And a successful preseason!
4 - 0 R e a l M a d r i d
And Real Madrid have just finished off a very successful preseason. The Bernabeu Trophy is theirs and they can go into the new season (on August 29th) with a good set of shoulders and lots of supports from their fans as they end this practice feet with one loss, one tie, and a hell of a lot of wins and goals under their belts. The new transfers are proving that as well as an important asset on the field, there are also a great inspiration for the rest of the team and the fans cheering them on. The world now waits for Real Madrid to begin the first leg of the 2009/2010 football season in La Liga, and with the results of this summer's preseason, there is no doubt that we can expect great things from this new, fresh Madrid. The only question is, how will they hold up against more experienced, and better teams than Rosenborg, DC United, Dortmund, etc? Only time will tell, but today we celebrate a 4-0 finish to the last game of the preseason.
It did not take long for a goal to go underway, in the 11th minutes, Karim Benzema worked his magic and scored a goal against Rosenborg. In the 25th minute, L. Diarra scores a second goal for Los Blancos, and soon following in the 27th minute, another from the new French man, Benzema. In less than 28 minutes, Real Madrid had three tallies on the scoreboard. During the 45th minute, Xabi Alonso (who was on the wrong field at the moment, during this time in which Liverpool were shamefully losing their 1-3 match against Ashton Villa) was substituted out to bring in the former goal scorer of last match, Granero. In the same minute, Arbeloa was pulled out and substuted with the Portugese international, Pepe. Los Meringues went into halftime with a great lead over Rosenborg, smiles on their faces and sweat dripping down their bodies.
In the second half, things were on the same track as the first half. In the 54th minute, Real Madrid's captain, Raul, scored the last goal of the game with a beautiful header. Off of a kick from another teammate, the Roseborg goalie too late in trying to save the ball from going into the net. In the 58th minute, the team captain was pulled off the pitch and substituted by the Dutch international, Robben, leaving the goalkeeper, Spanish international, Iker Casillas as the team captain for the rest of the game.* During the same minute, Benzema was also taken off the field and then substituted with forward, Gonzalo Higuain.
Things began to get to more exciting as there were many shots on goal within the first twenty-five minutes of the game. A few from Kaka, as well as Higuain. In the 70th minute Gonzalo Higuain was clear to take a shot at the goal, the only defender near him being the goalie himself, with a little bit of misfortune, his shot towards the goal was deflected by the goalie's lower body.
71st minute: Marcelo out and Drenthe put in.
75th minute: Kaka out and substituted with Nistelrooy, L. Diarra is replaced with M. Diarra.
In the 75th minute, Real Madrid fans were glad to see two of their formerly injured players back in action and in their debut games since being injured, Diarra out with a tenth month surgery on, I believe, his knee. Or was that Nistelrooy?
More shots towards the goal coming from Real Madrid's way. Real Madrid did not come empty handed with attempts at scoring, though most seem to miss. In the 85th minute Robben had a near shot to the goal, and missed, in the 86th minute, Rosenborg gained a free kick off of (I believe) defender, Pepe. Luckily for Real Madrid it was a miss and Casillas hardly broke a sweat. In the 87th minute it was a very close goal from Robben, and he would have scored had it not been from a deflection from the shoulder of one of the Rosenborg defenders, leaving Real Madrid without a fifth goal yet again. Granero and Higuain were doing a fabulous time together as a team, Higuain keeping the ball in and Granero with the corner kicks towards Higuain.
During the last twenty minutes of the game either Granero or Higuain had a powerful long-distance kick towards the goal, missing it by a few inches, the ball slamming against the goal post. Ah! How disappointing it must have been, being so close for another, beautiful goal. And to end the game in style, Higuain had a great header towards the goal, only to be rejected but beautiful nonetheless. And so the '09 preseason comes to an end for Real Madrid and it was a complete success.
Other things to mention:
-Ronaldo received two free kicks and was very close with one while the other was way off base.
-One of the free kicks was off a foul by a Rosenborg player towards Ricardo Kaka.
*Fun fact: had Casillas been taken off, the captaincy would have been left with number 14, Guti, and had he not been there, in most situations, Right Back Sergio Ramos would then be the head of the team.
P i c t u r e s :
Totally on the wrong pitch tonight...
And as far as the Liverpool game goes...I've decided I don't want to talk about it.
-Freaking black eye, what kind of crap is that?