Homosexuality is a touchy subject; gay footballers even more so.

When you consider that footballers are invariably looked upon as role models for children (for better or worse), many otherwise liberal and politically-correct parents would throw a fit if they found out their precious offspring was idolizing a baller sporting a chin-strap, and I’m not talking about Mr Cech.

There’s a time and place for being sensitive and to deal with issues in seriousness - but most of the time, football is just football - entertainment for those playing and entertainment for those watching. And if the entertainment turns into sexual innuendo, as any contact sport invariably does, then we’re on the front line cheering on the participants while pointing and laughing at the same time.

Enough talking - here’s a look at some of the less serious moments in football. Football is not gay, and footballers are usually not gay, but if there was a gay football team, would feel comfortable watching such photos of them?

Labels: Laff Riot, Soccer, Sports, Wandering Thoughts, WTF

What happens when you start reading BBC football transfer gossips amidst your daily doses of Bloombergs, Moneycontrols, Economic Times’ and Wall Street Journals? An economic dribbling I’d say.

Euro has strengthened considerably with respect to GBP in last one year. Currently GBP/Euro ratio is hovering around 1.26 while last year same time it was around 1.47. Now the importance of same time is linked to the fact that it is the time of season when soccer clubs managers start nagging their directors/owners for fatter cheque books. Transfer season is embarking upon them and all the European big shots have already started working on their scout reports.

“How does it matter?” I hear you ask-Well, it does. Especially to English clubs owing to the fact that other European clubs have their transfer budget in Euros. For example consider transfer of almost discarded Brazilian prodigy Ronaldinho. He is valued around 40 million Euros by the Catalan club. Assuming that his valuation has not changed in last one year, mere inflation has changed his price from 27.2 million GBP (40/1.47) to 31.7 million GBP (10/1.26). This extra 4.5 million GBP can cost English clubs dearly while their European rivals still have to pay same 40 million Euros.

Applying reverse engineering to the argument makes players in Premiership an easy target for European giants. Regressing further, England team did manage to not qualify for Euro 2008 which basically means no divine heroics to be seen by top flight English players, who mostly play in Premiership, to boost up their prices in international transfer market. With lot of Premiership clubs looking for new managers this season, it’s going to repercuss their budget even more. One way English clubs can salvage from this plight of inflation is browse and hunt within shore. But that will further devalue Premiership players.

According to latest Forbes reports, there are 6 English clubs in top 20 richest clubs of the world but equation might wobble big time post season. Will the financial blasphemy of English clubs be confronted by the Reals, Barcas, Milans and Bayerns? How much will they make use of this loot? Will it give all the more reason for young South Americans to join Portuguese and Spanish clubs and not English? Are English clubs going to raise record breaking funds this summer or is it going to be mutual transfer agreements amongst them?

It’s going to be an interesting transfer season this time.

Labels: Soccer, Sports, Wandering Thoughts

So everyone is talking about how impressive Liverpool were in the Champions League game against Marseille. But does anyone realize that we lost to Reading? The fact is simple. Rafeal Benitez is not getting it right with his tinkering and priorities.

Ask any Liverpool fan and I am sure you will get the same answer. The one trophy we all want to see at Anfield come end of the season is the Barclays Premier League title. A Champions League trophy will be a great bonus but surely a club of our stature should be challenging on all fronts? So what happened at the Madejski Stadium was an absolute disgrace. The reasons are simple.

First of all, we started the game with a good first eleven consisting of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Both are amongst the world’s best in their positions so why do they only bring their ‘A’ game to the field in the big games? Time and again this season, they have shown us the amazing skills and precision they possess but does it only come in spurts? They should be playing as brilliantly as we know they can week in, week out. Not just in every alternate game or when the big games come along. Against Reading, both were off-colour and neither one seemed interested in winning it.

Are Marseille more important that Reading? No. Both are just as important and if a squad the size of two first elevens assembled through a huge financial outlay cannot handle playing two games a week, then what more do we need? Fifty men squads?

Secondly, I would like to let Benitez in on one thing. Liverpool is a club renowned all over the world for its great history and stature. Never has any Liverpool manager in our history ever dared think of conceding defeat until the final whistle goes.

