day has really gotten away from me. Here’s a quick catch up post now as I’m off to a Red Bulls match tonight.

The team returned to training today including Kaka and Mesut. Joining them were Castilla’s Alex and Casemiro.

Here’s some awesome video of Alvaro with the kids yesterday along with more footage from madridismoorg . (Additional photos via GFSports). He’s so great with the kids! I love the little boy who rocks a big ol’ thumbs up when he scores. Adorbs.

Sese spent his time off in Sevilla taking in the Feria de Abril. Here’s some more pictures of him posing with fans and hanging with Canelita and his brother in law Carlos. Canelita looks a bit odd with that patchy beard, doesn’t he? He’s not the beard-y sort in my opinion. Sese also posted a shot with Baptista and Joaquin. The other big news is that Marca revealed his new tat is a portrait of his dad. Story & video in the link. (Pix from Sese’s Twitter & GFSports)

There’s more information on the International Champions Cup including the news that Phoenix, Indianapolis and San Francisco will reportedly host the first round of matches. MGEF has been doing a fantastic job of keeping on top of this so I’ve included a link to all their info. There’s a couple of posts there with details and linking to news stories – make sure that you give everything a thorough read.

Raul Albiol posed in this shirt in support of a sick little girl, Alba Ojeda. You can read more about her story here.
Michael Essien has joined Twitter! His username is @MichaelEssien and he’s changed his Instagram name to iam_ess.
Sweetcocoa, who does charming footy illustrations of Real Madrid made this great one of Cristiano. You can see her other work at her tumblr.
The Real Madrid online store released a new “fashion line” and you know what that means for us ladies… That’s right: pink! Because you know, we have no interest in our team’s actual colors and we want to make sure that people know we’re card carrying members of The Vagina Club. ::rolls eyes::
Now, don’t get me wrong. I like the singer and the color but it’s just annoying that whenever there’s a lady line, pink is the go to shade. Now my itty bitty niece looks super cute in her pink Yankees jacket and it’s her favorite color but she is a wee one and I’m a grown ass woman. Have some respect, you know? If our men were rocking pink, I’d be rocking pink too. But they’re not. Well, except for Sergio, but that’s something completely different and he doesn’t do it on the pitch. I’m just sayin, c’mon merchandisers, think outside my box, y’know?

Here’s a bit of pink I didn’t mind so much. Carlota Fabregas penned a sweet little blog post about her niece Lia’s homecoming (it’s translated in English at the bottom. She included this picture of Lia’s tiny hands. Awwwwww!

And that seems like a good place to end a post, right? The promise of new life. I hope Lia grows up in a world that becomes a kinder, safer place than it feels right now. We all need to do our part to make that a reality. That’s one of the things I love about this place. We all come from different nations, backgrounds, races, religions, team affiliations, sexual orientations, etc. but we’ve carved out our own little peaceable kingdom. We’ve managed that by being civil and kind to each other (even when we disagree) and by choosing to focus on the common ground we have, not our differences.  So let’s carry that spirit into our daily lives (though I’m sure you probably already do, you charming open-minded sexy wonders) and lead by example.  I don’t want my world to be a shitty, scary place and I’m committed to doing my damned best to help alleviate that whenever I can. I bet you are too. So be kind, be gracious, be helpful, be thoughtful, be generous in word & deed, be safe and share the love.

– Lozil