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FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid: 2013 26-10-213
FC Barcelona-Real Madrid:
FCB: Valdés, Piqué, Fàbregas, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Neymar, Mascherano, Sergio, Adriano, Alves.
BENCH / SUPLENTES: Pinto, Montoya, Puyol, Song, Sergi Roberto, Pedro, Alexis.
RMA: Diego López, Varane, Pepe, Ramos, Khedira, Ronaldo, Bale, Marcelo, Carvajal, Modric, Di María.
BENCH / SUPLENTES: Casillas, Coentrão, Benzema, Arbeloa, Jesé, Isco, Illarra.
FCB: Valdés, Piqué, Fàbregas, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Neymar, Mascherano, Sergio, Adriano, Alves.
BENCH / SUPLENTES: Pinto, Montoya, Puyol, Song, Sergi Roberto, Pedro, Alexis.
RMA: Diego López, Varane, Pepe, Ramos, Khedira, Ronaldo, Bale, Marcelo, Carvajal, Modric, Di María.
BENCH / SUPLENTES: Casillas, Coentrão, Benzema, Arbeloa, Jesé, Isco, Illarra.
All the talk in the French national side was about Raphael Varane after his excellent debut against Georgia that did nothing but confirm all the expectations that were placed on his shoulders. However, it is likely he will not be used against Spain on Tuesday as Deschamps has been loyal to the pairing of Koscielny-Sakho for four games now, despite neither player being a regular in their club sides.
Varane playing for France Raphael Varane Didier Deschamps analysed the player: "France has had a lot of good centre-halves Tresor, Boli, Blanc, Thuram, Desailly... but Raphael is different, I can't remember anyone like him because he is only 19 years of age. He is an exceptional case, a natural that dominates his position and makes the difficult things look easy. Because of all that he is in the Real Madrid side and now the national team. Defensively he is very clever". The former French World and European Champion confessed to this reporter on Friday that he has been surprised by Varane's form. "What we are talking about is a player who has replaced Pepe at Real Madrid, who although he has his moments is a great centre-half. His form against Manchester United and Barcelona was amazing. I could not have expected him to reach this level at only 19, he is unique
Varane playing for France Raphael Varane Didier Deschamps analysed the player: "France has had a lot of good centre-halves Tresor, Boli, Blanc, Thuram, Desailly... but Raphael is different, I can't remember anyone like him because he is only 19 years of age. He is an exceptional case, a natural that dominates his position and makes the difficult things look easy. Because of all that he is in the Real Madrid side and now the national team. Defensively he is very clever". The former French World and European Champion confessed to this reporter on Friday that he has been surprised by Varane's form. "What we are talking about is a player who has replaced Pepe at Real Madrid, who although he has his moments is a great centre-half. His form against Manchester United and Barcelona was amazing. I could not have expected him to reach this level at only 19, he is unique
SPANISH LEAGUE TABLE
| |||||||||||||||
| Equipo | Pts | PG | PE | PP | GF | GC | |||||||||
| 1 | Barcelona | 25 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 6 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Atletico | 24 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 7 | ||||||||
| 3 | Real Madrid | 22 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 9 | ||||||||
| 4 | Villarreal | 17 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 9 | ||||||||
| 5 | Getafe | 16 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 11 | ||||||||
| 6 | Athletic | 16 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 13 | ||||||||
| 7 | Espanyol | 14 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 11 | ||||||||
| 8 | Valencia | 13 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 13 | ||||||||
| 9 | Levante | 13 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 14 | ||||||||
| 10 | Elche | 12 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | ||||||||
| 11 | Sevilla | 10 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 16 | ||||||||
| 12 | R Sociedad | 10 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 10 | ||||||||
| 13 | Malaga | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 9 | ||||||||
| 14 | Rayo Vallecano | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 21 | ||||||||
| 15 | Betis | 8 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 12 | ||||||||
| 16 | Granada | 8 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||
| 17 | Valladolid | 7 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 15 | ||||||||
| 18 | Osasuna | 7 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 13 | ||||||||
| 19 | Celta | 6 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 13 | ||||||||
| 20 | Almeria | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 20 | ||||||||
New look for the Bernabeu Stadium to reap financial rewards
Florentino Perez does not just want to turn the Santiago Bernabeu stadium into an architectural landmark. He also wants it to be the club's main source of income. Outside, a nice stadium. Inside, a big business. Because Real Madrid is hoping to rake in an extra 120 million euros a year by taking full advantage of the new-look Bernabeu. It is estimated that the club will get 60 million euros for its property side of the business – revenue generated by the multiple incorporated businesses - and a similar figure from intangible sales.
 |
| Florentino Perez wants a new Santiago Bernabeu Stadium |
The club currently receives around 160 million euros a season for operations at the stadium, but this includes ticket sales and season-tickets, and does not form part of the new budget. The club currently survives largely thanks to revenue from TV rights, which will decrease in the future, placing greater emphasis on extra income.
The club wants to follow the Madison Square Garden model in order to take full financial advantage of the football ground and the new plan was inspired by the New York stadium. There will be a gallery of shops and businesses of all kinds around the stadium. The clubs wants fans to be able to enter the complex without the need to leave to buy anything, even though fans may go in hours before kick-off. The Bernabeu stadium will welcome all types of businesses, including betting companies.
