A lot of people get excited for the international breaks. Usually I do, but this time, I want to shove a fork into my eyeballs. It’s an exciting time of the year because the 2014 World Cup qualifying matches have officially begun. Supporters branch out from clubs to their nation’s team, wearing patriotic colors and teaching the ways of the game to new fans who’ve decided to pay attention to the world’s biggest sport.

For me, it’s been the least bit exciting. I am one of the few girls that writes for Aerys that doesn’t support the USMNT. I was born in Alcorcón, a city south of Madrid in Spain. My mom is a Spanish citizen and my dad is a US Air Force Veteran but I grew up supporting the Spanish National Team at a young age while my dad ignored the beauty of football.

And with the recent success of Spanish football, millions of other people have adopted them as their team too. It has its pros and cons, I suppose. Spain has built a dynasty these past 6 years with a 2008 and 2012 Euro victory and securing their first World Cup title in 2010. They missed the mark in the 2012 Summer Olympics but are one of the favorites in the 2014 World Cup.  So needless to say, the international breaks are very important. But there’s times where this thing called the FIFA Virus will decide to show itself and make one club’s future, very rocky and unstable.

The latest culprit? Real Madrid.

Today Spain faced France, a nation rising fast with their growing talent. The match ended in a 1-1 draw with Sergio Ramos scoring a goal and France’s Olivier Giroud to tie it up just before the final whistle.

Of all the matches played in during this international break, 3 (almost 4) players were quickly injured, preventing some sort of club play.

Marcelo is out at least till the end of the year with a broken right foot after a training injury with Brazil.

Portugal lost Fabio Coentrão is out for a little bit with a groin injury during their loss against Russia.

Then today, Alvaro Arbeloa was sent off with an injury during Spain’s match against France (which will sideline the player for 3 weeks) while Karim Benzema also suffered a minor leg injury later in the match and will be out for Madrid’s match against Celta Vigo.

So as of right now, Real Madrid are sitting with NO natural full-backs. If it was only Marcelo being injured, at least we’d have Coentrão, but with him injured (and not knowing for how long he’ll be out) and slight injuries to both Sami Khedira and Gonzalo Higuaín, this is not looking good for the Madridistas.

With the next three months of Champions League action, missing Marcelo could put Real in a bit of a bind, especially the match next week against Borussia Dortmund. In the end, it all comes down to how serious Coentrão’s injury is. Without him, Jose Mourinho will have a difficult tie filling in the cracks on the backline, most likely with Raphael Varane and Raul Albiol.

It’s a tricky time for Real Madrid and it’s up to the rest of the team and coaching staff to stay strong and focused on the matches ahead. Only time will tell how fragile this club will be without key players. At least we still have Ronaldo, right?

After seeing my USMNT lose to Brazil NT 4-1 last week, I was curious to see how Mexico NT would do. I think most of us knew this game would be highly entertaining, but it was one of those matches where either team had a chance of winning. Personally, I was expecting Brazil to win this match.

The first half started off with both teams having good chances to score. Hulk score for Brazil in the 10th minute – the goal was called back though, it had been offside. Approx. 10 minutes later, it was Mexico who would  score first.

Giovanni Dos Santos netted the goal in the 22nd minute to give Mexico the lead.  Most of you probably don’t know this, but Dos Santos has a connection with Brazil. His father, Geraldo do Santos, also known as Zizinho, was born in Brazil, which makes Dos Santos half Brazilian, half Mexican.

While Dos Santos may have been eligible to represent Brazil,  he decided to represent Mexico since that’s where he was born. Brazil kept trying to get the equalizer, but in the 33rd minute, they conceded a penalty. Chicharito stepped up and scored Mexico’s 2nd goal. It would be Mexico 2- Brazil 0 at HT.  The second half started off the same, both teams came out attacking. Unfortunately, neither was able to break through the other’s defense. Both teams started to get impatient and they started playing more aggressively.

In the 55th minute, Marcelo tackled Chicharito and got a yellow card. Later on, Mexico’s Meza pulled Neymar down and was only shown a yellow card. As much as Brazil tried, they just couldn’t get through Mexico’s defense and the game ended 2-0 in favor of Mexico.

