What's the difference between Sneijder and Beckham?
One wears the No23 shirt, scores free-kicks, delivers 45-yard assists,
is adored by fans and speaks perfect English. The other is David
Beckham.
When Real Madrid presented Wesley Sneijder alongside fellow Dutchman
Royston Drenthe this summer, most people in Spain were not entirely
convinced - even if the media cheerleaders did don pom-poms and ra-ra
skirts. He was, after all, fourth choice after Madrid had missed out
on Kaká, Cesc Fábregas and Michael Ballack; he had cost €27m - three
days, and one humiliating defeat, after Madrid had told Ajax that they
had "three hours, not a minute more" to accept a "final, final" offer
of €24m; and, let's face it, he was just never going to be as good as
David Beckham.
Those who knew Sneijder knew better. Asked whether Drenthe and
Sneijder were any good, the text message from one Holland
international said it all: "Drenthe, definitely not. Sneijder,
definitely yes. The best player in Holland by miles - well worth the
money!" Meanwhile, Real Zaragoza full-back Juanfran, who played
alongside Sneijder at Ajax, described him as "the best player Madrid
have signed since Zinedine Zidane." Which is going some when that list
includes Ronaldo and Beckham as well over €500m worth of assorted
misfits and lunatics, like Walter Samuel, Tommy Gravesen and
dermatologists' dream Antonio Cassano.
They were right too. While Beckham has been stillborn in the USA,
Sneijder has been sensational in Spain: the La Liga season may only be
two weeks old but already he has revealed himself to have a whore for
a mother. Round here that's no cuss, either, because for some reason
in Spain de puta madre actually means bloody brilliant.
And, boy, is Sneijder bloody brilliant! Worth the €27m transfer fee
and well worth annoying Ajax so much that their sporting director
calls you "a bunch of backstreet pimps". First, he scored the winner
on the opening day of the season in the Madrid derby against Atlético
and then he turned in another fantastic performance as Bernd
Schuster's team turned on the style last night.
It was a big night in Villarreal. Which might not be saying much for a
town where people sit out on the streets in plastic chairs waiting for
the world to go by without ever quite realising that it's not going
to, but it was a big night alright. A top-of-the-table clash between
the best two teams in world football, presided over by a cuddly mascot
that's supposed to be a submarine but looks more like a sub-normal
Moomin, attended by more than half the town's population and broadcast
by two different channels as the telly war rages on. Villarreal,
boasting nine successive wins and unbeaten since April, against Real
Madrid, the league champions and unbeaten in 16 competitive matches.
It was, they said, a real test for Madrid and they passed with flying
colours, winning at El Madrigal for the first time ever, inflicting
the Yellow Submarine's worst ever defeat as they ran out 5-0 winners
with goals from Raúl, Sneijder (2), Guti and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Not
because Villarreal were bad, either (they had more possession, more
attacks and more shots than Madrid) but because Madrid were excellent.
Marca called it "total football", which is pushing it, but with Guti
pulling the strings in the middle Madrid kept the ball well and used
it neatly, while they were unstoppable on the break. It was, screamed
AS, "a white hurricane" and they had a point: once they had scored the
second, just after half-time, Madrid blew Villarreal away. Drenthe
might have proven to be just as out of control on the pitch as he is
on Madrid's mean streets, where at 4.30am on Wednesday morning he
cleverly took a left turn that didn't exist and ploughed straight into
a police car, but otherwise Schuster's side were impressive, boasting
pace, precision and devastating accuracy.
Most of all, though, they boasted Sneijder. The midfielder, said Van
Nistelrooy, revealing rather too much as the players emerged from
their post-match shower, "is enormous". In fact he's got the big-eyed
smiley face of a five-year-old and the height of one, too. But while
Sneijder stands at barely 5ft 7in, his performance was certainly
immense: "Maradonian", said Marca, while even coach Bernd Schuster was
raving about him. "Sneijder reminds me of another blond midfielder who
played for Real Madrid once - he wasn't bad either," said the blond
former Madrid midfielder with characteristic modesty.
Unable to fill Beckham's shoes? Pah! On the evidence so far, anything
Becks can do, Sneijder can do better. Curling free-kicks? Check.
Raking 45-yard balls? Check (and Sneijder's ones actually get you
somewhere). Hard work? Check. Then there's the pace, the short
passing, the flicks, the vision, the intelligence, and the goals. Oh,
and the ability to shake off an opponent without turning his backside
to them, waiting for the contact and shooting 300 feet into the air.
Last night, Sneijder provided a wonderful long assist, swinging a
40-yard ball over the defence for Raúl to open the scoring. He then
curled an unstoppable free-kick in-off the post for the second,
killing off Villarreal's resistance, and later hit a classy finish
with the outside of his boot to make him La Liga's top scorer with
three in two matches, thus earning him the nickname Pichichi and Real
Madrid a deserved top spot on a perfect night.
Well, almost perfect. Because, as usual, a Spanish referee did his
best to ruin things. No, not Mejía Dávila, who gave Barça a debatable
penalty after Gorka assaulted Thierry's Henry's foot with his face and
awarded a goal for a Yaya Touré shot that never went over the line,
but chest-puffing, strutting disciplinarian Luis Medina Cantalejo. On
a weekend marked by tributes to Antonio Puerta, this particularly
pathetic individual booked Sergio Ramos, a former team-mate and close
friend of Puerta, for removing his shirt to reveal a vest with the
slogan: "Antonio, rest in peace. We will never forget you." And they
wonder why people hate them.
Results: Osasuna v Sevilla, postponed, Levante 0-0 Murcia, Zaragoza
1-1 Racing, Getafe 1-1 Recreativo, Betis 2-2 Espanyol, Valladolid 2-2
Deportivo, Almería 1-2 Valencia, Barcelona 3-1 Athletic, Villarreal
0-5 Real Madrid, Atlético 1-1 Mallorca.
HAPUS BAGIAN EMAIL YG TIDAK PERLU SEBELUM ME-REPLY.
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