Hence the importance of reforming the Bernabeu to find new revenue streams. Real Madrid needs a new stadium concept to play football and make money, not only on game days, but throughout the week. It's delve into what's already there, but with a much stronger infrastructure. It's about turning the Real Madrid 'Coliseum' into the most important club's revenue source and not depend on others.
Samba Magic – Marcelo
marcelo-2013-h1n-net
Brazilian footballers are different. They are all of a unique mould. They play the game with a combination of flair and intensity, which makes them so unique. Naturally, this effect is felt by clubs that have Brazilians playing for them as well. Oscar, Neymar, Hulk, Dani Alves – the common theme here is how impactful these Brazilians are to their clubs. It is to no surprise that in Real Madrid’s case too, this holds true. Marcelo is a game changer. I’d go so far as to say he is one of the top two or three most important players in our squad.
Playing style & Contribution
Everybody is a fan of Marcelo’s playing style.
He is perhaps the best dribbler in the team, along with Di Maria. It is very hard to dispossess him. As a defender he is a nightmare because he not only has the skills to dribble by you, but also has a mean cross which can be dangerous to fellow defenders. If that’s not enough, he makes the team’s most dangerous scorer, even more dangerous. Cristiano plays more centrally these days, but still fancies to drift from the left side of the pitch. Since that is against the natural direction of the wing, sometimes it is difficult for him to do so, as both the right back as well as the centre back target him defensively. This is a tactic most teams use, especially amplified by even Dani Alves and Gerard Pique who at one point of time made Cristiano very frustrated. With Marcelo in the fray for this situation though, everything changes. At the back of the RB’s mind, is now another, very deadly attacking weapon. Catching Marcelo means, CR is one on one and in an advantageous position. Leaving him means a great dribbler and crosser free. Of course, this is an oversimplification, but we can see the framework of just how much he adds to the attack. Correlation between Marcelo playing and results Football statistics can be a wonderful tool if used well. Often there are lazy summaries to fit agenda, but I always prefer it when statistics help you get perspective on something, rather than blindly scream a conclusion. Just by watching, I always get the feeling that we are a much more dangerous team when he is playing rather than when he is not. I also don’t necessarily subscribe to the theory that, he is a defensive liability. I complied a bunch of statistics from the wonderful WhoScored website which I thought was relevant to see how impactful Marcelo is to the team, and whether the numbers agree with my observations. Full disclaimer here that it is probably not a good idea to take just 10 matches into the season as a valid sample set. Lots of factors that skew the statistics, such as us having a new manager and trying to implement a new way of playing. Injuries, opponents, form and several other factors make every match different from another but I’m going to try taking these statistics just as a correlation and not as a causation. marcelo First thing that screams out from this set of data is that our two hiccups in the league came when he wasn’t playing. Does this mean if he played we would have won? Absolutely not, but it is a starting point for perhaps how we played worse then, as we missed one of our most deadly players. If you throw all statistics aside, our team began with progress, and ever since the Villarreal game we’ve been on a downslide. We picked it up against Copenhagen, and also the last few minutes against Levante, and I believe a significant part of it was the presence and absence of Marcelo. From the passes statistic, we can infer that we more or less have had the same passing routine in most games. An average of 563 passes is healthy for a team that wants to try and dictate play. However, how many chances come off this passing is an important statistic as well. You can pass the ball around 900 times but Tiki Taka only worked in its prime because the chances created were proportional as well. There is a correlation between Marcelo playing, and chances being created. 14.5 chances per game during his injury absence and 16 when he plays. It can make a whole lot of difference. Another interesting stat that I thought would be interesting, was something I call as the left side bias. The website gave a wonderful piece of information where it gave a percentage break up of which region our attacks came from (and consequently, which region we were most attacked from).
When Marcelo plays, the average left side bias is 37% where as when he doesn’t it is 40%. Nacho and Arbeloa manned the left back position when he wasn’t available. Now there are multiple ways to interpret this, but I choose this one as it seems more logical than the others. Since Marcelo doesn’t play, defenders focus on centrally, leaving the less impactful left back more free, to do lesser damage. This perhaps reflects in the fact that even though, we had more left side bias, its end product was not good. I’d imagine if we look at the stats of Cristiano, and say Isco (both players who tend to drift more to the left than centre and right) during the games in which Marcelo wasn’t featured, we’d get a pattern of more mistakes, turnovers, and lesser productivity in general. Now that I think back on it, it did co-incide with Isco’s slight drop in form. Cristiano is a machine, and keeps getting his goals, but you can almost sense he is a lot more comfortable when he has the afro on his left side. The pass rank stat is one I came up with, to show how Marcelo is always in the top few people who make the most number of passes in Real Madrid’s matches. The fact that when he starts, and plays well (excluding the Granada match where he had a stinker), he ends up somewhere in the region of Pass Rank 5, in a team that is loaded with attacking potential, is further testament to the fact that he is a vital piece in the team. It is no secret though, that defending is not Marcelo’s best aspect. I wish there was a way to overlap average positions map from each map to find one for the season. What I’m getitng at is that, that map probably will show that Marcelo spends more time in the attacking half than the defending one.