And right there at the Madjeski Stadium, the much loved Liverpool club conceded defeat. Our manager took our two best players off to protect them from injury and even the most ignorant football fan could see that he decided that the game was lost and conceded defeat. It is a shame to see us giving up on a game just because our manager had his priorities elsewhere.

And finally, stop the demands for funds. Millions have been given to you these past years and you have invested on the supposed players you need to bring glory back to Anfield. Like any child would be told by a doting parent, money doesn’t fall from the skies. You need some, you earn some. In Liverpool’s case, sell the players you think are not of your standard and use that money to buy the players you want. Simple logic.

With that said, the Anfield supporters have waited long and hard for a league title. And with the amount of money thrown into buying players, it is time for us to see some results.

And just in case my stand isn’t clear enough, Liverpool never concede defeat. Not till the final whistle anyway. So wear your hearts on your sleeves and bring us that title! I believe we have what it takes to make sure the ribbons on the league trophy come end of the season will be red, red and nothing but red.

Labels: Sentiments, Soccer, Sports, Wandering Thoughts, YNWA

Up thr "Reds"






When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the Storm there's a golden sky
And the sweet, silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain,
Though your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone.
You'll never walk alone.

Labels: Sentiments, Soccer, Sports, Yaaaaayyyyyyyyyy, YNWA

In one word “Liverpool Sucked!!” I never thought I’d say that but I am. It was their worst game in long-long time and they played exceptionally bad. Everything was disjointed. Chelsea didn’t need to make any steals; Liverpool anyways was passing ball to them. Possession was completely ignored. Only surprise was Reina’s performance. O Dear Reina!! Savior of pride of “the Reds”. Thank You!!

I’m in a big-big shock to write anything about this match. But the worst part of the game was Rafa’s tactics. It was blown apart. There were millions of flaws. To start with

1) Why no player at far-post even for one corner?

2) Why no attack from right wing, that’s our strength and we all know Zenden is major out of form this season. And Pennant is playing his best football ever.

3) Why not Gerrard in centre midfield and Pennant to start as right winger

4) Why no Crouch to start with? Chelsea in weak in set-pieces and air. Crouch and Kuyt can launch a virtual air raid and also feather-weight crouch attracts a million fouls near the box, like a magnet.

This much is more than enough to give way a win even when Chelsea was not playing a good game. But the only saving grace is the fact that next game is at Anfield and Liverpool is tough nut to crack there. But a lot of introspection has to go in it

Hope to see a much better performance at Anfield. Come on!! You can do it. But whatever, you’ll never walk alone. J

Verdict

Liverpool

Best payer: Reina, Gerrard, Crouch
Worst payer: Arbeloa (he is much better that what we saw of him last night), Alonso (where was he in the first half), Rafa Benitez (reasons above).

Chelsea

Best player: Drogba, Carvalho (I always say, he is much better than Terry), Makalele
Worst player : Sheva, Kalou

Labels: Lord's review, Soccer, Sports, WTF, YNWA

A supersonic thriller. Kaka is God and Dida should be hanged. Both showed moments of brilliance twice. Bah! And AC lost 3-2. Could I be more pissed??

5^th min and Dida almost held a ball by Ronaldo’s header but wait; he pushed it in back of net. “Thank you very much!!” says Ronaldo. 1-0 ManU. Dida was actually petrified. He was paler than Dada facing Shoaib. He was trembling and shivering. God saves AC.

But then it was brilliance of Italian midfield on the pitch. Gattuso hit Englishmen, the English way. Hard and plenty. He sure is backbone of AC’s game. And I told ya, Seedorf was a force to reckon with.

And then all of a sudden came the second goal of the match. Kaka pulled it through out of nowhere. Absolutely brilliant. If AC has Dida, ManU has Carrick. It could not have been worse for him. He just saw Kaka past by him and so did Van der Sar, and BANG!! The jacket hanging at the back of the net was dancing with a brilliant left footer by the Brazilian.

