LA LIGA & REAL MADRID

[raul julia]

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The tour ends with a victory. Real Madrid defeated Tokyo Verdy (0-4), but that should be seen as secondary at this point in the summer. More important is the seriousness with which the team faced the match right from the starting whistle. They always had control, with on-target passing, entries from the sides, openings to both sides and breakaways. And, as far as energy allowed, they kept a short distance between lines. Special mention must be made of Zidane: positioned as the second midfielder, he made magic in scoring the first goal. Later, he withdraw from the match with an injury. Ronaldo, who was also returning, hit the jackpot too. Morientes also took advantage of the his opportunity. Camacho made more tests and doubtless drew some positive conclusions.
The match had exactly one colour, and that was Real white. Ardiles’ men could find no way of stopping Camacho’s team. Working to give the best impression possible was their only possible objective, though Hiramoto fought to make the defense sweat it out a little. Real Madrid hit the pitch with a lineup that was different than that which played against JEF United: Ronaldo and Zidane, both of who were injured at the time, dressed for the match. And their presence created other possibilities for Camacho’s starting team.
Thus, Zidane worked as the second midfielder, and he moved like a fish in water, but we’ll have more to say about him later. His change of area made Solari take up a spot in the interior. Helguera was playing as the centre midfielder, teaming up with Beckham. Helguera did the background work that only the coaches appreciate and the Beckham lent him a hand, though he was more focused on connecting with the strikers. With Helguera in the in the centre, Pavón and Samuel were the defensive team in the first half and in the second half Raúl Bravo took up the position of the Argentine. The three worked well on the crosses.
Zidane’s magic
Apart from the differences between one team and another, Real Madrid gave several good signs. It took control of the ball from the first minute. That is, it was in the match from the start. It made several entries from either side, though the entries were more from Roberto Carlos than Salgado. Roberto Carlos moved the ball from one side to the other and entered the opponents’ area quite often. Plus, the distance between lines was lower than against JEF and that left the Japanese team almost out of air.
Lots of new information for the coach. But, as we said, Zidane must be dealt with. Free of close coverage, the Frenchman pulled the rabbit out of the hat in Tokyo. He gave the audience a full display of passes, movements and control of the ball. But the Japanese will never forget the goal. He received the pass from behind, spund around while maintaining control, brought down the goalkeeper with a bicycle move and scored. Well, a spectacular goal. Someone once said that they had played against God after facing the Chicago Bulls of Michael Jordan, so undoubtedly some of the Tokyo Verdy players will tell his grandchildren that they also played against God, but in this case he was French. The sad part came when a tough tackle by Hayashi against Zidane’s left ankle forced him to limp off the pitch.
Under control
Ronaldo also wanted to show that he had recovered from his injury and he offered his two cents for the flashes when he scored the 0-2, following a pass from Beckham: into the gap and ball into the net. Another interesting detail to repeat for the future. Real Madrid began to control the pace of its energy use in order recharge their batteries as the minutes went by, but they never lost control of the match. Not even when the series of changes came that always happen in friendlies did the team lose composure. Figo and Morientes broadened the victory. Out came Raul, quality sub on this occasion, Guti, Morientes, MejÃ*a and Celades, but the picture never changed,: 4-2-3-1 on attack, and 4-4-2 when closing ranks. Morimoto, the new gem of Japanese football – he’s 16 years old – tried to pick up his team when Ardiles put him on the pitch. He played well- he’s a good player but he didn’t reach his objective, as Cesar was on his guard. Only the urge to make things the prettiest possible for the fans made Real Madrid lose effectiveness at times on attach. The goodbye to Tokyo ended on a good note.

