The scoreboard read Barça Spain 1 – 0 Germany and I yelled, clapped, high-fived my friends, and hugged them. We cheered, paid our bill, and spilled out into the street. Or, well, walked out into the heat wave we’re experiencing and couldn’t muster the energy to cheer anymore. It’s an oven here. Regardless, I went home buzzed on happiness and a few Cokes and am already looking forward to Sunday’s final.
What are your plans for the final? What will you do if Spain wins? A friend of mine swore he’d go run with the bulls at next year’s San Fermin festival. Another told me not to jinx them. Another said a string of curse words and probably should lay off the beer during matches sometimes. I’m just going to cheer and scream and whoop and holler and then maybe I’l think of something awesome.
I’ll cheer, scream, be happy, and post something on facebook.
finally a new post!spain will win and barca will make history cause i don.t remember a national team winning w.c witg so many players from one team!yea!
and some news keirison to santos and henrique on loan to racing..i am sad about these 2 transfers
I will run up and down the streets in my Pique Barcelona Jersey screaming “ESPANA!!!!!!!!!!”
Wow Izzy, thanks for sharing, I don’t really understand the point of your post, but any fresh content from you and Kev is a delight. I cant wait till the season starts so i get a post a day from you two!!!
Ha! Dream on. 😀
Actually, the problem with this time of the season is that there is nothing to report except for conjecture and nonsense (aside from World Cup, which Luke is doing a bang-up job on). So yes, we’re taking advantage of the lull to take a lull of our own, so to speak.
Once WC ends and we get about the task of seeing who will actually be on our roster, as opposed to who the Spanish dailies think should be on our roster, there will be much more to report and react to.
I will have some celabration sex with my lady friend, while she is wearing a Captain Carles mask. I wont last to long.
Um….wow….whoa. Okay.
yikes.
*http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/sports/soccer/08germanygame.html?ref=todayspaper
“Wednesday’s victory came on a headed corner kick in the 73rd minute by center back Carles Puyol, a man whose ringlet curls belong on a 1970s Farrah Fawcett poster.”
here’s an article on argentina/maradoodoo
*http://www.economist.com/node/16542816?story_id=16542816
its a choice between family and club for me.
but i have to go with my love for my club(barca). oh wait, its spain :p
del bosque, please keep the same line-up.
greece, please think properly before you write a post. i noticed that you post them in a short space of time. why dont you think and write slowly.
you make the pages so long to load 😆
ps have you done your assignment?
from kxevin
Efan Ekoku (ESPN mouthpiece) said that not one player sang the Spanish national anthem? I admit that I didn’t watch that part, but that’s kind of interesting, but not surprising, given the make-up of the Spanish NT, which is chockablock with Catalans and a Basque or two.
Jeez, what unpatriotic jerks.
La Marcha Real doesn’t have lyrics.
they should have hummed/vuvuzelaed along.
all of them must be thinking “Barcelona is not Spain”.
CATALUNYA is not Spain, to be more ‘exact’
The Spanish National Anthem has no words.
Oops, silly me, I’m late.
Ibra = Robinho + Nigel De Jong + Zabeleta from Man City is a the best deal I have heard so far-solves everything we need.RB,DM,LW!!
ok friend i will write one post kxevin i wish ibra stay and kick ass.i don.t hate any player in our team.i just want the best for barca!
Kxevin the spanish anthem has no official words to it.
disagree ghost.if ibra go we have to earn money.60 million.no less.
What I will do for the final:
There is one theater in my city that will be showing the Match in 3D! 3D matches have gotten rave reviews… Can’t drink though, as I work xactly 2 hours after kick off (here’s hoping Spain finish off Holland with no extra time) I will wear my jersey to work anyways though (under my work clothes)
What I will do when Spain win:
I will name my red mustang “La Furia Roja” and CONSIDER some yellow and blue accent work when i have the money.
What i will do if David Villa wins golden boot:
Grow my soul patch in his honor for a still undetermined amount of time.
What I will do regardless of result:
Buy a Cobal Blue Cashmere V-neck sweater to wear under my Black Blazer a-la-Joaquim-Lowe. Fashion statement of the tourney?
No, fashion statement of the century.
I dunno, Maradona’s goodfellas suit with two watches was pretty impressive.
haha yeah kev no words to the spanish anthem but does anyone know a good place in NYC to watch the game on sunday that isnt named nevada smiths… lookin for a place that will be mostly spanish… any good tips???
p.s really sad about chyggy leaving, i was a bit of a rosell defender in the elections but this just seems like a dumb move for no reason… sucks…
visca espana visca catalunya y visca barca!!!
