Real Madrid: Universal Club

Hamit Altintop and Nuri Sahin have preceded Callejon as the first two signings of Real Madrid for season 2011/12. The new white midfielders come from the Bundesliga, but it is not the only commonality between them. Both make history by becoming the first Turkish Internationals among the 146 foreigners who at some point have been part of Real Madrid. A declaration of intent for the future.

The Real Madrid is the world's most universal club. This assertion is evidenced not only by the tremendous global reach of the institution but also by the mix of nationalities that comprise it. The arrival of Sahin and Altintop strengthens the globalization of Whites and the two new players in the squad, that Jose Mourinho manages, become in the first Turkish players who join the best team in the history of the twentieth century.

Argentina and Brazil, nations with more presence. Of the 30 different nationalities that have taken place in the Real Madrid in these 109 years of life, stand out from the rest Argentina and Brazil, which are the only ones that have reached the twenty players (Argentina -29- and Brazil -20-). Behind we find two European countries: France (16) and England (11).

On the other side and after the arrival of Sahin and Altintop, Turkey equals Poland and Colombia and surpasses countries which have had only one member in Real Madrid; Bosnia, Chile, Scotland, Slovakia, Mali, Mexico, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland,Czech Republic, Togo and Montenegro.

In the current squad also highlights Argentina. Higuain, Garay, Gago and Di Maria make Argentina the country that have more presence in the current squad. Then there is Portugal (Cristiano Ronaldo, Carvalho and Pepe) and behind them, a quartet of countries formed by the Germans Khedira and Özil, the Brazilians Marcelo and Kaka, the French Lass and Benzema, and the newcomers, the Turkish Sahin and Altintop. The Togolese Adebayor would be the other foreigner of Real Madrid.

List of the 146 foreigners who have been part of Real Madrid

• Argentina (29): Anzardo, Bizzarri, Cambiaso, Di Stefano, Dominguez, Esnáider, Guerini, Imbelloni, Mas, Miguel Pérez, Navarro, Olsen, Redondo, Rial, Roberto Martínez, Rocha, Ruggeri, Samuel, Solari, Touriño, Valdano, Wolf, Zarate, Gago, Higuain, Saviola, Heinze, Garay and Di Maria. 
• Belgium (2): Goyvaerts and Maertens. 
• Bosnia (1): Baljic. 
• Brazil (20): Baptista, Canario, Didi, Evaristo, Flavio Conceicao, Giudicelli, Julio Cesar, Ricardo Rocha, Ze Roberto, Cesar Prates, Roberto Carlos, Robinho, Rodrigo, Ronaldo, Savio, Vitor, Cicinho, Emerson, Marcelo and Kaka. 
• Chile (1): Zamorano.
• Colombia (2): Congo and Rincon. 
• Croatia (3): Jarni, Prosinecki and Suker. 
• Czech Republic (1): Daucik. 
• Denmark (3): Gravesen, Jensen and Laudrup. 
• England (11): Beckham, Cunningham, Johnson, Lindsey, Linney, McManaman, Owen, Stampher, Vickerstaff, Wallace and Woodgate. 
• France (16): Parages, Faurie, René Petit, Juan Petit, Hon, Luciano, Normand, Raymond Kopa, Müller, Karembeu, Anelka, Makelele, Zidane, Lass, Faubert and Benzema. 
• Germany (8): Breitner, Illgner, Netzer, Schuster, Stielike, Metzelder, Khedira and Özil. 
• Hungary (6): Alberty, Buzássy, Kaszas, Kellem, Nemes and Puskas. 
• Italy (3), Panucci, Cannavaro and Cassano. 
• Mali (1): Diarra. 
• Mexico (1): Hugo Sánchez. 
• Montenegro (1): Mijatovic.
• Netherlands (8): Metgod, Seedorf, Van Nistelrooy, Sneijder, Drenthe, Robben, Van der Vaart and Huntelaar. 
• Paraguay (3): Agüero, Fleitas and Maldonado. 
• Poland (2): Rozitsky and Dudek. 
• Portugal (5): Figo, Secretario, Pepe, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carvalho. 
• Romania (1): Hagi. 
• Serbia (4): Jankovic, Ognjenovic, Petkovic and Spasic. 
• Scotland (1): Watson. 
• Slovakia (1): Dubosky. 
• Sweden (1): Simonsson. 
• Switzerland (1): Germann. 
• Togo (1): Adebayor.
• Turkey (2): Sahin and Altintop. 
• Uruguay (7): Acosta, Britos, Diogo, Pablo Garcia, Ramos, Rodriguez and Santamaria.