Lo pegó desde Cuenca!

UEFA has seen its share of cup finals that were truly amazing. The 1999 Champions League final when Manchester United scored twice in injury time to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 comes to mind. The aforementioned UEFA Cup final in 2001 when Alaves and Liverpool battled to a 4-4 result in regulation and saw Liverpool win with a golden goal in the extra period. There are plenty of other for sure.

However one match that may have had the most amazing game winning goal is the Cup Winners Cup final of 1995 when Zaragoza beat Arsenal 2-1. This was at a time when UEFA still had three cup competitions. The Cup Winners Cup was reserved for the sides that won their domestic cup competition. In this case Arsenal had won the FA Cup while Zaragoza had taken home the Copa del Rey in the previous year. The teams battled to a 1-1 result at the end of the 90 minutes. No goals were scored in the first 29 minutes of extra time and it looked for all the world the the faithful in the Parc des Princes stadium would see PKs. With the final seconds coming to a close, Spanish midfield Nayim, from the town of Ceuta, lobbed a hopeless shot 40 yards away from goal. But the only thing that was hopeless was the reaction of Arsenal keeper David Seaman after the ball curled right over his fingertips and below the crossbar into the goal. The stadium erupted and the call on Spanish television was priceless with the commentator shouting, "Gol de Zaragoza. Lo pego desde Cuenca!!" For those geography buffs out there, you can understand the great distance that separates the cities of Zaragoza and Cuenca!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp8SjQjqEEA

Much like Real Sociedad, Zaragoza has a rather illustrious history for a team that is playing in the Second Division. Real Zaragoza has never won La Liga, but they have come away as Copa del Rey champs an amazing six times, including a legendary victory over a Zidane, Beckham, Ronaldo and Luis Figo-led Real Madrid in 2004. Zaragoza plays in La Romareda that seats over 35,000 people. No question it is one of the largest stadiums in la Segunda Division.

Zaragoza is located in the heart of Aragon, a region known for its rugged landscape. It sits right smack dab in the middle between Barcelona and Madrid so any time you take the bus between these two big cities, inevitably you will stop right near Zaragoza so you can munch on a bocadillo de chorizo and a coca cola. Zaragoza is reputedly known as the starting point of Christianity in Spain. The Patron Saint of Spain is Our Lady of Pilar so it is the least bit ironic that the Basilica in Zaragoza just so happens to be her home.

The faithful of Real Zaragoza recently celebrated the Festival of Pilar on October 12th. One has to assume that some prayers were made to get some help from above so their boys will be back in la Primera Division soon.

Jornada 9 - Resultados

Hércules - Alavés 3-0
Murcia - Sevilla At 1-0
Zaragoza - Xerez 2-1
Las Palmas - Girona 2-2
R.Sociedad - Castellón 2-3
Levante - Gimnástic 2-2
Rayo - Eibar 4-1
Córdoba - Tenerife 2-0
Salamanca - Huesca 2-0
Albacete - Celta 1-1
Elche - Alicante 0-0

Clasificacion:

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

Sherry, Horses, Flamenco and.... Futbol!

Pity the tourist who, upon arriving in Spain with Catalonia or the Basque Country being their first destination, asks the concierge at the hotel as to the availability of seeing a Flamenco show. If you're lucky, the concierge might be able to dig up a show for you to see, which most likely it's a Flamenco show marketed specifically to tourists. However, in most hotels, you'll probably get a blank stare or a simple roll of the eyes explaining that there is no Flamenco in Barcelona, Bilbao or really in any part of Northern Spain. To find the true home of Flamenco, you must venture to the complete opposite end of the country, all the way down in the region of Andalucia and to the southwestern province of Cadiz which is home to the city of Jerez and Xerez CD.

In addition to Flamenco, the city of Jerez prides itself as being the cornerstone for horses and sherry. The Spanish style of riding horses begins here and all things sherry originate from the vineyards sourrounding Jerez. These three things ensure that, as a city, Jerez will be able to withstand economic hardship which may plague other regions of the country. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for its futbol.

