Portugal vs. Spain game notes

Some game notes that I thought were interesting, and some observations.

It all went downhill after this.

(And wow, Busquets’ shorts are kind of straining there at the front, no?  Are they too small to contain him?)

One. How come Iker doesn’t get a new jersey?

Two. Speaking of the new jersey, I think it’s too crowded on the front, with the star, the escudo, the number, the Adidas logo and the emblem.  Add to that all the patches (thank goodness the World Cup candidacy one is a one-time thing), and it looks like Spain’s shirt is covered in sponsor logos, when in fact it has none.  The vertical blue stripes just add to the general chaos.

Three. The record since the World Cup is 3-1-2.  The good news is that in important games (qualifiers), the record is 3-0-0, with the record in friendlies a not so stellar 0-1-2.

Four. Following the game, VDB traveled to the U.S. to receive a gold medal on behalf of the entire team from the Queen Sofía Institute of New York.  He gave Henry Kissinger a La Roja camiseta.

Five. Fernando Llorente told El Larguero that “it hurts my soul to lose like this,” and that the defeat against Portugal “should not happen again.”

Six. This was Iker’s worst night with La Roja, since it was the first time he allowed four goals.  The last time he received three goals was in 2006, against Northern Ireland.  Spain lost the game 2-3 and it’s also remembered for being Raúl’s last game with the team.

Seven. The players came out on the field wearing t-shirts with the logo of the 2018 Iberian World Cup, and posed next to a big sign.  Later on, Iker and Cristiano, both together and separately, read some texts in support.  Both Cristiano and Iker, as captains of their respective national teams, will be in Zurich on Dec. 2 when the winner is announced.  The players also had a patch on their sleeves with the logo.

Eight. Ricardo Carvalho flew back to Madrid with the Spanish players immediately after the game, with the four players belonging to English clubs stayed overnight in Lisbon, and took a morning flight to London.  The eight Barcelona footballers waited until the next morning to return to Barcelona.

Nine. Andrés said via twitter that it was “a painful defeat after a bad game.  We didn’t play well and we paid the price.”

Ten. The star has become more like a target sign than a symbol of winning a World Cup, no?  Everyone wants to beat us.

Eleven. Villa was a “ghost” at La Luz, according to Marca.  That’s why he wasn’t able to score that all important goal 45, why he finished the year with just nine goals (having scored more in the previous years), and why he wasn’t able to fight for the title of top national team goalscorer, which was taken by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, with 11 goals.  What a shame, considering the year he had.

Twelve. To end on a good note, a cute picture of Cesc from Marca.

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