Showing posts with label real madrid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label real madrid. Show all posts

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Animo España

Guess my first post to break my spell of lack of blog posts is going to be about the Spain National Team's exit in this year's World Cup.

Whenever it comes to major tournaments, especially the World Cup, 90% of the tweets on my Twitter timeline will be about the matches. Weirdly enough, almost half of these tweets are by my female friends whose football tweets only appear once every four years. Hahaha okay I am exaggerating.

It's always difficult to explain to non-football fans why I am so passionate about the teams I support because I literally go on an emotional journey with them. But, I'm super glad I have ze best friend - hehe hi Stef! - who has been watching the sport longer than I have (albeit supporting a different club in the EPL), and is genuinely interested in every aspect of football that I wish to tell her about. Like, I can actually discuss matches that we're currently watching with her and that is really awesome. I mean of course we keep a lookout for the good-looking players and all too but we ain't that superficial... Hahaha.

One team that both of us support is the Spain National Team and I think I speak for the both of us when I say that the matches against Netherlands and Chile in the group stages of this World Cup were the hardest matches we ever had to watch with Spain playing. And even though I don't like pointing fingers, I think the biggest fault belongs to the traditional mindset of manager Vicente del Bosque who does not want to change with the times.

The squad of 2008, 2010 and 2012 are getting old.
I absolutely love this squad and they have given me so many reasons to smile. And I appreciate it so much that Vincente del Bosque is so attached and dependent on the squad and he is such a father figure to them. But the fact is that age has inevitably caught up with them and the generation we are familiar with looked exhausted and unmotivated. Young Spanish players bursting with potential are not being utilized, and they should, because they are the future of the country's football team after all. So I was absolutely bummed from the start that players like Isco who have been doing so well in the youth team didn't go get into the squad.

Putting hopes on a striker who is not fully fit.
... And who is a Brazilian as well. I don't even wanna say his name LOL but that was one of the most horrible decisions ever. Playing Villa would have been great - even if you put Torres on there I think it'd sit well with more people.

My heart goes out to Casillas, Ramos, Xavi, Iniesta, Alonso and co. the most and I thank them for the past 6 years. My Real Madrid players in particular have had a great season and them winning the Copa Del Rey and Champions League have given me more than enough reason to be happy. Even the best fall down sometimes, and I believe the newly revamped Spain will be back stronger to defend their UEFA Euro title.

Just hoping that their last match in this year's World Cup will not be catastrophic. Please just get the striker who has been playing the last 2 games out, and get Xavi and Villa in. Viva España!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Upsets and Downfalls

For those who know me, you'd know that I'm a huge fan of Spanish football team Real Madrid. They had a rough start to the season but picked themselves up and did really well for the rest of the season but last month's Champions League semi-final first leg 4-0 loss against Borussia Dortmund was a really devastating one.

I believed my team could make a comeback on home ground though. It actually seemed pretty possible but I guess it was not to be, even with goals from Benzema and Ramos. Yesterday's (or rather this morning's) match never made me feel so much for the team before. It's funny how a loss evokes more feelings that a win. And Real Madrid's undying spirit throughout the whole match (they played brilliantly) made me feel absolutely proud to call myself a Madridista.

Then I browsed through Tumblr and a bunch of heartbreaking pictures came out on my dash. Including photos of my dear vice-captain Ramos crying. I was tearing when I saw them. :(

Ramos being comforted by Iker Casillas and Marcelo.

Xabi Alonso comforting Ramos.

From a captain to another.


But the most heartbreaking picture has to be the last one of captain Iker Casillas kneeling on the sidelines. After he broke his pinky, he has not played a single match (even after he has recovered) and this is the only thing I don't like coach Jose Mourinho for. Iker Casillas is a far better goalkeeper than Diego Lopez, and he is even hailed as the world's best goalkeeper. And you just leave him on the bench the whole time?! He is the captain, yet he can't do anything but watch, and this thoroughly breaks my heart. But he understands how it feels, this being his third consecutive Champion's League semi-final elimination. And for this I believe that he was the most suitable to comfort vice-captain Ramos. I'm sure Ramos felt that way too.

And Ramos, my dear dear Ramos. He was in tears (as seen from the pictures above) so you know how much the match, the team and the fans mean to him. He had a great match so I believe that he feels worse because of that. Also, because of Casillas' absence, he has been captaining the matches so I'm sure he feels bad, thinking that he hasn't done his part properly.