Naturally that leaves more open space for opponents, especially ones that prefer to counter attack, which is practically every team we play nowadays. Does this impact us though? Raw statistics in terms of good plays and mistakes done by Marcelo, as the table suggests, doesn’t paint a bad picture. Marcelo makes up for spacing issues with his tackling and speed of recovery. He can though, be a bit reckless on tackling, but that’s a risk I’m more than happy taking for the tremendous impact he creates up front. Negatives of dependency It is clear just how dependent we can be on our Brazilian. Dependency though, is also a bad thing. Xabi Alonso, two words are all it takes for us to get the significance of that. One way to change the dependency is to have the back up, Coentrao, for instance, play in a similar way as Marcelo. They are not similar players, but they can follow the same outline of the game. Coentrao though, is a strange player to understand. He can, attack as much as Marcelo if he wants to, you only have to look at Portugal’s games to see what he can offer. At Madrid though, he chooses to proactively focus more on defending. Perhaps he feels that is the way he can stand out and win his place in the team. But once you force a mindset like that, it can be bad for the player and eventually the team. Another alternative, that has often been suggested on our boards, is the creation of width on the opposite side of the pitch. Carvajal does a good job creating that.
I believe it was Rahul who suggested it strongly that we must have at least one of the two ‘attacking’ full backs in every game to make sure we don’t stagnate offensively. It is probably not a coincidence that our weakest performances came when both of our wingbacks were of conservative nature, especially considering the logjam that is the opposition teams when they sit back. I suppose at the end of this article you can quite easily say – Tell me something I don’t know. Here it is though, you’ve read 1500 words any way. Give us your opinion on this topic though. Are we too dependent on our Samba magician? Is that a good or a bad thing? How do you reckon we can achieve balance and stability. Just something to keep your football minds occupied as we come out of international break and get back into the club groove of things.
He is perhaps the best dribbler in the team, along with Di Maria. It is very hard to dispossess him. As a defender he is a nightmare because he not only has the skills to dribble by you, but also has a mean cross which can be dangerous to fellow defenders. If that’s not enough, he makes the team’s most dangerous scorer, even more dangerous. Cristiano plays more centrally these days, but still fancies to drift from the left side of the pitch. Since that is against the natural direction of the wing, sometimes it is difficult for him to do so, as both the right back as well as the centre back target him defensively. This is a tactic most teams use, especially amplified by even Dani Alves and Gerard Pique who at one point of time made Cristiano very frustrated. With Marcelo in the fray for this situation though, everything changes. At the back of the RB’s mind, is now another, very deadly attacking weapon. Catching Marcelo means, CR is one on one and in an advantageous position. Leaving him means a great dribbler and crosser free. Of course, this is an oversimplification, but we can see the framework of just how much he adds to the attack. Correlation between Marcelo playing and results Football statistics can be a wonderful tool if used well. Often there are lazy summaries to fit agenda, but I always prefer it when statistics help you get perspective on something, rather than blindly scream a conclusion. Just by watching, I always get the feeling that we are a much more dangerous team when he is playing rather than when he is not. I also don’t necessarily subscribe to the theory that, he is a defensive liability. I complied a bunch of statistics from the wonderful WhoScored website which I thought was relevant to see how impactful Marcelo is to the team, and whether the numbers agree with my observations. Full disclaimer here that it is probably not a good idea to take just 10 matches into the season as a valid sample set. Lots of factors that skew the statistics, such as us having a new manager and trying to implement a new way of playing. Injuries, opponents, form and several other factors make every match different from another but I’m going to try taking these statistics just as a correlation and not as a causation. marcelo First thing that screams out from this set of data is that our two hiccups in the league came when he wasn’t playing. Does this mean if he played we would have won? Absolutely not, but it is a starting point for perhaps how we played worse then, as we missed one of our most deadly players. If you throw all statistics aside, our team began with progress, and ever since the Villarreal game we’ve been on a downslide. We picked it up against Copenhagen, and also the last few minutes against Levante, and I believe a significant part of it was the presence and absence of Marcelo. From the passes statistic, we can infer that we more or less have had the same passing routine in most games. An average of 563 passes is healthy for a team that wants to try and dictate play. However, how many chances come off this passing is an important statistic as well. You can pass the ball around 900 times but Tiki Taka only worked in its prime because the chances created were proportional as well. There is a correlation between Marcelo playing, and chances being created. 14.5 chances per game during his injury absence and 16 when he plays. It can make a whole lot of difference. Another interesting stat that I thought would be interesting, was something I call as the left side bias. The website gave a wonderful piece of information where it gave a percentage break up of which region our attacks came from (and consequently, which region we were most attacked from).
