Fútbolita

Yes, Pipita is looking right at YOU and wants you to know that he is Argentina’s World Cup number 9!! Of course, you can argue that  the número principal for the nation is number 10 (The Dona and Messi, anyone?) In addition, friendly games and qualifiers don’t count because their jersey numbers usually picked at random but when you finally head to the world stage, it’s absolutely crucial to make an impact and say “YO SOY HIGUAIN, el numero nueve!” What an honour indeed.

Here’s the complete list of players and their official numbers!

1 – Diego Pozo, 2 – Martín Demichelis, 3 – Clemente Rodríguez 4 – Nicolás Burdisso, 5 – Mario Bolatti, 6 – Gabriel Heinze, 7 – Ángel Di María, 8 – Juan Sebastián Verón,

9 – Gonzalo Higuaín, 10 – Lionel Messi, 11 – Carlos Tévez, 12 – Sergio Romero, 13 – Walter Samuel, 14 – Javier Mascherano, 15 – Nicolás Otamendi, 16 – Sergio Agüero, 17 – Jonás Gutiérrez, 18 – Martín Palermo, 19 – Diego Milito, 20 – Maxi Rodríguez, 21 – Ariel Garcé, 22 – Javier Pastore, 23 – Mariano Andújar.

via Gettyimages

Ok, we’re pretty thrilled to see Pied Piper of Higuain in The Dona’s preliminary World Cup list because like all other consistent players, he deserves it! Of course, Kun Aguero Papa was called up, and so was Maxi Rodriguez, and it’s also interesting to note that The Dona called up more domestic-based players this time in his midfield line-up.

Here’s the full list… a little less surprising that Dunga’s, but at least the Argentinean futbolitas we know are happy with the call-ups. Still, The Dona will be fine-tuning this list in a few weeks, depending on his mood and empanados at home, of course!

Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar/Netherlands), Mariano Andujar (Catania/Italy), Diego Pozo (Colon)

Defenders: Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan/Italy), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich/Germany), Walter Samuel (Inter Milan/Italy), Gabriel Heinze (Marseille/France), Nicolas Otamendi (Velez Sarsfield), Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle/England), Juan Manuel Insaurralde (Newell’s Old Boys), Clemente Rodriguez (Estudiantes), Ariel Garce (Colon)

Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Liverpool/England), Sebastian Blanco (Lanus), Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiantes), Jesus Datolo (Olympiacos/Greece), Jose Sosa (Estudiantes), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Liverpool/England), Mario Bolatti (Fiorentina/Italy), Juan Mercier (Argentinos Juniors), Angel Di Maria (Benfica/Portugal), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle/England), Javier Pastore (Palermo/Italy)

Forwards: Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid/Spain), Diego Milito (Inter Milan/Italy), Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors), Carlos Tevez (Manchester City/England), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid/Spain), Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Spain), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli/Italy)

Bom dia, futbolitas! It was the Madrid derby last night with plenty of thrills and spills! It was, of course, only natural that the Pied Piper of Higuain had to feature in this one with the likes of Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa. There was nothing from Senor Kun, however (OK, estamos justo really, he did help Reyes to score the second goal for Atletico!) but you know The Dona failed to send him a congratulatory text message when he checked his phone!

“We scored three goals but the worrying thing is that our opponents, almost without reaching our goal, scored twice,” tío Pellegrini said after the game.

I’ve also added a photo of Marcelo the Ballerina as a bonus! For that alone, Dopey should summon him to Seleção Bootcamp!

The Pied Piper of Higuain looks like a boy in a candy store in this photo. Alice in Wonderland forgot to cast him in their film, but who cares right? There’s the Champions League to look forward to tonight. Get your priorities right, tipoooo!

“We are going to need our public. It is vital that they support us and push us. We need to do everything in our power to nullify the first leg result. In our stadium, we can’t let them relax for a moment!” he said.

Of course the other big game takes place in Old Trafford between Mickey Mouse Beckham and Foreignchester (No seriously, no one else exists in the game or is supposed to!)

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!

Little Twin Star - is that you?! Come on futbolitas, it’s a great photo (not only because Kaka is in it). Just look at the lovely snow in Madrid! Sometimes you just need to stop and kneel down in the middle of the pitch to truly experience it. Even Greaseano couldn’t help but feel a little bit envious, so he too gave up after being brought down for the 34,455th time and allowed the snowflakes to fall on his well-moisturized million-dollar… cheeks.

