La Selección: Spain v Italy- The Preview*

(*Note that I tend to do ‘previews’ a bit different from everyone else (i.e. I just talk about whatever I feel is relevant to the game in no order!)

To start off, here are the 20 players picked by Luis ‘The Old Man’ Aragonés himself.

Arsenal: Cesc

FC Barcelona: Puyol, Iniesta y Xavi

Betis: Juanito

Espanyol: Luis García y Riera

Getafe: De la Red

Liverpool: Arbeloa, Reina, Torres y Xabi Alonso

Real Madrid: Casillas y Sergio Ramos

Mallorca: Fernando Navarro y Güiza

Valencia: Albiol, Marchena, Silva y Villa

Villarreal: Capdevila y Senna.

No Raul???? Shocking, isn’t it?

De La Red Gets the Call

There has been all sorts of talk surrounding this game the last few days. The biggest buzz is the call up of Rubén de La Red, who is on loan to Getafe this season from Real Madrid. Last year, de La Red couldn’t get a shot in Madrid, but a small move to the suburbs of the capital city sees him take on a pivotal role for el geta this season.

He’s on 2 goals and 3 assists for the season, but he has played in 29 games so far. Laudrup looks to the young Madridista as a solid player in the middle of the field and he can prove his worth. I’ve only seen him in a few games this season, but from what I remember the boy can play.

In an article today in AS, the youngster said ‘If it was up to me, I would go back to Madrid’, though he said he does thank Getafe for giving him an opportunity this season (but I can’t find the article it was on).

Luis had this to say about the youngster.

“Es un jugador que está creciendo, puede jugar por delante de la línea de centro del campo. A cualquier jugador que veamos en buena forma le vamos a dar la oportunidad de poder venir’

‘He’s a young player who’s growing, he can play in front of the midfielders. Any player that we see looking good, we will give him the opportunity to be able to come.’

Spain: Luis Aragones not Going Anywhere, But Who Is Next?

The Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF) put the kabosh on rumors that El Viejo Luis Aragonés would be leaving the Spanish national side before Euro 2008.

Angel Maria Villar, president of RFEF who according to the FIFA website likes ‘history, music and hiking’ (WTF?) said

“The national team coach is determined to continue in his job until the end of Euro 2008 and he knows that the RFEF has full confidence in him”