Friday, January 22, 2010

Celta a lo mas grande?




It was Copa del Rey time again this week in Spain but with both Madrid and Barcelona out of the tournament, the remaining games were not getting nearly the attention they deserved, which is a shame.

The name of Alcorcon will forever be known in the memories of futbol fans everywhere for their widely publicized elimination of Madrid earlier in the tournament which came in humiliating fashion. But another squad has emerged after knocking off two Primera Division teams and now stands on the cusp of beating a third. Our very own Celta de Vigo from El Infierno.

A victory over Tenerife raised only a few eyebrows considering the islanders were in El Infierno as recently as last year. But then next came Villarreal where a 1-1 in the first leg favored the Primera Division side in the return leg at El Madrigal, but the hosts played conservatively and paid dearly for it when they got whistled for a PK in the final minutes which Celta converted suddenly putting the Gallegos in the quarterfinals.

Atletico were coming off their own high with a dramatic comeback win over Recreativo after losing the first leg 0-3 but managing to get the necessary result at home to advance. The momentum that the Colchineros have shown in recent weeks also suggested that Atleti would be favored to win at the Calderon in Thursday's first leg but Celta came out of the locker rooms with a purpose and got a 2nd minute goal from Trashorras, thus setting a tone for the entire match.

Atleti got an equalizer but were still lucky to emerge with just a tie as Celta played arguably their finest match of the season, prompting Quique, the Atleti coach to say that it was a match that made him suffer until the end.

So here is Celta who next week have an opportunity to book a ticket to the semifinals of the Copa del Rey. They are the only non-first division team left in the tournament, and the remaining rivals frankly are all beatable. Only the Sevilla side which all but ended Depor's chances with a 0-3 victory at the Riazor stands to be a 'giant' which may difficult to overcome, but with Racing, Osasuna, Mallorca and Getafe in the mix, it is not far fetched for any 'Vigues' to dream about playing in the final on May 26th.

Oddly enough, Celta could become one of those rarities of second division team running the table and winning the domestic Cup competition, thus securing a Europa League berth. Heck, if Celta's league form flounders, but their Cup run ends in a run, they could be playing next season in the Segunda B and in the Europa League. A third division team in European competition? Now that would be a first.

La Quiniela - Jornada 21

Albacete - Cartagena 2
Recreativo - Rayo X
Hércules - Real Unión 1
Córdoba - Castellón 1
Levante - Betis 2
Salamanca - Villarreal B X
Numancia - Cádiz X
Huesca - Celta X
R. Sociedad - Elche 1
Gimnástic - Las Palmas X
Murcia - Girona 2


Clasificacion

1. R. Sociedad - 42
2. Hércules - 40
3. Cartagena - 33
4. Numancia - 32
5. Betis - 30
6. Villarreal B - 30
7. Rayo* - 29
8. Gimnástic - 29
9. Salamanca - 28
10. Levante - 27
11. Elche - 27
12. Córdoba* - 27
13. Las Palmas - 26
14. Albacete - 24
15. Huesca - 23
16. Celta - 23
17. Recreativo - 23
18. Girona - 22
19. Cádiz - 20
20. Murcia - 18
21. Real Unión - 17
22. Castellón - 13

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Hey brother, can you spare a dime?




It's hard to read news articles with a straight face that come out and say that the economy is recovering and that 2010 will be alot better than 2009. Oh yeah? Then why does my sales pipeline look like crap? But enough about me. I'm lucky. I have a job that pays me, unlike the poor guys at AD Parla who have been playing since August and have only gotten paid for one month.

AD Parla is a team in the Tercera Division, Spain's fourth level of futbol where they play in Group VII and are faring pretty damn well.Parla is yet another suburb of Madrid with an ever-increasing population, mostly due to recent immigrant arrivals from northern Africa. Parla has over 150,000 people but its fulbol stadium sits a cozy 5,000. Unfortunately for the players, they are not seeing a single euro of what is being taken in at the gate.

I'm not here to make you feel sorry for these guys as there are alot of people in this world who are far worse off. But instead give these 'chavales' some credit that they are still going out there and doing what they love to do. Some of them play futbol full-time, some of them are students and some have other jobs to help pay the bills. Regardless, the team is going out there every weekend and winning.

Currently Parla is in the playoff promotion zone to gain entry to the Segunda B, a huge step up and a place where these players could attract the attention of larger teams. Just think, the way Murcia is going in El Infierno, it's conceivable to think that Parla and Murcia could be playing at the same level of futbol just three years after Murcia was in the Primera playing in the magical stadiums of the Nou Camp and Bernabeu.

The players from Parla took their cause to the street recently where in order to raise some modest funds and inform the locals of their financial strife, they washed the car windows of people going by the stadium. It was well received by the 'Parlenos' and who knows, maybe enough people will make it out to the games and spend money on merchandise so these guys could get a check. Contrast that to several years ago when Levante, then playing in the Primera division, was able to have a charity game of Spain's biggest stars arranged where all the proceeds went to paying the players who were owed paychecks. Notice the difference?

Some of the players have been contacted by other clubs who could pay them, but those who were offered deals politely refused citing their allegiance to their teammates. Now that's the sign of a 'campeon'.


Happy New Year to everyone and let's hope 2010 brings us plenty of good futbol and drama in El Infierno.

Big props goes to Recreativo who absolutely demolished Atletico Madrid 3-0 this week in the Copa del Rey.

Here's this week Quiniela.

Jornada 19

Recreativo - Albacete 1
Hércules - Cartagena 1
Levante - Real Unión X
Salamanca - Castellón X
Numancia - Betis X
Huesca - Villarreal B 2
R. Sociedad - Cádiz 1
Gimnástic - Celta X
Murcia - Elche X
Girona - Las Palmas 2
Córdoba - Rayo 1

Clasificacion:

1. Hércules - 36
2. R. Sociedad - 36
3. Cartagena - 30
4. Numancia - 29
5. Rayo - 28
6. Gimnástic - 28
7. Betis - 27
8. Salamanca - 27
9. Córdoba - 24
10. Villarreal B - 24
11. Las Palmas - 23
12. Levante - 23
13. Elche - 23
14. Huesca - 22
15. Recreativo - 22
16. Albacete - 22
17. Girona - 21
18. Celta - 20
19. Cádiz - 19
20. Real Unión - 17
21. Murcia - 15
22. Castellón - 11