Playing at Cornell� El Prat La Liga Home Team Espanol Keeper Cristian Alvarez Midfield Mubarak Wakaso; Victor Sanchez Mata; Sergio Tejera; Simao; Joan Verdu; Forwards Samuele Longo; Defense Joan Capdevila; Juan Forlín; Javi Lopez; Héctor Moreno; Subs Away Team Ath Bilbao Keeper [...]
For the first time in quite a while, neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona placed among the five
biggest spenders of the summer according to Transfermarkt.
Madrid shelled out just 55 million euros, and a large chunk of that was reserved for Fabio
Coentrao. Nuri Sahin, Jose Callejon and Raphael Varane arrived for modest fees, while Hamit
Altintop was acquired on a free.
For the first time in quite a while, neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona placed among the five
biggest spenders of the summer according to Transfermarkt.
Madrid shelled out just 55 million euros, and a large chunk of that was reserved for Fabio
Coentrao. Nuri Sahin, Jose Callejon and Raphael Varane arrived for modest fees, while Hamit
Altintop was acquired on a free.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has called up Barcelona's Thiago Alcantara into his 22-man squad
for next Wednesday's friendly against Italy in Bari. Thiago has been impressing fans on two
continents with his play this summer and he has some Barcelona fans asking Cesc Who?
Thiago helped Spain's Under-21 team win the European championship last month, and has been
eligible to play for Brazil, with his father Mazinho being a member of the 1994 World Cup winning
team.
A brilliant goal from Cani helped high-flying Villarreal continue their impressive home form
with a 4-2 victory over battling Osasuna. Cani scored from the halfway line to put Villarreal 2-1
ahead in the 50th minute, just moments after Osasuna forward Krisztian Vadocz had cancelled out
Marco Ruben's 22nd-minute opener for the hosts.
Chasing the Big Leagues Deportivo La Coruna (Spain Segunda) is a post from: Just Football
Just Football'sTales from Tier Two series
continues now with a look at the promotion chances of Deportivo La Coruña in
Spain's Segunda Division:
Deportivo La Coruna
Deportivo have a three point lead on Valladolid and Hercules going into week 22 as the
blanquiazules aim to bounce back to La Liga at the first time of asking.
Tracked by Barcelona and heading for Liverpool Jose Enrique is ready to become Spain's
new left-back
The 25-year-old defender was Joan Capdevila's predecessor at Villarreal and could become the
veteran's successor for the national team as Vicente del Bosque prepares for Euro 2012
View the full story here: Goal
A news article on 2011-08-04 08:22:00 from: Goal
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
GK: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Jose Manuel Reina (Liverpool), Víctor Valdes (Barcelona). DEF:
Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Andoni Iraola
(Athletic Bilbao), Carlos Marchena (Villarreal), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real
Madrid) MID: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Santiago Cazorla (Villarreal),
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Bruno Soriano (Villarreal), Borja Valero (Villarreal) FOR: Fernando
Llorente, (Athletic Bilbao), Manu Del Moral (Sevilla), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla), Pedro Rodríguez
(Barcelona), David Silva.
Porto booked a place in the Europa League final in Dublin against Braga, despite a valiant effort
by Villarreal at El Madrigal. Goals by Cani, Joan Capdevila and Giuseppe Rossi gave the Spanish
side a 3-2 victory, with Falcao and Hulk scoring for Porto, who held a 5-1 lead from the first leg.
Falcao's goal saw him set a new Uefa Cup goalscoring record in a season, with 16.
Villarreal's Joan Capdevila must surely be cherishing every Spanish cap he receives from here on
in. The 33 year old will only have one or two more years left playing for his country or even
football all together. This opens the door for a new Spanish left back to fill the void and there
is only one name that springs to mind.
Cani has become the latest Villarreal player to sign a contract extension, as his new deal will
keep him at Villarreal until June 2014. The 29-year-old former Real Zaragoza player's previous deal
had been due to expire at the end of the campaign.
Cani's deal follows on the footsteps of contact extensions for Giuseppe Rossi and Joan
Capdevila, and all three are locked up at the Madrigal for the next three seasons.
Fantastic festive cheese La Liga outfit Villarreal have thrown themselves wholeheartedly into the
Christmas festivities by putting together this video featuring some of their star players. The
squad get together for a Christmas meal (naturally prepared by Italian chef Giuseppe Rossi if the
Spanish do one thing well, it's stereotyping) and singsong.
