Did anyone catch the match recently between Real Madrid and Feynoord? Man it was a joy to see a healthy Luis Figo and Zizou again. Zizou's ballhandling is so amazing. He's like a magician with the ball.

Mientros tanto... Real Madrid is now so fully stocked. I think they basically have every futbol superstar playing for them on the team. They recently cut Morientes (God he's so sexy!) to make room for the new Brasilero superstar addition. who's gonna beat them?

i think Raoul is the big time hottie on that team
i still think David Beckham is the sexiest guy in soccer

Yeah, I saw the Real v. Feynoord match. Real barely broke a sweat; Real is loaded with talent. Are there enough footballs on the pitch at one time to keep everyone happy though? Ronaldo is still not fit but if he's playing well, they could be devasting. Franco must be cackling with glee in whatever part of Hell he's residing in.

Frankly, if they don't do the Treble this year--win La Liga, the Spanish Cup and the So-Called Champions League But Why Are There 4th Place Teams In It?--it'll be a scandal. From Soccernet:
"Real Madrid were handed a fairly easy start to the defence of their title when they were drawn on Friday to play AS Roma, AEK Athens and Genk of Belgium in the Champions League's opening group phase". See what I mean? Genk of Belgium? I'm pretty football knowledgeable but Genk of Belgium? Who the heck? They should go back to the old format: only the winners of the country's top domestic league get in. Of course, pigs will fly before that happens with all the money involved. So yeah, Real should at least make it to the Round of 16 with ease.

I'd love to watch La Liga matches but there is currently no TV deal for the US or Canada. Phil Ball writes a great column about Spanish football for Soccernet; he's about due for one. It's in the Specials section in the middle of the page.

[ September 05, 2002: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]

do you have cable? I have the digital cable service offered here in Kentucky and it carries the european la liga matches as well as other leagues... I think it may be "Sky sports" or some other sports euro venue. check your cable people.
some of the handling and passing that Zidane was doing was a-mazing.

and you know...... you're right. I don't see how Real can keep all those superstars and all those super-sized egos happy when you have so many in one team.

they have so much talent they should win everything.. including the "galaxy cup" (kidding)
but you know what can happen when team chemistry is not good and egos clash.

A pic of Moro for you.More, more, Morientes!

Ok.. I don't know who you are. I don't know what you do. But I think I love you for showing me that pic.

Ok.. I don't know who you are. I don't know what you do. But I think I love you for showing me that pic.

today's pic section showed the futbol team of Barcelona losing to a Div-3 team (el Novelda)

Needless to say, Barca losing has resulted in some major changes already. the pres of the club has resigned and a national poll in Espana blames the mgmt more than the players for the loss.

That's one of the reasons that I love European football--a loss in the Spanish Cup is a crisis, damn the political situation.

Of course, in Spain it's all about regional pride: Real Madrid is about the ghosts of Franco, the Establishment and all that; Barca is a focus of the Catalan region. It's all very intense and there's nothing even remotely like it here in the US.

I also love the fact that there's FOUR daily sports newspapers in Spain. What the hell do they write about? Madness.

And I'm still pissed off that there's no US feed of La Liga.

Jim, you tal about the 4 daily for sports in Espana. But how many sports networks do e have here in the states? Just on cable alone I can count at least 6 right now. and none of them cover soccer or tennis. and what about all those "sports-talk radio stations"?

I think when it comes to sports.... and men..... it's never too much.

By the way, love the spanish way of being thorough and efficient. In the middle of the Barca match in the King's Cup, the stadium lights go out. Lovely. But the men are still gorgeous.

one note about the games of liga espanola.

I just got back from Japan and Korea and noticed "Star sports"channel owned by ESPN out of Hong Kong that carries every singles liga espanola game. perhaps that's available in the states too?

La Liga is on Fox Sports World here in the US. I don't notice a regular pattern to when the games are aired, unlike the English Premiership (Saturday, 9:00 am, Sunday 11:00 am, Monday noon, all PST).

There's a great site, SoccerTV.com that lists EVERYTHING footie related on TV.

Also, here's another great article about La Liga from Phil Ball. I love how he weaves history and local issues in to his reports.

[ September 30, 2002: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]