Anyway, Pellegrini’s Pack defeated Mallorca 2-0 yesterday, with goals from the Pied Piper of Higuain and Estie Granero. We must say that Pipita’s goal was muy impresionante and therefore, he fully deserves a place in The Dona’s rumoured World Cup squad list. Which still does not include Kun, of course.

So here comes Higuain, looking as suave as ever on the streets of Madrid. Lovely…! Anyway, the Madridistas all came together to attend Guti’s dinner celebration that the Fallen Favourite held to honour his “14 years at the club in the number 14″ on Wednesday. Raul The Great One couldn’t attend it because he had to be with his wife, Mamen, who is expecting her fifth child. Greaseano gave it a miss too because he was experimenting on the effects of Clear Shampoo on Mama Dolores’s new pet poodle. Kkkkk, the truth is his ankle injury is still being a bitch so he stayed at home cutting vegetables.

Nevertheless, everyone else (who was important to Guti) came and that included Iker Casillas, Kaka, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Raul Albiol, Pepe, Karim Benzema, Marcelo, Arbeloa, Lass Diarra and (gasp) Gago. According to the gossip rags, no one stayed up late to partaaaay because of the morning training session they’re having today. Yeah right – you can bet Gago went to Pacha to look for Pellegrini.

Disculpe but Wedgiellas looks like a washed-out 72 year old David Hasslehoff clone…

Images via Hola

We’ve been watching Gonzalo Higuain (and also calling him “Pied Piper of Hamlin“) for the longest time, so claro que sí... it was fantastic to finally be able to interview him. To be honest, every sports media outlet in Spain has been trying to get a hold of him as traditionally the case, but Gracias a Dios, tipo had some time for our newspaper. And here for you chicas, Futbolita shares some quotes from the 21-year-old El Pipita himself. (Yes… we can’t wait to interview him again!)

ON HIS SOURCE OF PRIDE :
“I am proud to be playing for both Real and Argentina because both teams have excellent players. But with the national team, you are playing with your own colours and defending your country … so it’s different. It’s an opportunity that every player dreams of.” (He also added that he was proud to be Argentinean).

ON WORKING HARD :
“If you want to succeed in the best club in the world, you have to work everyday as if it were your last. In Madrid, there are many players and everyone is prepared to start. It would be a great privilege for me to play in the game against Barca.”

ON HIS GOALS :
“I am more focused now because I came to Europe to do well. If not, I would have stayed in Argentina with my family and friends. I made the effort to come to Madrid because I thought it was worth it and I want to be in the history books.”

ON BECOMING A SYMBOL :
“I would be proud to be a symbol of Real Madrid like Raul someday. I can never get enough of him and I am a ‘Raulista’! I have great admiration for him and he is a great example to the young players.”

ON HIS FAVOURED ROLE :
“Everyone knows that I enjoy playing behind a striker. Obviously, if I have to play as a ‘Number 9’ (main striker), I will do it. But I feel more comfortable dropping back. These are decisions for the coach (Pellegrini) to make.”

ON HIS FRIENDSHIPS :
“Benzema and I connect well on the pitch. I also have a good relationship with Kaka and Cristiano. We are all glad that (Ronaldo) is back because he is very important to us.”

via Spox and Zimbio

What a great show the tifosi put on last night! Perhaps they couldn’t all contain their whistles when Ricky got hold of the ball, but they certainly showed their cuori che sono grandi (big hearts) nevertheless. On the pitch, it’s safe to say that Los Blancos played strikingly better than the first leg, even without the sadly missed Greaseano. Kaka is the Original San Siro homie so he knows the pitch inside out! Also, we were delighted to see The Pied Piper of Higuain in the starting line-up…bellezaaa. Benzema had a great night too, although we were prepared to call him the Circus Clown until he struck in the 29th minute. Kkk, for now… nous serons tranquilles!