Jozy Altidore was on the bench for Villarreal as they needed two equalizers to split the points at
the Estadio Jose Rico Perez on Monday. Nelson Valdez put Hercules up in the 26th minute with Joan
Capdevila equalizing three minutes later. David Trezeguet made it 2-1 Hercules in the 40th, and was
sent off just before halftime.
Injuries forced Vicente del Bosque to alter his standard squad for Spain's forthcoming Euro 2012
fixtures against Lithuania on Friday and Scotland on Tuesday. Xavi Hernández is suffering from
tendinitis, Cesc Fábregas has an ankle injury, Jesús Navas is dealing with a thigh strain,
Fernando Torres limped off against Blackpool on Sunday with a groin problem and Pedro Rodríguez
sustained a hamstring injury on Saturday against Mallorca.
In the wake of an encouraging win it would be easy to simply focus on the positives like normal,
happy people who know how to enjoy success. But what those happy people who know how to enjoy
success don't know is that failure and pain is lurking just around every corner, waiting to spring.
So really, you're much better off embracing a more negative outlook that asks, "Why hasn't Jose
Enrique been called up for Spain yet, and does it mean there's something wrong with him we don't
know?
For some it was the sort of day where one points to the end result—a victory at Goodison—as
being enough, as being the only thing that really matters after a far from convincing performance.
There was Luis Suarez, who scored a goal in the end though his touch often seemed heavy and his
play a step off the pace.
Liverpool are believed to be on alert after Joan Capdevila's contract talks with Villarreal broke
down, according to reports from the English media.
The Mirror remarks that the Spain international is looking for a two-year contract extension, but
the Primera Division outfit are hesitant to hand the 32-year-old a deal that lasts over 12 months.
The team is in Portugal tonight to play our last pre-season warm-up against Benfica. Kick-off is
7:45 UK time, 2:45pm Eastern, 11:45am Pacific. The liveblog will start an hour before the game.
Come on by and give us your thoughts. Liveblog is at the bottom.
Benfica had a strong, strong team two seasons ago, winning the Portuguese league, but that squad
has since been partially dismantled, some in high-profile moves to big European teams:
Fábio Coentrão and Ángel Di María went to Real Madrid, Ramires and David Luiz joined
Chelsea, and Nuno Gomes (Euro 2004, anyone?
By Jon Levy Disclaimer: I'm a big believer in scheduling a warm-up friendly match right before a
big tournament. That being said... This match is basically a sideshow. Sure, the revenge storyline
is in play for La Furia Roja, but will it actually manifest itself on the pitch? The 2009
Confederations Cup was (to quote [.
US frontman Clint Dempsey is coming off a platinum and record-setting performance abroad this
year...
See this: "*"
That asterisk is a huge disclaimer on this match.
You have a Spain team with many players coming off an arduous and elongated (read: Champion's
League schedule) club season preceded by a lengthy World Cup run.
The U.S. men's national team will be facing a very strong Spain side when the team's meet in a
friendly at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on June 4th.
Barcelona teammates Andres Iniesta, David Villa, Pedro, Sergio Busquets, Victor Valdes and
Gerard Pique lead the group, with Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas and Chelsea striker Fernando
Torres among the other selections.
We'd already mentioned that, after their World Cup success, La Selección had been awarded the
Prince of Asturias Sports Award, and yesterday was the ceremony.
There was a bit of debate because both Barcelona and Real Madrid refused at first to let their
players be present at the awards ceremony, which took place on Friday afternoon, seeing that both
teams had matches on early Saturday evening.
We'd already mentioned that, after their World Cup success, La Selección had been awarded the
Prince of Asturias Sports Award, and yesterday was the ceremony.
There was a bit of debate because both Barcelona and Real Madrid refused at first to let their
players be present at the awards ceremony, which took place on Friday afternoon, seeing that both
teams had matches on early Saturday evening.
If you, like us, are planning to have a stab at a Fantasy Football game o'er the course of Euro
2012, feel free to have a butcher's at our tips for a winning XI (price permitting of
course!)...
Goalkeeper
Manuel Neuer (Germany): Likely to be slightly cheaper than Casillas, Buffon et
al despite being just as reliable.
MADRID, Spain — A spectacular lob from the half-way line by Ruben Cani helped Villarreal to a 4-2
victory over Osasuna on Saturday which kept them in third place in La Liga and maintained their
push for a place in Europe. Villarreal went into the game with several important players missing
but Marco Ruben took [.