But here's to you, my favourite footballer: You have put in all your effort and I'm sure the fans see it. You might be the player with the most yellow cards in the team, but you have a strong sense of righteousness and don't condone cheating and diving. You know when you have made a wrong move, and you apologize for that. And when you play, it's a 101%, or more. For that, I'm so proud and thankful for you. For yesterday's match, for the whole season, for being a great vice-captain, and for being in Real Madrid. My love for you is indescribable.

There's still the Copa Del Rey finals coming up against Atletico Madrid on homeground, so I hope the boys pick themselves up again and win it. And Mourinho, please let Casillas play.

I just want to see their happy faces. Sobs.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

CHAMP20NS

#Champions2013 Cover Photo

Just stopping by to say how proud I am of Manchester United for a convincing run in this season's EPL. Although there were matches which disappointed the fans, they still did great as a whole. Welcome back, EPL trophy!

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First time EPL champions De Gea and Van Persie!

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And Kagawa you're such a little boy wae you so cute this is not allowed.

All I'm hoping for now is Real Madrid to win the Champion's League. Let's go team!

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Would love to see a happy Sergio more than anything else for tomorrow's match against Borussia Dortmund :)

Friday, May 4, 2012

Campeones!

This is a Real-Madrid-got-their-32nd-La-Liga-title post!



Never seen Mourinho so happy before hahaha

Captain and Vice-Captain!

Another pic of them because I love my Vice-Captain :)

And this picture was just taken as they have their celebrations in Cibeles damn it how I wish I was there!

Hala Madrid!


Thursday, September 1, 2011

7 Things

Alright. I was supposed to have completed this March last year but well.. yeah I didn't.
Well basically Stef gave me 7 things and I had to explain what they mean to me and why I am interested in them. And since it has been such a long time and my interests have changed from March 2010, she gave me a new list, and it goes like this:

1. Real Madrid
2. Am I Really Lactose Intolerant?
3. Woohyun from Infinite
4. MS B
5. Future Taylor and Tyler
6. One Thing I Wish Occurred Earlier
7. If I Could Change One Thing About Myself

Yup, guess I'll start the ball rolling now. Leggo! (Let's go in rap slang)

1. Real Madrid


Call me superficial, but I really started liking Real Madrid after 2010's World Cup. I supported Spain during that period (I still do) and a certain player caught my eye - Sergio Ramos. He plays as a right back and is dubbed by many as the best right back in the world. Anyway, while watching the Spain matches I noticed that he does a hell lot of running up and down the right flank, and in the finals he had two chances to score (which he missed unfortunately) but his headers usually find their target. Yeah so from there, I started noticing him and slowly I gained more interest in Real Madrid.

I love watching them play. Spanish soccer is classy soccer, as many say. And I couldn't agree more with that. The teamwork and camaraderie in this team is amazing and it is a joy watching them play (maybe except against Barca because I always get really annoyed during El Clasicos). They have so many impressive players. From captain Iker Casillas, the long range shot master Xabi Alonso aka the captain without an armband, aggressive vice-captain Sergio Ramos, to Germany's Ozil who creates a hell lot of chances for scoring, and of course, the scoring machine Cristiano Ronaldo. To be honest, I hated him at first but after I liked Real Madrid, the hatred disappeared and well, all I can say now is that I support him along with the rest of the team. The striking force consisting of him, Angel di Maria, Benzema, Adebayor and Higuain is definitely not one to be reckoned with.

And after all this technical talk, allow me to be superficial once more and let me just say that Real Madrid has a squad with the most good looking players. I mean, watching few nice handsome faces while watching a game never hurt anyone. Fabio Coentrao, Sergio Canales and Kaka, just to name a few, are the few charming faces one can look out for in this team. Too bad Canales is on loan to Valencia.

I am proud to be a Madridista can foresee myself sticking by this team for a very long time to come. Great job to my boys for an awesome start to the season, go out there and kick some balls! Literally. Hala Madrid!!




2. Am I Really Lactose Intolerant?


(Sorry just had to insert this. A little Taemin never hurt anyone.)

Honestly, no, I'm not. But I just can't take anything that's too creamy or tastes too creamy. Like those cheese thingys that you sprinkle on pizza and pasta? No I can't take that. But melted cheese is really fine with me.

I have no idea when I started disliking milk. After all, everyone drinks milk when they are young. However, I do vaguely remember during Primary school, my mum used to make Milo for my breakfast but she'd add lots of milk (even after the countless times I have told her that I hated it) and I'd pour it all away when she wasn't looking. This happened for a couple of years (I'm not even kidding lol) until one day I was caught (oops) and so she stopped adding milk into my Milo LOL.

