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Friends Of Don Quixote: Country First
The nation of Spain no longer minds international breaks as much, but it's back to the glory of La Liga for the Spaniards.
Nov 20, 2009 1:53:24 AM
Times have really changed in Spain. The return of La Liga this weekend would normally be cause for greater celebration. The Spanish were never big on international breaks; they even coined the term “FIFA virus” to describe the phenomenon of players returning injured or too tired to play for their clubs.
They also didn't like interrupting the momentum of the season, and I must say I had some sympathy for this point of view. Of course, such a pronounced preference of club over country was a convenient stance given the fact that the national team had brought nothing but pain and misery over the years.
But all that came to an end in the summer of 2008 in Vienna, and suddenly international soccer isn't so evil anymore. For the first time ever, the Spanish clearly have the best national side in the world, and they are loving every minute of it. The Madrid media in particular seemed to relish this past week, and who could blame them? Which team would you rather watch right now - Spain or Real Madrid?
First came an impressive 2-1 win over Argentina, one of those countries the Spanish had always felt an inferiority complex towards, followed by a 5-1 thumping of Austria in the same stadium where, 506 days earlier, Spain finally exercised its demons. Both victories were achieved with a delightful style of play involving lots of possession and short, quick passes the press has termed Tiki-Taka.
These are good times indeed, and you better not try to rain on their parade. England boss Fabio Capello found out the hard way this week after he had the audacity to suggest Brazil was better defensively than Spain, a pretty incontestable claim if you ask me. The former Madrid manager was promptly lambasted by the local newspapers, which produced all sorts of statistics in an attempt to disprove his point.
As far as the Spanish are concerned, theirs is the perfect team, one of the best national sides of all-time, the eighth wonder of the world. And any attempt to find holes in Vicente Del Bosque's squad is nothing more than petty jealousy or ignorance on the part of people like Capello. One columnist already outlined his dream scenario for next summer, beating England in the semifinal and Brazil in the final.
The exploits of the national team actually overshadowed some big news this week. Atletico Madrid manager Quique Flores was diagnosed with the H1N1 virus and missed four consecutive days of training. Flores has only been in charge of Atletico for three weeks, but it must feel like a lot longer. Fortunately, he made a speedy recovery from the flu and will be on the bench on Saturday against Deportivo.
Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, has been given a clean bill of health and will be available for the clash against Barcelona at the end of the month. He might even receive some minutes midweek against FC Zurich in an effort to get him up to speed. Curiously, the Portuguese star completed a full practice session with Real one day before his country's decisive match against Bosnia on Wednesday.
One player who could miss the showdown on November 29 is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Barcelona striker aggravated a muscle injury in training, originally suffered in the 4-2 win over Mallorca. He definitely won't play this Saturday against Athletic Bilbao and is a major doubt for the all-important Champions League match against former club Inter next Tuesday.
Each of these stories flew somewhat under the radar. Not too worry, though. The Spanish national team doesn't take the field again until March of next year. Until then, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic and co. will have the country's undivided attention.
First Quest: Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona
Saturday, 4:00 p.m. EST, Gol TV
Pep Guardiola is again expected to rest several starters with an eye towards the big Champions League game against Inter. One guaranteed absence, as mentioned above, will be Zlatan Ibrahimovic due to injury. The Swede could be joined on the sideline by Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta among others. The rotation approach paid off against Mallorca at home two weeks ago.
Athletic has won two straight in the league, but Joaquin Caparros' side faces a potential striker shortage with starters Fernando Llorente and Gaizka Toquero both injury doubts. Youngster Iker Muniain, so impressive with Spain at the recent Under-17 World Cup, is also not completely healthy, which could bring Ion Velez, a forgotten man so far this season, back into the fold.
Fortunately for Bilbao, Barcelona's center back pairing of Gerard Pique and Dmytro Chygrynskiy has made plenty of average strikers look good. One player Guardiola will be able to call upon on Saturday is Thierry Henry, who has returned from an eventful week with his national team ready to lend a helping hand.
Second Quest: Real Madrid vs. Racing
Saturday, 2:00 p.m. EST, ESPN Deportes
Cristiano Ronaldo will be held out, despite recovering from the injury suffered in a World qualifier in early October. Another player not called up is Jose Guti, who has been in purgatory ever since telling off his manager in the locker room at halftime of the 4-0 loss to Alcorcon in the Copa Del Rey But the most welcomed sight for Manuel Pellegrini on Saturday will be that of a limp Racing Santander.
