Search: ' Spain'

Zenit St Petersburg may be suddenly popular in one half of Glasgow, but the manner of their success means they have been losing fans in Russia. Saul Pope explains

Not many people outside Russia know it, but the country has two capitals. Moscow, the official capital, is the centre of business, politics and power; its people are seen elsewhere as being arrogant and pushy. St Petersburg, the “Northern capital”, is the country’s centre for culture and the arts; its people are considered to be polite and intelligent, although Muscovites see them as provincial. This dichotomy has largely been true of post-Communist Russian football: Zenit St Petersburg have played a stylish and attacking game, and have become popular among fans outside Moscow, but have always been outshone by the capital’s big guns. Until now, that is.

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The press are having a field day as Chelsea and Manchester United head to Moscow for the Champions League final

By the day of the Champions League final, recycling bins everywhere will have been full to the brim with pull-out previews, all the daily papers, broadsheets as well tabloids, having produced supplements of some sort. Meanwhile, anyone intent on reading the post-match analyses will use up all their waking hours until Christmas.

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Once upon a time Chivas were just a Mexican club. Now they are part of an international branding exercise involving football, cola and dietry supplements, reports Martin del Palacio Langer

Football fans in Mexico were suspicious of Jorge Vergara when he announced his intention to buy the country’s most popular club, Chivas of Guadalajara, in 2002. Not least because his nutrition company, Omnilife, had sponsored Chivas’ arch-rivals Atlas the season before. When Vergara became interested, Chivas, whose large following stems from their policy of fielding only Mexicans, were in crisis. They were owned, like Barcelona, by their members, but for eight years had been run by a separate entity, the Promotora Deportiva Guadalajara, which initially injected large amounts of money but ran out of funds.

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What are the expectations for the team?
Most Swedes expect the team to get out of the group.

Are there any players who have appeared in TV commercials?
Fredrik Ljungberg, of course, was the face and body of Calvin Klein underwear for over two years and is now in a Pepsi advert with Ronaldinho, Frank Lampard and Lionel Messi. Anders Svensson is nicknamed Taco-Anders by opposing fans in the Allsvenskan after being in an advert for a company selling pizza, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic is now one of Nike’s hottest properties. It is a far cry from the start of his career when he was the face of Garnier Fructis, with the slogan: “You don’t think Zlatan has dandruff, do you?”

Is the coach popular?
Lars Lagerbäck is quite popular because he has taken Sweden to five consecutive major championships but is often criticised for the team’s negative approach. Remarkable, really, considering his achievements.

Which players are good interviewees and who are the worst?
Any journalist getting more than monosyllabic replies from Tobias Linderoth will have done really well. Mikael Nilsson is quite good and Ibrahimovic can be superb or awful depending on what mood he is in.

Do any of the players have famous girlfriends or wives?
Christian Wilhelmsson’s girlfriend, Oksana Andersson, is the most famous face at the moment. The Russian-Swedish model writes a blog about the couple’s life in Spain (he is on loan at Deportivo La Coruña) and has attracted a cult following (not necessarily because it is that good; one recent headline was “how nice it is with newly washed clothes”).

Are there any players involved in politics?
Not noticeably, but the current assistant coach, Roland Andersson, protested vehemently against the Argentinian junta before the 1978 World Cup. He threatened not to go to the tournament but in the end went and filmed everything he could concerning the regime.

What will be the media coverage be like?
Swedish Channel 4 has got the rights and their pundits are normally Magnus Hedman (ex-Coventry City) and Pontus Kåmark (ex-Leicester City). They are both good and professional – but nowhere near as popular as the former Sweden international Glenn Strömberg, who works for state channel SVT and will not be commentating on games this time around. The best newspaper columnist is, without a doubt, Aftonbladet’s Simon Bank.

Will there be many fans travelling to the tournament?
Loads of fans will travel, around 30,000 at the latest estimates. Sweden were voted Fans of the Tournament at the 2006 World Cup with the highlight being 55,000 Swedes in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. 170,000 people applied for tickets. The two most popular songs are Vi är svenska fans allihopa (We are Swedish fans all of us) and In med bollen i mål (Put the ball in the goal).

Marcus Christenson

What are the expectations for the team?
Quarter-finals and then home. The usual.

Are there any players who have appeared in TV commercials or other advertising?
Square-jawed goalie Iker Casillas, whose preppy, school-prefect appearance never fails to attract the advertising companies, inevitably appears in some hands-related TV spots when a major competition looms. He has just insured his hands for €7.5m and the insurers, Groupama, have been quick to get out an ad in which he puts on the light with his nose, opens the door with his head, etcetera.

Which players are good interviewees and who are the worst?
Cesc Fábregas is marginally more tedious to listen to in English than in Spanish, which might have something to do with the fact that neither is his native language; Xabi Alonso comes over in all three of his languages as someone determined to avoid the prepackaged response; and Valencia’s David Villa is a straight talker, unusually frank and unafraid of upsetting the sponsors. Barça’s Carles Puyol has improved his diction over the years, but is still incapable of finishing a sentence without the word “no”.

Is the coach popular?
That depends on whether you are pro-Madrid or anti-Madrid. Those in favour of Raúl being excluded from the national side tend to be Catalans, Basques and any other awkward region who fail to buy in to the Iberian idea – and they have no problem with Luis Aragonés, despite his obvious madness. Those in favour of Raúl’s inclusion think that Aragonés is not only mad but the devil incarnate. And when all the noise dies down, Spain have managed to attain fourth place  in the FIFA rankings and 16 games undefeated without Raúl, which probably says something for Aragonés’s decision.

Are there any players with unusual hobbies or business interests?
Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos is rumoured to be signing a deal with fashion house Dolce & Gabbana. Puyol still effects a pre-match psyche‑up routine using a potent mix of the Ramones and Napalm Death, whereas Liverpool’s Pepe Reina likes jewellery, Bang & Olufsen systems and grey Porsche Cayennes, all of which were nicked from his house while he was saving penalties against Chelsea in last year’s Champions League semi-final.

Will there be any rehearsed goal celebrations?
The squad is currently practising the complex mime sequence required by Swing Low Sweet Chariot. This is in acknowledgement of the Sky Sports campaign to encourage English subscribers to support Spain for the duration. The sport tabloid Marca, bemused by Sky’s initiative, remarked: “Why don’t the English support Croatia? It was they, after all, who did England the favour of showing them how crap they are.”

What will TV coverage be like?
Cable channels La Cuatro and Digital Plus have won the rights battle, which means that the non-subscribing public will be spared the idiosyncrasies of La Sexta’s Julio Salinas (ex-Barça) and the incomprehensible Kike, once of Atlético Madrid. Instead, so the rumour goes, Raúl has been signed up by La Cuatro – which should guarantee that everyone signs up to Digital Plus, featuring the indomitable Michael Robinson, who remains a cult figure in Spain.

Will there be many fans travelling to the tournament?
There was a national competition recently to supply lyrics for Spain’s wordless national anthem, the winner of which starts: “Long Live Spain! Let us all sing together with different voices.” You can’t quite see that one attracting the Catalan camp (whose minister of culture, incidentally, dismissed the song as “drivel”) or the travelling diehards, who are instead working on a version of Spain’s satirical entry for Eurovision 2008 in May, Baila el Chiki Chiki – a catchy ditty which stands much more chance of winning a trophy than does the national squad. According to his website, the legendary drummer Manolo will be going, of course, although last time he travelled to Germany his bar/museum in Valencia was ransacked.

Phil Ball