I can't take stuff like Milk Tea or any pastries or cakes which has lots of cream (fresh cream is fine though). I love cream soups though but I can't take it if it's too creamy either. Basically as long as I'm not turned off by the smell, I will consume it. It goes the same for all of my food.


3. Woohyun from Infinite


Hmm, where do I start? It wasn't his looks which attracted me in the first place - it was his voice. While I was watching the She's Back video shortly after K-Pop Night 2010 in which Infinite performed in, I kind of 'rose to attention' to the voice which had the long 'she's baaaaaaaaaaack' but I didn't know who was the person who sang that. Actually, I didn't know any of the members names back then.
It was not until 'Nothing's Over' that I knew all their names. That was the first time I actually went to look at their faces properly and the one who caught my eye was, coincidentally, none other than Nam Woohyun!

THE FACT THAT HE IS IN INFINITE.
Widely known as the 'in-sync oppas', they can dance better than many of the other idols in the industry.


Definitely one of the most talented groups in the K-Pop industry now, they have made their way into third place on my bias list, next to SHINee and FT Island. 
I remember that I started liking them when I saw them 'live' during last year's K-Pop Night and they caught my eye with their sleek dance moves. Not forgetting the catchy tunes like 'Come Back Again'.
Their next comeback was 'BTD (Before the Dawn)' and I really liked that song, although at that time I still could not recognize them because most of their hairstyles were the same, LOL.
Their subsequent singles, Nothing's Over and Can U Smile then put them on my bias list and I fell in love with them even more after they released their first full album recently. The songs in there are too addictive, hehe.

HIS VOICE.
Being one of the two lead vocalists in Infinite, he has an amazing voice totally suited for ballads. I love how he puts his emotions into their live performances. An example is 'Can U Smile' - he looks like he is on the verge on tears every time they perform that. Also, listening to his solo song, 'Time', from their full-length album, makes me want to cry every time.


He didn't do as well as he had wanted to because he had a high fever just before this. Despite being sick, he still put up such a great performance. (Going off topic a little, how nice it would be to have people chant my name like the end of the video. Hahahahahaha.)

HIS FAIL AEGYO.






He is not the best at this and he knows it but he still keeps doing it. Talk about being thick-skinned! And I thought having the maknae doing aegyo was enough. I am not going to post any videos of those here for the sake of your sanity. Interestingly though, I feel that I share the trait with him right here. It's true I can't do aegyo, and I try hard. And mostly it just backfires, just that I don't get hit like Woohyun does.

HIS PERSONALITY. (I don't know why but I seem to be able to relate to this part.)
I love his flirty replies to his fans on their UFOTOWN. If it was some random person of course it'd be creepy but fans absolutely love replies like that.



How sweet! 



This whore is obviously not shy and he loves showing off! But damn, those abs! Where has chubby Woohyun gone to? Looks like he has been working out for his many many wives. Hahaha.
He is always the life of the party and also the group's happy pill. I consider myself the crazy one among my friends and I always do stupid things too so I can totally relate to this. 
Despite all these acts though, I believe that when he meets his 'special one', he will definitely treat her with lots of respect and sincerity. But then again, that is what every fangirl would think of her idol.

He may seem to be just one of the idols on my never-ending list of biases but he will always be one of those special ones at the top, probably just second to Taemin. I really hope to be able to meet him one day.
I love you Namstar!! *inserts big heart shape*


4. MS B


MS B is a group formed by myself (lead vocalist), Stef (lead dancer) and Brenda (leader). The name MS B was inspired by the group miss A, and coincidentally, it shows the initials of our names. It started out for fun actually, I think. Then Brenda and I made a mini album for Stef as her birthday present with some of our random covers. So after that we started making covers together like 'Pinocchio' and 'Mr. Taxi', and recently we finished 'Hot Summer' and 'Good-bye Baby' and we are in the midst of a couple of photoshoots and we are going to film a music video soon. Lots of work but all in the name of fun!
Jonathan is our manager and we have two resident stylists - Yiyun and Melodi.

Enough of our profile though, the people in MS B mean more to me than anyone can ever imagine. Besides meeting for weekly dinners, we still do go out on weekends. And at this point of time they are my closest friends. As cheesy as it sounds, I really don't think I can live without them.

