Fútbolita

Bien, so we modified this week’s theme a little bit to fit with the following GuapoVela video, which you will all be expected to analyze and watch. Here, he talks about missing goal opportunities and how you must always “come back” and persevere in front of the net. Yes, never give up, folks!

“Even if you miss 15 times, when you swing the (ball into the) net, your efforts will be rewarded,” he declared.

As all you chicas would say, “Quince veces suena bien!“ (fifteen times sounds good)

So nobody wanted to pass the ball to le charmant Gourcuff and GuapoVela simply couldn’t get a hold of Miss Jabulani (the ball), on Friday. Meanwhile, Pipita had several missed chances of his own against the Nigerians on Saturday while the selecao caras are training hard to prepare for North Korea tomorrow (kkkk, dejar de bromear sobre su oponente).

Oh dear, only Serious Fabregas knows the amount of sacrifice these guys are going through (this does not refer to Serbia’s Zdravko Kuzmanovic) and the possible nerves and emotions that can take over you when the Copa del Mundo comes round. With that said, here’s a starter (and a toast) to all the Futbolitas and Futbolitos from all over the world during this World Cup! Let’s make this one memorable for many years to come. Enjoy the guapos and… vamos!

PS : if you’ve got something to share, you can catch us at worldcup @ futbolita.com.

Meet Lola Dolores, our official Mexican Futbolita from Juárez! An educator by profession, Lola is also an advocate for equity in education for indigenous and Mexican immigrant students.

She looks forward to representing Mexico in honour of her late father, who was a sports hero in her local community of el valle de Juárez. “Of course, I think México has the talent and the grit to win the whole thing! Every world cup I believe and hope for this!” she enthused. Vaya Vaya México!

ABOUT HER PASSION FOR FUTBOL…

“My passion for futból began early in life. I can’t recall my earliest memories because it seems I was born into this passion. Not having a local first division team to support, the Mexican National team became our team, as it really is for every other Mexican!

“This passion is really about my relationship with my father who passed away unexpectedly in October of last year. To the day he passed away, my father was all about sports, running, playing, organizing leagues, being a mentor to younger players, but most importantly being a great Dad! My Dad is a sports hero from our community in el valle de Juárez. He passed his love and appreciation of sports to my siblings and I. As a child, I remember how exciting watching the world cup was! Imagine when México hosted the world cup! I never felt, nor was I raised to think that as a woman I couldn’t compete, I couldn’t play, I couldn’t be a sports woman!

ABOUT THE MEXICAN PRIDE…

“Many Mexicans find themselves living outside of México, but despite these distances and hardships, we remain proud of our roots, our families, our nation. Our support for El Tri unites us where ever we may be!”

ABOUT HER LOCAL TEAM..

“I support Los Indios de Juárez, of course! Though they had a good run at first, they are now relegated to the Liga de Ascenso, the second professional level of the Mexican football league system, the Primera División de México. I support La Tribu for many reasons! I fully support the sporting endeavor of any team in Juárez, and unlike other regions of México, we have never had long-term first division sporting clubs in our city.

For starters, Los Indios de Juárez is the name used by the semi and professional league sports teams out of Juárez. My father played for Los Indios de Juárez baseball team in his youth. Secondly, Los Indios’ commitment to Juárez and it’s surrounding communities during these hard times is outstanding, but more importantly La Tribu brings us respite from the violence that threatens to implode around us. Los Indios represent the aguante, the coraje, and the orgullo of fronterizos, the people of the border!”

ON HER FAVOURITE PLAYERS…

“My favourite player has gotta be Cuauhtémoc Blanco (below) because of his leadership and because he leaves it all out on the field! He represents that link between the past, the present, and the future of nuestra selección. Cuauh échale ganas y coraje, ¡mucho coraje! As for the youth of our team, I have been keeping a close eye on Carlitos Vela, El Bombardero, Javier Hernández, el Chicharito, and the Dos Santos brothers Giovanni and Jonathan (psst Giovanni, ¡ya no te metas con Brenda!! ja ja)”

HER MESSAGE TO THE MEXICAN FANS…

“Take days off from work, for sure if you can! Prepare your botanitas, carnes asadas, menudo, cervezitas, pozole, tacitos, carnitas, and other foods to get you through the world cup!”

ON WHAT SHE’S LOOKING FORWARD TO….