Well that explains a lot. One more reason we should be allowed to do the ESPN commentary. Well not me, since I didn’t know there weren’t any lyrics….but somebody intelligent.
“The national anthem of the Netherlands, ‘Het Wilhelmus,’ dates to 1574 and is widely considered the world’s oldest. The lyrics are written in the voice of William of Nassau, pledging loyalty to the Spanish king, Philip II, while at the same time explaining why he and the Dutch are rebelling against the excesses of Spanish rule — a nice touch going into a Spain-Netherlands final. ‘A prince of Orange am I, free and fearless,’ go the words; ‘the king of Spain I have always honored'”
*http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/the-world-cup-of-anthems/
Xunta in Williamsburg is a Spanish tapas bar here that is supposedly THE place to go for Spaniards. It’s a Depor bar during the la liga, apparently.
Other Spanish-speaking locales will certainly be showing it as well. Email me if you want some more specific soccer-loving places to watch.
I’ve heard good things about Centro Español (in Astoria, web address: centroespanolnyc DOT org) from a number of people.
Well, I am leaving my Spanish friends in Los Angeles behind and watching the final match in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Curse my non-soccer-fan friends and their weddings!
I want to find a bar in Rock Hill filled with good old boys and then demand they put on the World Cup instead of their usual baseball games. The resulting riot will remind me of my childhood in the south. Good times. 😉
Catalan Radio : Rosell ….. “While I’m in South Africa, I will do everything to try to meet with Wenger. We want Cesc but not at any price.”
what a stalker.
a tale of a stalker and a paedo in SA 😆
Lol jason. I will eat a bugger as a toast to the same man. JK
I’ll be watching it with my girlfriend who normally naps during the matches, and has been sleeping extremely well during the World Cup.
The strange thing is, yesterday she didn’t sleep at all, was actually cheering on Spain, and actually knew most of the players’ names.
I’m afraid I’ve created a monster.
Nice, unbiased analysis:
http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2010/07/08/barcelonas-debt-and-salary-caps-in-europe/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PitchInvasion+%28Pitch+Invasion%29#comment-25692
I realize this might be a stretch, but how possible would it be for the BFB to write up something on this?
I’m rather confused, like someone commented in that article, about what good it would do “La Liga” to have some kind of cap?
i don’t mind not having a cap, really. owners can “spend their way to oblivion”, as one commentor stated, as long as they & their creditors don’t run & hit up their respective governments for a bail out when shit hits the fan. fine w/me.
Nice article. One of the best articles I read about Barca is the link below. It was also mentioned in the article Kevin recommended:
http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-can-barcelona-afford-cesc-fabregas.html
I will surely work on getting that Barça tattoo finalized. What better form of expression??
And yes I will be completely drunk afterwards !!
Did anyone see/hear what are the Catalunya folks doing when their boys are winning?? Are they in secret basements, celebrating?
I think no matter what happens I’ll watch this over and over:
Queen Sofía of Spain visits the Dunbar locker room to congratulate her World Cup finalists:
http://www.elpais.com/videos/deportes/reina/Sofia/jugadores/vestuarios/elpepudep/20100708elpepudep_1/Ves/
Note Sergio Ramos kicking an empty beer bottle out of her way; Casillas helping Piqué get his shirt on while the latter applauds; and a surprised and embarrassed man-of-the-hour waddle out of the showers to greet his sovereign in nothing more than a mophead of curls and a standard-issue towel ;-)!
that’s funny. i don’t think she wanted to leave.
LOL
What did Iker throw at the start of the clip? His unmentionables? Her unmentionables? 😉
Ha! This was funny. I saw it this morning and I loved their reaction to Queen Sofia being in their locker room.
and we have a 326million dept.yea great job laporta
I just posted a link that is waiting moderation. Read it if you really want to congratulate Laporta 😀
are you going to believe ALL Rosell says??
i don.t want.i was always antilaporta.and i have my reasons.he was lucky that pep project work out.you forget 06-08 seasons.
Yeah, the 2006-07 season when we couldn’t hold on to leads at the end of a couple of games – TOTALLY LAPORTA’S FAULT!
And who could forget the 2007-08 season, when we had to suffer the indignity of a pasillo – when the players decided to wear white (somehow they thought it was a good idea to support Milito by wearing white) – what a disgrace that would’ve been and Laporta had to come down and knock some sense into them..