No it was not over. Just before half time, Kaka again! This time even better. Carrick, Evra, Heinze were spellbound, confused and Van der Sar helpless. Kaka hit the net again with one of the most creative moves of the season, garnished by the lethal right footed finish. 2-1. AC in control at half time. “Sir” Alex fucked royally. Old Trafford fans were gasping with a big mouth open.

In first half, ManU tried few futile attempts at goals and despite Dida at post, AC managed to keep them off courtesy Nesta.

But at half time two things hit AC. Firstly, substitution of Maldini and Gattuso (well, his was almost half time) and secondly, and more problematic a thing call complacency. One should not underestimate any team at a UCL semifinal. And certainly not when you are on the road. This problem is not new for AC though, they faced more of it 2 yrs back in Istanbul in final against Liverpool.

Gattuso was heavily missed in the midfield. And Pirlo is just not at his best this whole season. He was imperious last season. Together with Gattuso he makes a formidable pair just that he is not performing this season. Anyways AC’s attacks were getting fewer in number. But they managed to keep Ronaldo quiet, but Scholes and Rooney got louder.

Suddenly, in one of such moves, Scholes lofted ball was held at Rooney’s chest and only thing between him and net was poor Dida. I smiled “here comes the equalizer”.2-2. Game on!!

Not much happened till injury time and I was thrilled with the scorecard. Good Old Traffordians are going to have nightmares. But Dida was not quite finished yet. In injury time, on a counter run on a highly slippery pitch Rooney got the ball and Nesta was running alongside. He did all good to block far-post and Rooney was left with no other option then to shoot near-post. And another flash of brilliance by Dida. And Old Trafford went berserk. I was like WTF!! 3-2 L

It’s over. Its UCL knock-out again, it’s a 90+ goal again, and is it a fate-sealer again? We have to wait and see in 2^nd leg.

Verdict – top 3

AC

Best player: Kaka, Gattuso, Seedorf
Worst player: Dida, Dida, Dida

ManU

Best player: Ronaldo, no one else impressed me
Worst player: Carrick, Evra, Heinze

Labels: Lord's review, Soccer, Sports, WTF

time for nightouts again..

UCL semifinals are here...and as Rafa Benitez has predited i wish its going to be AC vs. Liverpool final again...and ofcourse unlike istanbul, this time i do not want to witness any thrills in the final. a stright forward win would be nice.

my prediction says, ManU- AC match is going to be on hell of a match. AC has refound its confidence, with team almost certainly qualifying for the UCL next season even after points penalty. Man U is going to have a tough time in wake of injury and super tight schedule in EPL and Chelsea closing up for the title race.

For Liverpool - Chelsea match, i cant give an unbiased opinion. Heart and soul for "the Reds". But the problems faced by Sir Alex is faced by Jose as well. Team looked extremly drained out this weekend against Newcastle. I doubt if this match will go to away goals and will be settled on aggregate.

Up "the Reds".

Players to watch

Liverpool : Mascherano
AC Milan : Seedorf
Chelsea : Wright Philips
ManU : Ronaldo

Labels: Memoirs, Soccer, Sports, Yaaaaayyyyyyyyyy, YNWA

i luv it..
photo quality is not tht good though :( but whatever.
aint it sexy ??

Labels: I, Soccer, Sports, Yaaaaayyyyyyyyyy, YNWA

They have done it.

Defense was the key for the Merseyside. They had no big names in thr, but collectively they were like an untrespassable wall. Carragher and Finnan were spot on. They made so many crucial tackels and with great perfection, both inside and outside the box. Reina also showed great spirit and hardly made any mistake throughout the game. One of the rare times when he impressed me.

Labels: Lord's review, Soccer, Sports, Yaaaaayyyyyyyyyy, YNWA

so this is it !!