The visitors have notched only one victory this season and find themselves in 17th place in the table. The poor start cost manager Juan Carlos Mandia his job, and the game at the Bernabeu will represent the debut for Miguel Angel Portugal, who returns after having coached the club back in the 2005-2006 season. His mandate this time around is simply to avoid relegation.
Madrid could be without defender Raul Albiol, after he injured himself away on international duty. Also sidelined will be Ruud van Nistelrooy, who expressed unhappiness at his lack of playing time this week, and is seriously contemplating a return to the Premier League in the January transfer window.
Ladies-in-waiting: Osasuna vs. Valencia
Sunday, 4:00 p.m. EST, Gol TV
Valencia has been the best visiting team in La Liga this season, collecting the most points and scoring the most goals away from home. Los Che probably could have done without the international break, as they were red hot with three straight victories. Unai Emery's side will look to continue its good form on Sunday, but could be forgiven for wondering if there is something in the air in Pamplona.
Four different Osasuna players came down with the swine flu this past week – Oier Sanjurjo, Roberto Lopez, Sergio Fernandez and Juanfran. Yet, amazingly enough, all four should be at the disposal of manager Jose Antonio Camacho. The hosts have lost only one match at the Reyno de Navarra Stadium so far this season, and Barcelona has already been held to a draw.
Ladies-in-waiting: Deportivo vs. Atletico Madrid
Saturday, 12:00 p.m. EST, ESPN Deportes
It has been an especially complicated week for Atletico Madrid, which is saying something this season. While Quique Flores bounced back quickly from the swine flu and will manage the team at La Corona, he did miss practice most of the week, so be prepared for an even more disorganized team than usual. Diego Forlan returned late from international duty and could start from the bench.
Deportivo goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia suffered an injury in training on Tuesday, but is expected to be in the lineup. Miguel Angel Lotina's team got back on track with a win against Getafe last time out, thanks in large part to a strong performance from left back Filipe Luis, who continues to be linked with European giants. AC Milan is now the latest big club said to be queuing up for his services.
The Impertinent Curiosity: Other Games
Tenerife vs. Sevilla
Espanyol vs. Getafe
Mallorca vs. Almeria
Villarreal vs. Valladolid
Xerez vs. Sporting Gijon
Malaga vs. Real Zaragoza
David Mosse, Goal.com
For more on Spain click ahead to Goal.com's Spain homepage
They also didn't like interrupting the momentum of the season, and I must say I had some sympathy for this point of view. Of course, such a pronounced preference of club over country was a convenient stance given the fact that the national team had brought nothing but pain and misery over the years.
But all that came to an end in the summer of 2008 in Vienna, and suddenly international soccer isn't so evil anymore. For the first time ever, the Spanish clearly have the best national side in the world, and they are loving every minute of it. The Madrid media in particular seemed to relish this past week, and who could blame them? Which team would you rather watch right now - Spain or Real Madrid?
First came an impressive 2-1 win over Argentina, one of those countries the Spanish had always felt an inferiority complex towards, followed by a 5-1 thumping of Austria in the same stadium where, 506 days earlier, Spain finally exercised its demons. Both victories were achieved with a delightful style of play involving lots of possession and short, quick passes the press has termed Tiki-Taka.
These are good times indeed, and you better not try to rain on their parade. England boss Fabio Capello found out the hard way this week after he had the audacity to suggest Brazil was better defensively than Spain, a pretty incontestable claim if you ask me. The former Madrid manager was promptly lambasted by the local newspapers, which produced all sorts of statistics in an attempt to disprove his point.
As far as the Spanish are concerned, theirs is the perfect team, one of the best national sides of all-time, the eighth wonder of the world. And any attempt to find holes in Vicente Del Bosque's squad is nothing more than petty jealousy or ignorance on the part of people like Capello. One columnist already outlined his dream scenario for next summer, beating England in the semifinal and Brazil in the final.
The exploits of the national team actually overshadowed some big news this week. Atletico Madrid manager Quique Flores was diagnosed with the H1N1 virus and missed four consecutive days of training. Flores has only been in charge of Atletico for three weeks, but it must feel like a lot longer. Fortunately, he made a speedy recovery from the flu and will be on the bench on Saturday against Deportivo.
Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, has been given a clean bill of health and will be available for the clash against Barcelona at the end of the month. He might even receive some minutes midweek against FC Zurich in an effort to get him up to speed. Curiously, the Portuguese star completed a full practice session with Real one day before his country's decisive match against Bosnia on Wednesday.
