Ready for Italia

The boys look like they’re ready to go, go, git ’em, git ’em, in their semifinal tomorrow! I wanna know who’s going to start, who’s going to score, and who’s going to win. You won’t find any answers to those questions within this post, but you will see lots of Sergio’s sweaty thighs & a couple boys struggling to recover from the sight…

 

La Roja’s final training session was held this afternoon, there’s so much pretty to be seen in the daylight! Here are some leftovers from yesterday and those sweaty thighs I promised.

Sweaty Sexio Thigh Victim #1: Victor Valdes

“Ooh boy.”

Sweaty Sexio Thigh Victim #2: Pepe Reina

“Homina-homina-homina..”

Eye on the ball, my ass! Or…errr…Sergio’s ass, since that’s where Pepe’s probably looking!

Look at this guy, just laughing away. He knows exactly what he do.

And then there’s everyone’s favorite Sweaty Sexio Thigh Victim…and what does he do in response to that glorious sight?

*Checks pulse*

It’s not always fun and bromancing with La Roja, most of the time it is, but there’s a little bit of time cut out for pressers – that’s what we have here. VdB, Arbeloa, and Busquets were today’s featured speakers.

VdB:

On Iker – “Until the time of the match you will not know who’s playing. It’s a fact that I don’t want to reveal now.”

On Balotelli – “It’s a remarkable low for them but they have other players with great quality. He’s a good player for Italy.”

On Cesc & Soldado – “They trained apart from the group these past days but today were with us. We’ll See how they are.”

On Italy – “It’s hard to be surprised because we know them very well. At the last European Championship they were better in the beginning of the game. They have quality. We have alternatives that allow us to have other records. We’ll see how the players come on game day. We must be ourselves and keep our style of play. ”

The secret to success – “It is the motivation of the players. No single recipe or a universal formula. But it is essential to maintain the critical spirit that has brought us here.”

Arbeloa:

On the Euro final – “That game sure is a motivation for them, I do not know if they will come with desire for revenge but surely they’ll be eager to prove themselves and that it was an accident.”

On Pirlo – “He is a fundamental player for Italy a world class player.”

On Balotelli – “There are plenty of players in Italy to take Balotelli’s place, they will not have trouble finding alternatives.”

Busquets:

On key matches – “It will be a key game, but we’re used to playing these types of games. It will be different but we really want to play and move on to the final.”

On favorites – “At this stage there are no favorites, you start 0-0 and anyone can win.”

On Balotelli – “He is a major player, but they’ll look for another insurance option, they have a list of 23 in which there are very good players, they’re not going to miss him the end as you get used to the game as it begins.”

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Today, Iker spoke with Fifa in what was a bittersweet interview. He talked about rediscovering happiness with the Spain NT, while I’m happy that he’s finally happy again, it’s sad to know that he was feeling so low. 😦

From Marca.com –

“I’ve cried, suffered a lot and I’ve had many nights where I’ve slept only a little bit and badly. I am a ‘Madridista’ through and through, but more important than me is the club.”

“I have rediscovered happiness. Sometimes you are not used to living certain situations from the other side. It was not easy but after breaking the ice I feel like another person now,” he said.

“Many people helped me get through the injury, which is a situation that I had never been in before. After I have to always try to be respectful. It’s clear that when you don’t play after the career I’ve had to now, you have to take it on board as if nothing has happened, work hard, and wait patiently,” he said.

Iker makes it clear that he wants to retire at Real: “I would love to retire at Real Madrid, but I’m not going to make it difficult for the club if tomorrow the coach does not want me. In that case I would have to look elsewhere but my goal is to stay at Real. This club has given me everything, including the possibility of wearing the national team’s polo shirt which I have on now.”

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The Spaniards were light on the social media today, they’re busy focusing y’all, but Juan Mata left us with this beauty of a shot. (No surprise there.) *Sigh* I’m looking forward to my upcoming weekend getaway.

Pics via sr4oldpics, gfsports, football-hqs, & sefutbol.

Here’s to hoping for an awesome match tomorrow!

-Maisougio