Italy is the world champion for the fourth time. and they deserve every bit of it. after that bloody match with USA, they had a little contemplation, and then with every game the team improved on an exponential scale. not a lot of people(including me) expected the azzuris to perform so brilliantly.whole team was going through crisis. lot of members were from juventus and other serie a clubs, which are stuck into match fixing allegations at home. but all this only add to the mental strength and committment of the players of the nation, where football is more of a religion than a mere sport.

defence was better than ever, tougher to break and rock solid. pirlo's free kick were spot on, which covered up the fact the totti was out of form, to a great extent. and the best thing was italian team scored 12 goals in the tournament and they came out of 10 different players. how brilliant is that !!

this match had a glimpse of attacking italian side what we saw against the host nation, in the semis. first half was typically like that. they had greater possession of the ball. they made better moves and had more shots on the goal. this was quite different from what italy usually is known for. they have always been a good defensive side, with one motto counterattack and win. their strategy is simple, defense defense defense, counterattack and BAM !! GOOOOOALLL !!

but they knew, they had to be different and creative and more importantly, they had to keep changing the pace of the game and the strategies for this game. because this time they had to face the toughest opponent so far, the mighty french side. germans were tough too, but major attacks from italian side stunned them. and before thay can think of anything, they lost the match. but they cant play with the same stategy against france too.

first half, attack, attack and more attack. thn second half started and they were back to defensive style. they started to follow thr usual defense and counter attack game. french were not very sure of wat just struck them, and they failed to convert the few chances they got. and later, with viera and henry leaving the pitch, the azzuris knew that match is almost in thier hand.

anyways, match started in a dramatic manner with frech side fetching a penalty in 7th mintue. to me, it looked more like a fake dive, but referee's decision should not be doubted. and matterazi was given a foul, which he wont ever forget.the kick was taken by zizou and against him was buffon. both were the best in wat they do. anyways, zizou was sure that he is not going to end his career with a black spot of missing a penaly. he took a short run up, as usual, took a shot. it was not very powerful, infact it was more of a chip. buffon jumped to his right, but the ball was high and on left. and it hit the goalpost, diverted marginally into the goal, bounced back to hit the post again and then came out of the goal.

Both, french and italian supporters cheered with joy. but italian cheers couldn't last for long. refree decision. GOAL !! france had a 1-0 lead and tht too in just 7 minutes. french crowd was going mad and italian camp was going restless. italians unleashed the the best of thr attack after tht. but french defense was solid. at this point of time, i'd really want to appreciate french defense. with a keeper of barthez's caliber saving your post, defense has to be exceptionally good to concede just 3 goals in the tournament, of which one was a PK.

but italian attack didnt have to wait for long, as they scored in 19th minute of the game. pirlo was ready to take the second corner of the game. barthez was dazed and confused, and was not able to decide where he should stand.and ribery and abidal were on post with him. as usual cannavaro and matterazi were in the box, along with toni, totti, zamboratto and others. pirlo took a perfect shot, a lil high, diving low curvy projectile. and matterazi made no mistake to show this ball the way to the net.its revenge time. the tatto guy was unbeliveably thrilled. though i feel, barthez should have punched it out. ribery and abidal were mere spectators. but it was the equalizer. france 1 - italy 1

berlin was going crazy. people were shouting, howling and hugging each other. and quite similar was the ambience of my flat !! we all were thrilled...yipppiiieeee. suddenly the olympic stadium came alive, nd italian fans were cheering thr heros by singing thr tradition "oooaaa" ( i dont know wat its called, but i just love it, too sexy ) then italy tried few more attempts but thuram, makelele and abidal were alert to not to give any trouble to "King Barthez". and in the mean time ribery and henry tried few futile attempts to get past italian defense.

in second half, italy became all defensive, letting french forwards to dominate the game, which they did. unlike all his previous games,henry was in phenomenal form and made few really good attempts to bluff buffon, but later was too smart for it. but i should admit and appreciate the efforts of gattuso, who kept zidane under control throughout the game and not let him do, for what he is known for. another significant incident was a beautiful freekick from pirlo which landed in the goal by a well timed header, but alas !! was declared offside. this again was followed by lots of "oooo"s and "aaaaaa"s by italian fans.

and it was in this moment, that viera mishit the ball and this result in a hamstring trouble for the long legged midfielder. sadist italian supporters( include me too) went "yahooo !!": :D and he was replaced by diaba. in the mean time italy got de rossi(after 4 match, remember tht bloody US match) in place of totti. i personally hate this decision, but i wasnt able to let lippi know about it. ;) and few more substitutions which i dont remember. and so ended the second half with 1 goal each.

