Spain Draws Inspiration From Usual Array Of Motivational Movie Quotes

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↵The video above was the one Spain defender Alvaro Arbeloa showed to teammates prior to the World Cup semifinal win against Germany. He was inspired by the story of how manager Pep Guardiola showed Barcelona a collection of scenes from the movie Gladiator set to the operatic soundtrack of Pavoratti before that team won the 2009 Champions League final.
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↵Apparently that tactic became somewhat legendary within Spanish soccer world, as Arbeloa wasn’t even playing for Barcelona at the time. Without access to his own video editing apparatus, the defender was forced to turn to YouTube, where he pulled this mostly standard assortment of big lines from guy movies. Good thing that players might not have seen all the movies involved, as

and

might not be the best to fire many people up. Maybe that’s just a jaded American moviegoer talking. It could be that Jean-Claude Van Damme’s words carry greater gravitas in translation.
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↵Whether he’ll make use of the clip reel again, we can’t know. That’s the problem with motivational quotes: they lose some of their oomph with repeated use. Not that it really matters. After all, Paul the psychic octopus has already ruled in Spain’s favor. Based on his track record, all they really have to do is show up and La Furia Roja is practically assured victory.↵