Article by Jeremy Hickey
Tourists to Spain must not fail to watch a Real Madrid football match while in the country. Real Madrid was first formed in 1902 and since then, it has spent all its time playing in the Spanish La Liga. This club is based in the capital of Spain, Madrid and the team’s home ground is Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The Real Madrid Football Club is well known for their collection of trophies, which is much larger than any other team in club football. In fact, the club was voted by the International Football Federation, FIFA, to be the most successful club in the 20th Century, with thirty one Spanish La Liga titles, 17 Spanish Cup wins and two UEFA Cups. In addition to this, this team has been European champions for a record of nine times.Los Blancos, as they are called by fans and locals, have boasted some of the best players in world football playing for them, starting from the period of the legendary strike pair, Puskas and Alfredo di Stefano in the 50’s and 60’s. The turn of the new millennium saw the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Brazil’s Ronaldo being brought into the club for record-breaking transfer fees. In the summer of 2009, Florentiono Perez, who was instrumental in bringing the biggest footballers across the globe during the turn of the century was re-elected as club president and immediately spent around 250 million dollars to rope in new players to the club. These players, as expected, were among the world’s best and they comprised of the 07′ and 08’s best players Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo where the latter was bought for a record US million. Reinforcements were made in the midfield and at the back with Xabi Alonzo and Raul Albiol as well as Karim Benzema being signed on. Despite the large number of new signings, there are still some players like their captain Raul, who have been playing for the club since a young age.
About the Author
Jeremy lives and works in Spain dealing with Barcelona Karting and Barcelona Stag weekends and spends his spare time playing golf and reading.