“I am very happy with the welcoming I received. It means I did well during my stay in Milan. I want to do the same at Real Madrid in order to gain the same level of affection from their fans,” said Kaka (translates to : “Thank God they didn’t throw umbrellas at me.“)

Alas, despite numerous chances, El Pato’s beauty of a goal was disallowed. “I desperately wanted to score tonight, and to win, and I did that, but the referee cancelled out a perfectly good goal,” he said (watch the interview here). Eeee, quero apertar as bochechas!

Also… dans d’autres nouvelles …

via Gettyimages & Reuters

Belleza! Napoli’s Marek Hamsik and The Pied Piper of Higuain both netted in unexpected braces to steer their teams to a neat victory last night. Both of them deserve our Sunday Senor cap for this week… especially Hamsik who scored the decisive winner against Juventus. Maaaaaravilloso!

On second thought, Grandpa Sepp should introduce those drinking straws they have for the Formula 1 drivers. It will help in emergency ManPile Goal Celebrations, where suffocation is dangerously possible.

Images via Getty and AP

via AP

Ah, muy bien! Ya’ll know Marcelo is keen on the high-five action above but Greasy and Kaka are having too much of an intense celebratory moment right there.

Anyway, Madrid defeated Borussia Dortmund 5-0 yesterday in an exhibition match to commemorate the German’s side 100th anniversary. The goals came from Granero, Robben, The Pied Piper of Higuain, Kaka and King Raul. A momentous occasion indeed….

“Despite the 5-0 defeat the fans gave the team a very heartfelt applause. Tonight was a very special moment in my career. I began to play football in Dortmund and this is a very special club to me. This was my first team and those were my first supporters. I am always grateful for their affection,” said Metzelder.

via Reuters

Nereida may think otherwise, but ya’ll can see that Greaseano still packs a punch! Ha-ha-ha.

Anyway, the Madridistas managed a 3-0 win yesterday against DC United with a double from the Pied Piper of Higuain. Arjen Robben slotted in the third thanks to a timely assist from Pepe. Yes, you remember Pepe – the well disciplined bloke who got excited and suffered a six-match ban last season.

Well, at least Grey-eyed Pellegrini’s 4-5-1 formation worked for Xabi Alonso, who was responsible for feeding the ball across centre line. Surprisingly, Greaseano and Kaka both swapped positions but were unable to link up with Sneijder and Albiol.

On a sidenote, the Kaka-Greaseano combi is driving us wild at the moment!!! “I’m happy to be here, and happy to be alongside my favourite player Cristiano Ronaldo. Every time I see him, it reminds me of that beautiful goal he scored in the 2007-08 Champions League final. So I am looking forward to winning all three competitions with him and the rest of the team,” said Kaka.

.

Yet another one of those nasty transfer rumors comin’ your way…. and this time it involves one of the Argentinean Guapos, Fernando Gago. It’s ok chicas, his hair still needs moisturiser.

Spanish daily Marca has claimed that Atletico Madrid’s president, Gil Marín, is looking to bring dear old Gago and his fellow countryman, the Pied Piper of Higuain to the team. If that happens… imagine the uproar that will unfold during the Madrid derby. SuperKun will have to stop all play and evacuate his son, Benjie, immediately!

As it stands, it’ll be Gago’s own fault if he leaves. He hasn’t made much of an impact on the Madridistas, anyway (we’ll never forgive his laziness during the Champions League match against Liverpool earlier this year – WTF was that, tipo?) As for Higuain... come on now, Potter Perez!

Pied Piper Higuain is the man! He scored Madrid’s winning goal against Getafe last night – and how he claims that Madrid are alive and well in the fight for the La Liga.

“We are very happy. We showed again that Real Madrid always fight till the end. Nobody should think that we’re dead,” he said.

“Our goal is to win and continue to pressurize Barcelona. We know that nothing is decided, there is still much left to fight-out.”

Los Blancos smashed six goals past Real Betis last night with doubles from both the Pixie, Huntelaar and record king, Raul. The other goals were courtesy of Sergio Ramos, Oliveira and the Pied Piper of Hamlin, Gonzalo Higuain.

Ah, Raul seems to be getting better with age. And Huntelaaaaaar is an exciting prospect to look out for!

Overall, it was good game for Madrid who are now seven points adrift of Barcelona. It’ll certainly be an interesting Wednesday night Champions League meeting against Liverpool.