When Marcelo plays, the average left side bias is 37% where as when he doesn’t it is 40%. Nacho and Arbeloa manned the left back position when he wasn’t available. Now there are multiple ways to interpret this, but I choose this one as it seems more logical than the others. Since Marcelo doesn’t play, defenders focus on centrally, leaving the less impactful left back more free, to do lesser damage. This perhaps reflects in the fact that even though, we had more left side bias, its end product was not good. I’d imagine if we look at the stats of Cristiano, and say Isco (both players who tend to drift more to the left than centre and right) during the games in which Marcelo wasn’t featured, we’d get a pattern of more mistakes, turnovers, and lesser productivity in general. Now that I think back on it, it did co-incide with Isco’s slight drop in form. Cristiano is a machine, and keeps getting his goals, but you can almost sense he is a lot more comfortable when he has the afro on his left side. The pass rank stat is one I came up with, to show how Marcelo is always in the top few people who make the most number of passes in Real Madrid’s matches. The fact that when he starts, and plays well (excluding the Granada match where he had a stinker), he ends up somewhere in the region of Pass Rank 5, in a team that is loaded with attacking potential, is further testament to the fact that he is a vital piece in the team. It is no secret though, that defending is not Marcelo’s best aspect. I wish there was a way to overlap average positions map from each map to find one for the season. What I’m getitng at is that, that map probably will show that Marcelo spends more time in the attacking half than the defending one.
Naturally that leaves more open space for opponents, especially ones that prefer to counter attack, which is practically every team we play nowadays. Does this impact us though? Raw statistics in terms of good plays and mistakes done by Marcelo, as the table suggests, doesn’t paint a bad picture. Marcelo makes up for spacing issues with his tackling and speed of recovery. He can though, be a bit reckless on tackling, but that’s a risk I’m more than happy taking for the tremendous impact he creates up front. Negatives of dependency It is clear just how dependent we can be on our Brazilian. Dependency though, is also a bad thing. Xabi Alonso, two words are all it takes for us to get the significance of that. One way to change the dependency is to have the back up, Coentrao, for instance, play in a similar way as Marcelo. They are not similar players, but they can follow the same outline of the game. Coentrao though, is a strange player to understand. He can, attack as much as Marcelo if he wants to, you only have to look at Portugal’s games to see what he can offer. At Madrid though, he chooses to proactively focus more on defending. Perhaps he feels that is the way he can stand out and win his place in the team. But once you force a mindset like that, it can be bad for the player and eventually the team. Another alternative, that has often been suggested on our boards, is the creation of width on the opposite side of the pitch. Carvajal does a good job creating that.
I believe it was Rahul who suggested it strongly that we must have at least one of the two ‘attacking’ full backs in every game to make sure we don’t stagnate offensively. It is probably not a coincidence that our weakest performances came when both of our wingbacks were of conservative nature, especially considering the logjam that is the opposition teams when they sit back. I suppose at the end of this article you can quite easily say – Tell me something I don’t know. Here it is though, you’ve read 1500 words any way. Give us your opinion on this topic though. Are we too dependent on our Samba magician? Is that a good or a bad thing? How do you reckon we can achieve balance and stability. Just something to keep your football minds occupied as we come out of international break and get back into the club groove of things.
Real madrid 2-1 Guventus
2 GOAL CR7 FOR Real madrid MIN 4 AND 29
1 GOAL Fernaldo Liorrenty Guventus MIN 22
Real Madrid vs Juventus at the meeting will carry a lot of excitement
teams Real madrid vs juventus
1. Casillas vs Buffon
2.Varane Chiellini
3. Pepe Bonucci
12.Marcelo Ba
15.Carvajal Isla
6.Khedira Pogra
24 .Illarramendi D.ceglie
19. Modric Perlo
22. Di maria Marchisio
9.Benzema Giovinco
7.CR7 Tevez
players
1. Casillas vs Buffon
2.Varane Chiellini
3. Pepe Bonucci
12.Marcelo Ba
15.Carvajal Isla
6.Khedira Pogra
24 .Illarramendi D.ceglie
19. Modric Perlo
22. Di maria Marchisio
9.Benzema Giovinco
7.CR7 Tevez
El Clasico is One Of The Best Games Of The Season
The match will started out in the most spectacular tifou classico will be one of the most classico moved it from his last years because the two teams will face more fierce schools in the defensive game as barcalone vs milan and real madrid vs juventus.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the Highest Paid Footballer in the World
Cristiano Ronaldo who joined Real Madrid this season in in a
world record transfer fee from Manchester United, is currently the
highest paid football player in the world, after a "Top 50" list was
released today.
According to the "Football Finance" site, Cristiano Ronaldo, currently with Real Madrid, is the highest paid footballer in the world. The captain of the Portugal team receives €1.083 million per month, or 13 million euros per year. In 2nd position is the Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic, of Barcelona, banking one million euros per month (12 million per year) and in 3rd place comes Argentina's Lionel Messi, captain of the Catalan team, with 875 thousand euros a month or 10.5 million per year.
Spain, England, Italy and Germany are the countries that have the clubs (about a dozen of them) with the best paid players in football today, earning astronomical salaries in an industry that is showing signs of growth once again, with the galactic Real Madrid in the front.
"In a year of recovery after the severe economic crisis that affected most of the clubs, the football industry is showing signs of recovery "begins by saying" the Portuguese marketing agency "Futebol Finance." For 3 consecutive years, that site has renovated and updated the list with the highest salaries of football players. With major changes in relation to the 2008/09 season - the biggest being the creation of a new "Galactic" team by Real Madrid and the newest millionaires, Manchester City, which has followed the same line of Chelsea, of previous years, considerably inflating salaries paid to the players of the "Premier League."
