Spanish Football | Soccer

SPANISH FOOTBALL CLUBS EYE MEXICAN GIOVANI DOS SANTOS

Giovani Dos Santos is perhaps the pearl of Mexican Football at this moment. It still baffles me how the 24 year old ex-FC Barcelona player hasn't as yet found a permanent team after having to leave Barça due to "overcrowding" & flowing through Tottenham Hotspurs, Ipswich Town, Galatasaray, Racing de Santander & Real Mallorca.

Hopefully his wandering through the "Football Forest" will soon come to an end as mayor Spanish Football Clubs has the Mexican International on their signing agendas after his current Club Real Mallorca relegated to the Spanish 2º Division.

Newly promoted Liga Club Villareal is thinking in Gio as their long time midfield Captain Senna moves of to US Soccer. However, Valencia CF & Atletico de Madrid are also hoovering around & have their eyes set as well on the talented player. The player himself has knocked back offers from US Soccer with big money in the interest of the more competitive European Football. A good performance with Mexico in the Confederations Cup will lift his billing & hopefully put Gio in a Club were he can finally settle down & cultivate all his natural talent.

SPAIN 2 URUGUAY 1 | FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP GROUP B RESULT

It was an exhibition, at least the first half. The World Champions Spain defeated 2 - 1 the South American Champions Uruguay in the opening Group B game of the FIFA Confederations Cup. The first match is always vital to win as it sets the team on course & Spain surprised everyone, Uruguay & spectators, with the high level achieved tonight at Recife ( Brazil ). However, & to their credit , Uruguay managed to save their image towards the end with their goal.

The other news for Spain was the start of Iker Casillas & Roberto Soldado in the opening XI & the no use tactically of the "double midfield pivot" system by Spanish Coach Del Bosque. This last element gave Spain a more attacking edge & more domination in the midfield which showed as Spain had virtually total ball possession.

Spain touched perfection at certain moments tonight & from this came their two goals. The first from Pedro in the 19th min when he hooked a loose ball that got a deflection from a Uruguayan defender & went into the net.

The second goal came in the 31st min from another excellent build-up that included a brilliant & surgical pass from Cesc Fabragas that found Roberto Soldado who powered the ball into the net.

The second half was more Spanish domination & at times a true bath over Uruguay that deserved more goals for Spain but the chances did not get converted. Keeping the intensity up so long is difficult under steamy & humid conditions & Spanish Coach Del Bosque began making changes to give others a run.

Uruguay managed to win back their pride with a fabulous 88th min Luis Suarez free-kick goal that beat Spanish keeper Casillas all out, it was unreachable & this lifted Uruguay to attempt to equalize with a now tired Spain on the field.

In the end Spain held out their opponents, managed the win & the three points leaving a clear path open for Tahiti up next & Nigeria as their last Group match.

Special mention to Spanish midfielder Xavi Hernandez who was a "maestro tonight" along with another magician of the ball Andres Iniesta who was outstanding. Busquets played well, Cesc Fabregas very good, as was Soldado who fought hard in attack & defended well. In a nutshell, Spain look very strong & is at a high level which hopefully they can maintain & thus get them far in this Confederations Cup. Excellent match.

REAL MADRID | ARSENAL FC WILLING TO PAY 30M€ for HIGUAIN

Everything indicates that Italian Club Juventus is in the front running to get the services of Real Madrid Argentine International striker Gonzalo Higuain. However, news from England tells us that Arsenal FC has entered the picture in an aggressive manner & is willing to offer 30M€ ( 8M€ more than Juventus ) & with a one-off payment.

The idea isn't far fetched at all. Higuain made a comment last week saying that English Football suits his style. Was he onto the something already? What is clear is that Higuain has made up his mind to leave Real Madrid as expressed to media straight after the last Liga match with Real Madrid. The Spanish Football Club on the other hand is denying that they have received an offer from any Club at all. A usual "tactic" as Real Madrid obviously wishes to get the maximum value out of its forward.