extra time, was not much different than second half, in term of position of ball, which again was in italy's half and french continued to dominate the game. but unfortunately, they were not able to find the net. ok, credit should be given to italian midfielders and defenders as well. then henry too got substituted. god, he looked exhausted. another "yahoo !!". italian defense was spot on throughout the game, but to my utter surprise they didnt commit a lot of fouls. only on few instances it looked vulnerable. one of them came in 2nd half of extra time. ribery who had a brilliant run from the right, chipped the ball towards virtually unmarked zizou !!, a mistake that could have been decisive. zidane knows how to capitalise such chances and he took an "almost" perfect header from the box. but almost !! buffon made an inhumanly save and punched the ball over the bar. sheer brillaince !!

5 minutes after that came the most dramatic incident of the match. another header by zizou, but this time it was matterazi's chest. that savage head butt, was like an unexpected bang on italian defender's chest. poor guy !! zizou is my all time fav player, but wat he did was shamefully unprofessional. so wat, if matterazi grabbed him during the match, or he might have said something foul to him. all this happenes in a match, and when its a world cup final, its inevitable .but happen watever, hitting someone in this manner is not at all acceptable. it was not acceptable to the referee as well, and french captain was immediatly sent off the field. why did you do that, zizou ?? it was your last match, and with only ten minutes to the whistle, you should not have done it. but watever, you still are my all time fav player. you have given me enough and more golden moments to help me forget this black one. and despite of this, he won well deserved "golden ball". but again, WHY ???

anyway, scored remained 1-1 after extra time as well. now it came to penaly kicks. everyone was sure, when it come to PKs, it is going to be unanimous. we had both world's best and worst goalkeeper on the pitch. and with french side without zizou, viera and henry its going to be even tougher for them. and buffon is king of penalty saving.

first kick, pirlo. beautifully hit. GOAL !!. then came wiltord for france. this expirienced striker didnt make any mistake to equalize the score. next came goal scorer, materazzi, to give itlians lead. then came trezguet. short crisp run up, and he chipped the ball. ball hit the goal post, and got deflected towards the ground, but poor guy, was not as lucky as zidane. italy got the lead. then del piero and de rossi converted for tialy and so did abidal and sagnol for french team. score now was 4-3. just one more goal. next came young grosso. barthez was tense and nervous, and grosso was about to take the kick of his life. he hit it with all the power in his body, barthez took a dive but it was a wasted attempt. that kick shaked the whole goal.

VICTORY !!!!!!!

Italy has done it, again. one side of the field, cannavaro and his gang was jumping with joy, and on the other side was the lifeless french squad. so close, yet so far. they were better throughout the game, but lady luck had some different plans. berlim olympic stadium was kicking by the frezy of italian supporters who were shouting on top of thier voice "viva le italia". no doubt, it was one of the best finals ever. a beautiful end to the beautiful tournament.

lets see wat happens next time in south africa. i hope spain can do something that time. amen !! :)

p.s. more world cup blogs to follow, post tourney blog.

Labels: Lord's review, Soccer, Sports

spain lost !! :(
sniff sniff !! :( :(

Labels: Soccer, Sports

Wat a start to this world cup..GO SPAIN !!

my bet is on SPAIN..and yesterday they put on the most impressive display in this world cup, after the first round of group matches were over.Ukaine would have never thought that they were so vulnerable. Credit must be given to spanish goal machines. And not to forget more than half the time the team was playing without RAUL, who is hailed as best spanish player of all time.Couldnt possibly give a better start to this world cup.4-0 is the best score in world cup thus far. way to go !!!

