Monday, September 29, 2008

Viva La Rana!


Every September, a town known for its Renaissance architecture wakes up from a hot, sleepy Summer to welcome 36,000 new residents. Some are there for the first time while others have already spent many years in this golden city located out in the northwest part of Castilla y Leon near the Portuguese border. La Universidad de Salamanca ranks as one of the finest universities in Europe and also serves as a place for many international students to come and learn Espanol. Granted, being a place with alot of students means there is alot of 'marcha' so it's no doubt that some of the first words these Spanish newbies learn are 'un litro', 'una copa' and 'discoteca.' All partying aisde, the facade at the entrance of the University of Salamanca is breathtaking as you can see to your right. Among all the intricate and ornate details on the facade, there is a tiny frog ("rana") that is nestled above and keeps an eye on every student who passes underneath. This has included such scholars such as Unamuno and way before he wrote the legendary "Don Quijote", Cervantes.


One has to wonder if the 'rana' ever stretched his neck to view the action going on at the Estadio Helmantico. That's where UD Salamanca plays. 'Los Charros' have spent the bulk of their history in La Segunda Division with periodic appearances in La Primera. I happened to catch them play a game at the Vincente Calderon back in 1998 against Atletico Madrid. They lost meekly 0-2 in Jornada 2 and it was a slippery slope after that as they were soon relegated back down to La Segunda.


Looking at their history of players, one that stands out is Ismael Urzaiz. Widely known for his play at Atletic Bilbao, Urzaiz spent one season at Salamanca where he netted a modest 4 goals. Urzaiz is best known for being the player that assisted Alfonso in the 'milagroso' goal against Yugoslavia in the 2000 EuroCup match day 3. Spain was losing 2-3 going into extra time when Gaizka Mendieta converted a PK to equalise. Spain still needed another goal to advance to the knockout round. Current FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola floated a nearly hopeless ball into the area which found the forehead of Urzaiz who delicately placed it onto the right foot of Alfonso who then drilled it into the back of the net sending the Spanish bench into delirium.


Salamanca currently sits atop the Clasificacion of La Segunda Division so perhaps we will see the same kind of delirium in the streets of Salamanca should they earn a ticket back to the Primera. At the very least, someone should at least 'pedir una copa por la rana de la fachada!'


Resultados - Jornada 5


Las Palmas - Hércules 1-1
R.Sociedad - Alavés 1-1
Zaragoza - Murcia 2-1
Córdoba - Girona 2-0
Celta - Tenerife 2-1
Albacete - Gimnástic 3-2
Rayo - Xerez 3-3
Salamanca - Castellón 1-0
Levante - Sevilla At 2-0
Alicante - Eibar 3-1
ElcheHuesca 2-2


Clasificacion


1. Salamanca - 11
2. Levante - 10
3. Hércules - 9
4. Real Sociedad - 9
5. Rayo Vallecano - 9
6. Zaragoza - 8
7. Castellón - 8
8. Huesca - 7
9. Tenerife - 7
10. Girona - 7
11. Albacete - 7
12. Xerez - 7
13. Córdoba - 7
14. Eibar - 7
15. Las Palmas - 6
16. Alavés - 6
17. Gimnástic - 5
18. Alicante - 5
19. Celta - 4
20. Sevilla At - 3
21. Murcia - 1
22. Elche - 1

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Erreala of Donostia


Out of all the teams playing in la Segunda Division this year, the one that has arguably the greatest pedigree of success is Real Sociedad. Located in the Basque Country, this team plays in the beautiful coastal city of San Sebastian ("Donostia"), which you've probably heard of. Its stadium, Anoeta, is one of the largest in La Segunda Division and this is where its followers go to cheer on "Erreala" as they are known in Basque.

The team traces its roots all the way back to the start of the 1900s when supposedly some Brits made their way south and introduced the beautiful game there. Starting at that time, along with their fellow Basques, Atletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad only chose players of Basque origin to play on their side. This was a tradition that was upheld until 1989 when Sociedad abandoned it and started bringing in players from other parts of Spain and Europe. Coincidentally, Atletic Bilbao still keeps that tradition today of maintaining only Basque players. Needless to say, that led to some sniping between the two clubs and no doubt that players have been stolen from each other's 'cantera' during the years.

