Drenthe and Sneijder wear white…

Two days after the official presentation the moment was there: Wesley Sneijder and Royston Drenthe made their debuts for Real Madrid against Real Betis Sevilla (0-1 defeat). Both started, Drenthe played the full match, Sneijder was replaced by Guti.

It was not an official match so officially they still have to make their debut (can you follow?). Coming Sunday, Real plays the second leg in Bernabeu against Sevilla for the Spanish Super Cup. Real is 1-0 down.

Sneijder started in a free role in midfield, behind Raul and Ruud van Gol. He impressed his team mates and his coach. And to spice up the expectations in Madrid, the club gave Wes the numer 23 jersey, which belonged to a certain David Beckham last season. Sports paper AS published an interview with former Spanisch international Fran, who claimed that Sneijder’s signing was Real’s best since Zidane…

Drenthe played with number 15 and played left midfielder. He negotiated a fair chance for that spot when Real signed him, stating that with this drive and energy, he can’t really go for it on the left back position. “I’ll play wherever the coach wants me to, of course. But I think it’s important that they know my preference. And I received enough signals from Madrid that I will get my chance.”

Sneijder didn’t expect to play so quick and had plans to return to Ajax Wednesday to sayt farewell to the crowd after the Ajax - Prague match. But after the first training session, coach Schuster immediately placed his name - and Drenthe’s - on the board.