El Clasico
This one is all about futbol so you can skip it if you are not interested :)
Eto'o (the ninja) vs Iker ftw!
I got up a few minutes after my alarm, just a bit after 8 which is the earliest I have woken up, ever, since Manila. (That's a month, people) I put the streaming on (thanks, rojadirecta) and instantly my room was filled with the sounds of spanish commentary, half of which was too fast for me to understand.
Everytime they said someone's name a lot I would presume that person had the ball. (Messi, Messi, Messi, Messi most of the time or rrrrraul el capitan they really said it that way i swear) The thing about streaming is that all the players are tiny. As in miniscule. You can't really see their numbers. And while I've gotten to a point where I can tell who they are based on their positions (Yes, Den be proud!) I can only do it with about half of Barcelona and Real because most of Real has been injured and Gonzalo Higuain and Fernando Gago have the same hair. In fairness I can also distinguish between the defenders, primarily because that's all Real did. Defend, defend, defend. Or try to attack Messi. I'm also kindov glad that Iniesta didn't play cos I always mix him up with Xavi from a distance, especially in miniscule, they have about the same build.
So first thing I noticed with the match was, OMG its 8 minutes already and Barca hasn't scored! I seriously expected them to win the game in 20 minutes. As a Real fan I was not hoping to win, I was merely hoping to lose with dignity. If Casillas had kept a clean sheet for this game (which would have apparently been only the 3rd in all their domestic games) at 0-0 I would have been ecstatic. I did not expect us to score at all (this expectation was completely fulfilled).
Anyway, Real had a tight defense this time around, for the first time in, I dunno, forever. Apparently they played excellently in their last match with Zenit, with their new coach, but after playing so shittily for the games prior to that I think really expecting them to win this time would be a bit of a miracle. I was like so proud that there defense was better. This game they were just playing to defend because 90% of the action was near their goal line, hardly ever did I see them cross over to the other side to try and score.
The only thing I didn't like about their defense was that they kept taking pot shots at Messi. I mean I get that its all part of the game but you do not attack the striker with intent to break his leg! (Sergio! I'm talking to you!) Seriously that was more than was allowed and he should have been carded more than once but the ref was nice to them. Thankfully he stopped when he got carded. (By the time I got the streaming up, Andee's sister had already texted me from Spain to say, Real is playing dirty! They keep attacking Messi! before i even knew what was going on)
Iker did really well. I am not just saying this because I love him, but he has not been up to par in the last few games, it was like he was tired or depressed (sometimes like a deer caught in headlights even!) or something. This time around it was like nabuhayan siya ng loob and he was like, alive again. He saved a double goal attempt by Eto'o, and it had everyone going, San Iker is back! And then of course Eto'o scored for realz and he got pissed off and screamed at the ref and got carded, but we shall get to that later.
I am not surprised that Real decided to just defend, and not attack because we seriously have no strikers. Ruud is injured. Raul is not consistent, Higuain is good, but he's new at this and just beginning to show his potential and while Drenthe has had his moments he has not really performed so well so far. In contrast to Barca with Henri, Eto'o and Messi. I think Ruud could have stood up against them but that would have been effing it. The moment they subbed Higuain with another dude I was like, ooookay we're not hoping to score anymore, are we?
Real has been plagued with so many injuries. Sneijder got subbed out for 20 minutes just so he wouldn't be too tired to play again and he and Robben (suspended for this game after recovering from more than a month of injury) are usually ones that carry the midfield and can score too. Sigh. At one point we had a whole team of people injured, thanks very much. I swear when they started subbing I was like, are we serious?
Anyway, Eto'o scored the first goal. Which I did not understand at first because there were tiny blobs then suddenly Puyol (you can tell from afar because of the hair) hit the ball on the head but someone kicked it back from inside the goal and suddenly Eto'o was taking his shirt off. I was like, what? Wasn't it Puyol that scored? What happened? I had to actually read the live match streaming to find out that Puyol hit it, Iker caught it, then Eto'o kicked it in the corner. And while whoever it was (Salgado, possibly) kicked it out, it had already crossed the goal line and therefore they scored. To be fair, everyone was like surrounding the goal it was so hard to see.
My guess was that it would be 2-0 or optimistically 2-1. By this time I was chatting with Miguel (my friend who I watched the game in Madrid with) and Duke & Xave, my friends in Turkey who are futbol fanatics. I was very proud because we had sort of the same analysis and Xave is so fanatical he knows every freakin league. Except they are Barca fans (they are french catalan) so they were like, you think real will score? In your imagination! Obviously, I knew they wouldn't score, kaya nga optimistically.
I also really, really wanted to see Messi make a goal. Cos he's Messi. (and you know, people kept trying to cut his leg off) And he did. It was another tiny blob thing that I couldn't see, but apparently it missed Cannavaro's knee by theeees much and it went right in. I felt bad for Canna because right after he tried to hit it he slammed right into the goalpost, head, arm, knee and he was lying on the ground in real pain and no one was giving a shit. (He's bald, too so that must have effing hurt more)
Anyway, Barca won, as predicted 2-0 (Dammit, I should have bet somewhere!). Iker looked so sad, but it was expected, even by me. I think Barcelona played a great game. I have been very impressed by them this season and have taken to cheering for them when Real isn't playing. They are quite good. There is no doubt in my mind that they will take the title this year. They could also take the champions league, they've been performing excellently there as well.
That said, I'm looking forward to the next Real game which is against Valencia. I wonder how well Iker (or Dudek, as it might be) will fare against David Villa and the newly returned Silva... abangan ang susunod na kabanata hee hee hee.