The most significant period for Real Sociedad was in the late 70s and early 80s. The same could be said for Basque futbol in general. Upon Franco's death in 1975, autonomy was brought back to Spain's different regions and no region was thirtsting for it more than the Basque Country. It was a region that was utterly annihilated by Franco's Republican troops during the Spanish Civil War (with help from Hitler's Nazi German artillery) and all throughout Franco's dictatorship, pockets of resistance were always present. Once Franco passed, Basque futbol thrived and this included Real Sociedad's two La Liga championships in 1981 and 1982.

The first championship will always be remembered by Real Sociedad fans. They did not become 'lider' of La Liga until the next to last week of the season. All that was required of them to win La Liga was to at least draw against Sporting in Gijon. Sociedad took an early 0-1 lead but the Asturians pulled ahead as the 90th minute neared. In the final seconds, as Real Madrid were celebrating what they thought was their La Liga title in Valladolid, Jesus Maria Zamora found a ball on his boot and skirted through traffic and into the Sporting net to earn Sociedad the 2-2 draw and La Liga title. To this day, you can walk in any bar or 'cafeteria' in San Sebastian and there's a good chance you'll find a picture of Zamora's shot striking the back of the net.
Real Sociedad now sits in the second spot and have the look of a team that is fixed on becoming a La Liga presence again.

Zaragoza - Elche 2-0
MurciaLas - Palmas 0-0
Hércules - R.Sociedad 1-1
Alavés - Levante 2-2
Sevilla At - Rayo 0-0
Xerez - Córdoba 0-1
Girona - Salamanca 0-1
Castellón - Albacete 1-0
Gimnástic - Alicante 1-1
EibarCelta - 0-0
Tenerife - Huesca 1-1


1. Hércules - 8
2. Real Sociedad - 8
3. Castellon - 8
4. Ray Vallecano - 8
5. Salamanca - 8
6. Girona - 7
7. Tenerife - 7
8. Levante - 7
9. Eibar - 7
10. Huesca - 6
11. Xerex - 6
12. Zaragoza- 5
13. Gimnastic - 5
14. Las Palmas - 5
15. Alavés - 5
16. Albacete - 4
17. Cordoba - 4
18. Sevilla At. - 3
19. Alicante - 2
20. Murcia - 1
21. Celta - 1
22. Elche - 0

Friday, September 19, 2008

Proxima Estacion.... Villa de Vallecas


Those of you who have ever traveled to Madrid, have most assuredly traveled on the Madrid Metro. It is arguably one of the best in all of Europe. As a student, I was always riding on the Metro and one of my favorite pasttimes was looking at the Metro Map and figuring out where everything was located in the city. It was a fun exercise. The light blue line, formally known as "Linea 1" essentially took you directly from the northern part of the city, Estacion Plaza de Castilla, all the way to the southern part, Villa de Vallecas.

The Madrid Metro has grown since then and there is now a Linea 11 that connects even more southern parts of the city, plus Linea 1 extends even further south of Vallecas. It's odd for me to think that Vallecas is now considered almost a central part of Madrid. That speaks to the growth of the city. Vallecas has traditionally been known as a more blue collar part of the city. You'll even hear some Madrilenos refer to it as the slums. In the last 10 years, with the growth that Madrid has experienced, those Madrilenos who have lived in Vallecas for decades are now living amongst immigrants and they don't like it. There are constant news reports of anti-immigrant sentiment. South American, Romanian, Russian and African immigrants now all call Vallecas home. If you saw the wonderful movie "Volver" there were allusions to Vallecas' immigrant population boom.

This has produced a xenophobia among alot of Spanairds and unfortunately it has manifested itself in the stands at Rayo Vallecano's futbol matches. The team has come under fire from the Spanish Futbol federation to get a hold of the 'ultras' who are bringing racist symbols to the games. Just look at the high quality individuals in the above photo! I've personally always liked Rayo because of its status of a neighborhood team in a big city. But when these unfortunate events happen in futbol, it needs to be addressed.



Jornada 4

Murcia - Las Palmas
Sevilla At - Rayo
Alavés - Levante
Gimnástic - Alicante
Xerez - Córdoba
Castellón - Albacete
Eibar - Celta
Girona - Salamanca
Tenerife - Huesca
Zaragoza - Elche
Hércules - R.Sociedad

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Somebody pass the albarino!

So Jornada 3 has come and gone in the Spanish Second Division and now all teams have given away at least one point. Every team that was undeated and untied going into the weekend either lost of drew. Girona was actually the only team to draw and thus they sit in the pormotion zone along with Hercules and Basque side Real Sociedad.