Back at Arsenal FC, the departure of Van Persie has left a "hole" upfront that the team hasn't been able to fill adequately. The English Club sees Gonzalo Higuian as the solution. However, they & all interested in the Argentine will have to wait until Real Madrid gets its new Coach for next season. Everything indicates it will be Carlo Ancelotti & the Italian has given orders for the Club not to make a move until he takes control & Real Madrid has a substitute forward in the bag be that Bale or Cavani or ...

Stay tuned for developments.

ATLETICO DE MADRID EYES PORTO DEFENDER OTAMENDI ?

This next piece comes out of Portugal & has been picked up by Spanish Sports media locally. Supposedly Spanish Football Club Atletico de Madrid has decided that Porto 25 year old Argentine defender Nicolas Otamendi is the central defender they are looking for next season. It was rumoured that Malaga FC defender Demichelis was on the agenda but the youth & versatility of Otamendi is a big plus. The Porto defender can also play on the right flank & could be a useful solution if current player in that position Juan Fran was be be injured.

The Portuguese Football Club has already let known to Atletico de Madrid that they will not be letting go of their player for less than 15M€. Porto has a reputation as fierce negotiators & always manage to get a good price with their transfers. The actual price asked is out of range for Atletico, which although sells players for big money ( Falcao for example ) has a huge debt with Spanish tax authorities that they must solve yearly. Thus the explanations of why they sell every year.

This news piece is speculation & rumour. I will be keeping an eye out for the Atletico fans & readers. ;O)

SPAIN 3 NORWAY 0 | U-21 EURO SEMI-FINAL RESULT

The Spanish U-21 Football National Team has won a place in the Final of the UEFA U-21 European Championships being held in Israel win a 3 - 0 victory over Norway in the semi-final. The reigning Euro Champs deserved the win as they were far the superior side although Norway did create opportunities that they could not materialize.

The first half was relatively even with Norway defending & waiting for a counter-attack or for a set play opportunity. However, if you decide to give the ball to Spain this will cause you to run after them & you will tire. The "exhaustion factor" for Norway played its part towards the end of the match. Meanwhile , Norway goalie Nyland kept Spain out with some superb saves but Spanish striker Rodrigo "opened the can" in the 45th+ min.

The second half saw Norway lift in their efforts in order to attempt to find an equalizer. They nearly achieved the objective but missed their chances, plus they began gradually to tire from the physical effort. Spain made some changes to keep the side fresh & put on Munian & Morata (Sarabia in the end)

The sealer came in the 87th min when Isco did his magic in the goal square & scored the second. Brilliant piece of individual work & quick thinking that highlighted why Manchester City & Real Madrid are bidding for the young man. Lastly, Morata scored the third when he broke away & ran into the goal square to shot but managed to get the rebound off the goalkeeper Nyland & slip the ball into an open space that found the net. Superb!

Spain now will meet the winner of the other semi-final currently in play while I write this post, Italy or Holland next Tuesday.

Match details:

SPAIN 3: De Gea; Montoya, Bartra, Íñigo Martínez, Alberto; Illarramendi, Thiago, Koke; Tello (Muniain, 73’), Isco (Sarabia, 89’) & Rodrigo (59’).

NORWAY 0: Nyland; Elabdellaoui, Berge, Strandberg, Hedenstad; Henriksen, Johansen (Berisha, 80’), Eikrem (Nordtveit); Berget, Pedersen & King (Nielsen, 46’).

Goals: 1-0 (45+) Rodrigo 2-0 (87’) Isco. 3-0 (93’) Morata

The FIFA Confederations Cup kicks off today with host Brazil playing Japan. The Spanish Football National Team plays its first match of Group B tomorrow against Uruguay. Spanish Sports daily based in Barcelona "Sport" has created some infographs in reference to the Confederations Cup & the countries involved.

The diagrams are in Spanish but easy to understand. It shows an "ideal" XI side, the full squad names, the Coach, the uniform, the International titles & a star player, in this case Xavi Hernandez