Sergio Ramos press conference
Sergio Ramos believes Real Madrid performed well in Barcelona and that they must now “keep up the good work.”
What do you think of Messi winning the Ballon d’Or?
We have to congratulate him for it. He deserves it, but it’s a shame that someone from this team didn’t win.
Do you think it’s fair? There were Spanish players nominated for the award…
I’m Spanish and I would have liked a Spaniard to win. I am privileged to play with great footballers on the national team. But Messi deserves it too.
Didn’t the Clasico feel like a victory despite the defeat given that the team’s performance was so good?
It didn’t feel like a victory, but we did play well. We have to keep up the good work.
Did you notice the laser during the match?
I wasn’t pointed at with it, but you can tell it hit Ronaldo’s face when he was going to take a free-kick. These things shouldn’t happen because they can end up causing problems.
Abidal said that Barcelona players weren’t hit by the laser because they were too fast for it…
I’m not going to enter a controversial debate. I don’t think Barcelona players would find it so funny if it had happened to one of them. Nevertheless, I don’t want to add to the controversy.
Is the team’s so-called dependency on Ronaldo justified? What did you think of him being examined by the Medical Staf before and after the match?
The so-called Ronaldo dependency seems to be more important to you lot. We regard every player on the squad as being equally important to the rest. A player decides if he wants to be examined before a match. It’s better to do so in order to avoid the player getting injured again.
Does the team really benefit that much from his return?
He does a lot for the team and he makes a difference. I think anything that has to do with someone recovering from an injury is good. The team is glad to have him back.
Casillas to Men’s Health
Iker Casillas talked to Men’s Health magazine about the work a goalkeeper does on a daily basis at Real Madrid.
When do you train?
We train every morning between 10:30 and 12:30. We then spend 45 minutes in the weights room.
How much do you train on the pitch?
I’d say I spend 60% of the first two hours with my team-mates doing physical workouts and so forth. I do specific goalkeeper exercises the other 40%.
In what are your goalkeeper workouts different from the rest?
You have to take into account that I run an average of 4 km per game while the rest run around 10. We don’t focus on endurance so much, but we work on jumping and on our legs’ reactions.
Saving a shot especially depends on how strong your legs are.
How do you strengthen your legs?
We tackle plyometrics such as jumping with weights, doing a succession of jumps, etc. These are typical exercises one does to strengthen his or her legs. The machine we use exclusively is the leg press.
How many weights do you use?
I think the most we use is 140 kg. You don’t need any more. It’s important to be fast.
What do you to exercise the upper half of your body?
Most goalkeepers exercise the upper half of their bodies and they are stronger than most of the other players on the team. I actually hate doing weights. I don’t like to be ‘big’.
Kaka to GOLT
In an interview with GOLT, Kaka discussed the early stages of his career and some of his most memorable moments.
What are you like when not thinking or playing football?
I am relaxed who like spending time with his child and family. I am also an Evangelist, which means I like to read the Bible.
What do you remember about your childhood?
I had a great upbringing. I was a happy kid. I spent most of it playing football and I always knew that football was my passion.
You weren’t born in a favela (slum), you were never hungry and you didn’t need to be a football player. You have nothing to do with the stereotypical Brazilian footballer.
I was lucky to be born into a middle class family. I was raised in a calm neighborhood far from crime.
You had an accident as a kid that nearly ended your days as a football player.
I fell into a pool and fractured a vertebrae. I thought I would never play again, but God gave me the strength to recover and I am a stronger person because of it.
Your career then took off with Sao Paulo.
Those were some great years and I gained a lot of experience. I was relatively unknown when I left for Milan.
You had some sweet moments with Milan, but some bitter ones as well, like losing the final against Liverpool.
That defeat against Liverpool was tough to swallow, but we won the European Cup two years later, also against Liverpool.
Just another Madridista
The trash talk continues
The Clasico saw us play our hearts out and even take the game to the mighty Barcelona side and if it wasn’t for the offside goal that Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored or the numerous saves that Carles Puyol did and of course the Ronaldo miss we would be sailing on top of the table. But since it is me who says If my aunt had been a man I’d have called her my uncle. There are no ifs nor buts here. We lost a game which we would’ve won if it wasn’t for the crucial factor called luck.
Anyhoo moving on, the trash talk still hasn’t stopped. There was a lot of talking going on prior to the match like always and now its time for some post-match trash talk.
Dani Alves has said that the cules’ victory in El Clasico was a “great win” and also joked that Cristiano Ronaldo was a little short of his 10 or 20 goal target. Ronaldo had joked midweek that he would like to score 10 or 20 goals against the champions in El Clasico and Alves countered in kind after his side emerged as winners. According to AS:
Andes ‘Casper’ Iniesta was apparently left incensed after Ronaldo told him to stop diving during El Clasico. The midfielder fell to the ground rather easily twice in the first half with the second time meriting a response from CR9.
(more…)
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December 1, 2009 | Categories: Comments | Tags: Andres Iniesta, Daniel Alves, El Clásico, FC Barcelona | 32 Comments »