And if the game was based on the hottest coach we know who would win.
Eto'o (the ninja) vs Iker ftw!
I got up a few minutes after my alarm, just a bit after 8 which is the earliest I have woken up, ever, since Manila. (That's a month, people) I put the streaming on (thanks, rojadirecta) and instantly my room was filled with the sounds of spanish commentary, half of which was too fast for me to understand.
Everytime they said someone's name a lot I would presume that person had the ball. (Messi, Messi, Messi, Messi most of the time or rrrrraul el capitan they really said it that way i swear) The thing about streaming is that all the players are tiny. As in miniscule. You can't really see their numbers. And while I've gotten to a point where I can tell who they are based on their positions (Yes, Den be proud!) I can only do it with about half of Barcelona and Real because most of Real has been injured and Gonzalo Higuain and Fernando Gago have the same hair. In fairness I can also distinguish between the defenders, primarily because that's all Real did. Defend, defend, defend. Or try to attack Messi. I'm also kindov glad that Iniesta didn't play cos I always mix him up with Xavi from a distance, especially in miniscule, they have about the same build.
So first thing I noticed with the match was, OMG its 8 minutes already and Barca hasn't scored! I seriously expected them to win the game in 20 minutes. As a Real fan I was not hoping to win, I was merely hoping to lose with dignity. If Casillas had kept a clean sheet for this game (which would have apparently been only the 3rd in all their domestic games) at 0-0 I would have been ecstatic. I did not expect us to score at all (this expectation was completely fulfilled).
Anyway, Real had a tight defense this time around, for the first time in, I dunno, forever. Apparently they played excellently in their last match with Zenit, with their new coach, but after playing so shittily for the games prior to that I think really expecting them to win this time would be a bit of a miracle. I was like so proud that there defense was better. This game they were just playing to defend because 90% of the action was near their goal line, hardly ever did I see them cross over to the other side to try and score.
The only thing I didn't like about their defense was that they kept taking pot shots at Messi. I mean I get that its all part of the game but you do not attack the striker with intent to break his leg! (Sergio! I'm talking to you!) Seriously that was more than was allowed and he should have been carded more than once but the ref was nice to them. Thankfully he stopped when he got carded. (By the time I got the streaming up, Andee's sister had already texted me from Spain to say, Real is playing dirty! They keep attacking Messi! before i even knew what was going on)
Iker did really well. I am not just saying this because I love him, but he has not been up to par in the last few games, it was like he was tired or depressed (sometimes like a deer caught in headlights even!) or something. This time around it was like nabuhayan siya ng loob and he was like, alive again. He saved a double goal attempt by Eto'o, and it had everyone going, San Iker is back! And then of course Eto'o scored for realz and he got pissed off and screamed at the ref and got carded, but we shall get to that later.
I am not surprised that Real decided to just defend, and not attack because we seriously have no strikers. Ruud is injured. Raul is not consistent, Higuain is good, but he's new at this and just beginning to show his potential and while Drenthe has had his moments he has not really performed so well so far. In contrast to Barca with Henri, Eto'o and Messi. I think Ruud could have stood up against them but that would have been effing it. The moment they subbed Higuain with another dude I was like, ooookay we're not hoping to score anymore, are we?
Real has been plagued with so many injuries. Sneijder got subbed out for 20 minutes just so he wouldn't be too tired to play again and he and Robben (suspended for this game after recovering from more than a month of injury) are usually ones that carry the midfield and can score too. Sigh. At one point we had a whole team of people injured, thanks very much. I swear when they started subbing I was like, are we serious?
Anyway, Eto'o scored the first goal. Which I did not understand at first because there were tiny blobs then suddenly Puyol (you can tell from afar because of the hair) hit the ball on the head but someone kicked it back from inside the goal and suddenly Eto'o was taking his shirt off. I was like, what? Wasn't it Puyol that scored? What happened? I had to actually read the live match streaming to find out that Puyol hit it, Iker caught it, then Eto'o kicked it in the corner. And while whoever it was (Salgado, possibly) kicked it out, it had already crossed the goal line and therefore they scored. To be fair, everyone was like surrounding the goal it was so hard to see.
My guess was that it would be 2-0 or optimistically 2-1. By this time I was chatting with Miguel (my friend who I watched the game in Madrid with) and Duke & Xave, my friends in Turkey who are futbol fanatics. I was very proud because we had sort of the same analysis and Xave is so fanatical he knows every freakin league. Except they are Barca fans (they are french catalan) so they were like, you think real will score? In your imagination! Obviously, I knew they wouldn't score, kaya nga optimistically.
I also really, really wanted to see Messi make a goal. Cos he's Messi. (and you know, people kept trying to cut his leg off) And he did. It was another tiny blob thing that I couldn't see, but apparently it missed Cannavaro's knee by theeees much and it went right in. I felt bad for Canna because right after he tried to hit it he slammed right into the goalpost, head, arm, knee and he was lying on the ground in real pain and no one was giving a shit. (He's bald, too so that must have effing hurt more)
Anyway, Barca won, as predicted 2-0 (Dammit, I should have bet somewhere!). Iker looked so sad, but it was expected, even by me. I think Barcelona played a great game. I have been very impressed by them this season and have taken to cheering for them when Real isn't playing. They are quite good. There is no doubt in my mind that they will take the title this year. They could also take the champions league, they've been performing excellently there as well.
That said, I'm looking forward to the next Real game which is against Valencia. I wonder how well Iker (or Dudek, as it might be) will fare against David Villa and the newly returned Silva... abangan ang susunod na kabanata hee hee hee.
And if the game was based on the hottest coach we know who would win.