Iker Casillas: perfectly representing Real Madrid and Spain.
Warning: this post is very, very, very image heavy.
At the final whistle blew, Madrid’s players exploded. They ran around, they jumped up and down, they hugged (and I’m surprised Álvaro Arbeloa didn’t make a beeline for the game ball)….
… and formed a piña, with the two stars of the game, Iker and Cristiano, at the very center. Notice Carvalho and Marcelo jumping on top. It looks like Marcelo is just as good at “super jumps” as Cris is.
For some reason, Jerzy Dudek had his shirt in his hand, and he waved that around.
Pipita and Sergio went crazy with their arm motions, while Manu Adebayor decided to strip. I love the variety of hats, wigs, flag, scarves, etc. that the boys celebrated with.
Pep, showing more class than the majority of his players, congratulated Madrid’s players after the game, and one by one as they stood in a line waiting to go receive their miniature replica trophy cups. Ángel di María hugged his friend Leo Messi, and Álvaro Arbeloa also shook Pep’s hand as well as that of Iniesta (the footage wasn’t too clear, so I’m not 100 percent sure of this, but it looked like Álvaro offered his hand to Xavi, who ignored him and kept on walking). In any case, in the majority of the embraces between Madrid and Barcelona players, it was the Madrid player who initiated the action.
Ahhh, now we know what Cristiano and Marcelo were doing the other day! They were practicing this victory dance!
More images of the players going crazy celebrating, dancing, hugging, spraying each other with water… who knew Kaká could get this crazy?
And of course, Sergio did this. I wonder what it means? And even though it’s hard, take your eyes off of him for one second and check out that manpile in the back!
Iker kissed the escudo on his shirt…
… and got a little teary-eyed. The fact that he’s not afraid to cry, plus the fact that he does it every single time he wins, endears him even more to me, if that’s possible. And he showed what a true class act he is by going over to console the Barcelona players.
And yes, one of the high points in the celebration was the removal of shirts (and with no base layers). Sergio Ramos did it, Manu as well. And he stole Sergio’s hat and danced, much to the delight of Albiol and Dudek.
Manu has impressive abs, no? Eze Garay was another of those who ended up topless.
The team also had to honor the man who brought them to this point, against all odds, José Mourinho. They did this by tossing him up into the air, three times.
Only Mou could look this calm and collected while in the air.
And a couple of shots of the afición at the Mestalla.
The entire coaching stuff, plus Zizou (Mou had convinced him to go up to the palco with the rest of the team) all got miniature cups.
There was a moment when Ángel Villar, who was handing the cups to the king to give to the players, thought that Marcelo hadn’t gotten one, and so Kaká, who was next in line, pulled Marcelo back using the flag he had around his shoulders. But Marcelo had already gotten his cup. And El Pirata got a big old hug as he left the palco.
Iker was the last one in the line, due to his status of captain, and as he passed by Shakira, she gave him a high five.
I loved the hug between Iker and the king – no one else but Iker would have dared to do that, but then again, he is on quite familiar terms with the King of Spain – and how Iker gave Queen Sofía dos besos, breaking all protocol rules. You can see how first he extends his hand, then thinks screw that, I’m going to kiss the queen! Again, only Iker Casillas. No one else would even dare think about that.
Iker, in order not to break with tradition (see the 2008 Eurocopa and the 2010 World Cup), had to receive the trophy while standing on the highest point around, which happened to be a table at the scene. This was of course Iker’s first title as captain of Madrid, and his first Copa del Rey.
I love how the king of Spain – The King – is holding onto Iker so he won’t fall. Only Iker could turn the king into a sort of bodyguard, no? In other news, King Juan Carlos wasn’t present at the traditional Easter Day mass that the royal family attends every year in Palma de Mallorca. His absence started rumors that he wasn’t in the best of health, so this example of the king supporting Iker was cited to prove otherwise.
This image made me cry.
