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!

La Furia Roja!

6 years - still European and World Champions.

After the initial 1-1 draw with Italy in the group stages, and a nerve-wrecking penalty shootout against Portugal among other matches, Spain beat Italy by a whopping 4-0 to retain their Euro Championship title.

It was inevitable. Right from the start, the Spanish side showed much spunk and conviction and despite starting with no strikers at all, the number of attempts (from Arbeloa, Ramos, Xavi) was enough to keep Italian goalkeeper, Buffon, busy. Of course the tiki-taka chases from Spain remained, and a moment of brilliance from Fabregas allowed the ball to find David Silva's head, which eventually led the ball to its goal.

Italy started playing slightly better after this, giving Spain and Casillas a little more pressure. However, a great counter-attack and a precise through-ball from Xavi allowed Jordi Alba to extend Spain's lead and dampen the Italian side's moods further.

Halftime was as exciting than the first, with both teams creating decent chances for themselves. Things then started to look extremely bleak for Italy when their third substitute, Thaigo Motta tore his hamstring, which meant that they were down to ten men. And at the 75th minute when Torres come on for Fabregas (imagine Stef's and my elation HAHA), it was all over. Despite not getting the ball for almost ten minutes since he came on, his first touch ensued a 3-0 lead for Spain, assisted by Xavi (again).


Mata then came on for Iniesta (who was crowned Man of the Match), and it just seemed it was a substitution for the sake of finishing the number of subs available. Just after two minutes though, after another brilliant pass from Xavi, Torres drew Buffon to him before sliding the ball to Mata to easily chip it into the goal. Now that's what we all want to see - unselfish playing - Torres could have taken the shot but he did not, and secured the last goal for Spain, which also happened to be a record win for any Euro final. The last opportunity for Spain was a pass from Torres to Ramos, who attempted a backheel. Buffon saved it and the defender ran off with a cheeky smile on his face (I had a smile on my face too). And the rest, it's just history.


So for all you critics labeling Spain as 'unentertaining' and 'boring', this final match proved everyone of you wrong. 


For rarely starting with a striker, it was also another surprise that Torres will be going home with the Golden Boot - with 3 goals scored in just 189 minutes played (including the two against Ireland). As if that bonus was not enough, Ramos overtook Ronaldo on the Castrol EDGE Index to be on top with a score of 9.69. He also topped the same ranking in the World Cup two years ago. That's my boy! 


The celebration was nothing but a baby fest. The players brought out all of their gorgeous kids and it was all really cute. *cries*

"Daddy you were fantastic today!"

Ramos and his niece

Xabi Alonso and his family. His son doesn't seem to like the trophy very much hahaha 

Pepe Reina with his son

Torres playing with everyone's kids awww

My perfect Real Madrid boys ♥

Campeones! ¡Viva España!

I do not own any of the pictures.

Long Live The Reckless and The Brave

So last week was a great music week... at least for me!

All Time Low released their newest single which is off their upcoming record, and the best thing? It was up for free download from their official website! Still is, I reckon.

Absolutely loving the song! Definitely different from the songs in their Dirty Work album - one can't help but wonder if it is because they are not under a major label anymore (they recently left Interscope Records which is part of Universal Music and Dirty Work was the only album they released within their two years under the label). Somehow I tend to appreciate songs produced by them when they are under a small or independent label. It feels as if it is music that they REALLY want to make, and that they are not writing songs just so it fits into the 'mainstream' category. The Reckless and The Brave is one such example, where the lyrics are much more mature compared to lines like "Everybody gettin' kinda crunk, I think some dude just grabbed my junk..." Yeah. I can't deny that I love the music video for that song though. Hahaha.

The next awesome song release has gotta be Big Bang's Monster!

Ignore the uber weird concept of their costumes - okay actually just GD and Taeyang's hair (someone just bring back the mohawk, please) - this is a great song and I could remember the hook in the chorus after just one listen! Really loving the piano introduction and riffs as well. I would go on but you know what? I'll just leave you with a review done by eatyourkimchi aka Simon and Martina! If you haven't heard of them, do definitely check them out because their reviews are always so entertaining and, and... argh just watch.

I had a pleasant surprise when I saw new GIFs of the B1A4 boys seemingly from a new music video. So I went to check it out and it turned out to be the music video of the Japanese version of Beautiful Target!

I'm liking the music video more than the Korean version because this one has more of a story line. No fireman Baro, newscaster Gongchan, pilot CNU, judge Sandeul, prisoner Jinyoung or sprout dances in here - just them being adorable and Jinyoung trying all sorts of perfume potions on them in his bid to find the perfect love potion for the girl he has a crush on. Oh, did you see that Chanro (yes that is my pairing name for Baro and Gongchan) interaction at the end of the video?! My passion for them has reignited once again. And I honestly started smiling to myself when I saw Baro wearing the same cap that I bought from Seoul!

Hehehe.

Anyway, the Euro fever is back! Yes I'm talking about football here! As expected, I'm rooting for Spain all the way!

David Villa is not gonna be playing due to an injury unfortunately, but this Euro 2012 team is still a stellar one and I am very happy that Torres scored against South Korea. We need El Niño! And El Niño is back, and he is staying! P.S. Pique needs a shave, badly.

I'm also very happy because I get to see more Sernando (that's Sergio Ramos and Fernando Torres for those of you who don't know - yes there are pairings in football too...)

Sigh. :)

Also, in related news, Ramos recently cut his hair, and he looks amazing! I was surprised though because he said that his hair was his lucky charm so I'm wondering why he cut it right before something as big as the Euros. No matter though, just make sure all of you haters don't blame any Spain match loss on him! /touchwood/

Thank you for cutting off your locks.

Alright enough fangirling. I'm just gonna do some shameless promotion. Below is my cover of Teen Top's newest single, To You! Hope you dig it!

Goodnight! x

One Goal

Bet on the Brazil/Holland and Spain/Paraguay match.

SIGH.

Obviously I lost for the Brazil one.

WELL, GUESS WHAT, I WON FOR SPAIN! :D

On a side note, I think I'm still gonna get my Spain jersey.

And omg Sergio Ramos' (Spain) knock to the head is still haunting me.

The disallowed first penalty score by Alonso (Spain) is still haunting me.

The offside goal from Valdez (Paraguay) is still haunting me.

The attempted goals from Villa and Iniesta (Spain) are still haunting me.

The squealing from Stef is still haunting me. LOL!

TSK. Is this what football does to you?

Anyway, looking forward to Spain against Germany. Gonna be a tough match, I hope. Germany is scaring me :(

Let's go, Spain, and kick some German ass. :)

GO SPAIN!!!