May 21, 2013

Mestalla turns 90

Written by Rudy Madrigal

On May 20, Mestalla Stadium, home of Valencia C.F., turned 90 years-old. While the stadium may not be one of the most well known or glamorous, it is nonetheless an important one. First opened in 1923, the original capacity was 17,000, but quickly expanded to 25,000. Today, the stadium holds 55,000, is the fifth-largest in Spain and is considered to have one of the most feared stadium atmospheres in all of Europe. With the steep and towering seats, there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. Being 90 years-old, the stadium has a long and storied history, having been through the Spanish Civil War and the flood of 1957, among other things. It hosted all of Spain’s games during the 1982 World Cup (used to be the national team’s home stadium) and the Copa del Rey final in 2011.

Read about the atmosphere and see more pics after the jump

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May 17, 2013

Barcelona celebrates La Liga title on a bus, they look very, uhhh … ‘happy’

Written by The 91st

Check out FC Barcelona as you’ve never seen them before. Fresh off a La Liga title and completely … well, happy.

They’re falling every which way; dancing and taking off their shirts. Yeah, they’re pretty … happy. Perfect song choice, by the way.

 

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May 14, 2013

Messi says goodbye..

Written by Rudy Madrigal

Lionel Messi

To the season that is. After walking off during the second half of Barcelonas title-clinching victory against Atlético Madrid, it has been reported that Messi could miss the final three games of the season due to his re-aggravated hamstring injury. With only three games left, it isn’t worth the risk for Messi to come back, especially since they’ve already won the league trophy and don’t have any other trophies left to play for. Plus, I’m sure Argentina would love to have Messi fit for World Cup Qualifying this summer.

 

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May 14, 2013

Roberto Mancini fired as Manchester City manager, Real Madrid interested?

Written by Rudy Madrigal

Roberto Mancini

Roberto Mancini was fired as the manager of Manchester City after apparently not fulfilling any of the clubs stated goals (except qualifying for next seasons Champions League). This comes almost exactly one year after Manchester City clinched their first Premier League title in 44 years under Mancini.

With PSG reportedly turning down Real Madrid’s offer to speak to Carlo Ancelotti, it makes me wonder if Real Madrid would be interested in this Italian (Mancini) since it appears they can’t have Ancelotti. After-all, Jose Mourinho is sad at Madrid and apparently wants to leave, which, if he does, leaves a coaching job open.

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December 26, 2012

Real Sociedad to put fans’ names on jerseys

Written by The 91st

Between social media and fantasy sports, fans have more ownership over their favorite teams than ever before. That trend just continued with La Liga club Real Sociedad which decided that instead of displaying sponsors on their jerseys they would choose 22 fans at random and display their names.

While this sounds like an innovative, fan-friendly idea, Sociedad could be making a huge mistake. This is basically the equivalent of writing your name on your favorite package of Three Cheese Hot Pockets so your roommates don’t touch them. Do you realize how entitled these fans will feel?

The club will conduct a raffle and 22 lucky winners will be chosen out of 25,000. Those 22 are going to be the worst fans ever. You watch.

That player has MY name on him? Why are you touching him? MINE! MINE! MINE!

[Off the Post]

 

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October 4, 2012

Ronaldo vs. Messi, otherwise known as El Clásico

Written by Reshad Bahadori

The dramatic saga between Messi and Ronaldo continues this Sunday as Madrid and Barcelona face off in yet another Clásico match. Barca is undefeated on the season with a 6-0-0 record. Madrid on the other hand has struggled early and the ‘all whites’ find themselves 8 points back with a 3-1-2 record.

Ronaldo seems to be getting over his mysterious sadness and Messi doing what Messi does. King Lionel has picked up right where he left off last season and the video above is proof of that.

 

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September 12, 2012

Beckham looking to buy Malaga, expand his brand to include all things everything

Written by Jahmal Corner

Reports are reportedly reporting that David Beckham is taking one more step toward creating his own currency, appointing himself the sultan of the Earth and completing world domination.

His latest venture? He’s teaming with Alexi Lalas in an attempt to buy 75 percent of La Liga club Malaga. Current owner Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani has put his shares on the open market (and likely submitted his resume to Beckham) opening the door for the omnipresent Becks.

Malaga will be taking the pitch in uniforms plastered with Beckham’s face in no time. And before you scoff at the idea, you should probably put down those fish sticks, that strawberry banana smoothie and choose a different pair of underwear while you’re at it. Face it, Becks owns you.

And he’s about to own Malaga too.

[Fox Soccer]

 

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August 17, 2012

Greed is keeping Messi/Ronaldo off your TVs this year

Written by Jahmal Corner

beIN Sport USA.  Get familiar with that name, because it is the newest soccer network that no one has in their TV lineup.

This year, 3 of the top 5 leagues (La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1), the Copa del Rey, and Barca TV will now only be available in less than 8 million households. So few, that Nielsen currently isn’t even providing ratings. Why are they on this DISH Network only, no-name channel?  Money.

beIN Sport USA is owned and operated by Al Jazeera, the Qatar based broadcaster, and they’ve got oil money for days. The same oil money that bought Barca’s jersey sponsorship (Qatar Foundation) and the same oil money that helped Manchester City buy its first EPL championship. But, I’m not mad at oil money, I’m mad at those who took it.

Now, obviously I’m a fan, and not a league/team owner. Most of these teams are in massive debt, so I can understand why they might take the short-term payoff.  But, this short-term solution will undoubtedly hurt their brands in the United States. Greed will hurt them in the long-run, and will only push more Americans to the EPL which is widely available in the U.S.

 

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August 9, 2012

With Olympics winding down, Messi & friends are coming to the rescue

Written by Reshad Bahadori


As the Olympics comes to an end we will all be going through a soccer withdrawal. Good thing it’ll only last for about a week. Here is a break down of the 4 major leagues that will be kicking into action just in time.

  • •BPL starts August 18
  • •Bundesliga starts August 24
  • •Serie A starts August 25
  • •La Liga starts whenever Real Madrid and Barcelona play. (October 7 by the way)

A lot has changed since the end of the season, but one thing has not. Lionel Messi is still the master of his craft. Watch and enjoy as Barcelona has a little fun during a friendly against Raja Casablanca. Final score was 8-0 Barca and King Leo had a hat-trick. The highlight of this video comes in at 2:02 when Messi does what Messi does. Watch and learn kids…watch and learn.


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May 3, 2012

Real Madrid wins La Liga, Ronaldo gets angry

Written by Reshad Bahadori

After three consecutive years of conceding La Liga to rivals Barcelona, Real Madrid finally won the Spanish title. This is Mourinho’s first La Liga title and his fourth in four different countries. Maybe he’ll come to the MLS next, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

A large part of their success came as a result of Ronaldo’s 44 goals, not to mention 12 assists. After the game, though, Ronaldo didn’t seem too happy about the championship. As the final whistle blew, Athletic’s Javi Martinez had a few words with Ronaldo and they apparently didn’t sit too well with him.

“Don’t celebrate too much, I’m a World Cup champion and you’re not, clown. (Dramatization.)”

They bickered back and forth until Ronaldo finally had enough and gave him the “shove it” gesture. I’m assuming that is the European equivalent of telling someone to buzz off. I would much rather have seen Ronaldo give him a Zidane style headbutt. Then again, that would risk messing up his hair and nobody wants that.

Other notable statistics for Madrid included 17 assists from Mesut Ozil. Captain Iker Casillas had 80 saves. You can watch the team celebrate in the locker room after the jump.

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