With the most expensive transfer ever in football history, Cristiano Ronaldo of Madeira Island, voted best player in the world in 2009, heads the list, ahead of his "rivals" Ibrahimovic and Messi, both of FC Barcelona. According to the table, in 4th place comes the first player who's not playing in Spain, namely Samuel Eto'o, of Inter Milan, coached by Portuguese José Mourinho. The Brazilian Kaka, teammate of Ronaldo at Bernabeu, takes home 833 thousand euros a month in salary and $10 million per year, composing the "top five."
According to the "Football Finance" site, Cristiano Ronaldo, currently with Real Madrid, is the highest paid footballer in the world. The captain of the Portugal team receives €1.083 million per month, or 13 million euros per year. In 2nd position is the Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic, of Barcelona, banking one million euros per month (12 million per year) and in 3rd place comes Argentina's Lionel Messi, captain of the Catalan team, with 875 thousand euros a month or 10.5 million per year.
Spain, England, Italy and Germany are the countries that have the clubs (about a dozen of them) with the best paid players in football today, earning astronomical salaries in an industry that is showing signs of growth once again, with the galactic Real Madrid in the front.
"In a year of recovery after the severe economic crisis that affected most of the clubs, the football industry is showing signs of recovery "begins by saying" the Portuguese marketing agency "Futebol Finance." For 3 consecutive years, that site has renovated and updated the list with the highest salaries of football players. With major changes in relation to the 2008/09 season - the biggest being the creation of a new "Galactic" team by Real Madrid and the newest millionaires, Manchester City, which has followed the same line of Chelsea, of previous years, considerably inflating salaries paid to the players of the "Premier League."
With the most expensive transfer ever in football history, Cristiano Ronaldo of Madeira Island, voted best player in the world in 2009, heads the list, ahead of his "rivals" Ibrahimovic and Messi, both of FC Barcelona. According to the table, in 4th place comes the first player who's not playing in Spain, namely Samuel Eto'o, of Inter Milan, coached by Portuguese José Mourinho. The Brazilian Kaka, teammate of Ronaldo at Bernabeu, takes home 833 thousand euros a month in salary and $10 million per year, composing the "top five."
Spain and England have the top players
In the "Top 50" appear four more players from Real Madrid Galacticos. They are; Benzema (7), Raul (17), Casillas (22) and Diarra (45), the latter with a monthly salary of 416 thousand euros and five million per year. From Barcelona besides Ibrahimovic and Messi, the list contains six "millionaire" names. These are Henry (11), Xavi (12), Daniel Alves (15), Valdez (23), Puyol (37) and Iniesta (38). Still in Spain there are another three players; Kanoute (Sevilla), at 24. David Villa (Valencia) at 30 and Aguero (Atletico Madrid) at 39.
You can read the rest of the highest paid players in the Top 50 List Here
Gil Santos is the author and the owner of a Soccer Website that provides news and information about Cristiano Ronaldo the Portugal captain and Real Madrid football star.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gil_Santos
Gil Santos is the author and the owner of a Soccer Website that provides news and information about Cristiano Ronaldo the Portugal captain and Real Madrid football star.
Fantasy Soccer - Player Profile - Raul Gonzalez (Real Madrid)
The heart and soul of Real Madrid in Spain since 1994, Raul has
been through it all. Good years, great years, and the rare bad year for
Real Madrid.
Raul started out in the rival Atletico Madrid's youth system, but made the switch to Real Madrid's youth system in 1990. He remained there for 2 years until he was called up to play for the top flighted club. He at the time was the youngest to ever play for Real Madrid, making his debut for the side when he was just 17.
As a striker, Raul has had the pleasure of playing with some of the greats to ever grace the game that have made their way in and out of Madrid's ranks. He found prolific partnerships alongside Fernando Morientes, and later with the Brazilian, Ronaldo. To date, Raul has made an astonishing amount of appearances for his club which now number over 700. In addition he has made over 100 appearances for his country of Spain and has found success there as well.
Raul is a constant threat in front of the goal mouth and his hard work and constant effort lead to him capitalizing on some gritty goals. He has scored over 300 times for Madrid and has found his name creep up the all time scoring list, recently just passing the great Alfredo di Stefano. For country, Raul netted 102 times, yet he has been left off the squad list in recent games. Raul is still eligible to be called out and has yet to announce his international retirement.
Not only is he a hard worker on the field, but Raul is also a disciplined one. Through his entire career he has never received a red card. As a reward for his immense effort on the field, Raul was appointed club captain in 2003.
Raul currently has a "contract for life" through Real Madrid, which renews itself automatically as long as the striker plays 30 games in a season.
Though Raul may have lost some of his pace and his touch on the ball is not what it used to be, he is still a threat in front of the net. His constant work ethic has rewarded him, and he appears to be destined to play at Real Madrid at least one more year.
Raul started out in the rival Atletico Madrid's youth system, but made the switch to Real Madrid's youth system in 1990. He remained there for 2 years until he was called up to play for the top flighted club. He at the time was the youngest to ever play for Real Madrid, making his debut for the side when he was just 17.