As I mentioned earlier, I really did think Brazil would win Mexico. However, this Brazil squad wasn’t playing like they did against the US last week. The defense struggled at times with some of Mexico’s forwards, like Dos Santos and Andres Guardado. Mexico’s defense, on the other hand, was rock solid, and if they continue playing like this, they will have no problem qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.  This match was more important to Mexico than Brazil. Not only was Mexico playing in front of their fans, they were also preparing for the World Cup qualifiers, which starts Friday, June 8th.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with teammates after his first goal

So we might not be able to beat Barcelona yet, but we can still beat every other club in La Liga. Today proved no different.

Real Madrid hosted Athletic Bilbao today looking to keep their 5-point advantage above their unbeatable rivals, FC Barcelona.

After what started out as a fast-paced match from both sides, it was Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente who scored in the 11′ after a beautiful counter-attack from teammate Javi Martínez.

Marcelo, who barely starts for Madrid, proved supporters wrong by scoring a very surprising goal in the 25′ tying the match up.

The first half for both clubs was played very uncharacteristically. Madrid had a very strong passing game, similar to something that FC Barcelona is famous for, while Athletic possessed a very strong attacking game, something that Madrid is normally known for.

For Madrid, Esteban Granero got his first start in a Liga match amidst the speculation of a transfer to the EPL this month. Granero and midfielder Kaka brought a great amount of scoring chances to Madrid, really showcasing their talents.

In defense, Madrid lacked 2 of their 4 defenders with Marcelo and Alvaro Arbeloa fading away in the backfield into obscurity. When it came down to it, only Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane were actually defending their keeper, Iker Casillas, who was momentarily injured after having his left ankle stepped on by a Bilbao player. Tonight was also the 600th match that Casillas has played for Real Madrid.

The second half started off great for Madrid as a free kick was awarded to Los Galacticos after a jersey-tug foul on Kaka. Cristiano Ronaldo took the free kick and successfully planted the ball into the net, giving Jose Mourinho’s men a 2-1 lead in the 47′.

The same happened in the 68′ when De Marcos fouled Mesut Özil, receiving a red card, giving Madrid yet another free kick. However, just seconds before the foul, Karim Benzema scored a goal for Madrid, but it was called off by the ref, who refused to give them the advantage.

Luckily, Cristiano Ronaldo curved the ball low into the net, giving his side a 2 goal cushion over Bilbao. The goal also marked Ronnie’s 51st goal scored this season in La Liga. Pichici, anyone?

Basically the next 22 minutes were nothing short of excitement. A few yellows thrown around (including Sergio Ramos, who will be out for the next match against Zaragoza,) more substitutions, a standing ovation for Esteban Granero and one more goal.

Jose Callejón scored the 4th goal for Madrid in the 85′ after being on the pitch for about 3 minutes thanks to a lovely assist by Gonzalo Higuaín. The Madridistas keep their No. 1 spot on the Liga table for one more week!

Next Wednesday Madrid travel to Camp Nou to face Barcelona in the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals. Let’s hope we can play then like we did today.

Around Liga

Espanyol 3-0 Granada

Racing Santander 1-2 Getafe

Real Sociedad 0-4 Atletico Madrid

Real Betis 1-1 Sevilla

Osasuna 1-1 Valencia

Rayo Vallecano 0-1 Mallorca

Malaga 1-4 FC Barcelona

Levante 0-0 Real Zaragoza

Stay tuned to Aerys Soccer for all your Spanish La Liga recaps!!

Photos courtesy of Real Madrid C.F.

Let’s take a deep breath together. Feel good? Good.

Barcelona-Real Madrid in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey began in the usual fashion: Madrid scoring early to an overly-possessive yet boring Barcelona, only to lose 2-1 in the second with the roles reversing.

Just like every El Clasico recap I’ve written thus far in my time with Aerys, I always come out disappointed and angered. The long-standing rivalry between the Spanish giants will never end, yet it always worsens. Eventually a 90 minute match becomes a 22 ring circus with players from both sides making bad decisions.

