Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
Spain took on their arch-rivals in Portugal on 15th June in their first FIFA World Cup group game and Spain managed to come out on top. When you look at the odds for the world cup Paddy Power have Spain as 13/2 third favourites, whilst they have Portugal as 22/1 rank-outsiders. Spain's national league, La Liga, has seen an influx of stars from Portugal over the years and many have them have torn the league to ribbons so this may give some sad fans something to smile about.
Luis Figo is the perfect player to start any run-down of Portuguese stars who have plied their trade in Spain for a few crazy reasons. He began his La Liga career with Barcelona in 1995 and began creating his legacy, soon becoming a fan favourite. He then, in the eyes of the Catalan people, tarnished his reputation and legacy by joining their biggest rivals, Real Madrid.
In his first 'El Classico' with Madrid he was terrorised by the Catalans, even seeing a pig's head thrown on to the pitch whilst being labelled a traitor. After that he pushed on with Real and became one of the greatest players in La Liga history.
Cristiano was already considered one of the world's best players whilst at Manchester United and, with that reputation, the world's biggest clubs soon came calling. Real Madrid tabled a world record- shattering £80 million bid and it was too much for United to turn down. Upon signing for Madrid the fanfare was so great they actually filled their entire stadium at the unveiling of their new superstar.
Ronaldo found his feet at Madrid almost immediately and has since (along with Messi) broken every single scoring record in La Liga history as well as being voted the best player in the world five times. He claims he will play on for another eight years, let the domination continue.
Brazilian born Kepler Laveran de Lima Ferreira (commonly known as Pepe) dominated the league in a different way to the others on this list. With his prickly personality, and his willingness to get involved with the ugly side of the game, he soon became a fan favourite at Real Madrid following his move from his adopted home, Portugal.
He's probably most well-known for his petulance rather than his quality though, having once purposely stamped on Lionel Messi's fingers.
The second Brazilian born player on this list, Anderson Luis de Souza spent a large proportion of his career on the Iberian Peninsula, beginning on the Portuguese side. After a number of seasons with Porto he moved to Spain in a big-money move to Barcelona.
At Barcelona he became the metronome in their attack, pulling the strings and keeping the game ticking. Whilst not always spectacular, at times he made football look so easy and controlled games almost single-handedly.
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My daughter's first ever football match - Orlando City v Atlanta United, August 2019. Written for Izzy to read when she gets old enough. Vamos Orlando
