The main focus in the Madrid press today is the announcement of the city to host the Olympic Games in 2020. Madrid is competing against Istanbul and Tokyo, and the IOC will reveal the results of the vote later on from Buenos Aires.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has travelled to Argentina to throw his weight behind the bid and drum up last minute support from the various IOC members.
The main Real Madrid related matter is the decision by Vicente del Bosque to play Iker Casillas in goal for Spain against Finland. There was much speculation pre-match that the Real legend would be dropped, with Victor Valdes set to take his place.
But the 32-year-old was named in the starting line up, making his 150th appearance for his national side, and went on to repay his manager’s faith in him by making a superb stop during the match. Afterwards, del Bosque said the debate over Casillas is a club issue, and that at national level he doesn’t have a problem picking him.
Other Real Madrid players to take part in the internationals were Ronaldo, who scored a hat trick as Portugal defeated Northern Ireland 4-2 in Belfast. Gareth Bale was on the bench for Wales but didn’t make it onto the field as they went down 2-1 to Macedonia. And while Karim Benzema has enjoyed a goalscoring start to the season, his goal drought at international level now stands as 1,217 minutes as France drew 0-0 with Georgia.
