Real Sociedad are on the verge of making club history by earning a Champions League qualification spot for the first time in nine years after coming from behind to beat Valencia 4-2 at Anoeta last night. The last time the Basque side played in the elite competition was in 2003/04, where they scored 71 goals in total, and only five points separate it from fifth place Malaga at the moment.
With the way in which modern soccer has evolved, the need for a technically gifted midfield has
become the prevalent way to build a team. Gone are the days of a classic number 10 who simply makes
plays in attack and does barely anything on defense; gone are the days of pure "destroyers" who sit
in front of the defense and simply tackle everything in sight.
Every Wednesday, we round up the offbeat stories in football for you! This week, read what Xabi
Alonso & Diego Forlan's women have to say and watch Hope Solo as she waltzes across the ballroom.
Nagore Aranburu, also known as Xabi Alonso's beautiful and
intelligent wife (classy as Mrs.
What's this tipos,... Black Sunday?! No, it's justÂ
Madrid and Barca fighting it out in black to see who comes up tops in the Spanish
league! And they're both tied in first spot with Levante after a 4-0 (Madrid)
and 1-0 (Barca) victory respectively.
The preparations are underway for Saturday's Champions League extravaganza! Cameras are being
set up around the stadium, players are arriving in London (boyband swagger and all geez!) and the
trophy is probably being polished in a fancy factory somewhere. Unless you're an annoyed Basque
supporter (many of them are ready to annoy the living daylights out of the Catalans and
Madrilenos), you have exactly two days to make your predictions.
Xabi Alonso (Bottom right)/ Mikel Arteta (Bottom left)
Spanish players Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso have a very strong friendship having played
together since a young age at their local side Antiguoko. Additionally, they have beenÂ
neighbours twice:  in San Sebastián (As kids) and in Liverpool, with the two Basque born men
playing either side of Stanley Park.
I wish I had thought of that title on Sunday. Although the game wasn't 1990 Final boring.
So let's talk about Catalonia for a second. I've long suspected that the reason Spain hasn't won a
World Cup before wasn't because Spanish players weren't good enough, and that the political
divisions were nothing more than a convenient excuse that simultaneously bashed the rival club (cf.
While the recently growing calls for Catalan independence have led to a number of very tricky questions for politicians at local, national and European levels to ponder, they have - more importantly of course - also caused football fans to scratch their heads and wonder about the possibles issues that would arise.
There's nothing like Christmas to bring up old and unresolved family issues.
With the rest of Europe, England apart, on hibernal hiatus, 32,000 turned out at Barcelona's
Olympic Stadium tonight to watch Catalonia hammer Honduras, a representative in last summer's World
Cup Finals, 4-0, with a brace from Barça's Bojan Krkic.
Spain's squad might have put their geographical divides behind them to great effect over the last
four years, but their are still cliques in the squad. This was neatly demonstrated when Athletic
Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez inadvertently gatecrashed a 'Real Madrid only' photo during the
Euro 2012 victory celebrations.
Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 (both sets of fans Catalan and Basque booed the Spanish
national anthem) to win the Copa Del Rey in Pep's final game in charge last night, with Lionel
Messi scoring his 73rd goal of the season sandwiched between a brace from Pedro all inside the
first 25 minutes.
Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 (both sets of fans Catalan and Basque booed the Spanish
national anthem) to win the Copa Del Rey in Pep's final game in charge last night, with Lionel
Messi scoring his 73rd goal of the season sandwiched between a brace from Pedro all inside the
first 25 minutes.
Athletic Bilbao last won silverware in 1984, so fans of the popular Basque side travelled in
their droves to attend the Europa League Final earlier this week for a chance to witness a
rekindling of their former glory. Sadly, Falcao and ten other Atletico Madrid players were 3-0
victors on the night, which was particularly hard news to take for the 400 Athletic Club fans who
travelled to Hungary for the game by mistake.
Basque childhood seems like an enjoyable time, and this has been immediately added to the list
of reasons why. Sure, everyone in the world of football is swooning over Athletic Bilbao's manager
Marcelo "El Loco" Bielsa. Pep Guardiola can't seem to get enough of him, but what continuously
flies under the radar is the fact that the Argentine coach is a hell of a nice guy in addition to a
tactical genius.
Manchester United unsurprisingly failed to advance into the next round of Europa League after
they suffered another defeat against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday, giving the Spanish team a passage
with a convincing 5-3 aggregate.
In a rather similar fashion as United's defeat in the first leg, the scoreline was indeed rather
flattering for the English champion as they were once again outplayed by the Bilbao young guns and
could've faced an embarrassment on the night if it wasn't for the Basque's based team's poor
finishing.
