| Xabi Alonso 的个人资料Road to World Cup 2006照片日志列表 |  工具  帮助 |
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4月21日 Xabi Alonso - April, 21st 2006My family has always been a real footballing family and ever since I was born I have been involved in the game. My father was plying at Real Sociedad at the time. Then he signed for Barça for three years and three more at Sabadell, so the family moved over to Barcelona for six years. Inevitably, my brother Mikel and I got into football bit by bit - with dad, amongst friends, then training, then matches every weekend. When we returned to San Sebastián, both Mikel and I joined a team called Antiguoko, which was a local side there. We were a good team, we both really enjoyed it and we really progressed. Of course our dad helped - but much more as a dad than a coach or a player. He wasn't pushy or on top of us all the time.
I have always played with Mikel, despite the fact that he is a year older than me, and we joined Real Sociedad together as youngsters. Playing with your brother is like playing with any team-mate really except that you understand each other that bit better, which helps - and, no, we didn’t fight! Although we both play in the middle of midfield, we have different styles: he covers more of the pitch than I do and joins the attack more. He's still at Real Sociedad and is playing really well. It would be great if he got into the Spain squad and we could play together again. He's playing well, too, so why not? 4月20日 Xabi Alonso - April, 20th 2006I honestly didn’t mind when I saw the draw for the FA Cup final and we got Chelsea, even though they were in theory the hardest team we could have got. Frankly, if we hadn’t played them now, I think we would have to face them in the final anyway - I didn’t expect to avoid them altogether. This way, facing them in the semi-final, I see it as two finals to win the FA Cup: one at Old Trafford and, if we get through, one in Cardiff.
I'm not sure it's a huge advantage to be playing at Old Trafford but we are happy about it. We won’t have to travel too far and we know we'll have fantastic support, as always. Because we played, and beat, Chelsea in last year's Champions League semi-final we certainly won't lack confidence either. We know they are a great team but we know what we have to do and we genuinely think we have a good chance of going through.
People talked about Chelsea suffering a bit of slump recently, when it looked like Manchester United might just close the gap, but I never stopped thinking they were a superb team. It was precisely because they were so good earlier in the season that the dip surprised people so much and I think it got exaggerated. In that sense, they're almost victims of their own success - a little wobble and everyone says it's a crisis.
Chelsea will be hyper-motivated against us. Games between Liverpool and Chelsea have become pretty special. I know that last year hurt them and they will be well up for it. It was a real blow for them to lose to us in the Champions League and ever since then there has been real tension in our games. Saturday will be special, that's for sure. 4月12日 Xabi Alonso - April, 12th 2006I was back in Spain on Monday to spend the day with our national team coach Luis Aragonés and 32 other players who are hoping to be on the plane to Germany in the summer. The idea was to take the opportunity to get together and discuss various things about the tournament and, although I wasn't there for long, it was nice to see everyone.
One of the things everyone was talking about is Villarreal's success. Two of their players, Javi Venta and Marcos Senna, were there on Monday and Liverpool's keeper Pepe Reina used to play for Villarreal, so he knows all about them. He isn’t surprised that they have done well. The team has been together for two or three years, know each other really well and have a coach who transmits confidence to all the players. Their rise has been propelled by a very ambitious president but things have been done sensibly. They are a very hard team to beat, very professional, and they all stick to their task perfectly. Pepe was very happy there; he left Barcelona to play at Villarreal and it was a good decision for him. In Barcelona the pressure from the fans and the media is intense, whereas at Villarreal there's more tranquillity; you can focus more on your game. That was good for Pepe, just as it's been good for a number of their current players. He was very happy there and has really fond memories of Villarreal. He is delighted with what they have achieved. 4月10日 Xabi Alonso - April, 10th 2006Even before I came to Liverpool I liked the Beatles, but when you get here they are everywhere. The whole city is identified with them. I have been to the Cavern, and you get a real sense of their history there. I have also been to the Beatles museum, learning a bit more about Penny Lane, Strawberry fields and everything else there is to know about the Fab Four. I go through phases with my music but right now I guess my top five groups or singers would be:
Nirvana
Andres Calamaro
Joaquín Sabina
Robbie Williams
And The Beatles, of course … 4月7日 Xabi Alonso - April, 7th 2006It has been hard watching the Champions League this week. I've been sitting at home watching the games on television, hopping from match to match, trying to see everything, and thinking to myself: we should be there. It's sad and quite painful to watch sometimes. You feel jealous of the teams that are still in the tournament, which makes you even more determined to improve and return next year. It's a wonderful tournament to be part of and we're already looking forward to getting back into it. We have to make sure we qualify.
On Tuesday night, I was flicking between both games but ended up watching a lot of the Villarreal match. They dominated in the second half, they really got on top, and I thought they deserved to go through. They have made fantastic progress in recent years - both in terms of the club's infrastructure and, more importantly, the team. They have come from the Second Division, and close to extinction, to be one of the best teams in Europe. It's a phenomenal achievement and one that the whole of Spain is very proud of. Because they play such nice football, and because they are newcomers, Villarreal are one of those rare teams that everyone likes. Congratulations to everyone at El Madrigal. |
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