More Big Silver Cups for the Cabinet: Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu Preview / Notes

By: Greg | August 26th, 2008

Every end of August / early September since 1979, Real Madrid have played a preseason cup tournament in honor of their pioneering long time president Santiago Bernabéu. I personally happen to dislike preseason tournaments with overblown trophies (no disrespect to Santiago Bernabéu) because no matter how tall and shiny the trophy may be, winning it would be a bittersweet victory (mostly bitter, actually) if there is an injury picked up while participating in the contest.

At the same time I’m well aware of the need and support the idea behind playing full speed matches in order to get ready for the season. However, in this case, Sporting are a game into the season already and have a decent test against Braga coming up on Sunday. I think they’ve played plenty of practice games at this point and a trip to Madrid in the middle of the week just smacks of the headline “João Moutinho Breaks Ankle in 5-0 Win Over Real Madrid”. Here’s the lucky twenty who Boss Bento Box is bringing over to try and avoid injury:

Keepers: Rui Patrício and Tiago

Defense: Daniel Carriço, Polga, Pedro Silva, Ronny, Marco Caneira, Tonel, and Abel.

Midfielders / Wingers: Adrien, Izmailov, Simon Vukcevic, Miguel Veloso, Bruno Pereirinha, Fabio Rochemback, João Moutinho, and Romagnoli.

Attack: Yannick Djaló, Rodrigo Tiuí, and Hélder Postiga.

Veloso will probably benefit from some live match burn here as he’s been on and off the field all summer for various reasons. Having Hélder Postiga get a solid hour or so under his belt and to try and prove himself would be a welcome sight as well. Last year, Rodrigo Tiuí came up big with some extra time magic against the Tripeiros in the Taça de Portugal, final, but has had a limited run out since coming over from Brazilian side Fluminese. I like his motor, skills, and nose for the goal but for some reason he’s been relatively low on the strike force pecking order. This type of match is a great place for Bento to get some time in for the Brazilian attacker and see what he can do against a monster club like Real Madrid.

Pretty please no one get hurt! Força Sporting!!