“I am super excited to represent Mexico as the official Futbolita!!! I know if my father were alive he would be proud and a little entertained by the fact. I am looking forward to watching each and every match and supporting los Azteca as we make our way through the tournament….¡¡Si se puede!!

Lola is wearing the official Cultzeros/Futbolita World Cup tee with Cuauhtémoc Blanco
All photos © Lola Dolores

We know there are many Mexican futbolitas y chicos here but even if you’re not, that GuapoVela photo is supposed to entice you into reading this! Nevertheless, we have a video of Memo Ochoa for you below practising his drills as he pits himself against not one – but TWO teams! él es un hombre muy trabajador…

Also, BBC World Service is looking for more Mexican fans to share their photos behind their football memorabilia. So yes, if you and your papi grew up watching Hugo Sanchez or finally met your dream footballer, share it ahora!

via gettyimages

Now now, doesn’t everybody look fit? Special mention to Puyolita and Silva who remembered that there are OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS on the field who deserve attention! In case you’ve been dreaming of Titipo Henry’s handball a little too much these days, you’d better wake up with marshmallows surrounding you because Spain defeated France 2-0 and yes, it really does mean they’re serious. Take it as a sign… we should be afraid of their prowess and Uncle Del Bosque’s subtle grin. Te gusta?!

Que hubo, GuapoVela?! For scoring against New Zealand yesterday, tipo deserves a nice and polite applause. Or perhaps a nice empanado. To be honest, he’s been under performing for the Gunners (and probably the weight of the expectations can be too much sometimes) so it’s really good to see him do well for Mexico. May they break their first-round curse and do well in South Africa! Vamos, Carlito!

Last but not least, let us all hold hands and scream “Queremos Flautista de Higuaín!” (we want the Pied Piper of Higuain!) repeatedly as we go about our activities during the day. His goal against Germany was quite strange – but pretty cool – at the same time, particularly for its speed. Even FIFA (although not Yoda Blatter himself, Thank God) voted Higuain’s shot as the “Goal of the Day”. And we agree of course!

Arsenal may have lost to Porto last night but Senor GuapoVela here needs to work harder if he wants to intimidate the linesman. Pippo Inzaghi gives part-time classes on that when no one is looking, so tipo Carlos better sign up pronto before all the slots get filled up! Luca Toni already graduated with honours two seasons ago but Pippo never mentioned a money back guarantee. A Sneaky man!

Anyway, the Gunners are now mulling over their 2-1 loss to Hulkamania Porto. Yeah, Fabianski probably needs to find a watering hole asap after yesterday’s performance. Gooners, if you see him walking in the streets of London today, do not hesitate to hand him a lawnmower and a Spandau Ballet CD. He will immediately do a back-pass with those things… you’ll see!

Our dear amis at SambaFoot finally presented Fabulousooooo with his “Best European Footballer in Europe” or Samba d’Or award at the Sevilla HQ on Monday. And thanks to many of your votes, he won it! My my, doesn’t it look muito legal? Je veux que le prix! Of course he didn’t juggle this ball…

It was pretty interesting to hear Fabulouso speaking about his family. “(My family) is not used to calling me before the games. Usually, they call me (after) to know how was the game. My mother never watches the games, she is too nervous,” he said. “She is afraid I will get hurt. One day, I left the field injured, having seizures during a game between Palmeiras and Ponte Preta. I had to leave in an ambulance. After that, it was very difficult for her to watch a game.” (Read the full interview)

The Dona has already decided on 50% of his World Cup list and says that he will tell the players after Argentina’s friendly with Germany next month.

The Messiah, Carlito Tevez, Pied Piper of Higuain and Kun were all called up for the game, leaving no space for Boca’s Martin Palermo. Futbolitas, it’d be a shame to leave him out of the WC squad seeing that he played a HUGE role in Argentina’s qualification in the first place. But as they say, competition is incredibly tough… Prepárense, muchachos!

via Ole, SambaFoot, Reuters

We’ve been meaning to publish this great photo featuring Martin Abram, a Gooner from Croatia and Senor Guapo himself, Carlos Vela, for a very, very long time. So since the Gunners are playing United this weekend (oh dear, we got our fingers dipped into the Juve/Lazio and Depor/Madrid instead), here’s his awesome tale of hair gel and sombreros told especially to Futbolita!