Futbolitacamente, Xerex has a very modest history. They have never played in La Liga, only reaching 5th place in La Segunda Division. There have been close calls, including the 2001-2002 season when current Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster directed the squad to the brink of glory. Xerex fell just short and Schuster quickly scuttled off to bigger and more prosperous coaching ventures. One has to assume he had a much more amicable relationship with the Jerez media than the Madrid media. It's a shame that Xerex does not have any great success because there have been players of high quality that have come from the city of Jerez, including 1990s Atletico Madrid legend Kiko and current Spanish National Team star Dani Guiza who is now playing in Turkey for Fenerbache under the watchful eye of El Sabio Luis Aragones. Xerex currently sits in the Top 5 of La Segunda Division with 14 points. If they can maintain that 'racha', there just might be a place for them next year in La Liga.

Resultados - Jornada 8

Gimnástic - Rayo 3-1
Huesca - Albacete 1-2
Eibar - Córdoba 1-0
Girona - R.Sociedad 0-0
Castellón - Levante 4-1
Tenerife - Salamanca 2-3
Celta - Alicante 2-2
Hércules - Elche 0-0
Xerez - Las Palmas 1-0
Sevilla At - Zaragoza 0-4
Alavés - Murcia 4-1

Clasificacion:

Salamanca - 17

Zaragoza - 14

Hercules - 14

Xerez - 14

Tenerife - 13

Rayo Vallecano - 13

Gimnastic de Tarragona - 12

Castellon - 12

Alaves - 12

Huesca - 11

Real Sociedad - 11

Albacete - 11

Levante - 11

Eibar - 11

Girona - 10

Las Palmas - 9

Cordoba - 9

Celta - 7

Alicante - 6

Sevilla Atletico - 6

Murcia - 5

Elche - 3

Alli esta Puertaaaaaaa!!!!.........

It gets said entirely way too much that after a tragedy happens in sport, athletes and media alike come out and say, "this really puts everything in perspective." This is all true. But we still lament the loss of life, especially when it is one of our heroes who roamed over pitches all over the world. One such case was last August of 2007 when Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta collapsed in a Liga game and died after suffering several cardiac arrests. Antonio was a mere pup. Only 23 years of age. He was beloved by the Sevilla FC faithful and will always be remembered in the annals of the club for scoring one of the most memorable goals in history when his electrifying volley ripped past the Schalke goalkeeper in the 100th minute to send Sevilla to the 2006 UEFA Cup final. Sevilla FC radio went beserk and it still remains one of my favorite calls of a goal ever.

"Alli esta... alli esta Puertaaaaa. GOL! GOL! GOOOOOOL! PUERTA GOL! PUERTA! GOL! GOL DE ANTONIO PUERTA!!!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3msyoOGI0M8

I mention Antonio Puerta because he was part of what has now become one of the best 'canteras' in all of Spain. To refresh everyone's memory, the 'cantera" is the youth system developed by the club. Antonio was born and raised in Sevilla so it was only natural that he be groomed within the Sevilla system. Other La Liga teams have their own "B" teams that play in the different divisions, but it is only Sevilla who has a feeder team playing in La Segunda Division. That happens to be Sevilla Atletico. As opposed to the other 21 teams in La Segunda Division, Sevilla Atletico has reached their ceiling from a team perspective. But the goal of reaching the first division still remains for the players and looking at the current and recent Sevilla FC squads, that goal is very much attainable. The aforementioned Antonio Puerta played for Sevilla Atletico, as did goal-scorer Jesus Navas and Diego Capel.

It certainly speaks to the depth and talent in the Sevilla system to essentially have thir "B" team playing at the next to highest level. That's not the case with some of the other 'gigantes'. Barcelona B was only recently promoted to Segunda B for example. In years past, some B teams have had such a successful season in La Segunda Division including Castilla (Real Madrid's B team), Bilbao Atletic and Atletico Madrid B. There's a certain purity and feeling of innocence when one watches the "chavales" of the B teams play in more modest venues. I'm sure fans who take in these games get wispy when they see one of their boys achieve success with the parent team. And one can only imagine the sense of heartbreak it gave Sevilla fans to watch one of their own come up through the system, yet have his life taken so suddenly. Dare I say, it puts things in perspective...

