Real Madrid- realizing the potential of the Middle Eastern region

Real Mdrid

Real Madrid is a name most football lovers swear by and it is the most popular football club in the world. Its fan following is as legendary as are its players.

Like all great professional teams, Real Madrid too can trace its origins to humble beginnings to the rental of a plot of land on Bullring Avenue where the club initially started taking shape.

Once considered to be part of the Espanol de Madrid, Real Madrid was officially founded as a club in 1902 and club regulations were put in place soon after. It went on to become a phenomenally popular (and not to say the richest) football club in the world with the crème de la crème of players within its fold.

Cut to the present and the testimony to its continuously enduring popularity is the fact that just recently, Real Madrid and “Prince Salman Charitable Housing Society” of Riyadh signed an agreement to construct a football academy there. It is to the credit of Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid president, that he has recognized the immense potential in the Middle East region as the area to watch out for in increasing football popularity.

President Perez has not shied away from giving Real Madrid enough publicity throughout the area. The club’s decision to open academies in the Middle East region has also been prompted by FIFA’s decision to honor the World Cup of 2022 to Qatar. Many hope that the world cup will really raise the interest and popularity of football in these areas.

Real Madrid realized the potential offered in the Middle Eastern region as evidenced by a friendly game played in Riyadh in 2009 and kept its eyes open for business opportunities. In 2010, Not only this, but Real Madrid also began training seventy players from Saudi Arabia every summer who have shown promise. Sometimes the players had to travel to Madrid for training while at other times the Madrid staff has gone to Riyadh.  This connection is expected to become stronger with the opening of the Real Madrid academy in the Middle Eastern region.

While in Riyadh , Perez met up with the special adviser to the Riyadh governor, Prince Mohammed bin Salman Abdulaziz Al-Masood, the secretary general of the Prince Salman Charitable Housing Society, the Kingdom’s representative of the Real Madrid Foundation-Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Farhan, and Pablo Bravo- the Spanish Ambassador. His itinerary underscores the importance which Real Madrid places on its ties with the area in terms of the economics.

Any link with the world’s most popular football club will only help fuel more interest in the game which in turn will guarantee that Real Madrid continues to be the world’s most profitable and biggest football club.

Real Madrid- known for its million dollar transfers of players!

Real Madrid

There will hardly be anyone who has not at least heard of Real Madrid, the premium football club in the world. Real Madrid was first formed in the year1902 and since then it has attained legendary status and has a cult following.

It is the club which every player wants to play for and every other club fears. Based in Madrid, the capital city of Spain, Real Madrid has come a long way from its humble beginnings and is now a force to reckon with. It was granted the name ‘Real’ meaning ‘Royal’ by King Alfonso XIII in 1928.  Its home ground is the “Santiago Bernabéu Stadium” which can seat over 80000 and it has spent all its time playing in the Spanish La Liga.

Real Madrid has collected more trophies than any other team in the world. The club was voted the most successful club in the 20th century by FIFA with 31 “Spanish La Liga” titles under its belt, 17 Spanish Cup apart from two UEFA Cups. Apart from this it has been nine times European champions. Real Madrid has enjoyed unparallel domestic league successes and has dominated Europe in the majority of football championships.

The president of the club, Florentino Perez is known for his penchant for literally ‘collecting’ the top payers of the world every season and paying astronomical amounts for their purchase. This is the reason why players making it on the pitch of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium are called the Galacticos which means ‘superstars’ in Spanish. To play for Real Madrid is the high point of every Football player’scareer and they consider it an honor to be chosen by the club; an honor which by the way is not easily bestowed, thus being selected even more coveted.

The club is also called Los Blancos by fans and it boasts of some of the most renowned Football players of the world starting from the famous strike pair, Alfredo di Stefano and Puskas  in the 50's and 60's and going on to Luis Figo , Zinedine Zidane, Beckham, Kaka and Ronaldo. Unparallel transfer fees have been shelled out for these players.  Perez has been instrumental in enacting these million dollar transactions.

Real Madrid is a club which settles for nothing other than the best and perfection is its mantra, and to this extent no one in the team is spared right from the player to the manager. Even if the club wins a domestic title but if it is felt that making changes would help in the progress of the team, any player or the manager of the winning combination may be asked to leave. If Real Madrid thinks it can do better, it has no hesitation in making crucial and unprecedented changes.

It is their style of playing which really catches the eye as it is flamboyant and fast paced and they are always on the attack. Defense has never been the focal point for Real Madrid and this is what makes them such a crowd-puller and a crowd-pleaser.