The bad news bear needs some honey: round up
Modric: "It was very painful"
Luka Modric touched down in Madrid visibly affected by the injury he picked up in Milan on Sunday and before heading off to undergo a medical check-up, he stopped to talk to the journalists waiting for him at Madrid airport: "It was very painful" he said.
The midfielder was injured at the San Siro during Croatia's European qualifier against Italy and a scan is initially expected to rule him out for at least a month with a muscular injury.
Modric feels he is going to miss several important games with Real Madrid just as he was playing some of his best football.
Source | Marca
Side note: Real Madrid have made preliminary tests and issued an official statement that Modric has torn his left proximal rectus femoris tendon. Odds are that, yes, Luka will be sidelined for quite some time. Here is a diagram to show the muscle group (the opposite leg of course) and here (LARGE FILE!) is another that shows the point of origin for the muscle group.
The injury is one of the most common to occur in the quadriceps muslce group because of the forceful extension of the hip and knee flexion; basically it serves to function to extend the knee, generate hip flexion and extension torque, and stabilize the pelvis for the weight-bearing femur. There's four types of injuries in the hip region (tendinous avulsions, musculotendinous strains, muscle contusions and lacerations) so it's just a matter of what type of injury it is to the rectus femoris and what type of grade the tear is.
Cristiano Ronaldo: "I did what I had to do"
Cristiano Ronaldo was once again the centre of attention. Real Madrid's star forward scored to give Portugal a 1-0 victory over Armenia and beat yet another record: he is now the highest scorer in the European Championship (qualifying and tournaments combined) with 23 goals. Despite everything, he is not thinking about the Ballon d'Or. "I've already won what I had to win", he said.
He was talking on Portuguese television and said "I've won titles, beaten records, but I am not going to be blinded by all this. I did what I had to do. I am perfectly calm". About the scrappy game against Armenia, he said "they just parked two buses and waited for us to make mistakes"
On Tuesday, Leo Messi's Argentina will await him at Old Trafford. "If it was the World Cup it would be a really special match. It's just a friendly though, but it will be very special to go back to Old Trafford".
Other international matches:
- Spain are hosting Germany in Vigo (Insert tacky Marca headline to the match-up being between Isco and Kroos; don't forget the Khedira cameo!)
- Portugal v. Argentina. See: Cris against Messi and twenty other players on the field probably. Apparently Argentina has a system figured out where they're going to chain Cris up (even though we're still trying to figure out ways to ace the "Keep Cris Immobile 101" class ourselves)
- France will take on Sweden at home and apparently France is back in the good graces of the French people, according to Deschamps.
- James and his clique of ten Colombian cuties will be playing Slovenia after winning 2-1 against the USMNT & reminding the US defense (like so many others) to quit getting lazy in the final minutes of the match.
And because I can't resist a good LOL-moment -
Manuel Neuer says he won't win Ballon d'Or... because he 'doesn't' pose in underpants (Source | Fox Sports)
Marca's Neuer: "The Ballon d'Or? I'm not some guy who poses in his underpants"
The German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer believes that he has a chance of winning the Ballon d'Or this year, despite not cultivating a 'glamorous' image the way Cristiano Ronaldo does.
"I'm a sportsman, not an ambassador for a brand, beyond being Adidas' first goalkeeper. I'm not some guy who poses in his underpants", he remarked in an interview with the sports magazine Kicker when asked about Cristiano Ronaldo and the weight that his image has in the voting for the Ballon d'Or.
The Bayern goalkeeper and Brazil 2014 world champion explained that he prefers to limit the "show" to what happens on the pitch. "I don't like the red carpet. I prefer the green turf. I feel better on the pitch trying to be the best I can be."
Considered one of the greatest keepers in the world and a serious contender to win the award for the best player of the year, Neuer acknowledged that his position provides him with less visibility and makes it tougher for him to win it.
"After the games, the main things they show are goals, the chances, the assists… Spectators don't tend to remember that the keeper stopped difficult balls by taking a big risk or organised the play from the back", he lamented.
Neuer played down the troubles that Germany have being having since winning the World Cup by beating Argentina 1-0, and believes that 2014 will be remembered for one thing above all others: "Football history, something unforgettable."