What I didn’t like: Barcelona’s players removing medals as soon as they received them. Puyol didn’t even wait to leave the palco before he took his off. I know that they were disappointed with the loss, but it’s matter of common courtesy, no? And by the time Madrid went to receive their trophies, the Barcelona half of the stadium had already emptied, in contrast to the Madrid side, where no one budged from their seats, except to stand up and cheer, of course!
The celebration with the trophy started as soon as Iker ran down from the palco with the Copa del Rey held high over his head. The first person who got to touch it was his co-captain Sergio Ramos.
Geri Piqué was the only Barcelona player seen congratulating the winning team, so he deserves to be recognized for that, though he might just have been trying to make up for what he said after the Liga game.
¡¡¡Sí, sí, sí, la copa ya está aquí!!!
As the himno played (I love that song, but it makes me cringe a little, because that’s the song I hear when I wake up each morning, due to my alarm clock), the players danced around and hugged. Manu put on an Afro wig, and for some reason Ricky Carvalho decided to wear his game jersey backwards. Love the hug and kiss between Iker and Marcelo!
The continuation of the Esteban Granero appreciation section…
The players celebrated in the fondo sur, where most of their fans were congregated, and offered the Cup to them. Do you think Álvaro was shouting “Espartanos!…”? And the image on the right is included not for Marcelo lifting up the trophy, but for Iker and Pepe dancing like maniacs in the background. Iker looked like he had eaten a lot of sugar, because he didn’t stop bouncing for a long time.
Everyone wanted a piece of that beautiful trophy.
The captains were also required to pose with the trophy for the photographers…
… and surprisingly enough, there were no thumbs-up in the picture! Yes, that’s right, a picture involving Sergio WITHOUT his thumb sticking up in the air! And look at Xabi posing in the background! How boss!
¡Guapo!
The group also did the dive into the “piscina,” although Benzema decided to do a somersault instead, while others just ran on. After they had all gotten up, two players remained on the ground: Iker, who was just lying there face up with his hands covering his face, probably exhausted after all that celebrating and overwhelmed at the same time, and Xabi, on his stomach, posing.
Sergio also sang “¡Que viva España! with the fans, and took over from Raúl in doing some medias verónicas with a bullfighting cape that his friend, the torero Morante de la Puebla, had given him. The crowd shouted back “olé” in response each time he did one.
I couldn’t resist not including this lovely picture of Iker, with the Madrid scarf around his neck and the Spain/Madrid flag around his waist, looking every inch like the captain of Real Madrid that he is.
The team also gathered for the traditional group photo, with Iker running out to sprawl at the very front, although later on he would get right back into the thick of things.
Álvaro and Sergio held the Cup in the middle as the players posed, and what looked like a ton of confetti rained down on them (it looked like it was snowing). Later on, the Cup was relinquished to Manu.
The final result.
Who’s who, from back to front, left to right (click on photo to enlarge). Back row: Santi Lozano (fisio), David Pirri (fisio). Second row: Albiol, Higuaín. Third row: Adán, Khedira, Pepe, Dudek, Javi García (utillero), Manolín (utillero). Fourth row: Dr. Serratosa, Fonseca (fisio), Canales, Marcelo, José Morais, Granero, Peter Lion, Javier Santamaría (fisio). Fifth row: Agustín Herrerín, Carlos Lalín (recuperator), Juanfran, Xabi, Sergio, Álvaro, Iker, Silvino, Cristiano, Dr. Juan Carlos Hernández, Gago, Pedro Chueca (fisio). Sixth row: Óscar Ribot, Ozi, Benzema, Adebayor, the Cup, Carvalho, Karanka, Chechu (chef), Dr. Carlos Díez. Seventh row: Kaká. Eighth row: Garay, Di María, Lass, Rui Faria.
The only absence was of course a very notable one, that of José Mourinho. He explained why he was missing during the press conference (see below).
As you can see, towards the tail-end of the celebration, Xabi struck his favorite pose – with the addition of his shoes as a prop – and looked like he just wanted the whole thing to be over so he could get on with his life. Cris laughed at him.
Iker: it was a very special night for me, but I’m thinking more about all those people who came to Valencia and those who stayed in Madrid cheering us on with all their hearts. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. I was asked about the value of Mourinho since he came here. He’s the best. This is for the fans.
