As recently as January 2016, Real Madrid were a club in crises. Having been defeated 4-0 by Barcelona in late November, kicked out of the Copa del Rey in the round of 32 after fielding an ineligible player and dropping points to both Villarreal and Valencia in the space of a few weeks, manager Rafa Benitez was given his marching orders on January 3rd.
Like father, like son. Enzo Alan Zidane Fernandez, known commonly as Enzo, registered a fantastic assist in a friendly match between Real Mardid and Stade de Reims.
Enzo’s nonchalant style, his effortless ability to stroll beyond would-be tacklers and his penchant for Cruyff turns, step overs and beautiful passing makes him a carbon copy of his father.
Except for the head of hair that is.
The Barcelona squad put on their own mini Olympic games over preseason, trying out the different sports of the Rio Games. The one that came most naturally to them was a repurposed form of tennis, the one played with the head.
It’s not an official Olympic sport (yet) but watching the skill Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez possess means its only a matter of time.
Can you imagine an Argentina vs. Uruguay gold medal match featuring Messi and Suarez? Let's get a petition going.
These guys are out of control.
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You may remember that we previously wrote about CD Deportivo Leganes and their rather bizarre scratch-and-sniff kit. Now, you're probably thinking that it couldn't get any weirder than that. We have something to show you.
See, for whatever reason, Spanish lower-league clubs seem to be in some sort of intense competition over who can make the most eye-punishing travesty of a kit. We've made fun of plenty of kits over the years, from all across the world. But the Spanish, well, they're just on another level.
Lionel Messi has had enough of sitting on his yacht in Ibiza presumably replaying his Copa America penalty miss over and over. Messi wasn’t due to join his Barcelona teammates in preseason training until August 1st, but the former Argentine international has forgone his extended break in favor of returning to training.
Messi is back https://t.co/mTyGZGGOz5
By January of 2004, Barcelona was a club in deep crisis. Since the 1999-00 season, they’d finished further and further down the LaLiga table — second in 2000, fourth in 2001, fourth in 2002 and a disastrous sixth in 2003.
The 2003-04 season looked to be even worse yet. Club president Joan Gaspart had been forced to resign because of the decline, and his young replacement, Joan Laporta, had begun his presidency in farce after promising Barcelona supporters David Beckham only to see him land at Real Madrid.
The 90+ minute winner from Graziano Pellé was enough to seal a two nil victory over the 2012 Euro Champions and advance Italy to the quarterfinals. The Spain Italy affair was one taken by Italy and not given. David De Gea for most of the game, kept Spanish hopes alive with some beautiful saves but he couldn't keep everything out. Italy moves on to face Germany on Saturday. Imagine how out of hand this game could have gotten without the beast in net....
Spain were sent crashing out of Euro 2016 at the hands of Italy following a 2-0 defeat in the round of 16. In a rematch of the 2012 final in Kiev, a dominant victory for a brilliant Spanish side, Italy met Spain in an early round of 16 clash of the titans.
Potentially one of the biggest roller coaster games to take place in the Euros so far, Spain v. Croatia was a thriller. A 1-1 deadlock would have been broken if Sergio Ramos would have been able to convert from the spot but failed to do so as Danijel Subasic made a strong save to keep Croatia alive. Momentum shifts were evident throughout the game but in the end it was Croatia with the higher inensity and energy that won them the game and Group D.
Considering the game preceding this one had to be temporarily halted because fans threw flares onto the field, Spain vs. Turkey was a little tame. Spain became the first team at Euro 2016 to score three or more goals. This was also the first game that with a more than one goal difference 87 minutes in.