“The team have grown as a whole,” said Grandma Juande Ramos after the 6-1 win. “All the players are talented, but they must use it to help the team. All the players have improved and the team is benefiting.”

The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Gonzalo Higuain scored against Racing Santander last night to ensure a seventh successive win for the Madridistas. The ball was headed into the striker’s path by none other than Raul.

“The team put in a big effort tonight. I am always happy to score and if I do it at home, even better,” Higuain said after the game.

Why do all strikers always end up saying the same thing over and over again? “Always happy to score,” “I am very happy where I am now,” or “I do my best.” They never talk about their underwear colour or Grandma Juande’s dentures. Come on guys… work with us here and give us better quotes.

There are a lot more muito cliché statements but we can’t think of them for now. Higuain has temporarily shrouded our thinking cloud.

Well, it’s very rare to see Sergio Ramos score in any game since he’s hardly an attacker, but the flamenco dancer did just that last night. He canceled out Osasuna’s first goal against Real Madrid, which they eventually won 3-1 courtesy of goals from Pied Piper of Hamelin Higuain and Robben. So Real are on a high now with their fourth straight win in the La Liga.

Said your new friend (oh, come on!), Real’s president Vicente Boluda : “The team has been through a lot this week because of what happened, but it also knew how to overcome. I hope we can continue picking up wins and finish the season confidently.”

Boluda is making everyone eat that “Calderon put you in the dark, I will show you the light” bullshit. Don’t do it, guys!!

And yes, we’ve been having nightmares of that photo Boluda took with Grandma Juande posted a few days ago. They look like they’re having an illicit affair.

It seems that watching Real Madrid these days only leads to disappointment and a whole load of questions. Iker Casillas – though you can’t always blame the keeper – was a shadow of his normal self in last night’s 3-4 home loss to Sevilla.

Sevilla’s Adriano fired in the opening goal for his side, which was quickly levelled by a near-post header from Raul. The joys were shortlived, however, as Ndri Romaric rose above Los Merengues’ defence to score, before Frédéric Kanouté scored the third. Unperturbed, Gonzalo Higuaín fired in from distance midway through the second half (mind blowing goal, Futbolitas!) and Gago headed in his first goal for Madrid two minutes later to make it 3-3. Somewhat unecessarily, Arjen Robben was sent off at the 77th minute with Renato heading in the winner from a Kanouté cross.

As usual, the board and Spanish press are making sure they don’t waste time putting the blame, yet again, on coach Schuster. But it’s not entirely his fault, although blatant pessimism is already sinking in. The coach told reporters that Real have no chance of beating Barcelona next weekend. “The game against Barcelona worries me less than any other game. It is not possible to win because Barcelona are in devastating form and I believe that this is going to be their year,” Schuster said. “The team that (Barça) have can do well there, but I cannot say any more about that.”

The Spanish press are saying that Schuster only has the Barcelona game to prove himself – a ‘deadline’ set by Calderon’s men. Still, he’s not going to walk out. “I am not going to resign because the players are giving everything that they have. We just need a change of fortune and something going for us would be important.”

As they say, it takes a brave man to be coach of Real Madrid, and we hope the players are rallying him on because it’s clearly never always the coach’s fault.

Real Madrid’s Argentinian striker, Gonzalo Higuain, who reminds us of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, scored four goals in yesterday’s thriller against Malaga at the Bernabeu. But Real were unable to hold on to their clean sheet (late night out with Eva Gonzales, Iker?) and the game ended 4-3. Sergio Ramos was sent off in the first half in what was overall in a stormy encounter.

“It is the first time that I have scored four goals in my life, and I was lucky enough to do it at the Bernabeu. I enjoyed it to the maximum, and I value it highly because we worked hard as a team to win an important game. Everyone will sign the ball and present it to me. It is a memory that I will never forget.”

“At times like these I try not to get carried away and just listen to the advice of people around me. Things are going well and I need to be calm. As for the penalties, I have to practice to improve them, but all’s well that ends well when the ball ends up in the goal.”

Former Madrid golden boy, Raul, was benched throughout the 90 minutes and Schuster opted to field Saviola instead of the Spanish captain. Marca reported that Raul was rested so that he’d be ‘ready’ to take on the temporary forward berth left by Horse Van Nistelrooy after sustaining a nasty ankle injury.