Side note: Whether this was taken out of context or not, it is one of the latest articles to trend on football. Fox Sports also linked to a vine on their blog in which Neuer is posing in his underwear (though it was to taken measurements for his wax figure). IDK if this counts or not as ~posing in his underwear~ in the same context he is supposedly hinting at but still. He's posing in his underwear.
Kroos: "I can identify with Real Madrid"
German international Toni Kroos has described the injury to Croat Luka Modric as a "big blow" for Real Madrid.
"The injury to Modric is a big blow for the team because he was playing very well. I hope he can return soon", Kroos said, in the run up to the clash between Spain and Germany.
"I feel very comfortable in Spain. I can identify with Real Madrid. Our aim is to win every game. That's never going to change. We want to beat Spain. The two last World Cup winners come up against each other and we're hoping for Germany to win an entertaining match. We would have liked to play against Spain during the World Cup, but it wasn't to be. It'll just be another test and there'll be no feeling of revenge involved. I'm happy playing in Spain and for Real Madrid", he said.
He tried to remain as diplomatic as possible when discussing the Spain squad: "For me it would be easier to talk about Real Madrid than the Spain squad because I haven't seen them yet. Key players have left the team. Things aren't going quite so well for them at the moment but they'll qualify. Isco is a great player. I already knew that before but he's going to be a fantastic player".
Kroos also discussed his Real Madrid teammates that will be doing their best to defeat him in the upcoming fixture: "It'll be nice to be on the same pitch but wearing different shirts. I've been speaking with Sergio and Iker".
A smiling Kroos explained that nothing has changed for him with the Germany team after his move to Real Madrid. "The manager keeps asking me for the same things: responsibility and hard work", he concluded.
Karanka: "The players love Ancelotti, just like they did Mou"
Aitor Karanka, formerly José Mourinho's assistant at Real Madrid, praised the job Carlo Ancelotti is doing at the Bernabéu in an interview with newspaper ABC. "He's a good manager. He deserves a lot of credit considering how the team are performing and how he's coped with the loss of players. The players love him, just like they did Mourinho. (Ummm... gurl) People said that he [Mourinho] didn't talk with the squad - that's not true".
The ex-defender, who has taken Middlesbrough to within a point of the top of the Championship table, believes that Ancelotti's side "play great football and are a cut above the rest". However, he was quick to point out that "the current Barcelona team aren't like what we had to contend with [when Mou was in charge]; they're not at their best".
The Basqueman also claimed that Ancelotti's actions following his appointment vindicated Mourinho's stance with regards to Iker Casillas: "They attacked Mourinho and four months after we left another coach arrived, Ancelotti, who decided to keep Diego López as the no. 1 and Casillas as the back-up. A few weeks ago Casillas himself stated that the gaffer [Mou] used to talk to him every day. He dropped Iker for the team's sake: he wasn't in form. Ancelotti has proven us right".
On this note, Karanka is convinced the Special One was harshly treated at the Bernabéu: "Mourinho was attacked as soon as he joined, but the Real Madrid fans appreciated his success. Winning the Champions League was all that was missing - which was a shame. But if anyone's responsible for ending Barcelona's supremacy, it's Mourinho".
The 41-year-old also had kind words for Cristiano Ronaldo: "I used to say Cristiano was the best in the world when they kept giving Messi the Ballon d'Or, so imagine what I think now!"
Source | Marca
All I can say is, ummm...
In your opinion...
- What will the line-up look without Modric? Are we all going to be shaking and crying? Or can we survive this as we have (so far) with Jesé?
- What do you think of international duty? Danger? Or bad luck? Maybe more like "Why the hell do we risk our already fragile Madrid boys like this?"
- Is Cris a great person who reads all and throws shade? Favorite Cristiano quotes about his trophies? His rivalries? His success? His life at RM?
- On a scale of one to ten, Xavi to Iker, how well is Toni loved/will be loved in the future? Worth the buy? Or are we still living that "buy everything" lifestyle?
- Neuer v. Ronaldo: Has the gauntlet been thrown down? Is there anything Cris won't be chastised for doing? More bullshit news against Cris & his ~glamorous~ ways at 10.
- Is Karanka suffering from Stockholm Syndrome? Should he stay in his lane? Does he have us all fucked up? Do you think Madridistas really miss Mou?