There is one thing very apparent after this weekend and that is Celta de Vigo is in serious trouble of falling off and never climbing out of the relegation hole. Two of their losses have been at home including one to Gimnastic de Tarragona where the Catalans ran circles around the Galicians. Joder macho... Celta has some illustrious history in their club but dark days could loom ahead if they don't pull out of it.
So what could their fans do to help relieve their anxiety? Drink, of course!! The region of Galicia sits right to the north of Portugal on the Atlantic coast. It is a slice of Ireland in Spain. It has beautiful rolling green hills, outstanding beaches with crystal blue water and vineyards sprouting with some of the best wine you've ever tasted. The wine grown in Galicia is a white wine made from the grape called 'albarino'. The Denominacion de Origen is Rias Baixas. But don't take my word for it, hop on to the fantastic website http://www.catavino.net/ and you can read up on all the Albarinos. One would have to assume that after their 0-2 loss to Nastic, plenty of Vigueses were drowning their sorrows in locally made Albarinos.
Next time you are in your local wine shop, pick up a bottle and toast victory for Celta! They need as much help as they can get right now.

Resultados y Clasificacion

Las Palmas - Zaragoza 2-2
R.Sociedad - Murcia 2-0
Levante - Hércules 0-2
Rayo - Alavés 2-1
Córdoba - Sevilla At 1-1
Salamanca - Xerez 2-1
Albacete - Girona 1-1
Alicante - Castellón 0-0
Celta - Gimnástic 0-2
Huesca - Eibar 2-0
Elche - Tenerife 2-4


1. Hércules - 7
2. Girona - 7
3. R.Sociedad - 7
4. Rayo - 7
5. Tenerife - 6
6. Xerez - 6
7. Eibar - 6
8. Levante - 6
9. Huesca - 5
10. Castellón - 5
11. Salamanca - 5
12. Gimnástic - 4
13. Las Palmas - 4
14. Albacete - 4
15. Alavés - 4
16. Zaragoza - 2
17. Sevilla At - 2
18. Córdoba - 1
19. Alicante - 1
20. Murcia - 0
21. Elche - 0
22. Celta - 0

Friday, September 12, 2008

La Bestia Negra

Back during the 1996-1997 season in La Liga, a young Brazilian playing for FC Barcelona took the world by storm. His name was Ronaldo. It was not uncommon to see him net 2 or sometimes 3 goals a game. He was unstoppable. "Huracan Ronaldo", "Apostol Ronaldo", "Sin Palabras" would scream El Mundo Deportivo and Marca when describing his play. Barcelona was a goal scoring machine. Yet, in that season, they finished second in La Liga to Real Madrid by a mere 2 points. How? The answer - Hercules.
Hercules is a modest club located in the city of Alicante (can't wait for the Hercules-Alicante derbi this year) in the Comunidad de Valencia (shocker). They have spent a total of 19 seasons in La Liga, but their '96-'97 campaign will always be fondly remembered by their 'aficionados' even if they were relegated at the end of the season. Out of the six points up for grabs in the two games they played against Barca, Hercules came away with all six. This, in itself, is amazing. But the manner in which they won is even more staggering. Both times, Hercules had to come back from deficits to win the game, including being down 2-0 in the Nou Camp. They were down the two goals and then ripped off three goals in a span of 25 minutes, played defense "al hueso" and won the game. Same thing happened in the Estadio Rico Perez. Down 0-1, Hercules scored two goals and secured the game. This was the next to last week of the season and it hand delivered La Liga to Real Madrid.
So beware 'La Bestia Negra' of Hercules!

Huesca - For you scholars out there, the name of this town should sound familiar. Located in the region of Aragon, Huesca is best known not for its futbol, but for its role in the Spanish Civil War which George Orwell wonderfully captured in his book, "Homage to Catalonia". Granted, most of the book takes place in Barcelona but when Orwell did go out on the front to fight against the Spanish Nationalists, the action he saw was very close to the town of Huesca. The running joke among the Spanish Republican troops was, "Tomorrow, we shall have coffee in Huesca", meaning that once they have taken Huesca, coffee will be their reward. Unfortunately for Orwell, the Spanish Republican troops and for many Spanish families, this never came to pass. Personally, I've never been to Huesca but rest assure I will be sure to have a cup of coffee once I arrive.
Futbolitacamente, Huesca is a relative newcomer to El Infierno. This is the first year they have ever ascended to a level this high in Spanish futbol since 1953, so we really don't know much about them. What we do know is that Huesca is situated in the northern part of Aragon right to the south of Andorra so if their fortunes turn sour, at least the Huesca fans can relieve stress by grabbing their skis and swoosh down the slopes of Andorra. Doesn't sound like a bad day, no? So far they are holding their own in 13th place with 2 points.