The team played with 4-3-3 formation, definitly with a mind set to thrash the ukranian side with frontman as schevchenko, a recent addition to chelsea in one of the highest paid deals ever. in my opinion ukraine was the toughest opponent for them in the group rounds, and they dealt with them in style, needless to say, complete domination in all forms of the game.

starting 11 were
GK: Iker Casillas
DL: Mariano Pernia; DC: Pablo Ibanez; DC: Carles Puyol; DR: Sergio Ramos
MC: Xavi; MC: Xabi Alonso; MC: Marcos Senna
FW: Luis Garcia; FW: David Villa; FW: Fernando Torres

not to forget they had raul, reyes, del horno, lopez, fabregas on bench. so pretty decent team on paper, and i feel that they were the only ones to liquidise their full potential. though there were a lot of missed chances, but wat the fuck, you cant convert every move in a goal.

ukranian defence was never given a chance to rest, with all three spanish forwards starting their journey towards ticking the scoreboard, right from kick off. i missed the first few minutes, damn bangalore traffic and my office too :(. and to make matter worse, it was raining, which obviously screwed up the reception. anyways, first attempt was a fierce blow from senna in 12th minute,which the ukranian goalkeeper diverted over the bar. briiliant save !!

and the next attempt brought the first mark on the score card in 13th min. it was a perfect corner from xavi, which alonso managed to deflect towards goal. he made it look so simple. though shovkovsky( ukranian goalkeeper) managed to touch the ball with his hand, he couldnt do much then to helplessly staring at the ball getting netted.

soon after, another blow to ukranian defence came in form of powerful free kick from villa, who was in tremendous form yesterday and thoughout the season. this 25 yards stunner from villa took a major deviation from a ukranian defender, thus wasting shovkovsky's effort to stop the ball from getting netted. so at the end of 18 minutes spain were leading 2-0. then ukraine never came back into the match, and spanish domination continued until the end. there were a lot of nice moves made by senna in midfield. though i didnt see much of action from pernia's side, he is a player to look for this season.

spaniards were oozing with confidence during half time and ukranians were frustated. and it was in this time that one of thr defenders comitted a blunder in penalty region. the result, a red card and a penalty kick. not many miss it, and so wouldnt the man in form, villa who scored his second goal of the match. not that spain needed it, but they had 3-0 lead with tht penalty kick .and to worsen the conditions, ukranians had to play with 10 men then on.

later senna found the net from 20 yards but it was disallowed because Sergio Ramos had clattered into a ukranian defender.

but the goal of the day was yet to come from torres. puyol gave an absolutly elegant header, which torres picked on the run and this resulted in a brilliant goal, a perfect example of what they call clinical finishing. and here completed spain its 4-0 run over ukraine, completely thrashing their opponent.

not that it was just a game of forwards, but defence was tight, and puyol did a wonderful job in checking shevchenko. and also, for the class of the players he belongs to, his team was under par and that cost ukraine dearly. although the ukranians tried something in first half,in the next they realised the game was far from their reach.

but one of the most impressive things about the spanish gameplay was thr passing. they managed to slip the ball through tight positions and have really mastered one touch gaming, though it is not preffered in european football in which they rely more on long passes. but however spaniards form a league of thr own.thr defense seemed quite composed with the presence of puyol, ramos and pablo.

all in all, an incredible start for the european powerhouse. and who knows this might well end thr poor record in world cup. amen !! thr next game is with tunisia on 19th. i hope the goal margin will be even higher on this one.

p.s. data picked up from various news sites.

Labels: Lord's review, Soccer, Sports, Yaaaaayyyyyyyyyy

people ask me all the time, why spain. you know, its not necessary to have brazil as favourite, or any other south american team for that matter. spain has always been an underachiever in world cups, but this time they have showed that they are here to stay. i dont care if people dont consider them as favourites, but for me they are.

english team is full of stars,but i feel they are not as united as they should be while playing for their country. rather all of them focus more on self proclaimed glory. and also, since espn start sports shows EPL live, most of indian fans are aware of english player, but i feel spanish league is more competant thet EPL any given day. But brazilian team seem to be very composed on the same front. and this was very obvious from the match day before.instead looking for their personal fame, they rather go for team victory and this is wat sets them apart, five time champs you see.

anyways coming back to my team,the mighty spainiards. a perfect balance on all front, this attack minded team has capability to thrash world's strongest of defence and at the same time can fail most impressive forwards. though they didnt include morientas in the team,still spanish attack seems to be one of the best in the world. and with pernia playing for the side, it is stronger than ever.

anyways players to watch are

Iker Casillas(GK) : possibly the best goalkeeper in the world, with kahn not playing. why germans chose lehman over kahn is beyond my understanding, but thats a different story altogether. and in absence of raul, he will be leading the team. if at all any team manage to get past spanish defence its not very easy for them to find the net, as this acrobatic wizard can nullify most formidable moves with his unbelivable reflexs.he is young by goalkeeper's standards and my feeling says he is going to be one of the all time greats, if he is not yet.

