Don’t think of this a soccer story so much as it’s a triumph of capitalism in the most pinko sport in the world. Spanish soccer juggernaut Real Madrid extended a €93 million bid (almost $131 million US, or 13.1 million bags of weed) to English team Manchester United for the services of Christiano Ronaldo (not pictured), considered the best player in the world by people that care about that sort of thing.

The remarkable bid comes just days after the Spanish giants signed Brazilian Kaka from AC Milan for a then-world record sum, maginally short of £57.5m [about $94m US]. Former United manager Tommy Doherty told Sky News the deal was good news for United, but a further indication “the game’s gone mad”. |Sky News|

After purchasing the rights of two of the most sought-after players in the world [a transfer is basically a trade for cash], some people are left wondering where Real Madrid will find the money.

Xavier Sala i Martin, Exectutive at Barcelona FC does not understand how Real Madrid and Florentino Perez, who have admitted to having huge debts recently, can suddenly gain access to the huge sums of cash they are now spending.

“I do not know where the €300 million that Florentino Perez thinks he has for signings actually comes from,” Sala i Martin told radio station, RAC1. “Florentino Perez says he will recover that money by selling shirts but, in order to do that, he will have to sell 30 million shirts. That is impossible.” |via News Bizarre|

I don’t know anything about soccer (that’s the game with the really skinny swords where they all wear white, isn’t it?) but $225 million is a lot of money to just buy the rights of two players. But hey, here we are on Thursday morning talking soccer. Which means we might be totally screwed for topics once the NBA and NHL playoffs are over.

|WAG img from Uncoached|

I linked to this the other day in Saint Andrew’s Net, but it’s worth noting in gallery form that Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas and his Spanish model girlfriend (a former Miss Spain) broke up, so he had to find solace with a new, hotter Spanish model: Ariadne Artiles.  You may remember her from a previous SAN.

Kickette is guessing this was just a New Year’s hook-up, while the Spoiler has a nice video of Ms. Artiles in action.  Below is a gallery chock full o’ sexy, and I’ve even included a little bit of Casillas in there to satisfy the ladies.  Hey, I’m comfortable enough with my sexuality to acknowledge that another man is attractive.  I mean, it’s not even gay unless you go all the way with a guy.  That’s what I tell myself when I give handjobs at the truck stop.

Read the rest of this entry »

For God only knows what inexplicable reason, Sylvie van der Vaart has never appeared on With Leather before.  The Dutch model married Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart in 2005, and there’s no reason you’d really know about her unless you follow Dutch soccer gossip or keep up to speed on The Spoiler’s list of WAGs.

Anyhoo, she went to the Bambi Awards this weekend, and holy hell she looked… okay.  I was under the impression that women with big hair and leopard print dresses and big gold medallions might look like trashy strippers, but no, apparently they do not.  So ladies, go on out and get yourself a leopard print dress and make your hair as big as possible.  You’re gonna look great, as long as you’re blonde and Dutch and physically perfect in every way.  That’s most of you, right?

[photo via Kickette / full gallery here]

RAY HUDSON'S HYPERBOLE IS THE GREATEST THING IN THE HISTORY OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE!  HE MAKES BILL WALTON SOUND LIKE A MAN OF SUBDUED UNDERSTATEMENTS!  AND HE LOVES THINKING ABOUT SPANISH PEOPLE FUCKING!

Actually, Spanish women are pretty sexy, so that makes sense.

(From FanHaus via Soccernista)