Little can prepare a footballer for his first “gran clasico”. You could compare it, as Toni Kroos might, to Bayern Munich meeting Borussia Dortmund, but even that falls short of the screeching whistles that greet the away team, the suffocating pressure on the hosts. Banfield against Lanus, in Buenos Aires, constitutes a strong local rivalry, one James Rodriguez played in as a very young man, but that Argentine clash is at the tame end of a spectrum that climaxes with Real Madrid versus Barcelona.
The renewal of Spain’s greatest rivalry may be the most-watched club match, globally, of 2014, eclipsed in broadcast terms only by events like the World Cup final, in which Kroos took part a little over three months ago.
The World Cup propelled Kroos, 24, and Rodriguez, 23, towards Real Madrid, to a club which, every four years, watches for the elevated profile that a good month on international football’s greatest stage can bring a player. They signed Brazil’s Ronaldo after he led the scoring at the 2002 edition, recruited the winning skipper, Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro, in 2006, and swooped for Mesut Ozil, darling of Germany’s 2010 campaign.
This time it was Kroos, a champion with Germany, and Colombia’s Rodriguez, the dazzling young player of the tournament. The contrast with Barcelona’s Luis Suarez, another star anticipating his first Spanish super derby is stark: Suarez’s World Cup left him with a four-month ban from competitive football, which expired at midnight Thursday. He will come into the clasico on Saturday uncertain of his form and condition.
Kroos and Rodriguez left Brazil last summer with decorations and plaudits, respectively, and in the last month have gained an impressive momentum for Madrid.
They had tough acts to follow. Kroos signed for Madrid from Bayern, who shortly afterwards took Xabi Alonso in the opposite direction. Xabi had been Madrid’s metronome at the base of midfield, senior architect of the counter-attacks they execute so effectively, with the pace of Cristiano Ronaldo; he had been organiser-in-chief, and frequently a crucial backstop and tackler. Kroos for Xabi is not a like-for-like swap, and he has had to adapt, coming into a team so geared to attack, occupying an anchor role.
Kroos, restless at Bayern, had been talking to Madrid long before he won the World Cup with Germany. Rodriguez seemed a more whimsical addition to the staff. Brilliant in Brazil, where he guided his Colombia to the quarter-finals, he cost Madrid close to €80 million (Dh371.4m) to recruit him from Monaco. Some of that was recouped with the sale of Angel di Maria to Manchester United. Rodriguez wears the 10 shirt at Madrid, once the property of Mesut Ozil, now of Arsenal.
Ozil and Di Maria were appreciated by colleagues: together, they contributed most of Madrid’s assists in La Liga in the past two seasons. Those are the sorts of teammates Ronaldo especially values, but when he receives passes of the quality of Rodriguez’s chip to set up the Portuguese’s goal against Liverpool last Wednesday, he misses his former providers, Di Maria and Ozil, that little bit less. Kroos’s precise and productive passing is showing regularly, too. His cross invited Karim Benzema to score Madrid’s second at Anfield.
Between them, the newcomers to Madrid’s midfield have eight assists, and Rodriguez has four goals. It is a promising start. “They are finding their rhythm now,” says Carlo Ancelotti, the Madrid coach, whose most difficult decision this morning will be whether or not to add some defensive stability, in the form of Sami Khedira or Asier Illarramendi, to his potent combination, and give his clasico debutants the security of a muscular midfield presence.
sports@thenational.ae
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Company%20Profile
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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
MATCH INFO
Crawley Town 3 (Tsaroulla 50', Nadesan 53', Tunnicliffe 70')
Leeds United 0
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Company%20profile
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
UAE cricketers abroad
Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.
Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.
Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.
Specs
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Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books
Tips%20for%20travelling%20while%20needing%20dialysis
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EInform%20your%20doctor%20about%20your%20plans.%C2%A0%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EAsk%20about%20your%20treatment%20so%20you%20know%20how%20it%20works.%C2%A0%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPay%20attention%20to%20your%20health%20if%20you%20travel%20to%20a%20hot%20destination.%C2%A0%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPlan%20your%20trip%20well.%C2%A0%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
Stage 3 results
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 4:42:33
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:03
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:30
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:56
General Classification after Stage 3:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 12:30:02
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:35
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:40
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Wilco Kelderman (NED) Team Sunweb) 0:02:06
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final