Las Palmas - One of these days, I'm going to make a point to spend an entire winter in the Canary Islands so I can hop around to each island and take in island futbol. Not only do the Canary Islands have two teams, Las Palmas and Tenerife, that have spent many seasons in La Liga, but there is also a 3rd Division Group that is specifically for teams in the Canaries. A British friend of mine who holidays there has adopted UD Marino as his team. Unfortunately, Marino was relegated out of the 3rd Division to the Division Regionales and they'll never be heard from again. Las Palmas has a much better history of futbol including finishing in the runner-up spot in La Liga in the 1968-69 season and a Copa del Rey final appearance in 1978. They are a candidate that could put together a good season and make it back up to La Liga. Las Palmas is sitting smack dab in the middle of the table at 3 points.

Jornada 3:
Celta - Gimnástic
Huesca - Eibar
Córdoba - Sevilla At
Alicante - Castellón
R.Sociedad - Murcia
Las Palmas - Zaragoza
Rayo - Alavés
Elche - Tenerife
Salamanca - Xerez
Levante - Hércules
Albacete - Girona

Monday, September 8, 2008

Week 2 Results

MURCIA 1 LEVANTE 2
XEREZ 2 ALBACETE 1
ALAVÉS 1 CORDOBA 0
SEVILLA AT 1 SALAMANCA 1
GIMNÁSTIC 1 HUESCA 1
LAS PALMAS 2 ELCHE 0
GIRONA 3 ALICANTE 0
CASTELLÓN 2 CELTA 0
EIBAR 3 TENERIFE 2
ZARAGOZA 2 REAL SOCIEDAD 2
HÉRCULES 1 RAYO VALLECANO 1

Week Two of La Segunda Division was played amidst all of the World Cup qualifiers going on around the world. Luckily, most teams in La Segunda Division are unaffected by these games so they can play with their rosters fully in tact.

One game of particular note was the Murcia-Levante game. These are two teams who faced off last year in the Primera Division. At the beginning of the season last year, Murcia had the look of a team that might actually stay up. Unfortunately a very poor 'vuelta' did them in and they were destined for El Infierno.

Levante, on the other hand, finished dead last. But you would be hard pressed to find another last place team which carried themselves with such honor. You see, for the bulk of the season, the Levante players didn't even get paid. The club was experiencing severe financial problems. Week after week, this team would trot out onto the pitch never knowing if they would get another paycheck. Sure, at a Madrid or Barcelona, they are so well paid that you never feel sorry for any of the players. Not so at Levante. Soon enough, these guys were having to live off of credit, move into the homes of family or girlfriends just to stay afloat. It was a tough situation indeed. But still, through it all, they kept their heads high and made a game of it when they faced the 'gigantes'. When they hosted Real Madrid, Los Blancos were lucky to escape with a 0-2 win with Van Nistlerooy's game-winner not arriving until the 71st. Similarly, they had Barcelona on their heels in the Nou Camp for a good 40 minutes until Barca pulled away in the second half.

There was talk that since Levante had such financial hardship, that they might have to be relegated all the way down to Segunda B. That didn't happen and the majority of the players that were there last year have moved on to stable paying jobs and rightfully so. For a club that has had great futbolistas like Johan Cruyff and Peja Mijatovic wear its colors, it was an embarassing situation. Levante's financial situation has been corrected with help from La Liga officials and now they sit in of the promotion spots early in the season. They are one to keep an eye on during the season and perhaps a return to La Liga may be in store. Good for them.

La Clasificacion:

1. Girona - 6
2. Eibar - 6
3. Levante - 6
4. Xerez - 6
5. Hercules - 4
6. Castellon - 4
7. Real Sociedad - 4
8. Rayo Vallecano - 4
9. Alaves - 4
10. Las Palmas - 3
11. Tenerife - 3
12. Albacete - 3
13. Huesca - 2
14. Salamanca - 2
15. Gimnastic de Tarragona - 1
16. Zaragoza - 1
17. Sevilla At. - 1
18. Murcia - 0
19. Celta - 0
20. Elche - 0
21. Alicante - 0
22. Cordoba - 0

Friday, September 5, 2008

Vaya Sorpresa!