As a striker, Raul has had the pleasure of playing with some of the greats to ever grace the game that have made their way in and out of Madrid's ranks. He found prolific partnerships alongside Fernando Morientes, and later with the Brazilian, Ronaldo. To date, Raul has made an astonishing amount of appearances for his club which now number over 700. In addition he has made over 100 appearances for his country of Spain and has found success there as well.
Raul is a constant threat in front of the goal mouth and his hard work and constant effort lead to him capitalizing on some gritty goals. He has scored over 300 times for Madrid and has found his name creep up the all time scoring list, recently just passing the great Alfredo di Stefano. For country, Raul netted 102 times, yet he has been left off the squad list in recent games. Raul is still eligible to be called out and has yet to announce his international retirement.
Not only is he a hard worker on the field, but Raul is also a disciplined one. Through his entire career he has never received a red card. As a reward for his immense effort on the field, Raul was appointed club captain in 2003.
Raul currently has a "contract for life" through Real Madrid, which renews itself automatically as long as the striker plays 30 games in a season.
Though Raul may have lost some of his pace and his touch on the ball is not what it used to be, he is still a threat in front of the net. His constant work ethic has rewarded him, and he appears to be destined to play at Real Madrid at least one more year.
Find your fantasy football draft, fantasy football rankings, and fantasy baseball leagues at Fanball.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_L._Rogers
Hispanic Soccer Players - Real Madrid's Best Player
The Hispanic soccer players are considered among the best in the
sport which have gained the respect of other international teams around
the world. Though Spain's national team didn't manage to take home the
World Cup award, they still maintained their level of active
participation with the sport and kept their strong spirits and hope to
make it on top in the future.
The Spanish team's numerous fans remained loyal and have given a moral boost for the team to continue to become better and stronger.
Among the most celebrated player of the Hispanic team is Raul Gonzalez Blanco. Raul joined Real Madrid at the age of 17 which makes him the youngest player to join a senior team. The young player managed to prove his excellent skills with his team and had consistently scored winning goals that earned the respect of his colleagues.
Since then he has contributed a lot for the success of his team which later on made an impact on his career as a professional Hispanic soccer player. He has been called as Madrid's striker because of his exemplary skills on the ball. He has the skill to break in defenders, very quick in handling and striking the ball.
Many of the big fans of the national team expect Raul to bring their nation into victory this coming World Cup which will be held in 2010. This will be one of the most awaited events in the country and it will be Raul's chance to bring back the pride and glory of his team and his country.
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The Spanish team's numerous fans remained loyal and have given a moral boost for the team to continue to become better and stronger.
Among the most celebrated player of the Hispanic team is Raul Gonzalez Blanco. Raul joined Real Madrid at the age of 17 which makes him the youngest player to join a senior team. The young player managed to prove his excellent skills with his team and had consistently scored winning goals that earned the respect of his colleagues.
Since then he has contributed a lot for the success of his team which later on made an impact on his career as a professional Hispanic soccer player. He has been called as Madrid's striker because of his exemplary skills on the ball. He has the skill to break in defenders, very quick in handling and striking the ball.
Many of the big fans of the national team expect Raul to bring their nation into victory this coming World Cup which will be held in 2010. This will be one of the most awaited events in the country and it will be Raul's chance to bring back the pride and glory of his team and his country.
As long as there have been sport teams, there have been
rivalries. Whether it's the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox or
the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns, the two rival teams
inevitably end up meeting again and again, forming an ongoing heated
rivalry that delights fans of the sport. One such rivalry is between
Spanish football teams FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.
FC Barcelona (also known as Barça by its fans) and Real Madrid are two of the earliest Spanish football teams, both forming in the 1890s. From the start, the two teams were seen as representatives of two rival regions of Spain, the ancient kingdoms of Castile and Catalonia. Both teams were part of La Liga, a Spanish football league and a rivalry that went far beyond football quickly took root.
It was during and after the Spanish Civil War that the rivalry took on more political overtones. Dictator Francisco Franco banned all peripheral languages, such as Catalan, the language of Barcelona. Catalonia had long been associated with more progressive fashions and political ideas, such as democracy-which was the diametric opposite of Franco's dictatorial regime. FC Barcelona suffered as a result of being a part of the Catalonian culture. Real Madrid, on the other hand, was seen by many Spaniards (and Catalonians in particular) as the "establishment" club. Though Franco seemed to favor Real Madrid, members of both teams suffered under his regime.
The fierce rivalry continued into the 1950s when both clubs sought to sign Alfredo Di Stefano to play for them. Real Madrid eventually won out and Alfredo Di Stefano went on to lead them to many wins. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid went head-to-head twice at the European Cup in the 1960s, with Real Madrid winning one and FC Barcelona winning the other. The two teams clashed once again over a player in 2000 when Luis Figo left FC Barcelona and signed with Real Madrid.
FC Barcelona and Real Madrid competed against each other again in the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 2002, with Real Madrid getting the win. The Spanish media dubbed the match "The Match of the Century".
In the mid-2000s, the rivalry ascended to further heights when it acquired its own name, El Clasico. The term El Clasico was traditionally assigned to any South American football rivalry, but the growth of football in the Americas coupled with these two great teams' rivalry led to the coining of the term as applied to FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. This was mostly a marketing scheme communicated via GolTV, an all-football satellite channel, but the term has been embraced by fans worldwide.