Mariano Pernia(D) : sometimes he amuses me, wat if he would have decided to be a forward, not that he is not that now but officially. i think, he is a secret weapon of spain in this world cup, who seems to me another roberto carlos in making(same left back, who act more like a left winger, beware reyes ;). but still has to get more into those calfs before his freekicks can generate power at par wid brazilian maestro.after del Horno's injury, his way to playing eleven became clear.

Sergio Ramos(D) : most talked about teen sensation after rooney and c ronaldo.not even twenty and he is first choice of aragones as right defender. as of now, he is trying to develop himself as a defensive midfielder. a young guy, in which you can see future of spanish football.

Carles Puyol(D) : versatility is the name. basically a defender, this FC Barcelona captian is a brilliant playmaker too. master of tackling and has impressive understanding of the game. no matter who you are, he is able to get into your mind and read it. this quality makes him world's best centre back. and he is kinda allergic to fouls, which makes him even more valuable under vulnerable conditions. this rock solid defender is also blessed with amazing fitness.

Xavi(MF) : another player with keen understanding of the game and with a hawk's eye. this amazing playmaker has mastered the art of ball distribution , and has created lots of unthinkable chances for his national team and for club barcelona.he is a very powerful shooter and is one of the most selfless player.

Xabi Alonso(MF) : though spanish team rely more on one touch game, this guy has that unique ability to send ball miles with a classy precision . an astonnishing player, who is suceptable to injuries, but for the kind of commitment he shows in the game, that is acceptable. playing as a central midfiielder he is going to trouble a lot of teams.

Cesc Fabregas(MF): spanish hope for next generation. he is considered to be a prodigy with a very practical sense of game. he is the youngest player in the squad, still a teen and is seen as immensly potent midfielder. arsene wenger consider him as a gifted one. he was the hero of spanish team who finished second in u-17 worldcup and grabbed both golden boot and golden ball.

Senna(MF) : i have not seen much of him playing, but of what i hear, he is a dynamo. powerful striker of ball.

Jose Antonio Reyes(MF) :they are saying its difficult for him to find his place in playing 11, but this arsenal midfielder is a killer. more of an attacking midfield, he can devastate any defense. he should be first substitute by aragones.he along with henry made a formidable duo for arsenal.

Raul Gonzalez(F) : does he need intorduction. if u dont know him, you dont deserve to cheer for spain !! he is acclaimed as best thing tht ever happened to spanish football. a born leader and outstanding striker of the football. he has everything to make him a great player.he is truly dedicated to the game. this wizard in jersey no 7 always rejuvinates his team, and the key reason for that never say die spirit in the squad. he is light fast and quick as a fox. this potential playmaker, also makes stunning moves, besides converting them. he can make goals virtually from all the angels and is remarkably good on both feet.its all these things that makes him any defence's nightmare.no doubt, he has to play pivot role in this tourney.

David Villa(F) : the man in form. a powerhouse, can hit the ball with inhumanaly power. was second highest scorer of spanish league after sameul eto'o.

Luis Garcia(F) : besides his striking capabilities this guy is famous for his celebration. HE SUCKS HIS THUMB. lol.and also his hairstyle is fun too. he is fast and furious on field but not very reliable.can make some top class moves but at times just loose control over ball. in form, he can be a major danger.

Fernando Torres(F) : Aragones says about him “never scores two goals the same” because of the variety of goals he scores. one of the younger spaniard, he is also called El Nino(the child).he has got amazing right foot but at the same time he knows how to use left one as well.

this is my pick from spanish squad.i still fail to understand how can morientes be dropped out of 23. but watever, spanish team is the one i m going to hail for a month.and in form, they will be one of the toughest opposition for any team.

Labels: Soccer, Sports, Yaaaaayyyyyyyyyy