Spain may be at the pinnacle of world football at the moment, but there's one title they've yet to win and that's the "Yours Sincerely" of all tournaments now, the Confederations Cup!
After their opening 2-1 victory over Uruguay last night, however, Uncle Del Bosque believes that the Gods of Futbol have offered them a fresh impetus at actually winning the title beneath Brasil's noses (who are we kidding here?
The defending World and European Champions have announced that they will play Haiti on June 8 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami as part of their preparations for Confederations Cup in Brazil. Buy Spain v Haiti Tickets
Spain will spend a week in Miami training at Barry University before travelling to Brazil for the 2013 Confederations Cup, a 2014 World Cup tune-up that runs June 15-30.
Sergio Ramos has been feeling upset over the criticism Spain received despite emerging top of their World Cup Qualifying group, but really, there's nothing to cry about. No te sientas triste, o'mbre!! The defender became the youngest player at 26 years and 358 days -to accumulate 100 caps for La Furia Roja last Friday.
Two of the best teams in the world face off Tuesday in a crucial World Cup Qualifying match as Spain visits Paris to take on a strong French squad that currently sits two points ahead of the defending champions for first place in the group.
Tuesday's match is particularly important because only the first place team in the final group standings automatically qualifies for the 2014 World Cup to be held in Brazil.
England put eight past San Marino in their World Cup qualifier but the result of the day was in Spain where Finland held the current World Champions to a 1-1 draw.
Sergio Ramos gave Vicente Del Bosque's side the lead shortly into the second half but Teemu Pukki made the most of a rare chance for the visitors to draw level on 78 minutes.
Spain plays Haiti today in an international friendly at Miami's Sun Life Stadium. The match, which kicks off at 4pm ET, will be televised live on beIN SPORT.
Featured among the 26 players called up to the Spain squad for today's match are 19 that won the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and 20 that won the Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
Michael Essien is hosting a charity match in Ghana and to raise awareness, he enlisted some of his Real Madrid teammates to record a video message. The tricky part? He asked them to do it in English.
The last time a Real Madrid player attempted to record a message in the foreign tongue, it was Sergio Ramos and he was mocked by a lower division club.
Jose Mourinho did not show up for a press conference the day before the Copa del Rey final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, so Sergio Ramos was left to field questions on his own. A Brazilian journalist in attendance was not pleased with this development, so he took out his frustration on a picture of Mourinho after the press conference.
Sergio Ramos and former French international, Christian Karembeu, have both addressed the bewildering situation faced by Iker Casillas' at Real Madrid at the moment. As you may know, the goalkeeper has been controversially frozen out by Jose Mourinho at the club for most of the season.
Both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund defeated a top level Spanish club handily this week on their way to an all-German Champions League final in Wembley on May 25. Last week, the German clubs hosted Barcelona and Real Madrid, both scoring 4 goals in victory. First, in Munich, Bayern took a 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime with a goal by Thomas Muller.
During Real Madrid's first training session since coming up a goal short against Bayern Munich hearing Jose Mourinho's strongest hint yet that he'll be leaving the club at the end of the season, Sergio Ramos gave his manager a hug. Perhaps this is just Mourinho's way of lifting morale, but the embrace has drawn attention as it brings back memories of Mourinho's tearful hug with Marco Materazzi just before he left Inter for Madrid in 2010.
Borussia Dortmund have reached their second Champions League final despite losing 2-0 to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu as they prevailed 4-3 on aggregate.
Needing a huge turnaround from the first leg last week Real seemed to have run out of steam after Gonzalo Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil had passed up early opportunities However, after Robert Lewandowski had smashed the underside of the bar and Diego Lopez prevented Ilkay Gundogan with an incredible save from close range, Madrid were given a lifeline in the 83rd minute when substitute Karim Benzema swept home Ozil's low cross.
1. Another Champions League side has proved that its whole is greater than the some of its parts. Well done to Borussia, who were assembled on a shoestring budget in comparison to Real. 2. The first 70 minutes was essentially watching 11 men in white shirts gradually run out of ideas against the Germans.
After a resounding 4-1 victory over the mighty Real Madrid in Germany last Wednesday, Borussia Dortmund will travel to Spain on Tuesday looking to advance to the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium.
The world sat stunned last week as Robert Lewandowski scored four goals in a rout of Real Madrid that nobody, surely including Dortmund players and fans, expected.
After a 1-4 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-final first leg, Real Madrid will look to come out of the gates in full-force this week at the Santiago Bernabeu. Both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich asserted their German dominance over the coveted Spanish counterparts of Madrid and Barcelona and will look to do so again in the second leg as well.
Borussia Dortmund vs Malaga Galatasaray vs Real Madrid
It has been a largely miserable weekend of travelling, bad weather and even death (in the tragic passing of Manuel Pellegrini's father) for Malaga. On Friday, The Spaniards had to sit through a nervy flight up to the Basque Country when their aircraft was struck three times.
There was a stark contrast in celebration styles during Real Madrid's 3-0 victory over Galatasaray in the Champions League quarter-final meeting last night. Clearly, Gonzalo Higuain enjoyed rolling on the all- too familiar grass patch at the Bernabeu more than Didier Drogba did.
Real Madrid defeats Turkey's Galatasaray 3-0 Spain's Real Madrid defeated Turkey's Galatasaray, 3-0, in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final in Madrid
Spain's Real Madrid defeated Turkey's Galatasaray, 3-0, in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final in Madrid on Wednesday.
This Wednesday, Real Madrid will host Galatasaray at the Estadio Bernabeu in the first match of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie. Both teams advanced in dramatic fashion with Real Madrid beating Manchester United after a controversial red card and Galatasaray withstanding Schalke's onslaught to advance through to the quarters.