(While they were being interviewed, someone sprayed water at Sergio and Iker.)
Sergio: Mourinho is the captain of the ship and we’re with him to the death. What he has instilled in us is going phenomenally for us. I want to thank the fans for their affection; they were fundamental in helping us win this title.
(Iker also used his Madrid bufanda to wipe his nose!)
Pepe: the game we had was incredible. The team showed a great spirit and sacrifice. We did a great job in the first half and in the second half we were more relaxed, but then Cristiano closed out the game. All of the players have contributed something to this win.
Cris: this is my first title in Spain. I’m very happy and this is for the fans. They needed it as much as we did. It’s been an incredible night, but we want more this season.
(Cris was interviewed by TVE during the team celebrations. The interview in and of itself was not that interesting, but his teammates made up for that. Manu Adebayor came jumping in and singing to hug Cris, and Gonzalo acted like any other typical guy who sees a video camera – he got crazy in the background. He was shortly joined by Eze and the two Rickys, and all jumped around, waving and shouting. Mission accomplished.)
Arbeloa: we had a great game. You can only beat Barcelona by playing an almost perfect game. We dedicate this to our families, and to the thousands of madridistas who came to Valencia and those who are in Madrid. We won a title that el madridismo has waited a long time for. People are excited to go to Cibeles and that’s where we’re going, to enjoy this with the fans.
Xabi: I’m very, very happy and also very tired.
Raúl: I’m happy for the fans that I saw at the stadium and later at Cibeles celebrating the title. I want to congratulate all the directors, the coaching staff, the team, the employees, the great fans, everyone in the club because that game wasn’t easy.
Guti: there’s no other club like Madrid, the shirt is very special.
Xavi: at the end of the game, I congratulated Iker and I gave him a hug. I’ve known him since we were 16, and we’re very close friends. I don’t know Ramos that well and I have a professional relationship with Arbeloa. I won’t say anything bad about Madrid’s players. The only team that wanted to play football was Barça.
[I know that in a group of 23 guys there are bound to be some that aren’t great friends, but was this really the occasion for Xavi to tell everyone that he basically would not consider Sergio and Álvaro his friends?]
Busquets: this is football, there’s no explanation and and sometimes the best team doesn’t win.
Iker also confirmed that Gerard Piqué had shouted something in the tunnel after the Liga game on Saturday. Iker said, “there’s no need to rehash it. He knows what he said, I didn’t hear it but my teammates did. He’s a great guy and a future captain of La Roja.” Meanwhile, Piqué denied he had said anything: “I never said those words. They didn’t come out of my mouth. The atmosphere after the game is tense, but I never said that.” Piqué said in an El País interview today that he had said something but not what was reported.
In his postgame press conference, Mou was serene and serious, saying that things were “fantastic. On the field, the players gave it their all. It could have been different had we scored in the first half, or if they had scored after the break. Fate wanted the game to go into overtime and that’s when character and physical and psychological strength become determining factors.” As for the game, Mou observed, “it was an equal game without being equal. We were better in the first half and they in the second. In the overtime, we were tired, but they also appeared to be mentally worn out. They were a bit frustrated because they weren’t as successful as they usually are. In my opinion, it was a great football game.”
When asked where he disappeared to as the team was celebrating, he said, “I went to the locker room to try and call my family, but I couldn’t get through because the lines were tied up. I left the players to enjoy themselves.”
The celebration continued in the locker room, with champagne, dancing and singing.
Zidane entered the locker just to shake the players’ hands, but he ended up covered in champagne, as no one cared that he was wearing a suit. The first thing he did upon entering was hug Iker. And we have to love Sergio for his willingness to continuously strip, no?
Who wins the dance-off? And seeing that iPod with the speaker in the background reminds me of Sergio, David Villa and Pepe on the plane back to Spain from South Africa!
This is Madrid’s 76th title, which breaks up the tie at 75 with… Barcelona.
Carvalho (15) is the most-titled player on the team.
Madrid is now the only European team that can win a treble for the 2010-11 season.
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