Brenda, please do know that even if I always tease you, I'm doing it out of affection alright! Hehe. And as for Stef, well I honestly don't know what else to say because whatever I'd like to say would be repetitive. Oh and though I seem to love Brenda more from my body language I hope you know you're still my no. 1 okay! HAHAHAHA oops. ;P But seriously, I don't know how you put up with my rants and complaints all the time. I rant to you so often that it seems mandatory already. So really, thank you so much for being so patient with me and putting up with my nonsense. I know you feel embarrassed whenever you go out with me though :( But I'm not planning to change. Hahaha.
Of course, not forgetting our manager oppa Jonathan! You are a really great person to spill my guts out to because you are a good listener and yeah 'managing' us three girls must be a handful. You're doing a great job so far! Fighting!!

Anyway, we should continue doing these kind of useless things because it's fun. And the company's great too. Here's hoping MS B will go on for a long long time to come~ 이해리, 호현애! 난널 정말 정말 사랑해! (translation: Lee Hae Ri, Ho Hyun Ae! I really really love you!)


5. Future Taylor and Tyler

This basically refers to my kids in the future. The girl's name will be Taylor and the guy's will be Tyler. I don't know why but I really like these names. I guess it helps that they are names of artistes who I look up to a lot. 
All my friends know that I love children and I seem to be able to interact with them without much difficulty. It's either that I'm motherly or that my mental age is the same. Personally, I prefer the latter. Hahaha better to be young than old! :)

I always say that I want to be a cool mum and have cool kids and I do believe that I can do it. I would like an older boy and a younger girl. Maybe it is because of the stereotype that the older brother will take care of a younger sister. Or maybe it is just because I have always been yearning for an older brother. My kids will be musicians and I will train my boy to sing well and play the guitar. Who doesn't like a guy who is able to do these two well? Hehe. My girl will learn the drums and the piano. Two very contrasting instruments but it can show her versatility. A charming boy and an edgy girl - that's the way! And maybe if my other half is also a musician we could form a family band. Omg cool, no??

As much as I love kids though, I can never imagine taking care of one for a long time. Sure I love playing with them but the amount of commitment and effort need to raise a kid is..well let's just say it's something I will never be able to achieve now. Truth be told I don't even know how to carry a baby or toddler properly! And I wouldn't want to employ a nanny to take care of my child or they may become too attached to their caretaker. So many questions and so many problems I can't solve. I guess it'd be a while before I really really really am ready to have kids. Hahahaha I sound as if I'm of the desired age to have children already what the heck.


6. One Thing I Wish Occurred Earlier

This one kind of got me thinking because honestly everything's really great now but if there's really one thing that I have wanted to occur earlier, it would be learning how to play the guitar.
I have always wanted to learn how to play this instrument but it wasn't till I saw Eudora play at Rachel's birthday party last year that I resolved to learn it. I vaguely Shao Liang teaching me the G chord that day, lol.
I bought my guitar, Paul, on the 19th of March last year and I bought my second one, Zack on February 22nd earlier this year.

I have only been playing for about one and a half years so I'm still pretty much of a noob. Well, partly because I find it sufficient to be able to play simple chords and strum so I have an accompaniment to sing to. Learning to sing and play was surprisingly easy but if you give me more complex chords I'd have difficulty. I can't pluck or do any finger styles either although I have been practising on that recently.

If I started learning the guitar earlier, I'd be pretty much good at it now. Just like piano and french horn I guess - even if I don't practise for months I am still able to play and pick it up again really fast. I would also be able to tune my guitar by ear and also play by ear, which are some others things I can do on my other two instruments.

And by now I would have been able to record my own cover with the backing instrumental played by me too! But no that's probably not gonna happen, at least not in the near future.


7. If I Could Change One Thing About Myself

My face. Why am I so ugly!! LOL okay I'm kidding.

Hmm, if I could change one thing about myself, it would be my ego. I'm really short but I have an annoyingly big ego. I can't stand losing to others in stuff that I feel that I'm good in. I can't stand people out-talking me. I can't stand people insulting me, which is really ironic since I was often bullied in Primary School and Secondary School and I probably would have gotten used to it (yes I was a victim of bullying would you believe it pffft I think people were jealous of me being teacher's pet). Calling me competitive is right . Thankfully though, I have never overreacted or anything like that so I guess I still have good sportsmanship.

I still recall in Sec 1, we had this inter-class street soccer competition and naturally I was playing. My team mates were not playing very well (although we did win the first match because of a penalty scored by yours truly) and I was really really frustrated. I think I almost blew, lol. Yeah, I have a bad temper too and I'm really petty too. Recently it has became better though. Maybe it is because there are less irritating people nowadays compared to my younger years. 
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Alright, so I'm done with my 7 things. What are your 7 things? :)