Call him whatever you might, but it doesn’t change the fact that Laporta was the one of the most successful Presidents ever to grace the Camp Nou..
And bear in mind, he was the one who led us to financial security during his reign.. So if you want to believe a person trying to malign his regime out of spite, you are happy to do so..
no i don.t believe what rosell says.i believe the facts.and the fact is we have 326million dept.if
4 you that is not a problem for me it is.
if rosell spend 90million for transfers i will apologize here and i will say fuck him.
But Rosell himself says that we have 89m to spend on transfers. Every big business has cash flow complexities. There is no way that Barca would be able to get that short-term loan if the business model didn’t argue very eloquently for a swift payback.
If you want to believe what Rosell says, rock on. I’d prefer to do my own research. There is enough out there. And if you’re a soci, know that you’ll be moving up by one number once I cut up my card and mail it to the club. When we have a president that I feel I can trust to do the best things for the club and its sporting side, I’ll think about becoming a soci again.
Will fix on that, Ramzi. Meanwhile, read this:
http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2010/07/08/barcelonas-debt-and-salary-caps-in-europe/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PitchInvasion+%28Pitch+Invasion%29
If Barca.. urr Spain wins, I will be happy. Not going to.. no jinxing!
Spain is not the favourite! Spain is boring! 😀
Re the club finance: If we are really in deep trouble, well if we can’t even afford to pay salaries, why aren’t we selling Messi? We could easily get 150m from City. City and Chels can have a bidding war. I thought Rosell is a smart business man. No wonder Yaya wanted to leave. He wasn’t getting paid! 😀
Transparency?
omg we can be eternal!!!
I think there are so many barça players in spain that you can even rate them or something, don’t you? last game 7 I think plus that “futurible” 😀
Blech.. Howard “3 Yellow Cards to one Player” Webb will be officiating the World Cup final..
I can already see Van Bommel hacking down Iniesta and co. and Webb waving play on..
I wouldn’t be so paranoid. The ref yesterday let the players decide the match. He stepped in where there was something blatant, but that was about it, which is as it should be.
German players are very different from Dutch players (at least from Val Bommel). They showed their sport spirit on the pitch, which is focusing on the game not someone’s back heel. But we know what Van Bommel is like when he played at Barca. And we have seen him doing all those dirty attacks and more than half of them were toward the players not the ball. But the ironic thing is that he only got one yellow card in the last minute of last match. We know how good this guy is at disguising his dirty fouls. And I have no doubt he will aim at Iniesta, Xavi, and Busquets’s legs or faces all the time. Actually I still remember his dirty fouls on Messi and Busquets when Bayern and Barca met two years ago. So the referee’s decision will really decide the match. If he allows Van Bommel to foul all over the pitch without showing a card, I foresee Iniesta or Xavi or Villa would probably quit with injury.
so kxevin you say that you cancell your membership because of rosell?
man thats not good.we support barca not rosell,or laporta we have to help the club..but if you feel like that ok..
Dude, you are so good in causing me a chronically depression…
Kxevin was one of Laporta’s victims. He is bankrupted as Barcelona and he cant afford the membership fees anymore. He is making this Sandro stuff as an excuse. Shush…And cheer up!
😀 Nice one, Ramzi.
Fact of the matter is that you can support Barca without being a soci, and have the same passion. And I make no claims to being part of a movement or anything. After all, all of the fees from socis barely add up to the selling price of a big Ukranian defender.
But we can vote with our pocketbooks a well as with our hearts.
I think supporters may show their “love” for their team, anyway they so choose. I can see someone in the USA, like myself or Kxevin refusing to purchase a membership because we have no way of demonstrating ‘disgust’ otherwise.
After some more browsing about Barca cash flow issue I can add a bit to the comment I made in the previous post on this blog:
Barcelona’s current lack of cash is a mix of different factors. The club could (and should) be better financially. But its still far from being in the Crisis Sandro Rosell and co try to show. The election’s factor forced Laporta to make a fast shopping tour getting Villa from Valencia with a hope that this will help his continuity candidate. He said that if Barca waited till after world cup they would have paid 20 M more, giving himself an excuse on advance. In fact he was right, but its possible that this transaction left a temporary impact on the cash flow level (especially that Valencia needed the money to be installed immediately).