El Clasico shows no signs of slowing. To this very day, the two teams inevitably seek each other out on the field to find out who is the best team in Spain. Sometimes FC Barcelona wins and sometimes Real Madrid wins, but ultimately football fans worldwide are the ones who win whenever these two giants meet on the field.
FC Barcelona (also known as Barça by its fans) and Real Madrid are two of the earliest Spanish football teams, both forming in the 1890s. From the start, the two teams were seen as representatives of two rival regions of Spain, the ancient kingdoms of Castile and Catalonia. Both teams were part of La Liga, a Spanish football league and a rivalry that went far beyond football quickly took root.
It was during and after the Spanish Civil War that the rivalry took on more political overtones. Dictator Francisco Franco banned all peripheral languages, such as Catalan, the language of Barcelona. Catalonia had long been associated with more progressive fashions and political ideas, such as democracy-which was the diametric opposite of Franco's dictatorial regime. FC Barcelona suffered as a result of being a part of the Catalonian culture. Real Madrid, on the other hand, was seen by many Spaniards (and Catalonians in particular) as the "establishment" club. Though Franco seemed to favor Real Madrid, members of both teams suffered under his regime.
The fierce rivalry continued into the 1950s when both clubs sought to sign Alfredo Di Stefano to play for them. Real Madrid eventually won out and Alfredo Di Stefano went on to lead them to many wins. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid went head-to-head twice at the European Cup in the 1960s, with Real Madrid winning one and FC Barcelona winning the other. The two teams clashed once again over a player in 2000 when Luis Figo left FC Barcelona and signed with Real Madrid.
FC Barcelona and Real Madrid competed against each other again in the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 2002, with Real Madrid getting the win. The Spanish media dubbed the match "The Match of the Century".
In the mid-2000s, the rivalry ascended to further heights when it acquired its own name, El Clasico. The term El Clasico was traditionally assigned to any South American football rivalry, but the growth of football in the Americas coupled with these two great teams' rivalry led to the coining of the term as applied to FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. This was mostly a marketing scheme communicated via GolTV, an all-football satellite channel, but the term has been embraced by fans worldwide.
El Clasico shows no signs of slowing. To this very day, the two teams inevitably seek each other out on the field to find out who is the best team in Spain. Sometimes FC Barcelona wins and sometimes Real Madrid wins, but ultimately football fans worldwide are the ones who win whenever these two giants meet on the field.
To see first hand how Barca does with their new lineup, see them play at the Nou Camp in Barcelona. Buy FC Barcelona tickets in advance from Simply Barcelona Tickets to ensure ticket availability.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Hazard
FC Barcelona - The Rivalry With Real Madrid
As long as there have been sport teams, there have been
rivalries. Whether it's the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox or
the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns, the two rival teams
inevitably end up meeting again and again, forming an ongoing heated
rivalry that delights fans of the sport. One such rivalry is between
Spanish football teams FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.
FC Barcelona (also known as Barça by its fans) and Real Madrid are two of the earliest Spanish football teams, both forming in the 1890s. From the start, the two teams were seen as representatives of two rival regions of Spain, the ancient kingdoms of Castile and Catalonia. Both teams were part of La Liga, a Spanish football league and a rivalry that went far beyond football quickly took root.
It was during and after the Spanish Civil War that the rivalry took on more political overtones. Dictator Francisco Franco banned all peripheral languages, such as Catalan, the language of Barcelona. Catalonia had long been associated with more progressive fashions and political ideas, such as democracy-which was the diametric opposite of Franco's dictatorial regime. FC Barcelona suffered as a result of being a part of the Catalonian culture. Real Madrid, on the other hand, was seen by many Spaniards (and Catalonians in particular) as the "establishment" club. Though Franco seemed to favor Real Madrid, members of both teams suffered under his regime.
The fierce rivalry continued into the 1950s when both clubs sought to sign Alfredo Di Stefano to play for them. Real Madrid eventually won out and Alfredo Di Stefano went on to lead them to many wins. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid went head-to-head twice at the European Cup in the 1960s, with Real Madrid winning one and FC Barcelona winning the other. The two teams clashed once again over a player in 2000 when Luis Figo left FC Barcelona and signed with Real Madrid. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid competed against each other again in the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 2002, with Real Madrid getting the win. The Spanish media dubbed the match "The Match of the Century".
In the mid-2000s, the rivalry ascended to further heights when it acquired its own name, El Clasico. The term El Clasico was traditionally assigned to any South American football rivalry, but the growth of football in the Americas coupled with these two great teams' rivalry led to the coining of the term as applied to FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. This was mostly a marketing scheme communicated via GolTV, an all-football satellite channel, but the term has been embraced by fans worldwide.
El Clasico shows no signs of slowing. To this very day, the two teams inevitably seek each other out on the field to find out who is the best team in Spain. Sometimes FC Barcelona wins and sometimes Real Madrid wins, but ultimately football fans worldwide are the ones who win whenever these two giants meet on the field.
FC Barcelona (also known as Barça by its fans) and Real Madrid are two of the earliest Spanish football teams, both forming in the 1890s. From the start, the two teams were seen as representatives of two rival regions of Spain, the ancient kingdoms of Castile and Catalonia. Both teams were part of La Liga, a Spanish football league and a rivalry that went far beyond football quickly took root.
