Atletico Madrid will see another of their stars from last season depart for Stamford Bridge after Chelsea agreed a fee for defender Filipe Luis. Striker Diego Costa made the move earlier this month for £32m, following weeks of speculation, and the Brazilian left-back will join him in London. Luis, 28, is likely to replace Ashley Cole who left the club for Roma and become the club's first-choice left-back. The defender will now agree personal terms with the Blues after the clubs agreed on a £20m deal, and complete a medical in the coming days. With Atletico Madrid last season, Luis enjoyed … [Read more...]
Avoiding Brazil a priority for Spain
As reigning World and European titleholders, Spain’s only mission in this World Cup is to continue their winning ways and retain their trophy again, as Eric Duffy explains. Although they may not be the odds on favourite to win (that would be Brazil), due to the obstacles—injuries, unfortunate refereeing decisions, weather, luck, etc. — all teams will face during the tournament, Spain has as good as a chance as any of the other top teams. In a tournament like the World Cup, these uncontrollable events are what make the difference between victory and defeat. The team that ends up hoisting the … [Read more...]
Infographic: England’s Road Through The Group Stages
England face Italy on Saturday night in the jungle city of Manaus, which will look and feel like a very close encounter, not least because of the humidity! Apart from the stifling conditions and dodgy playing surface, what else do we know about the Arena Amazonia and England's other World Cup venues? Thanks to this handy infographic below from Hertz, you can find out all the details about each stadium Roy Hodgson's men will be representing the Three Lions in, so you can follow England in Brazil this summer. And, if you dare to dream, the graphic also shows England's potential route to the … [Read more...]
Spanish national team looking to conquer the world yet again
The Spanish national team, some might say arguably the best national side of all time. Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012. Need we say anymore? As the FIFA World cup 2014 inches closer, let’s take a look at whether defending champions Spain have the ammunition to rule the footballing world yet again as they did in scintillating fashion 4 years ago. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past half a decade or so, every football fan worth his salt would know that the Spanish national side have adopted a free-flowing, one touch footballing philosophy (Tiki-Taka as it's informally … [Read more...]
Spain select controversial Costa
Vicente del Bosque has called up Atletico Madrid's Diego Costa to his Spanish side for the first time following the striker's recent switch of allegiance from Brazil to Spain. The selection marks the end of the tussle between the two countries for Costa who has caused friction between the two confederations and fans of La Roja. … [Read more...]
Confederations Cup Final highlights Barça dilema
Spain's reliance on a core of F.C. Barcelona players in Fifa's Confederationa Cup, to maintain their style of play and dominance of the international game, would appear to have set back the doom mongerers that had brought about the end of the Catalan giant' golden era. Not only does la selección boast 9 players in the squad at the World Cup warm up tournament, but 7 are expected to start tonight's final. Facing la Roja tonight will be Dani Alves and the recently signed Neymar, taking Barça's presence in the showpiece up to 11 players. … [Read more...]
Malaga can challenge at the top of La Liga next season
Malaga CF diehards up and down the Andalucian coast-line were rip-roaring in celebration last week following the news of the high-profile signing of Dutch international Ruud van Nistelrooy. The ex Real Madrid and Manchester United star's capture will go down as owner Sheikh Al-Thani's first notable signing since his acquisition of the club in 2010 and with a myriad of big-name signings no doubt on their way to La Rosaleda this summer, Malaga are poised to challenge at the very top of La Liga in their second season under their new ownership. … [Read more...]
Brazil 2014 – Who Will Represent England At The Next World Cup?
With the 2010 World Cup now thankfully a long-forgotten memory for the majority of disappointed England supporters, this week Liquid Football hopes to shed some light on the very future of English football and ponders the likely candidates we'll expect to see representing the Three Lions at the next World Cup in 2014 (assuming we get there of course). In South Africa last year we saw just how far England had fallen behind in the footballing world as our European rivals Germany, Spain and Holland outshone Fabio Capello's men at the World Cup in just about every way. Germany looked vibrant … [Read more...]