The club requested the 150 bank loan during Laporta’s era, which gives an answer on why the assembly had no problems with Laporta’s last auditing (Noting that Barca has one of the lowest-if not THE lowest- bank loans=€29m). One of the means to pay back the loan in Laporta’s proposal was increasing membership fees. Sandro does not want to increase that fee so he had to come back with another proposal to the bank. That was another reason to delay the cash injection.
Add the fact that Sandro is trying to get advantage of the whole situation to damage Laporta’s image, which is not a surprise at all.
N.B. One: this is a part of a comment I made on the post Kxevin recommended.
N.B. Two: UEFA finally published their new “Financial fair play” regulations as a pdf file on their website. If you are interested, download it. I did so but will print it and read it tomorrow its a “cute” 90 pages text.
Thank you for clearing that up. and Kudos for mentioning that Rosell’s publicity of “we are broke” is just to damage Laporta’s image, and like I believe Kxevin said before, he wants to show how he’s the savior of every cule’s pocket !
To make things simple… Laporta ran the club as a business and was incredibly successful financially. He hired business people to run the business side of the club and let the sports departments look after themselves without too much interference.
We have become the club with the highest turnover in the world. That is impressive. It is also important to note that there is no reason for FC Barcelona to make a profit as there is no one to take that profit – it is merely reinvested in a number of areas – the sports teams, the facilities and land.
Laporta wasn’t perfect and in reality was lucky that the on-field results were so good due to the wealth of talent coming up from La Masia but he did not make too many mistakes.
It also must be said that Rossell has no real choice but to make the situation seem bad now otherwise he cannot improve it. How silly would it be if he were to say that we are financially fine, great in the sports department and running smoothly… he would have nowhere to go but down. As it is, he will clear some of our “stratospheric” debt and hopefully keep the sporting projects running in the same vein and everyone will love him.
I’m not informed in the matter at all but rosell is not that bad, he looks smart and culé too. I mean, just look at the other spanish clubs. I hope people continue respecting pep and the sport people more than the presi, like they have done when we’ve been winning.
my personal wish is that the club becomes more “spanish friendly” but that is always debatable 🙂
Not debating whether or not Rossell is good. That is yet to be seen. I will not, however, adhere to the view that Laporta was not the best president we have ever had; he has been by a long shot. Rossell is making his job easier by picking holes in the Laporta regime which is not correct.
I believe that Rossell will do a decent job provided that he doesn’t go about changing everything that is being done well.
He definitely has Barca’s best interests at heart… he is Barca through and through
this is the beautiful game
*http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/arts/design/08photos.html
Thanks for sharing the link!
luna!
Ok, thank god for Greece Barcelona for joining the blog during this (hostile, controversial) time!!! Love or hate his posts, it must be said that his words are bringing all our heavy hitters out to …cough cough…. clarify the overall feelings of the blog and its readers. Give him/her some time and I feel like he/she will see the light. I love the fact that he/she has found a way to completely see things different that nearly every other poster. A few more days like this, I feel like Hector may again grace us with his presence to help Greece see the light. But overall, his posts have sparked massive debate, which is great.
**Peace & Love, Ringo is 70**
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this article, people I know have been talking about how boring the final is gonna be:
||http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/jul/08/spain-love-sterile-world-cup-2010?showallcomments=true#comment-51
Somehow Spain’s supreme ability to keep the ball and play the game on their own terms = boring. How is it their fault that every team comes out and plays über-defensive futbol?
someone called him out on his bullshit. this was his response:
“Very good – if I remember right the technical term is “performative” writing. I induce an exact sense of the expert boredom of the spanish midfield by writing in a style of expertly-induced boredom. You should read me on Brazil ’82. It’s like bleeding Joyce.”
that fucker did not just compare himself to James Joyce right there, did he?
Silly article. Like some comments suggested, if England played like Spain did, the writer would be singing a different tune.
we purists, aka Barca fans cant get enough of 70-75% possession and striking in the 35 min to take the lead. Then a team actually has to come play with us and not park the bus, then we just destroy them.
If Spain can score, they will win…period. And if Uraguay can put 2 past the Dutch, I have faith that Spain can get at least 1. I am hoping that Pedro starts again, he played so well vs Germany. I see Van Bommel getting a red card in the 60th min, and we possess the shit out of them from then on. The thing is, I bet we will see a streak of yellow down the back of those pretty orange jersey on Sunday, cause they are gonna put 9 behind the ball, like bitches (Chelsea). I would love an Inestazoooooo to seal the deal, but Pedro is gonna be the one to put the dutch to the knife, winning the hearts of all of Spain in the process. For the first time ever a club team, Barca will win the world cup as 7 players will start from La Blaugrana.
