Why “La Coja”?

By El Maestro

For many of you readers, you are all probably wondering why we have a category called “La Coja”? Well that is what I’m going to clarify in this post.

First of all, “La Coja” is not an insult to the team itself, it is directed at those “Spanish experts” who decided to nickname Spain “La Roja”.

I know from outside everything looks fine on the surface, and many think that Spain has been more united than ever, but under the surface there are more problems than people think. And if you don’t believe me, go to Madrid and ask several Real Madrid fans and see what they think.

Like I said at the beginning, “La Coja is directed at Spain’s nickname “La Roja”.

Why? 2 reasons.

1. “La Roja” doesn’t make any sense. Spain’s flag is not red, it is red-yellow-red. The national team historically has always worn a red shirt with black or blue shorts.

   

– Italy have always been known as the “Azzurri” because they have historically worn blue.

– Same goes for France who are called “Les Bleus” for their historic blue kit.

– Argentina is called “La Albiceleste” (The White and Sky Blue) which represents their flag.

– South Africa is known as “The Rainbow Nation” because of all the colors on the flag. Plus a rainbow is a very beautiful thing.

2. Now a days it’s not Spain, it’s “La Roja”. No country has been more marketed off their nickname than Spain. In fact, “La Roja” has gone so far that when the national team was parading through Madrid, the slogan on the bus was “la roja is all in”. No where did it say España.

So apparently Spain didn’t win the Euro and make history, “La Roja” became the first team to win Euro-World Cup-Euro. Not just have these “Spanish experts” decided to give Spain a name that doesn’t make sense, but they thought it would be cool to put “La Roja” on every corner. 

How sad to see your country win a major tournament and you can’t even see your country’s name in lights.

Yes, like I said before, other countries have nicknames and I’m not saying Spain shouldn’t have one. However, it should be a name that is significant to the country and/or footballing history. It is also important that the nickname doesn’t take over the country’s name. When Italy and France won the World Cup, you didn’t see their team bus say “la azzurri is all in” or “les bleus is all in”. You didn’t see scarves or flags that said “Azzurri” or “Les Bleus”. It was all about Italy and France.

It irritates a lot of Spaniards (and I) to see their country win and all they hear is constantly “La Roja”, “La Roja”, “La Roja”.

There you go.

Now you all know why we call it “La Coja”. Hope this article has opened your eyes and next time you will think twice before you say “La Roja” (La Coja), and remember it’s Spain who’s playing.

ESPAÑA IS ALL IN

!VIVA ESPAÑA JODER!

Spain vs. Italy Recap: !Campeones de Europa!

By El Maestro

A game that many thought was going to be the hardest game of the tournament, turned out to be Spain’s easiest match in a long time. From start, Spain clearly showed they wanted it more and had a dream start when Silva scored after just 14 minutes. Despite the goal, Italy did not back down and attacked Spain head on. They created a few great chances, but Iker kept the shots out. Unfortunately, Italy’s hopes of winning would slightly be diminished when Jordi Alba broke the offside trap to beat Buffon and give Spain a 2-0 lead five minutes before halftime.

In the 2nd half, Spain had full control of the game as they looked to finish it off. For Italy on the other hand, the game looked like a serious of universal signs that it was not to be their night.

Italy:

– They concede a goal in the first 15 minutes of the game.

– Silva (5’7) scores from a HEADER! Something that all opposing coaches tell their players not to allow.

– Giorgio Chiellini suffers an injury and is substituted just 20 minutes into the game.

– Worst of all, Thiago Motta suffers a hamstring problem and is taken off just five minutes after coming on. To add more insult to injury, he was Italy’s final substitute and were left to play the final half hour with 10 men.

With the game under control, Del Bosque would remove Silva and put in Pedro to give Spain more explosiveness on the side. Later he would swap Torres for Cesc with 15 minutes remaining.

It would be Torres who would ice the game in the 84th minutes after putting away Xavi’s wonderful through ball and getting his third goal of the competition. A goal that made millions of Spaniards happy.

But angered every single Chelsea fan in the world who were all thinking:

“With Chelsea Torres couldn’t find the net even against a 5th division opponent, but with Spain he scores against Italy in the Euro final.”

“Let’s cut off his leg!!!!!”

I‘m sure Liverpool fans would love to join that party.

With such a brilliant performance, the only downside of the match was Del Bosque’s lack of respect towards Mata. A player who had not played in the entire Euro, and occurred to “el Marquez” to put him in with four minutes until stoppage time. Just another of the disrespectful things he did during the Euro (like playing with a “falso nueve” when he had three strikers).

At least those few minutes weren’t a total waste for Mata as he scored the fourth and final goal of the evening to make Spain the first country to win Euro-World Cup-Euro.

Who would have thought. Looks like Spain did leave their best for last. After so many boring performances, Spain finally played the way we have all been accustomed, but with more entertainment. A great way to finish a tournament.

Well Done

!VIVA ESPAÑA!

Portugal vs. Spain Recap

By El Maestro

If you are a Spanish-Real Madrid fan, this was probably one of the hardest matches to watch. On one hand, you have Spain, your country playing in the semifinal of the Euro on the brink of making history; also consisting of five Madrid players (Casillas, Ramos, Albiol, Arbeloa and Xabi). However, you also have all the problems with the image sold by the Spanish media that Spain is Farsa except Messi. That Spain is no longer Spain, but “La Roja” (La Coja). As well as “experts” saying that tiki-taca is the right way to play, which is a straight offense to Madrid’s direct style of play.

On the other hand, you have Portugal. A country the plays exactly the same as Real Madrid and consists of the three Madrid players (Ronaldo, Pepe and Coentrao). Not to mention that the Euro is a fundamental part to “La Maquina” winning the Golden Ball this season.

Once again, Del Bosque couldn’t go one game without messing something up when he started Negredo, a player who has only played a few minutes in this Euro and lacks international experience at striker. Negredo did very little to help the team, and was the first player substituted in the early minutes of the 2nd half. However, instead of doing a straight swap for Llorente, “el bigoton” went back to his old ways of playing with “el falso nueve”, and put in Cesc. Del Bosque’s changes also had very little influence, and almost saw Spain’s chances of repeating go out the window when CR7 had a golden opportunity to score in the final minutes, but his shot went over the bar.

In extra time, Spain’s performance increased as Portugal began to tire out. After 112 minutes of play, Spain had the perfect chance to take the lead when a great team combination had Iniesta alone in front of goal, but his shot was stopped by the keeper.

Penalties:

Spain shot first. Unfortunately, the man of the match against France was the first to miss as Xabi Alonso’s shot was blocked. Thankfully, Iker made sure to keep the shootout at zero.

Then came Spain’s fourth penalty shooter: our own Sergio Ramos. A man ridiculed after his famous “field goal” against Bayern Munich that saw Madrid get eliminated from the Champions League on penalty kicks. With all of Spain holding their breath and barely being able to watch, Ramos stepped up and kicked it the way many didn’t expect it: panenka. Chip shooting it into the back of the net to give Spain the lead.

That goal must of stunned Portugal’s next shooter, Bruno Alves, who hit the crossbar and left it to Cesc to qualify Spain. Like watching the same movie twice, Cesc did the same thing he did against Italy in 2008 and scored to send Spain to the final.

!VIVA ESPAÑA!