THE MATCH:
0 - TOKYO VERDY: Takagi; Yoneyama, Togawa, 'Ubeda (Yanagisawa, 60'); D.Kobayasi (Tamano, 75'), Hayashi, Soma (Nejime, 70'), and .Kobayasi, Hirano (Lee,23'); Sakurai (Hugo, 72') e Hiramoto (Morimoto, 65').
4 - REAL MADRID: César; Salgado, Samuel (Raúl Bravo, 46'), Pavón, Roberto Carlos; Helguera (Celades, 78'), Beckham (MejÃ*a, 78'); Figo, Zidane (Guti, 63'), Solari (Raúl, 46'); and Ronaldo (Morientes, 63').
GOLES:
0-1 (9'): Zidane spins around a dribbles past two defenders, brings down goalkeeper with a bicycle move and scores.
0-2 (35'):Pass from Beckham into the gapo, which Ronaldo uses to score.
0-3 (78'): Figo, on a crossed shot.
0-4 (81'): Triangulation between Guti, Raúl and Morientes, who scores
REFEREE: J.Kashihara. Warning to Pavón, Hayashi.
STADIUM: Ajinomoto Stadium. 50,000 spectators. Second friendly in Japan Tour 04.

[raul julia]

He had been on the pitch for barely fifteen minutes, and on his second try, Morientes decided the match. (77´). Until then, Getafe had been a worthy rival, well positioned, solid and highly concentrated on the task at hand. Camacho had decided not to take any chances with either Zidane or Figo. Guti and Solari stepped in for them, and Real Madrid did have more ball possession, though without achieving any depth. Ronaldo’s energy was the biggest highlight of the match, along with the confidence on defence. Samuel and Pavón begin to work as a solid tandem, and the number of in-depth plays of the opponents dropped considerably. The pre-season is over: next Wednesday in Cracow the season begins, and so far, Real is doing it after 263 minutes without receiving a goal.
Alter the victories in Japan, Real Madrid returned to Spain to prepare the European preliminary round. As a matter of principle, Camacho was not going to force things on Zidane, and Figo stayed on the bench. As for prior commitments, the defence and the strikers remained unchanged, while in the middle a new line-up saw its debut. Beckham and Helguera shared the centre midfield, while Guti on the right and Solari on the left stood in for Zidane and Figo.
Defence is paramount
As it happens, Getafe coach Quique Sánchez Flores had ordered his players to wait for Real on its own side. The concentration of men in the broad area jammed up traffic; plus, the somewhat irregular state of the grass had a further impact on the possession of Guti, Helguera and Beckham. Real dominance was clear, but the opportunities were meagre. In the first half, there was just one shot between the posts (8’). It had to be Ronaldo. He touched the ball twice, and twice he nearly scored.
THE MATCH:
1 – REAL MADRID: Casillas; Salgado, Pavón (Celades 75´), Samuel, Roberto Carlos; Helguera, Beckham, Solari (Núñez 62´), Guti (Raúl Bravo 62´); Raúl (Morientes 62´) and Ronaldo (MejÃ*a 85´).
0 – GETAFE C.F.: Sergio Sánchez (Sánchez Broto 45´); Yanguas, Tena, Nano, PernÃ*a; Mario Cotelo (Gallardo 45´), Vivar Dorado, Diego Rivas (Cubillo 45´), José Antonio (Riki 45´); Arribas (Pachón 45´) and Yordi (Ã�lvaro 63´).
GOALS:
1-0, min. 77: Morientes blasts past Sánchez Broto in a crossed shot.
REFEREE: Sr. Moreno Delgado (Catalonia referees). Warned Yordi (22´), Pachón (54´), Pavón (55´), Beckham (82´).
INCIDENCES: Thirtieth anniversary of the José Rico Pérez Stadium of Alicante (25,000 spectators). Emilio Butragueño watched the match from the authorities’ box seats. Before the match, the two captains, Raúl and Vivar Dorado, exchanged presents as mementos of the match.

[fingolfin]

those stories are from their official website.hehehe...................