It was during and after the Spanish Civil War that the rivalry took on more political overtones. Dictator Francisco Franco banned all peripheral languages, such as Catalan, the language of Barcelona. Catalonia had long been associated with more progressive fashions and political ideas, such as democracy-which was the diametric opposite of Franco's dictatorial regime. FC Barcelona suffered as a result of being a part of the Catalonian culture. Real Madrid, on the other hand, was seen by many Spaniards (and Catalonians in particular) as the "establishment" club. Though Franco seemed to favor Real Madrid, members of both teams suffered under his regime.
The fierce rivalry continued into the 1950s when both clubs sought to sign Alfredo Di Stefano to play for them. Real Madrid eventually won out and Alfredo Di Stefano went on to lead them to many wins. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid went head-to-head twice at the European Cup in the 1960s, with Real Madrid winning one and FC Barcelona winning the other. The two teams clashed once again over a player in 2000 when Luis Figo left FC Barcelona and signed with Real Madrid. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid competed against each other again in the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 2002, with Real Madrid getting the win. The Spanish media dubbed the match "The Match of the Century".
In the mid-2000s, the rivalry ascended to further heights when it acquired its own name, El Clasico. The term El Clasico was traditionally assigned to any South American football rivalry, but the growth of football in the Americas coupled with these two great teams' rivalry led to the coining of the term as applied to FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. This was mostly a marketing scheme communicated via GolTV, an all-football satellite channel, but the term has been embraced by fans worldwide.
El Clasico shows no signs of slowing. To this very day, the two teams inevitably seek each other out on the field to find out who is the best team in Spain. Sometimes FC Barcelona wins and sometimes Real Madrid wins, but ultimately football fans worldwide are the ones who win whenever these two giants meet on the field.
To see first hand how Barca does with their new lineup, see them play at the Nou Camp in Barcelona. Buy FC Barcelona tickets in advance from Simply Barcelona Tickets to ensure ticket availability.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Hazard
Real Madrid Greatest Ever XI
Real Madrid are arguably the greatest ever club team in the
history of the sport, so it will be almost impossible to have just 1
greatest ever team.
This is why I have gone for 2 and still missed out on some very great players. Because of the way they play their football, I have decided to have to very attacking teams with very few defenders.
Goalkeeper
Like a lot of great teams in history, Real Madrid have not had that many outstanding goal keepers, mainly because their emphasis is on attractive, attacking football. Just a handful of really great goalkeepers have played for the Meringues.For my first team I have gone for Ricardo Zamora as the goal keeper.
Defence
I have gone for a 3-man defence with Manuel Sanchis, Uli Steilike and Jose Santamaria.
Midfield
I have gone for a 5-man midfield. It was extremely difficult to pick out 5 outstanding midfielders from a team that has had over 1000 fantastic players in that position. These are the 5, I have gone for the first team that I have picked.
Francisco Gento, who was 1 of the fastest players I have seen. He would definitely be comparable to players of today in terms of speed as he was really very quick, with or without the ball.
Raymond Kopa, was just a fantastic playmaker and was extremely instrumental in Real Madrid's success in the 50s.
Zinedine Zidane, arguably the most elegant player to have ever played the game. His goal in the champions league Final against Bayer Leverkusen will always make him immortal to Real Madrid fans.
Micheal Laudrup was just majestic and the fact that he was voted the greatest ever foreigner to have played for Spain speaks volumes about his ability.
For all these magicians to weave their magic, they need a player to do the dirty work, and they don't come much better than Claude Makele. He is possibly the main reason that Real Madrid have been less than successful in recent times.
Strikers
I have gone for 2 greats of Spanish football. The old and then new if you like; The 2 players who have every right to claim they are the nest to have ever played for the club. The former master Alfredo Di Stefano and the current king Raul
For the second team that is in now way inferior to the my first team, I have also gone for a 3-man defence.
Goalkeeper
I have gone for Iker Cassillas with Paco Buyo and Bodo Illgner deserving of praise for their services.
Defenders
I have gone for Fernando Hierro, Jose Antonio Camacho and Roberto Carlos
Midfield
I have also gone for a 4-man midfield comprising of Juanito, who was just a fantastic talent, though he was sometimes let down by his temperament.
Michel, who was a very good playmaker and a mainstay from Real Madrid and Spain in the 80's and early 90's. Fernando Redondo was also a fantastic midfielder who could protect the defence but was also very skilful.
Then there is Luis Figo who is amongst the very best players to have played the game.
Strikers
I have gone for a 3-man attack that includes Emilio Butragueno, Ferenc Puskas who is amongst the greatest player ever and finally, I have gone for Santillana, one of the best headers of the ball I have ever seen.
To think that players of the caliber of Hugo Sanchez, Martin Vasquez, Davor Suker, Clarence Seedorf, Bernd Schuster, Hagi, Prosinecki, Pedrag Mijatovic and too many others to mention have not made my teams, it is easy to see why this was such a thankless task.
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My name is Dennis and have written a number of articles on how to make it big online.
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My name is Dennis and have written a number of articles on how to make it big online.
Learn more on how to become successful online by going here and clicking on 'my web page' NOW
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