Ooh, doesn't the white shirt really make his tan pop! And number 9 too - the number of a certain forward called Alfredo di Stefano. As a fan of the Premier League and an Englishman, it's - strangely -...

Cristiano Ronaldo will sport the number 9 at Real. He mentioned that he wants to emulate Alfredo Di Stefano, the legend who wore the same number. This is a noticeable turnaround from his timorous debut at Man Utd where he initially refused to wear the number 7 jersey as it belonged to George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham because it would invite unwanted comparisons to these greats.

by Victor Carratero

So it was Portrait Day at the Bernabeu yesterday and as you can see, Greaseano and Kaka both enjoyed a lovely conversation with Alfredo di Stefano. That look of mischief twinkling in Greaseano's eyes screams a lack of common ground.

The most anticipated transfer of the summer has finally been completed and Cristino Ronaldo has been revealed as Real Madrid's number nine in front of a whopping 80,000 adorning fans. The 24-year old joins legends such as Hugo Sanchez, Ronaldo, and of course Alfredo di Stefano, and in doing so joins an elite legacy of footballers.

With all the big money being spent by The Citizens and R.Madrid, I thought it would be interesting to write from the view of a poor but talented South American footballer. Many have gone through this, including some of the greatest players thats ever graced the world stage, such as Ronaldo, Batistuta, Alfredo Di Stefano.

The Kids Are Our Future

Football loves dominant sides.

Think of Herbert Chapman's Arsenal of the 1920s, ravaging England with the WM formation; Real Madrid of the early days of the European Cup, with Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas wreaking havoc on unsuspecting continental champions; Liverpool getting comfy on their "fucking perch," winning four European cups in the span of seven years in the late seventies and early eighties; AC Milan's post-Berlusconi Dutch delight in the mid to late eighties and early nineties.

Di Stefano uses his trophies to carry water to his drought stricken village

The player most associated with Real's glittering success turned 83 years old yesterday but he has competition from the most expensive signing in football history.

Ronaldo, who was signed from Manchester United for 80 million pounds (C$152 million), was quoted as telling sports daily Marca on Sunday:

"Some day I would like to have a winning record similar to Alfredo di Stefano.

The presentation of Cristiano Ronaldo at the Bernabeu on Monday was, of course, completely ridiculous and over the top. We all know that. But what if it continued?

112′ Iker Casillas cries.

124′ Cristiano stares at himself on the big screen for a good 15 minutes, smirking and using every ounce of his limited will power to refrain from pleasuring himself.

via Gettyimages

It never ends does it? Maradona VS Pele Round 11024 has officially commenced! Fortunately this time, King Pele picked his battles well and chose the perfect moment to take a dig at The Dona - when the Argentineans are struggling to accept his failures as national coach.

REAL MADRID CF had their official photo team session today, with all the players, Coaches & Directives present. We have the video herefor the many Real Madrid fans & readers of SFS. As you we see a veryjovial atmosphere at the Club:

This is a tough question, and it requires a few generalizations. But here we go: There is a top tier of soccer players. No one's 100% sure on exactly who's in there or where the cutoff is. But it features the likes of Pelé, Diego Maradona, Johann Cruyff, George Best, Ferenc Puskás, Eusébio, Garrincha (pictured), Alfredo [.

Well, 36-year-old Roberto Carlos has decided that he's leaving Fenerbahce in December and wants to return to Real Madrid so bad that he's offering to play for them from January to June for free. Unfortunately, this is a club where they're even willing to pay the toilet cleaners seven figure salaries plus all the cash they can eat, so that offer might not be enough to convince the Spanish giants to take on an aging aged star.

If you open this morning's newspapers, you'll see that, in the opinion of the hacks, it's already a foregone conclusion that this year's European Cup final will be the greatest football match of all time. This may or may not come to pass, but it has some stiff opposition to overcome if it is to join as much as the greatest European Cup finals of all time.

For those of us Real fans, Madrid is more than a club it is a way of life. The past few months have kept us up at night, sleepless, restless, and searching for answers. One fundamental question plagues us: what went wrong? I sifted through ancient runes, believing the past holds the key to the future, but no silver bullet flashed into my cerebrum.

