Tag: spain

The final countdown for Xavi and Pirlo

FOR THE GENERATION OF FOOTBALL FANATICS FROM WHENCE I CAME, the summer of 2015 will be a poignant one. Time, it appears, has flown. Now our idols, those we were besotted by –…

The kidnap of Alfredo Di Stéfano

ON 5 APRIL 2015, Venezuelan painter and sculptor Paul del Río turned a gun on his own chest and pulled the trigger. A single bullet pierced the artist’s heart, ending his life in…

The eternal promise of Real Madrid hero Guti

ALMOST 550 APPEARANCES, 15 trophies and 25 years of loyal service; José María Gutiérrez Hernández, or ‘Guti’ to you and I, came within two twilight seasons of becoming a one-club man for the biggest…