........i heard they are keen to sign Veira for increasing their reserve capabilities. And Ansene Wenger claims that Veira is better off in Arsenal than in Madrid, cause Arsenal is more able to win trophies than the white shirt, HA!!!! What an air head. Madrid has won 3 champions league in 5 years and Arsenal only got it's best season last year while it's the opposite for madrid. I really hate that Wenger dude, he is over confident in his players when in fact in the last 6 years only one English team won the ECC and that is Man. United. Arsenal might be good in domestic terms but they still can't match the prestige of Real Madrid.................

[raul julia]

amen to that........did you know that non-arsenal, english fans consider arsenal as the gay team.one time while i was surfing the net in one of the uptown cafes, seated beside me were two english dudes,they were talking about the premiership and me being a football guy, joined in their discussion....i told them honestly that i am a real madrid fanatic and they said they are leeds fan.....they said that manchester united is the most hated team in england and arsenal are for the gays.,.,.they said among the english favorites are liverpool and syempre leeds.........after that, whenever i watch arsenal play, kadugayan nako tanaw Wenger, morag nabayot man,,,,,hehehehehe, no offense meant to arsenal fans out there.......

[fingolfin]

lagi.........................you just have to listen to Arsene's comment to prove his gender, that guy is so full of himself. He speaks as if Arsenal are the Gods of European Clubs. Have they even got to the ECC semi finals?? NOT!!!! and i DO hate Man. United, i mean if there was a gay boxing tournament Alex VS. Arsene will surely fill up the Maracan Staduim. I really don't like listening to people who are "counting their chicken before any eggs has hatched". stupid arrogant people.


.........back to madrid, camacho has a very positive mentality "let's take this one match at a time".....


..............there's still no confirmation about Viera's move to madrid, right

[raul julia]

right........personally i think they should get another central defender to partner samuel...they can always move Helguera to his natural position at midfield.........

[raul julia]

its official......Owen in Viera out!!!!!!

[raul julia]

Owen unveiled as a Real Madrid player

MADRID, Aug 14 (Reuters) - England striker Michael Owen was officially unveiled as a Real Madrid player in a presentation ceremony at the club's Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Saturday.

The 24-year-old, who completed a whirlwind 12 million euro ($14.71 million) move from Liverpool by signing a four-year contract, was handed the famous white shirt bearing number 11 by the club's former great Alfredo di Stefano.

The number 11 belonged to reserve striker Javier Portillo last season but its most illustrious owner was another Real Madrid great Paco Gento, the fleet-footed Spanish winger who won six European Cups with the club in the 1950s and 60s.

The shirt was once worn by Laurie Cunningham, one of the first English players to try their luck in Spain after moving from West Bromwich Albion for almost one million pounds in 1979.

Owen's transfer was completed in record time with the striker completing the move that sees him join his England captain David Beckham in Madrid just four days after reports of a possible deal first surfaced in the British media.

KNOCKDOWN PRICE

Real recruited Owen, who has an option to extend his deal for an extra season, at a knockdown price because the player had less than a year to run on his contract and the Merseysiders feared losing him for nothing at the end of the season.

Second-string midfielder Antonio Nunez is moving to Anfield as part of the deal.

A former European Footballer of the Year, Owen becomes the fourth winner of the award to form part of the present Real Madrid side.

Brazilian striker Ronaldo has been given the honour on two occasions, while French midfielder Zinedine Zidane and Portuguese winger Luis Figo have each been awarded it once.

Owen flew in to the Spanish capital in a private jet on Friday where he had a medical prior to completing his move.

He is likely to report for duty at Real late next week when the team will start preparing for the second leg of their Champions League qualifier against Wisla Krakow.

[fingolfin]

..........toink............good news!!!! another quality reserve, now the load on raul, morientes and ronaldo is lighten with the induction of Owen...........

................

[raul julia]

i hope camacho will do some experimenting.......maybe put raul as an attacking midfielder, because he is much versatile amongst the four, and partner ronaldo with morientes or owen up front.........