One player who could miss the showdown on November 29 is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Barcelona striker aggravated a muscle injury in training, originally suffered in the 4-2 win over Mallorca. He definitely won't play this Saturday against Athletic Bilbao and is a major doubt for the all-important Champions League match against former club Inter next Tuesday.
Each of these stories flew somewhat under the radar. Not too worry, though. The Spanish national team doesn't take the field again until March of next year. Until then, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic and co. will have the country's undivided attention.
First Quest: Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona
Saturday, 4:00 p.m. EST, Gol TV
Pep Guardiola is again expected to rest several starters with an eye towards the big Champions League game against Inter. One guaranteed absence, as mentioned above, will be Zlatan Ibrahimovic due to injury. The Swede could be joined on the sideline by Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta among others. The rotation approach paid off against Mallorca at home two weeks ago.
Athletic has won two straight in the league, but Joaquin Caparros' side faces a potential striker shortage with starters Fernando Llorente and Gaizka Toquero both injury doubts. Youngster Iker Muniain, so impressive with Spain at the recent Under-17 World Cup, is also not completely healthy, which could bring Ion Velez, a forgotten man so far this season, back into the fold.
Fortunately for Bilbao, Barcelona's center back pairing of Gerard Pique and Dmytro Chygrynskiy has made plenty of average strikers look good. One player Guardiola will be able to call upon on Saturday is Thierry Henry, who has returned from an eventful week with his national team ready to lend a helping hand.
Second Quest: Real Madrid vs. Racing
Saturday, 2:00 p.m. EST, ESPN Deportes
Cristiano Ronaldo will be held out, despite recovering from the injury suffered in a World qualifier in early October. Another player not called up is Jose Guti, who has been in purgatory ever since telling off his manager in the locker room at halftime of the 4-0 loss to Alcorcon in the Copa Del Rey But the most welcomed sight for Manuel Pellegrini on Saturday will be that of a limp Racing Santander.
The visitors have notched only one victory this season and find themselves in 17th place in the table. The poor start cost manager Juan Carlos Mandia his job, and the game at the Bernabeu will represent the debut for Miguel Angel Portugal, who returns after having coached the club back in the 2005-2006 season. His mandate this time around is simply to avoid relegation.
Madrid could be without defender Raul Albiol, after he injured himself away on international duty. Also sidelined will be Ruud van Nistelrooy, who expressed unhappiness at his lack of playing time this week, and is seriously contemplating a return to the Premier League in the January transfer window.
Ladies-in-waiting: Osasuna vs. Valencia
Sunday, 4:00 p.m. EST, Gol TV
Valencia has been the best visiting team in La Liga this season, collecting the most points and scoring the most goals away from home. Los Che probably could have done without the international break, as they were red hot with three straight victories. Unai Emery's side will look to continue its good form on Sunday, but could be forgiven for wondering if there is something in the air in Pamplona.
Four different Osasuna players came down with the swine flu this past week – Oier Sanjurjo, Roberto Lopez, Sergio Fernandez and Juanfran. Yet, amazingly enough, all four should be at the disposal of manager Jose Antonio Camacho. The hosts have lost only one match at the Reyno de Navarra Stadium so far this season, and Barcelona has already been held to a draw.
Ladies-in-waiting: Deportivo vs. Atletico Madrid
Saturday, 12:00 p.m. EST, ESPN Deportes
It has been an especially complicated week for Atletico Madrid, which is saying something this season. While Quique Flores bounced back quickly from the swine flu and will manage the team at La Corona, he did miss practice most of the week, so be prepared for an even more disorganized team than usual. Diego Forlan returned late from international duty and could start from the bench.
Deportivo goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia suffered an injury in training on Tuesday, but is expected to be in the lineup. Miguel Angel Lotina's team got back on track with a win against Getafe last time out, thanks in large part to a strong performance from left back Filipe Luis, who continues to be linked with European giants. AC Milan is now the latest big club said to be queuing up for his services.
The Impertinent Curiosity: Other Games
Tenerife vs. Sevilla
Espanyol vs. Getafe
Mallorca vs. Almeria
Villarreal vs. Valladolid
Xerez vs. Sporting Gijon
Malaga vs. Real Zaragoza
David Mosse, Goal.com
For more on Spain click ahead to Goal.com's Spain homepage
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