“I asked Vela to put it the sombrero on and take a pic with me, but he didn’t want to spoil his haircut. The haircut really looked like he put lots of effort in it, so I didn’t want to ask him again,” said Abram (above), a 22-year-old student from Split.

“Few of us, Croatian gooners, went there (to Arsenal’s preseason). I always liked Mexican players, was so happy that Vela finally came, that was his first time at Arsenal preseason, after his loan at Spain (Celta Vigo), so my friend and I decided to make it special for him. We got sombreros from friends, our friend already had the Mexican jersey, and we were ready to attend every training with the sombreros and we’d applaud Carlos whenever he came, or was leaving training.”

“Not once he forgot to say HI, smile, and ask us how are we, not to say, he never refused to take pics with us, sign whatever we wanted etc. Brilliant lad. But we did some of those stuff to other players as well, its not like we were there just for Vela. We wanted to make everyone feel special, and important for Arsenal.”

Kkk, we know there are many admirers of the GuapoVela here and it’s nice to know that he’s signed a new “long-term” deal with the Gunners. At least there was no Pillowface signing and Carlitos actually put on a nice ensemble for this. Look, Arshavin is obviously the squad’s resident stylist. How else can you explain this?

“I’m very happy to sign a new contract and I’m very excited to be spending more years with Arsenal. I just want to work hard and help this great Club win trophies. I want to stay here for a long time and it’s a great responsibility. I will keep working hard to show the Boss and all the fans why I’m here,” he declared.

Well, they’d better give him more chances to start the games and if you listen to Tio Wenger, then we can all calm down. “Let’s remember, he is still only 20 years-old, so there is still a huge amount to come from this boy. We have invested a lot of time in Carlos, as we put him in Spain for two years to get some good experience,” he said. 

via Arsenalpics, AP

In the spirit of the World Cup season, allow Ballackwurst and co’ to present to you with the new German national team kits. It seems to set in well on the shoulders, don’t you think? Lieblich! Bastian Schweinsteiger is all “meh” in this photo below, but they all secretly love the extra space on the left to show off the arm muscles, so do not fear!

Meanwhile, this other photo of El Tri unveiling their new kits below lacks the Piece of Art that is Carlos Vela. Nevertheless, even without him, the Mexicans looked cool emerging out of smoke (literally) during their presentation at the Antropoligic Museum. The most significant change in the jerseys are in the refined collars. Muy bien, muy bien…

Last but not least, taking you back to 1986 is the Messiah, who is kissing Argentina’s newly updated kit below. Yes yes, it’s the Messiah and the sultry/sexy look does not work for him but come on, pessoas! Give him the chance to be feroshhhh for you.

Oooooo Vela, ¿qué es eso en la boca?!! We’ve missed Mr Guapo so as a bonus, here he is again with Mexican teammate Johnny Magallon! [via LatinContent Editorial]

Hear, hear! Carlos Vela is our Sunday Señor for this week after Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Pompey last night. Sr. Guapo, as he is otherwise known here, will now serenade you with a great selection of photos under the cut. Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry »

Quick! Someone get this kid his Fruit Loops or he’ll get pissed!

Anyway, today’s a big day for the Arsenal niños because they will meet Foreignchester United at Old Trafford. They’re the only EPL side we genuinely love so we hope they do themselves proud.

“We have built a young team because we wanted to develop a special way of playing, a special spirit. We think when the players have been educated together from the age of 16-24 there is something special that I hope will come out at this level of the competition,” said Monsieur Wenger.

As a bonus, here are some photos. Fashionista Arshavin’s hair is gleaming in the glorious sunlight – how ferosh!

Do ignore Russian Doll Arshavin’s potruding arse, por favor! Instead, Futbolitas, lavish your attention on Sr. Guapo, Carlos Velaaa who scored in Arsenal’s 3-0 FA Cup victory over Burnley last night. Vela and Eduardo Da Silva both netted in stunning goals to put the Gunners into the quarter finals of the tournament. Parabens!

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL8oCugXhkk]

Hola Futbolitas, we’re sure most of you have heard of Arsenal’s Carlos Vela. The 19-year-old Mexican striker is muy guapo besides his impressive first touches that we’ve seen.

If you’re interested, watch a recent interview Arsenal TV did with him below… we’ll be keeping a close eye on this senor!