The 31-time Spanish league champions are visiting Toronto after a well documented summer spending spree during which they've added some of the top European club football stars of the last 5 years. The acquisitions of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa will reshape the way Real Madrid plays football for years to come. Last season Los Blancos came second to arch-rivals Barcelona and lost the final head-to-head match-up in the El Clásico derby by a humiliating 6-2 score, effectively sealing their domestic fate. A similarly stunning exit in the UEFA Champions League was encountered a few weeks earlier when English mega club Liverpool FC ousted them from Europe with a 5-0 aggregate score. This signaled a need for revival as the Madridista have little patience for failure and expect trophies every year - and even sometimes that isn't enough - as Fabio Capello may tell you.
A return of Florentino Pérez as club President in the off season meant a new era of Los Galácticos would resume at the Bernabéu. In his first tenure he purchased Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Michael Owen, Robinho and David Beckham. Likewise, a new collection of football Gods have been secured this summer.
Real Madrid squad for the game includes 22 players, but Sergio Ramos has stayed in Spain to recover from injury.
SQUAD LIST: Cassillas, Dudek, Adan, Pepe, Albiol, Metzelder, Garay, Torres, Arbeloa, Lass, Xabi Alonso, Sneijder, Robben, Guti, Drenthe, Granero, Kaka, Raul, Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Higuain, Negredo.
The Attack: Winger/Forward - Cristiano Ronaldo
The 2008 World Player of the Year has accomplished virtually everything a footballer can dream of in club football. He is only 24-years old and some say is still years away from reaching the height of his abilities on the pitch. The only thing that restricts him from the pantheon of greatness reached by Pele, Maradona and Zidane is that he has yet to win a major trophy with his national team, Portugal. Ronaldo's competitiveness often results in emotional outbursts on the pitch as he intimates every expression boldly without reservation. His versatility is his best physical asset. He is fast, requires very little space for thunderous strikes, powerful in the air and can always be counted on for the dramatics. With apologies to his teammate Kaká, and rivals Lionel Messi and Steven Gerrard, the Madeira born Ronaldo is simply the best player on the planet.
The Delivery: Midfielder - Kaká
Like Ronaldo, this 27-year old brilliant Brazilian playmaker has also accomplished everything in club football. Some rank Kaká's laurels ahead of his new Real Madrid teammate on the account of the 2002 World Cup Win. However, he played a very minimal role in that tournament and was unsuccessful in shouldering the mighty Brazilians in the 2006 edition. Kaká has a Major League Soccer link in that his best friend Marcelo Saragosa plays for Chivas USA in MLS. He is the 2007 World Player of the Year. His defence splitting passes became the stuff of legends in Milan where in 6 seasons with the Rossoneri he also contributed 95 goals in all competitions.
The Back: Goalkeeper - Iker Casillas
A lifelong Madridista, this 28-year old goalkeeper earned a Real Madrid shirt for the senior squad at the age of 17. He began his football activities in the Madrid system when he was only 9, before making his way up the various stages of junior football. His talent was unmistakable from the start and he soon became the youngest keeper to ever play in a Champions League Final when Real Madrid defeated fellow Spanish side Valencia CF 3-0 in 2000. He has a contract that keeps him at the Bernabéu until the year 2017. He is widely considered the best goalkeeper in the world. Last summer he captained Spain to the UEFA European Championship and was named to the FIFA.com 2008 Team of the Year.
Manager - Manuel Pellegrini
The man from Chile made his name in La Liga by managing Villarreal CF to unprecedented heights in the past 5 seasons. The tiny club from the Valencian province of Castelló finished in the Spanish top five in 4 of the 5 seasons he was in charge while experiencing moderate success in UEFA Cup and Champions League, getting deep into the knockout stages of both tournaments. Pellegrini is statistically the second most successful South American coach of the past 25 years in European club football. He has a wide array of options to work with at Real Madrid, whose wealth and allure is unmatched. Onlookers will be eager to see if the certified civil engineer can expand greatly on the success he achieved using limited means at Villarreal.
