East Africa:Real Madrid for friendlies in Tanzania

EUROPEAN soccer giants Real Madrid Club de Futbol of Spain are expected to visit Tanzania for international friendlies mid next year.

They were supposed to come in February for the opening ceremony of the new National Stadium but league and UEFA Champions League engagements proved to be insurmountable obstacles.

President Jakaya Kikwete said yesterday that the club has agreed in principle to visit Tanzania between July and December on two conditions.

“Firstly, they have agreed to come when it is not too hot and we think July and August are favourable months in terms of weather conditions.

“Secondly, they have asked us to look for sponsors because as hosts it is upon us to shoulder the travel and up-keep costs”.

“We shall approach stakeholders to sponsor the visit to enable our national team and people have a glimpse of a top notch professional side,” said Kikwete, when addressing editors of different media houses at the State House in the city.

He was briefing them on his tour of Cuba and US, including a six-hour Madrid stop-over where among other things he visited Real Madrid’s home ground, Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid C.F. is best known for its football team which was ranked as ‘The 20th Century’s Best Club’ by FIFA.
The club, which went in place of the Spanish FA, was also one of the founding members of FIFA. They play their home games at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid.

Real Madrid have been European Champions a record nine times and have also won a record 29 La Liga titles.
The club also operates a reserve football team, Real Madrid Castilla, and a successful basketball team, Real Madrid Baloncesto. Real Madrid is unusual in that, unlike most football clubs, it has been owned and operated solely by its members (socios) since 1902.

During its history, the club has acquired a number of nicknames. Among the earliest were los merengues, after the white dessert meringue, and los blancos. Both simply referred to the club’s legendary all-white strip and are the most common to this day.

In the 1970s, the nickname los vikingos became popular, possibly due to the signings of several northern European players. More recently, some media dubbed the club los galacticos, referring to club decision to sign star players.

Before becoming President in 1943, club legend Santiago Bernabeu Yeste had already carried out the functions of player, first-team captain, club maintanence, first-team manager and director, in an association with the club that lasted nearly 70 years.

He was responsible for reconstituting the club after the Spanish Civil War, and under his presidency, the Santiago Bernabeu stadium and the Ciudad Deportiva were built.