Grapevine News Round Up

By: Corey | October 10th, 2009

I searched “international break” in Google images and that was what came up on the second search page. If the image looks familiar (besides being hilarious and very creepy) its because almost a year to date I posted the same image as the intro to a international break post of news. Funny how these things come full circle. It has been slow on the news front recently but we have several interesting blurbs out of the Real Madrid camp to go over today. Lets get started with some good news on national team call ups.

Four Real Players Called Up To The u-17 Team For The World Cup, Several Other Called Up For A Mini-Tournament In Preparation For Euro Qualifiers

Real was pleased to announce a whole host of players were called up for various youth teams. Here is a sampling:

La cantera del Real Madrid sigue dando muestras de su buen estado de salud. Para el próximo Mundial Sub-17 que se disputará en Nigeria han sido elegidos para representar a España cuatro canteranos del Real Madrid: Pablo Sarabia, Alejandro Fernández, Kamal y Álvaro Morata. Los tres primeros son integrantes del Juvenil A, mientras que el delantero Álvaro Morata pertenece al Juvenil B. Estos jugadores se concentraran en la Ciudad de Fútbol de Las Rozas a partir del próximo martes 13 de octubre, y partirán hacia Nigeria el día 22 de octubre.

España permanece encuadrada en el Grupo E, donde se tendrá que enfrentar a Estados Unidos, Emiratos Árabes y Malaui en la fase de grupos. Su primer rival será el conjunto norteamericano que se enfrentará a España el 26 de octubre a las 19.00 horas, el segundo encuentro será ante Emiratos Árabes el 29 de octubre también a las 19.00 horas, mientras que la Selección Española jugará el último partido de la fase de grupos ante Malaui el día uno de noviembre a las 16.00 horas. Los cuatro jugadores madridistas esperan hacer un gran torneo y ayudar al combinado nacional ha conseguir su primer Mundial en esta categoría. Hasta el momento la Sub-17 se ha quedado a las puertas del triunfo en tres ocasiones en las que fue subcampeón en los años 1991, 2003 y 2007.

Por su parte, los jugadores Alfonso Herrero, Derik Osede y Enrique Castaño participaran en el Mini Torneo de clasificación correspondiente al IX Campeonato de Europa Sub-17. El guardameta Alfonso Herrero entrena con el Juvenil C a las órdenes de Luis Miguel Ramis, mientras que Derik y Enrique Castaño pertenecen al Juvenil B. En este Mini Torneo la Selección Española se enfrentará en la fase de grupos a Islas Feroe, Lituania y Rumania. Además hay que destacar que el jugador del Real Madrid Martin Kozhuharov ha sido convocado por la Selección de Bulgaria Sub-18 para jugar un encuentro amistoso el próximo 21 de octubre ante Austria.

Sarabia and Alejandro Fernandez are names I am aware of but the other two I have never heard much of. Kamal is an immigrant child who has been called up to Spanish teams before, but I know little else about him. Good news to see we will be represented in the Spanish selection for the u-17 World Cup. Likewise for this mini-tournament Spain is participating in as a warm up for Euro qualifiers. Derik Osede, whose picture is above, is a player I have paid particular attention to. A strong and skilled central defender, he is one to keep an eye on for the future.

Pellegrini Does An Interview With UEFA.com

If you would like to watch a video interview of Manuel Pellegrini from uefa.com, click here. UEFA does a good job with these interviews and op ed pieces they put together on their site, so check it out. I liked it.

Real Drawn Against Neighbors Alcorcon

This one is 100% in Spanish. I was able to read all of it. Lets see if you can do the same. No one said I didnt have to be lazy during the international break, aka blogger vacation.

La Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón milita en el Grupo II de Segunda División B, donde también juega el Real Madrid Castilla. Llegan a los dieciseisavos de la Copa del Rey tras eliminar a Palencia y Lagun Onak. El año pasado, se clasificaron hasta el último partido del playoff de ascenso a Segunda División, donde cayeron derrotados ante el Real Unión de Irún.

El Alcorcón milita en el Grupo II de Segunda División B, el mismo en el que está encuadrado el Real Madrid Castilla. Actualmente, son séptimos. Han ganado tres partidos, empatado dos y perdido otros tantos. El balance goleador es de siete tantos a favor y cuatro en contra.

El conjunto del sur de Madrid quedó exento de la primera ronda de la Copa del Rey. En la segunda ronda eliminó en su casa al Palencia al ganarle por dos goles a cero. En la tercera ronda visitó Azpeitia para ganar por un gol a dos al CD Lagun Onak. Estas primeras eliminatorias se disputaron a partido único.