Athletic Bilbao midfielder Oscar de Marcos insists his side will show Mirandes total respect on
Tuesday night as the two clubs clash in the Copa del Rey semi-final.
Athletic, whose record of 23 Copa titles is second only to Barcelona (25), are favourites
heading into the semi-final second leg after earning a 2-1 lead from last week's first meeting at
Mirandes' Anduva stadium.
Athletic Bilbao tonked third-tier side Albacete (bit of trivia: Andres Iniesta is the club's
majority shareholder) 4-0 in the Copa del Rey at the San Mames last night, with the third goal of
the night being scored by forward Gaizka Toquero a man who, to quote Wikipedia, is 'blessed with
few technical skills but is a tremendous hard-worker'.
Athletic Bilbao is famous among football circles for being the only club in the world that
insists on signing only local players to their team. Â Athletic was formed in 1898 in Lamiako (now
part of the town/municipality of Leioa, about eight kilometers north of Bilbao), Bizkaia by British
industrial workers living in the area.
Basque artist Dario Urzay designed this eyepopping shirt to mark Athletic Bilbao's centenary
they only wore it in a short UEFA Cup campaign in 2004. Thank God for small mercies. The shirt is
supposed to evoke a blood splatter, but it looks more like an explosion in a strawberry jam
factory.
Basque artist Dario Urzay designed this eyepopping shirt to mark Athletic Bilbao's centenary
they only wore it in a short UEFA Cup campaign in 2004. The shirt is supposed to evoke a blood
splatter, but it looks more like an explosion in a strawberry jam factory.
If you guys can remember that Japanese game show that had 100 little kids going up against a
professional Japanese football club, well, here it is again, but in Basque country. This time,
however, the match was not for a game show, but rather for a good cause.Â
Joseba Etxeberria is already a legend at Athletic Bilbao.
Some of these men made the list... Top 20 Italian players of the decade, according to (Italy
Offside) MLS Christmas wish lists (WVHooligan) England's World Cup 2018 candidate cities and
stadiums announced (England WCB) If Wolves vs Man Utd had continued... (Dirty Tackle) This young
man will soon be Athletic Bilbao's first black Basque player (BBC Blog) The Women's World Cup [.
Stuff to read while Massimo Bussaca shows a one-finger salute to the fans.... Though the inevitable
headline is here. (Avoiding The Drop) A little weekend roundup for the...weekend. (Futfanatico)
Craig Bellamy's career lineage rap sheet. (Unprofessional Foul) The Pro Evo 2010 demo released.
(Football Fashion) The Basque Wayne Rooney takes the plaudits.
Athletic Bilbao would have no problems with the proposed UEFA plan of mandating eight homegrown
players in the squad of eighteen for every match or the theoretical 6 + 5 rule, where six players
of the starting eleven would have to be eligible for the national team of their club's country.
ANDER HERRERA scored the winner for the U-21 Spanish Football Team yesterday against Denmark in
their International Friendly. The 21 year old has also been signed by Athletic de Bilbao from Real
Zaragoza for next season for 8M€ making the young promise the 2º nd highest paid for a player by
Athletic de Bilbao.
Source: Spanish Football Sports Blog /The Spanish Football Soccer League - La Liga - celebrated its
now habitual Monday Night game with an ATHLETIC DE BILBAO vs. RACING DE SANTANDER that turned into
a festival of goals in the last 20 minutes. The Basque team won 4-3 with a "crazy" 2º half &
Racing down to 10 men in the last 10 minutes.
Living as I do away for the heartlands of football, most of my consumption of the game is through
television. And whilst the spread of football's popularity is such that today it is practically
possible to watch any game that takes you fancy, it is still merely a shadow to the experience that
is seeing a game with the fans who are there in the ground.
One of the historical Clubs of Spanish Football is REAL SOCIEDADwho is currently in 2º Division -
& has been for a few years (since2007/08) - who are attempting to get back to the elite
Division.SFS would like to remind its readers of their 1980-81 & 1981-82back to back titles & only
Spanish 1º Division Championships.
There may be some news after all for Arsenal fans, although nothing is official yet. Arsene Wenger may be finalising a deal to bring the centre back Fernando Amorebieta from Athletic Bilbao. The 27-year old is a Venezuelan international but has lived in Spain's Basque country for most of his life.
Links to click after you vote for one of TVGolo's goals of the week... (my vote went to Didier
Drogba and that Chelsea keepy-uppy goal) This can't possibly be true. (Unprofessional Foul) Katy
Perry in a West Ham basque, plus other Friday photos (The Beautiful Game) Click this one just for
the philosophical question in the comments (Pies) Handbag-gate!