Bad tackling, the never-ending diving, too much card contesting, the ever-so-close fist fights, one-sided referees, stepping on players hands and with all that, where is the actual football?

It’s almost non-existent. As Madridistas or Cules, we love the rivalry between our two clubs, but we also miss the passion, the excitement of the sport. We want goals that are fair, refs that are fair and players who don’t complain about every little thing. But then again, as a sport, football is widely recognized more as a theatrical event rather than a beautiful sport. Sad, really.

With all that mumbo-jumbo, let’s celebrate the goals scored today!

Cristiano Ronaldo hit it big for Madrid putting them up early in the match at the 11′ giving all Madrid supporters a reason to stick behind the ever-so talked about Ronaldo.

For Barcelona, Carles Puyol gave the Catalans their much needed equalizer. All was lost for Madrid when Eric Abidal scored again for Barca inevitably giving them the advantage and win. Abidal celebrated his goal with teammate Dani Alves in a poor reenactment of the goal celebration that Madrid’s Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier in the season. I’m talking about dancing to Michel Telo’s ‘Ai Se Eu Te Pego.’

Abidal & Alves

http://youtu.be/USu-g-KgNIc

Marcelo & Cristiano Ronaldo

Which do you like better? Personally I love Marcelo and Ronnie’s better; there’s more fun and personality involved!

The second leg between these two club will be next Wednesday, Jan. 25, at Camp Nou. Let’s hope for all the footy fans out there and myself, that there’s some actual football!

And a happy 41st birthday to Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, now you have something to celebrate!

Athletic Bilbao won 2-0 over Mallorca in their quarterfinal match

Stay tuned to Aerys Soccer for all your Copa del Rey updates!

La Liga

Second ranked Barcelona faces Rayo Vallecano at 3pm ET which you can watch on ESPN3.com!

The RFEF announced yesterday that the abandoned match between Granada – Mallorca will be completed on December 7th after the match was cut short due to an injury to a linesman. The match will pick up where it left off, with Granada leading 2-1.

English Premier League

David Beckham, former Manchester United player, stated that the Red Devil’s crosstown rivals, Manchester City have ‘no chance’ in winning the Premier League Title this season, favoring his former club to lift the trophy. Beckham lifted his own trophy with his MLS club, the LA Galaxy this year, but could leave LA for the likes of AC Milan or Paris Saint-Germain in January when his contract expires.

Seems like a good time to pick at Manchester City this week. Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger,  have warned the Citizens to look out for Arsenal as they’ll try to knock them out of the League Cup. Wenger believes his club has ‘more experience and can step up during the match. Well this Gooner hopes you’re right Arsene.

Major League Soccer

Adios Los Angeles. Bienvenue a Montreal! Donovan Ricketts heads to Canada. Yes that’s right, the new club to enter the MLS circuit, the Montreal Impact, made an impact (no pun intended) when they picked up the Jamaican keeper who was acquired by the LA Galaxy before the ’09 season. Ricketts will leave the Galaxy with 77 appearances, making 226 saves, allowing 70 goals and sealing 27 shutouts in his three seasons with the club.

Seth Sinovic contemplated retiring at the ripe age of 24 had he been drafted to the Montreal Impact during the expansion draft. Lucky for him, he was drafted, but was traded back to his hometown (and club) Sporting Kansas City with allocation money in exchange for midfielder Davy Arnaud.

Serie A

Okay when I saw the video that AC Milan posted on their Facebook of Pato, Robinho and Thiago Silva singing, I knew I had to post it on here. Mostly because the song they’re singing has been stuck in my head for the past month. It’s called ‘Ai Se Eu Te Pego’ by Michel Telo. In Portuguese it means ‘If I’ll Get You There,” and it was made famous (well for me anyways) when Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo & Marcelo danced to it during a goal celebration in their match against Malaga. Excuse me while I go dance and sing this song now.

Spanish National Team

Vicente Del Bosque will resume as Spain’s coach through the 2014 World Cup campaign! Del Bosque’s contract was set to expire after Euro but RFEF (Spanish Football Federation) President Angel Villar convinced him to stay longer. HOORAY!