El Alcorcón no había llegado tan lejos en la Copa del Rey desde hace trece años. El pasado curso, fue el mejor en la historia del equipo amarillo. Quedó tercero en Segunda División B y se clasificó para las eliminatorias de ascenso a Segunda División. Tras eliminar a San Andreu y Alcoyano, perdió el sitio en la categoría de plata del fútbol español a manos del Real Unión.

Del equipo del año pasado quedan muy pocos jugadores. Hasta 18 nuevos jugadores han llegado al equipo amarillo. Son el segundo equipo menos goleado de su grupo (4 tantos en siete partidos, 0’57 por encuentro). Los tantos se los reparten entre Borja -tres-, Cascón -dos- y Rubén Sanz e Íñigo López con uno cada uno. Uno de sus defensas titulares, Gómez, pasó por el Juvenil A del Real Madrid.

EMPAREJAMIENTOS DE LOS DIECISEISAVOS DE FINAL DE LA COPA DEL REY:

Alcorcón – REAL MADRID
Cultural Leonesa – Barcelona
Marbella – Atlético de Madrid
Puertollano – Villareal
At. Ciudad – Sevilla
Alcoyano – Valencia
Rayo Vallecano – Athletic
Hércules – Almería
Salamanca – Racing
Celta – Tenerife
Recreativo – Sporting
Murcia – Deportivo
Xerez – Osasuna
Valladolid – Mallorca
Zaragoza – Málaga
Getafe – Espanyol

The Roberto Carlos Train Is Gaining Steam

Cringe worthy to cite goal.com I know, but it was the only place I could find the translated blurb from Guti for an interview he did with AS. Full length AS article here if you can read Spanish. If not, goal.com is here. Go at your own risk, its a land of the lost some say….

Guti:

“Roberto is a great left sided player. I’d welcome him with open arms. We would be delighted if he comes, but it’s up to the club,” Guti told AS.

I said this in an earlier post when Roberto Carlos was at the Bernabeu for a meet and greet, but I guess I will have to say it again. I do not think he can return to this team. His age is certainly permissive, but his abilities were waining when he left us, and I would assume he is still on that downward slope as his career winds down. A triumphant return for the legend would be nice, but I expect him to have a retirement game in a few years at the Bernabeu, Real vs. Inter most likely, or maybe Fener. Returning as a coach is fine to me, actually I encourage it because Real needs more positional coaches, something that French, Dutch and German teams have an abundance of and helps them produce highly specialized players, as opposed to our cantera left backs usually starting life as a center back or defensive midfielder. Lets hope we do get to see the big grin of the Brazilian on the Valdebabas pitch in the future, but not as a player unfortunately.

Castilla Players Training With The First Team

Luis Hernandez and Felipe Ramos both trained with the Real first team on Wednesday and Thursday, but on Friday we had more Castilla goodness in training, with Marcos Alonso participating in work outs. YUSSSSSSSSS! New left back time?!? Lets speculate. The need for a new left back solution is pretty apparent with the poor performance of Marcelo against top class opposition, and with Pellegrini seeming to not trust Drenthe fully. Marcos Alonso to me is a perfect solution because he presents a defensively solidity that neither of our left backs can provide. Whether that translates to the first division remains to be seen, but having watch him play for the u-20 team, I think he was excellent. Lets keep our fingers crossed though.

The other thing I want to point out is that Luis Hernandez, while maybe not ready for a first team appearance like Marcos Alonso seems to be, is being groomed for one eventually. Javi Velayos has been injured recently so Hernandez has been getting starts over Opare at right back, and this may be in response to using Arbeloa on the left and Sergio Ramos needing cover at right back. That may be reading to much in to it, but I like that Pellegrini consistently is giving training opportunities to Castilla players. Cristian, Ruben Ramos and Mateos have all trained with the first team previously, so if we do get in to an injury crisis, Pellegrini will probably look to the cantera which I think is a positive. Give the lads a chance, its the least you can do. Most will surprise you.

Pardeza Attends Real Training For Chat With Pellegrini

Some may call it the dreaded vote of confidence, but I disagree. If most clubs are in dire straits and the coach gets a thumbs up from the club president then that may be a sticky situ. But in this case, Pardeza came to training to today to chat with Pellegrini for a bit, and as MARCA put it, give him a message of tranquility and confidence in his abilities. Maybe so, but I think Pardeza and Valdano go to training pretty regularly to talk to Pellegrini about the squad and get his input so they can report back to the board and Perez. Its not really anything out of the ordinary and I wish the papers would stop the back handed hints that Pellegrini is on the chopping block. He lost one game for christs sake! No matter though, just wanted to keep everyone abreast of what was going on today and calm some us down further.