Jornada 7 - Resultados

REAL MURCIA 0 - 0 HERCULES
LAS PALMAS 2 - 0 SEVILLA AT.
REAL SOCIEDAD 0 - 0 XEREZ
ALICANTE 1 - 3 HUESCA
REAL ZARAGOZA 4 - 2 ALAVES
RAYO VALLECANO 4 - 2 CASTELLON
ALBACETE 0 - 1 TENERIFE
ELCHE 1 - 1 CELTA
LEVANTE 1 - 1 GIRONA
CORDOBA 0 - 0 GIMNASTIC
SALAMANCA 2 - 0 EIBAR

Clasificacion

1º - SALAMANCA - 14
2º - HERCULES - 13
3º - TENERIFE - 13
4º - RAYO VALLECANO - 13
5º - HUESCA - 11
6º - REAL ZARAGOZA - 11
7º - XEREZ - 11
8º - LEVANTE - 11
9º - REAL SOCIEDAD - 10
10º - GIMNASTIC - 9
11º - LAS PALMAS - 9
12º - GIRONA - 9
13º - CASTELLON - 9
14º - ALAVES - 9
15º - CORDOBA - 9
16º - ALBACETE - 8
17º - EIBAR -8
18º - SEVILLA AT. - 6
19º - CELTA - 6
20º - REAL MURCIA - 5
21º - ALICANTE - 5
22º - ELCHE - 2

La Cara de Tenerife

In the early 1990s, futbol legend Johan Cruyff directed over a Barcelona team that was loaded with stars like Hristo Stoichkov and Ronald Koeman. Those teams were knicknamed "The Dream Team", a direct take off of the 1992 USA Men's Olympic basketball team that won the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics. FC Barcelona won La Liga in 1991-92, 92-93 and 93-94. Team USA easily won its gold medal but FC Barcelona's road to each of the three championships proved to be alot more difficult. In fact, it could be construed as somewhat miraculous. The first two of those La Liga titles were won in similar fashion and both wore "La Cara de Tenerife".

Way back in 1992 when a win in futbol only earned you two points, Real Madrid found themselves one point ahead of Barcelona going into the last game of the season. Barcelona were home to Real Sociedad while Madrid had to travel way out to the Canary Islands to play in the heat of Tenerife. Madrid jumped out to a quick 0-2 lead and a La Liga championship was all but won. Barca upheld their end by netting a goal against Sociedad. But them something happened. Tenerife, who was had everything to play for as they were trying to ward off relegation, got their game together and scored in the latter stages of the first half. Then they scored again. 2-2. Then, as the game was nearing its end, they secured their stay in La Liga and also gift-wrapped La Liga title to Barcelona with a goal delighting their sun-soaked fans. The TV monitors in the Nou Camp transmitted the happy news to the Catalans and the celebration started in both Barcelona and Tenerife. Real Madrid was devastated and Marca aptly shot photographs of players like Fernando Hierro slumping off the pitch in tears. This face of anguish, pain, helplessness and utter defeat is what is called, "La Cara de Tenerife".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDrHIsVMsBQ&feature=related

Oddly enough, the same exact scene played out the following year. Same situation. Madrid ahead by one point over Barca. Last game to be played at Tenerife. Barca at home against a Basque side (Atletic Bilbao). Except this time Madrid didn't even allow themselves to start celebrating early. They were beaten from the start and Tenerife's two first half goals put the game away early while Barca cruised to victory over Bilbao. Once again, "La Cara de Tenerife."

Fast forward to present day, the drama that played out those two late May days in the industrial section of Santa Cruz de Tenerife seems long ago. Tenerife has been up and down between La Liga and La Segunda for the last 15 years. There has been some European glory, including an impressive run to a UEFA Cup semifinal in the late 90s, but lately financial trouble has hampered the club from any run of success. However that does not seem to be stopping this year's squad who currently sit in 3rd place with 10 points and hold the last promotion spot to La Liga. The fans of this island team can only hope that on the last day of this year's season, they will be inflicting "La Cara de Tenerife" on someone else.

Jornada 6 - Resultados
Murcia - Elche 1-0
Hércules - Zaragoza 2-1
Alavés - Las Palmas 2-1
Sevilla At - R.Sociedad 1-0
Xerez - Levante 2-0
Girona - Rayo 1-1
Castellón - Córdoba 1-1
Gimnástic - Salamanca 2-0
Eibar - Albacete 1-1
Tenerife - Alicante 3-1
Huesca - Celta 0-0


Clasificacion

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