The Clásico Competition: Barça v, Madrid

Monday November 29 marked a day of excitement and anticipation for soccer fans everywhere. It was the big game between two top leagues of the world, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Both teams also include the top players of the Spanish national team. In net for Madrid is Iker Casillas, recently named FIFA best player of the world cup. Madrid's team also consists of Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos. Barcelona has a roster including David Villa, Lionel Puyol, Gerard Pique, and Xavi Fernandez. The game was already past the final score of 5-0 for Barcelona when the 3 minutes of injury time began. Tensions from Madrid were high due to the frustration of not being able to get a single goal past Barca when nearing the 2nd minute of overtime, top player Lionel Messi of Barcelona fell. It is difficult to say even after studying videos of the play whether this fall was accidental or due to the foot of Ramos purposefully hitting Messi's leg. All the chaos led to both Barca players and Madrid players to get into deep arguments with each other. It began when some of the Barca team ran to defend Messi and Ramos stood up for his play knocking over Puyol with a shove. He later went to do the same to Fernandez when he shoved his face using his hand. At the same time Casillas was seen arguing with Pique on the side. To fans it seems there will be an awkward mood at the next national team practice, however, Puyol insisted in a comment after that he is forgiven and the incident has already been forgotten. Sergio also commented in a separate interview saying, "We lost, but it is not the end of the world."

Click for video of Ramos' red card: <iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rKN8mIV8N9Q" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Copa del Rey (The King's Cup)

The Copa del Rey is a soccer club competition for all Spanish teams. It is held annually and began in 1902 in Barcelona. FC Barcelona also happens to have won the cup 25 times so far, the most wins in this particular competition. Athletic Bilbao is runner up with the most wins with a close 23. Expectations and predictions change constantly due to adding and trading top players. Racing v. Cordoba was the first match of this year's Copa del Rey. Racing took the lead with a final score o 3-1. On November 10, two games will be played. The first is between Real Madrid v. Real Murcia. This is an anticipated game as both Real Madrid and Real Murcia have been undefeated in this Copa del Rey. Already confirmed starters for Madrid include Casillas, Ramos, and Ronaldo. After this match is Barcelona v. Ceuta. If the numerous winnings speak for anything, Barcelona should have an easy game for the time being.

Madrid v Milan

Tuesday October 19 was a day of anticipation. It was Real Madrid versus Milan. Having won four world titles, Milan can be considered a veteran team while Real Madrid's team consists of fresh new players including Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil, both of whom scored goals during the game. The 13^th minute was the first real excitement when Ronaldo scored a penalty goal. To add on to the exhilaration, Ozil scored by the 14th minute bringing the match to a 2-0 lead early on. By the second half, Milan did begin fighting back and with much more force. Trying to take a lead or at least tie the game up, there were many attacks to defend the net and attempts to take the ball into Milan possession. A close call arose when Xabi Alonso had a free kick at the 50^th minute. The ball was sent Ronaldo’s way and almost ended in the team’s net. In the end, Real Madrid was a clear force to be reckoned with. Practice, skill, and precision has helped the team succeed and become one of the best clubs in the nation.

Iker Casillas Recieves Best Player Title

The summer of 2010 was a great year for Spain as they won Tour de France, Wimbeldon, and most famously, the Fifa World Cup. To add on to their success, goal keeper Iker Casillas was named best player in the World Cup. He blocked goals with the tip of his fingers and the tip of his toes in order to help the team reach finals where Andrés Iniesta scored the winning goal. Iker began as a teenager in the junior squad at the age of 16.  His save in 2002’s World Cup semi-finals against South Korea was ranked as a top 10 save of all time. Later he became the highest-ranked goal keeper in 2009. Iker was also the captain of the Spanish soccer team during the Fifa World Cup this past summer. Although he has proven to be very successful throughout the years, some debate that one of the top scorers of the team such as David Villa deserved the title. He surpassed any other player with World Cup goals in Spain’s history. In the end, Iker did win out. Casillas humbly quoted to RealMadrid.com, "What we accomplished this summer will always be remembered". Surely the team, and fans around the world, would agree.