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Archive for August 8, 2010

Los Angeles Galaxy 2-3 Real Madrid | Post-match comments

Mourinho: "I can tell the players want to win every match"

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho discussed his team’s perfomance following its match against the LA Galaxy and although admitting he saw things he wasn’t pleased with, he also commented on what he did like. He said:

Gonzalo Higuain is a top forward. He scored two goals, which is quite important to a forward. What I liked most were his movements on the pitch, which were those of an intelligent forward. He makes the game easy for other attackers because he plays from behind and opens up a lot of ground.

Real Madrid cannot spend ten months playing with only Cristiano or Higuain. We will be participating in three competitions, so I need Benzema as he is an important player in my book.

I liked the team’s mentality. They did not want to lose. I always tell my players that friendly matches do not exist, that preseason matches are used to make a lot of changes and that winning isn’t what counts. I do no like the word “friendly” in football. I can tell the players want to win every match.

There were moments I didn’t like in both of our matches, but that’s logical because we are still working and learning and there are many things to iron out. That said, there were also a lot of things I did like, such as the second half of today’s match. I liked how we played on defense, how we pressured, how we played the ball and how we managed to score.

August 8, 2010 | Categories: Friendlies, Post-match Comments | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

Los Angeles Galaxy 2-3 Real Madrid

The Whites come back to win in Rose Bowl

Mourinho continued testing the waters in Real Madrid’s second match of the preseason. With Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench for kick-off, Benzema was alone in attack and flanked by Van der Vaart and Di Maria. The French striker had another solid outing and often fell back to the wings to allow for the incorporation of Ramos and Drenthe on offense.

Real Madrid created numerous first half chances but were unable to finish successfully. Di Maria’s shot on 32′ hugged the post but on the wrong side. Shortly before halftime, the Galaxy capitalized on a corner to beat Dudek and take the lead after more than three deflections. The hosts advanced their positions and provoked Drenthe into committing a penalty on 45′. Landon Donovan converted the spot kick to put LA up 2-0 heading into the break.

Mourinho made ten substitutions to start the second and brought Cristiano Ronaldo, Canales, Pedro Leon, Casillas, Xabi Alonso, Higuain, Marcelo, Pepe, Gago and Arbeloa off the bench to join Garay. Real Madrid took control of the match and didn’t need much time to pull within one. Cristiano Ronaldo provided a fantastic pass to Higuain and their was little the goalkeeper could do to keep the Argentine from scoring. Six minutes later, Higuain had a goal disallowed after being flagged offside, but replay clearly showed the defense behind the Madridista. There was no sense in panicking, though, as minutes later Higuain wowed spectators with a brilliant feint and shot into the corner of the net to pull Real even with half an hour still to play.

A magical heal flick by Canales to Higuian on 71′ nearly made the come back a reality, but the goalkeeper managed to get a hand on the shot. Pedro Leon got a foot to the clearance and the ball sailed into the back of the Galaxy net after deflecting off a player. Real Madrid continued to pour on the pressure even with the match in the bag, but they would have to settle for a final score of 2-3, the same result as that against America in San Francisco.

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August 8, 2010 | Categories: Friendlies, Match Reports | Tags: , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

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