I think Jonathan Wilson has a good case here:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/world-cup-2010/writers/jonathan_wilson/07/03/argentina.germany.tactical/index.html
People find spain “boring” due to their own expectations of what they are supposed to be seeing, combined with maybe a lack of patience for sinking into the game. I love seeing all those little turns and shuffles to keep possession…I love seeing how it all develops. But even though I played for years and have watched for years, I still find it hard to get my head around how a whole game unfolds sometimes. Everyone says it is such a simple game and that’s true in some ways, but it can be really hard to nail down…maybe that’s why we like it so much.
I just went through a long email exchange with a non-converted friend about added time and why the clock (on most broadcasts) counts up instead of down…she was totally thrown. It’s a baffling sport for people who don’t have some native affection for it, and even for those of us who do it still confuses us often.
Lebron to the Heat
The New Galacticos are now in South Beach. Meh.
did bosh follow him too?
i hope phil jackson makes this last year w/the lakers count & he wins another three-pete.
Crap, posted the wrong Jonathan Wilson link.
*http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/world-cup-2010/writers/jonathan_wilson/07/07/germany.spain.analysis/index.html
The irritation with Spain reminds me a lot of the aftermath of 08/09 Barca, with a lot of grumbling from the English press who I think didn’t know or didn’t want to admit quite what they saw. “United” had a bad game, etc.
And by “native affection” I was referring mostly to Americans. As we all know there is a lot of that in many other places.
If Spain wins I will do shots with all other BFB/Brooklyn Penya members, how’s that?
“The irritation with Spain reminds me a lot of the aftermath of 08/09 Barca, with a lot of grumbling from the English press who I think didn’t know or didn’t want to admit quite what they saw. “United” had a bad game, etc.”
So true. I guess they would rather 10 men behind the ball, waiting for a counter.
guys what happening with Mediapro?i just read that there is a possibility not take the money 4 TV rights.but franco madrid will take the money from banks.that s the reason we have that cash problem.please someone who knows what will happen with that case.
MediaPro, who recently penned a 1BN TV rights deal with us (yes, that’s billion) is temporarily insolvent, seeking bankruptcy protection. It is simply to reorganize (right now), and they have every intention of making good on their deal with us.
It’s also (seems that everything in Spanish business has two layers) a big part of an ongoing battle with another broadcaster, to wit:
Mediapro blamed its inability to meet its commitments on Sogecable’s not paying €90 million ($111.4 million)by June 15 for rights to air the first half of the 2010-2011 soccer season on its pay TV channels Canal Plus or Canal Plus Liga.
“The decision to request suspension of payment does not cast doubt on the profitability or viability of Mediaproduccion SL, given that it has been motivated solely by the decision of Sogecable to not face its payment obligations,” the company said in a statement.
Hey, somebody with a brain finally looking past Rosell’s bullshit:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1293197/Barcelonas-claim-skint-simply-doesnt-add-up.html
There was also a piece I can’t find a link to now, about how there were only about 3,000 people watching the match in Barcelona, compared to 50,000 in the Spanish capital. People were even (shudder) waving Spanish flags in Barcelona after La Furia Roja qualified.
i will never understand how franco madrid always have money!they buy,buy,buy and without titles always have cash!it s crazy!and the fact is that catalonia is richer than madrid how they can t splash money like that,it s freaking crazy
im telling you once again, write slowly.
all your posts are 4mins apart.
your slowing down the page dude.
take a chill pill 😆
Its because banks just will not say no to Flo. Franco set them up for the next 50 years. Eventually they will be relegated, ohh i can’t wait for that day.
clueless john here in greece barca fans in penya have different thoughts about some things in our club.i am not here to agree or disagree.i express my thoughts like you.i make mistakes,i am wrong but i love that club
i am with you that piece of shit franco create them.for me they always be a team of a fascist
it will be wonderful if all of you came a summer in greece and meet barca fans here in a island!no mykonos it s a dangerous island for straights!haha!
thanx kxevin!!
by the time i finish writing a post you already have a few written 😆
im telling you once again, write slowly.
all your posts are 4mins apart.
your slowing down the page dude.
take a chill pill
96 posts and 16 are Greece’s, All together they add up to 3 paragraphs lol, I love this blog, it is high comedy.
yeah bud, i know its exciting to convey your thoughts, but try to combine all your simply amazing posts into 1 thoughtful post.