Teammates don’t always get along. Look at Kobe and Shaq, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, or Soccer’s Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer. While you don’t have to like your teammates, it usually is important to tolerate them for the greater good of the team. Except in the case of Real Madrid teammates Iker Casillas and Alvaro Arbeloa who took their off the pitch feud to an awkward area during Tuesdays Supercopa de Espana leg against Atletico Madrid.
Arbeloa made a point before the match in front of the ESPN cameras to recognize each and every one of his teammates. Until he got to Captain Iker Casillas whom he simply ignored and walked right passed giving him what we have aptly titled, “the Spanish snub.”
According to the Daily Mirror, Arbeloa gave his Real Madrid teammate the cold shoulder over a social media spat that has gone on for years. Former Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho was fired at the end of the 2013 season, and seemingly had issues with Casillas. Arbeloa was Mourinho’s most loyal player and supporter advocating for the coach despite Real’s struggles during the 2012-2013 season. Arbeloa made headlines at the end of the 2012-2013 season by calling some of his teammates “selfish” alluding to Casillas.
The Spanish media ran with the story and a rift between Casillas and Arbeloa was born. Teammates in the locker room such as Raul Albiol, admitted to the media that the two teammates were feuding and hoped that they would be able to resolve their differences.
In June of 2013, Arbeloa told ESPNFC that he wanted to talk with Casillas and resolve their differences.
"Of course we should talk," Arbeloa said. "This is being given too much importance and I hope it comes to an end. In life your relationships with people go through better and worse moments, but things get sorted out. I am sure that will happen here too."
"With some I have a professional relationship, and I am friends with others," he said. "You do not need to be friends with the 23 internationals. I have a good relationship with them all, but yes it is true that I would just go out to dinner with some. But when I go out on the pitch, I would kill for all of them. The really important thing is that we are all united when we play together."
The feud heated up again this summer when Casillas “liked” an Instagram message that was posted by a Real Madrid fan. In the message, the fan criticizes Madrid’s former goalie Diego Lopez. The fan says that the only reason Lopez was between the pipes in the first place was because Casillas was injured by “the cone” (Arbeloa).
Arbeloa saw that Casillas liked the instagram post and the fault lines dividing the two teammates grew. Arbeloa retweeted a book called “Subversive Madrid” and tagged Casillas. In the book, the writer blames Casillas for all of Madrid’s problems and calls the Captain of the team a “tumor”.
The gauntlet has officially been dropped and the war of words has begun as Arbeloa snubbed his teammate in front of the world. Watch the video of the infamous “Spanish snub” below and tell us what you think.
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