1. Raphael Varane (Real Madrid) If you hadn't heard of Raphael Varane before the double El Clasico and the Champions League tie against Manchester United then no doubt you seriously took note of his performance. Aged just 19, he looks so incredibly comfortable yet so unbelievably reassuring in defence at one of the greatest clubs [.
A horrendous decision by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir to send Nani off for a second-half foul on Alvaro Arbeloa allowed Real Madrid to beat 10-man United 2-1 on the night.
United were leading 1-0 on the night (2-1 on aggregate) thanks to a Sergio Ramos own goal, but the sending off completely turned the game around.
With a bit of help from Nani's high boot and the referee's red card, Real Madrid came from behind to win the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie against Manchester United 2-1 and advance on an aggregate score of 3-2. Less than 15 minutes after Nani was sent off in the second half, Real Madrid scored the two goals they needed with Cristiano Ronaldo notching the decider against his former club.
Head coach Jose Mourinho of Real Madrid (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)
Jose Mourinho didn't do himself any favors when he gave himself the moniker, "The Special One." Mourinho may have one of the biggest egos in world football, but throughout his career, the Portuguese tactician has proven himself as one of the best coaches in the world.
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, who was caught driving at speeds of up to 216km/hr (in an area with a speed limit of 100km/h) in Madrid on February 3rd, has requested that his trial date be postponed because of this weekend's crucial el clasico rematch.
The Frenchman was due to testify in court on Tuesday, but there isn't really much to argue about if you've already broken the speed limit!
Having already scored, Sergio Ramos was booked twice in the space of 60 seconds (Jordan Ayew would be so proud!) to pick up the 17th red card of his entire career the 11th of his Real Madrid career (a club record) against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, thus leaving him one single sending-off from equaling the all-time Spanish league record at the age of 26.
Sergio Ramos scored in the 12th minute of Real Madrid's 2-0 win against Rayo Vallecano. He then proceeded to get booked twice in under 60 seconds, getting sent off in the 19th minute. That marked Ramos' club-record 17th red card of his career, one shy of the Spanish league record.
Ramos' first yellow of the match was for a light shove to the chest of Rayo striker Leo (who reacted by hitting the ground a covering his face).
Barcelona were presented with the Primera Division title for the 22nd time in the club's history after their 2-1 win against Real Valladolid on Sunday. After the match, the players brought their families onto the pitch to join in the celebration, but one person who did not seem to enjoy it was Lionel Messi's infant son, Thiago.
In our painful 2-6 loss at the Bernabeu some years back, the image of Puyol kissing his captain's armband became a lasting image of the match. Last night, Sergio Ramos erased all that.
Wow. What a performance. The last time I saw Real Madrid dominate Barcelona like this was way back in the 'Pasillo' Match. That match however was played at the Bernabeu, not at the 98,000+ capacity Camp Nou (the largest football stadium in Europe). The last time I saw Real Madrid dominate Barcelona like that at the Camp Nou?
En El Aire - Up In The Air. Yup. The Outcome of this tie is still up in the air
It was the match everyone was waiting for - the duel of the biggest clubs in world football. Those of us who have been fans for long enough still cherish the memories of our past 2 duels with Manchester United: with both encounters resulting in Madrid advancing on.
Real Madrid star Sergio Ramos has started taking English lessons according to the Express, which has fueled rumors that he could be set to make a move to England and specifically Chelsea this summer. The Spanish international has recently been linked to a move to Barcelona amongst all places, but recent findings that he is taking English lessons hint that he could be set for a move to English giants Chelsea.
Defender Mats Hummels of Germany and Borussia Dortmund (Google Creative Commons)
Among the oldest adages in sports is, "defense wins championships." While every championship team also must have a solid offensive game, defensive quality is always at a premium.
Random basketball reference: For those of you who follow the NBA, why did Oklahoma City forward Thabo Sefolosha start over James Harden last season?
When a team wins a league or cup competition, it is customary for them to parade their wares on an open top bus. It gives fans a chance to catch a glimpse of their heros away from the field of play, and if they are lucky, they might see teammates fight or Sergio Ramos drop the silverware under the wheels.
Welcome to Offbeat Wednesday, your weekly gossip special! It's the summer season, which means you'll be getting a whole load more footie gossip on this site, so stay tuned! This week, Man City's Kun Aguero enjoys 'Papa' time in Buenos Aires, Neymar attends Ganso's Wedding in Brazil, Sergio Ramos and Pilar Rubio hang out at the mall together, Rafael van der Vaart celebrates with his new girlfriend & Bruna Marquezine walks a wedding runway show.
Yes, we all mocked Chris Waddle, Sergio Ramos et al, but at least they kicked the ball in the right direction. This woeful spot-kick comes from Brazil's Paulista A3 division. América-SP midfielder Pilo won the penalty and took it himself. A slip during his run-up led to Pilo scuffing the ball horribly, causing his attempt [.
Finland is waking up after the long, cold and miserable winter, and that means three things: melting snow, lifting winter gloom and the start of the football season. There may be more attention than usual this year thanks to the 'miracle of Gijon', in which the national team snatched a 1-1 draw with Spain last month, shocking nobody so much as themselves and their fans.
Now in fairness Sergio Ramos is no saint, but his two yellow cards picked up within two minutes of one another against Rayo Vallecano last night were probably the harshest you'll see this season and all this just five minutes after doubling Real Madrid's lead which they held on too.
Following Wednesday evening's 1-1 draw between Manchester United and Real Madrid at the Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid boss Jose Mourinho blamed defender Sergio Ramos for the Manchester United goal.
Red Devil Danny Welbeck struck the first goal of the match in the 20th minute with a header into the far post off a corner kick, where he was unmarked.