"Hyperreality: the simulation of something which never really existed." -- Jean Baudrillard
A few days ago, I wrote a rushed treatise on why I thought Spain is on the quickstep to becoming the centre of football in Europe. The next day, Real Madrid paid an £80 million transfer fee for Cristiano Ronaldo, and suddenly his distinct mug complete with glistening earring was on the cover of a few North American papers, followed by nauseating reports of a one night stand with Paris Hilton in Los Angeles.

Will Forlán make it a hat-trick of Pichichis this season? (Photo: Phillippe Marcou)
Having delved earlier into the history behind Spain's prestigious Pichichi award, the obvious question to consider now is - who will win this season's Pichichi? In part 2 of this Pichichi special let's take a look at the Spanish Primera Liga's main candidates after 13 games played:
1) David Villa (Valencia / Spain)
With 11 goals so far this season David Villa has clearly not allowed the disappointment of last summer's botched move out of Valencia to get the better of him.

Raúl
Originally uploaded by juli_loves_raul Este gran delantero ninguneado por algunos en épocas recientes se ha convertido de promesa, a garantía, de estrella a leyenda.
Numancia 0 - Real Madrid 2
El día que Raúl fue Di Stéfano
Raúl logró el primer tanto del partido e igualó a Di Stéfano como máximo goleador en la historia del Real Madrid con 307 goles.

In yesterdays Real Madrid 4-0 win over Real Sporting de Gijón, the Real Madrid Captain scored two goals in a great afternoon for RAUL GONZALEZ BLANCO. In fact, you may have calculated that he... Read all the news, results, details & comments in English on Spanish Football & Sports

That is, Raul is officially king of Real now. It's been inevitable for quite some time, and Sunday Raul overtook Alfredo Di Stefano as the all-time leading scorer for The Club of the Century - no small feat by any means - with number 308, before adding a little distance with 309 for good measure. [..

In yesterdays Real Madrid 4-0 win over Real Sporting de Gijón, the Real Madrid Captain scored two goals in a great afternoon for RAUL GONZALEZ BLANCO. In fact, you may have calculated that he... Read all the news, results, details & comments in English on Spanish Football & Sports

Next off for Ronaldo was to put pen to paper.
Following a change of clothes he headed up to the Bernabeu offices where he graced Alfredo di Stefano and Eusebio with his presence, so they could have their picture taken with him before heading into the boardroom with Florentino Perez to sign that contract that locks him to Madrid for 6 years.

The most anticipated transfer of the summer has finally been completed and Cristino Ronaldo has been revealed as Real Madrid's number nine in front of a whopping 80,000 adorning fans. The 24-year old joins legends such as Hugo Sanchez, Ronaldo, and of course Alfredo di Stefano, and in doing so joins an elite legacy of footballers.

Lionel Messi continues to pick up awards left and right, as last night he recieved the Trofeo Alfredo Di Stefano, with Di Stefano himself along with Diego Maradonna presenting him with the award, to Leo's delight: "I'm prouder than ever to be beside Maradona and Di Stefano and very happy with what they have given me.

Juan Carlos Muñoz, Jose Manuel Moreno, Adolfo Pedernera, Angel Labruna and Felix Loustau

Juan Carlos Muñoz, the only living member of the most legendary team in Argentine football history, the River Plate team of the 1940's, has passed away at the age of 90.

Muñoz was one of the five famous forwards, along with Loustau and Argentine football legends Moreno, Pedernera, and Labruna that played in "The Machine", the name given to those River Plate teams.

::: FistedAway today welcomes a guest post from Elliott, editor of the rather lovely Futfanatico :::

When Cristiano Ronaldo made the jump to Madrid last summer, he set a high bar by citing Alfredo Di Stefano's goal record and Champions League victories. The media gobbled up his remarks was this another cocky winger or the next galactico?

Raúl
Originally uploaded by juli_loves_raul

Este gran delantero ninguneado por algunos en épocas recientes se ha convertido de promesa, a garantía, de estrella a leyenda.

Numancia 0 Real Madrid 2
El día que Raúl fue Di Stéfano
Raúl logró el primer tanto del partido e igualó a Di Stéfano como máximo goleador en la historia del Real Madrid con 307 goles.