In looking at the results of last week's games in La Segunda Division, there were the usual cases of surprises and ho-hummers. There was also one that stood out among the rest:
Girona 1 Celta 0

Ay por Dios... Como pudo ser? Let's put this game in perspective. Just a couple years ago, Girona was floundering in the Spanish Third Division. This is two levels below La Segunda Division. And, the Spanish Third Division consists of 16 groups of 20 teams. So essentially, only a select number of teams survive the playoff process to gain promotion to the Segunda B which is the level below La Segunda. Clear as mud, right?
So back to my point, here's a team that just a couple years ago was mixing it up in the Third Division and now they are in La Segunda Division knocking out teams that were recently hosting the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona in their stadium. To rub even more salt in the Celta wound, the game was in Vigo at Balaidos. You think there were some 'silbados' from the Celta 'socios'?

Let's go back and preview some of the other teams in El Infierno.

Eibar - A perennial Segunda Division team. When you think mid-table Segunda Division, think Eibar. This squad resides in the Basque Country in the region of Guipuizcoa, one of those quirky Basque names that I'll never be able to pronounce. They play in one of the smaller stadiums in La Segunda Division, which has a total capacity of 5,250. Their home colors are red and blue stripes and very similar to the Catalan giants of FC Barcelona. However, don't ever mistake the two. Eibar have never played in la Primera and never made much noise in the Copa del Rey. Ironically, two of its most famous 'alums' both play in the EPL. Xabi Alonso of Liverpool and Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia who was the keeper for Arsenal in the 2006 Champions League final (after Jens Lehman was red-carded) against... Barcelona and their red and blue striped uniforms. Ah, the circle of futbol.

Elche - Another Segunda Division stalwart. One of the many teams located in the Comunidad de Valencia. However Elche does have Primera Division glory in its past and even made it to the final of the 1969 Copa del Rey. Elche is a lovely city situated right to the south of Valencia. It's no wonder that they have had an abundance of South American players in their team history including World Cup winner Mazinho of Brazil.

Gimnastic de Tarragona - Way back when (ok, maybe a couple years), when you could only take the Renfe train from Madrid to Barcelona, your seven hour train trip took you through cities like Zaragoza, Lleida and other rough and rocky terrain. Slowly but surely the train would wind its way towards Catalunya until it reached the seaside town of Tarragona. When you got to Tarragona, you saw the Mediterranean and the beautiful scenery and both would accompany you up the coast until you arrived in Barcelona. Tarragona is also the home to Gimnastic de Tarragona, or commonly, 'Nastic'. Their footballing history is modest with a couple notable exceptions. One was that they were just in the Primera Division in the 2006-2007 season before being relegated. In total they have spent four seasons in La Liga. The first year being 1948. However, Nastic can lay claim to one thing that no other club in the history of Spanish futbol has done. They beat Real Madrid in the Bernabeu in their first visit. No other club has that distinction. In all the teams in all of Spain who played their first game in the Bernabeu, only Nastic can say that they came away with three points.

Girona - The aforementioned Girona plays in the smallest stadium of all the Segunda Division teams. Capacity is 5,000. Maybe their shocking win over Celta will set the tone for this city that is located to the north of Barcelona. I spent a day there back in 1996 and fell in love with the place. It is rich in history and very worth a stop if you ever decide to venture north of Barcelona. In fact, I suggest combining a trip to Girona and then Figueres to go see the Dali museum. Girona once had a flourishing Jewish community and its impact is still felt today even though the Christians did their best to rid any reminder of it. Do yourself a favor and spend a day in this city and then catch Girona CF at night!


On to the results.
Last week:
R.Sociedad - Las Palmas 1-0
Levante - Zaragoza 2-1
Rayo - Murcia 1-0
Córdoba - Hércules 0-3
Salamanca - Alavés 0-0
Albacete - Sevilla At 2-1
Alicante - Xerez 0-1
Celta - Girona 0-1
Huesca - Castellón 2-2
Tenerife - Gimnástic 3-2
Elche - Eibar 0-1

This week!

JORNADA 2
Las Palmas - Elche
Zaragoza - R.Sociedad
Murcia - Levante
Hércules - Rayo
Alavés - Córdoba
Sevilla At - Salamanca
Xerez - Albacete
Girona - Alicante
Castellón - Celta
Gimnástic - Huesca
Eibar - Tenerife