The Pride of Hercules

NOTE: The updatyed daily excerpts of Bienvenido Al Infierno can now be found at www.laligaweekly.com.
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The 1996-1997 La Liga season is best remembered for the torrid goal-scoring prowess that Brazilian striker Ronaldo displayed week in and week out for FC Barcelona. Yet for many Barcelona fans, that season left a bitter taste due to the second place finish to champions and eternal rivals Real Madrid.

A large part for the reason why the Bobby Robson-led Barcelona finished as runners-up was because a modest club from Alicante beat the Catalan giants twice. Even more stunning was that both wins came in the form of comebacks, including a surreal 2-3 victory after having trailed 2-0 in the first half at the Nou Camp. So who was that club? It was Hercules.

It was a one and done that season for Hercules who then over time slowly sank all the way down to the Segunda B before earning promotion back to the Segunda for the 2005-2006 campaign.

After a successful season last year that saw them finish in the top five, Hercules now sit on the doorstep to promotion and the man leading them is Esteban Vigo.

Known to American soccer fans as the coach who didn't play Jozy Altidore for four months, Vigo coached Xerez to their first ever promotion to the Primera and then promptly left to take the reins at Hercules. An odd decision for sure, but then again, so was choosing not to play the US striker.

Hercules sit in second place currently in the Segunda with 51 points. While fans of about 20 other teams would kill to be in that position, the Hercules faithful have started wringing their hands of late.

The club isn't playing well having dropped their last two matches including a puzzling 0-1 loss at home to Las Palmas last weekend. There was also the 1-2 loss at home to bottom feeder Castellon which basically started this rut.

Xerez went through a similar stretch last season where a fair number of points were left on the table before Vigo managed to right the ship.

The same opportunity awaits the Alicante club this weekend when they make the quick trip over to Murcia, a team that was a Quiniela's player's delight earlier in the season with their seven consecutive draws to open the campaign.

Murcia has since improved and have climbed out of the relegation zone and will pose a tough test. Vigo will be looking to his foreign fowards up front in the form of Romanian Ionel Danciulescu and Andrija Delibasic of Montenegro to add to their season total of 13 goals.

The back is manned by Javier Farinos, who is just 31 even though it seems he has been around forever. Farinos was part of the 2000 Valencia team that fell to Madrid in that season's Champions League final. He then went on to play for Inter Milan in Italy before returning home to Spain with stints at Villarreal and Mallorca. Vigo will require a strong game out of the veteran to slow down Murcia who have accrued 10points in their last 12 matches.

In the past, this is when we have seen Vigo get the best out of his squads and fans tuning in for a Friday night special at the Nueva Condomina will get a chance to see why he is one of the best coaches in Spain.

Fun In The Sun

NOTE: Weekly excerpts of Bienvenido Al Infierno can now be found at www.laligaweekly.com.
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If there is one thing that the Spanish love in addition to their futbol, it is having a party. What’s even better for them is when they can actually combine the two vices and if there is one place in particular where a contingent of the Spanish population excels at excess, it is in Cadiz.

The sun-baked city of just over 100,000 people is known historically for being a port city and a destination where pale and pasty northern Europeans can come down to southwestern Spain and get a tan.

Unfortunately their futbol history is a bit underwhelming. There have been several different stints in the Primera Division throughout the years, including a recent spell during the 2005-2006 season. But shortly after that, Cadiz went into a free-fall and landed in the Segunda B.

Redemption came in the form of promotion back to the Segunda for the 2009-2010 season but three points have been hard to come by this year for the club.

To their credit, the Cadiz CF faithful continue to come in large droves to the Estadio Ramon de Carrazza. Better yet, the fans cheer regardless if it’s a win or loss.

Granted, a victory makes them happier, but unlike many fan bases which see alcohol consumption lead to violence, the polar opposite happens to Cadiz fans who seem to revel in partaking with the opposing teams’ fans and openly declare that win or lose, as long as they have their ‘copa’ then they’ll be just fine.

Well, this past weekend’s victory may have very well bankrupted the local bars because it was certainly one to remember.

Real Madrid’s comeback versus Sevilla on Saturday got the national headlines but Cadiz’s heart stopping win over Albacete was far more impressive. Down 1-3, the home team rallied to score three goals in 12 minutes late in the second half and pulled off an improbable victory which was all started by a legend in Spanish futbol.

Diego Tristan will forever be remembered for his goal-scoring prowess with the wonderful ‘SuperDepor’ teams from the early 2000s, including their mastery of Real Madrid in the final of the 2002 Copa del Rey, hence known as the ‘Centenariazo’.

After stints in Italy and England, Tristan is now back in Spain with Cadiz. He scored the second Cadiz goal in classic Tristan style when he lodged himself between defender and booted in a ball off a set piece.

The crowd at the Ramond de Carrazza erupted after the grizzled vet’s goal and just minutes later Enrique and Fragoso added their own strikes to claim the win.

It was a huge victory over the Castilla La Mancha side and still keeps 20th place Cadiz within an arm's length of the safety zone.

It might be snowing in other parts of Spain right now but the fans in Cadiz are believing that their team is warming up at just the right time.

Back On Track?

NOTE: Weekly excerpts from Bienvenido Al Infierno can now be found on www.laligaweekly.com
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Because of the stellar play by Segunda Division leaders Hercules and Real Sociedad, it is really the race for the third and final promotion spot that is giving us some good drama at the top of the Segunda Division standings.

One team that many experts thought would finish in the top three was Betis after the storied Sevilla club were shockingly relegated on the final day of last season.

To the credit of the club, the bulk of the players stuck around in hopes of returning to the Primera. But things haven’t gone as planned. Betis have floundered all season long, puzzling their fans who even took it upon themselves to egg the cars of several players during a poor stretch back during the fall.

But the spirits of the Beticos remain strong and a solid contingent of them made the six hour drive from Sevilla to Cartagena on Sunday to watch their ‘Verdiblancos’ face the newly-promoted upstarts who sit in that desired third place spot. Eight points separated the two clubs heading into the match, essentially making it a do or die affair.

Played in front of a season-high crowd at the quirky Estadio Cartagonova, one of those oddball stadiums where there is a small lower-level before a bigger upper level, the visiting fans went home happy after seeing their beloved Betis put together arguably their finest effort on the season.

Goals by Jonathan Pereira and Mehmet Aurelio made the difference in the 1-2 victory. Pereira might sound like a familiar name and it should. Way back in week two of last year’s Primera season, Pereira scored for Racing against Barcelona to earn the Cantabrians a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou . His goal raised red flags that maybe this Pep Guardiola guy wasn’t cut out for the job as Barca coach. Strange as it seems now in light of what happened the rest of the year, Pereira effectively gave Pep his first and only ‘crisis’ as a head coach.

The other goalscorer, Aurelio, is one of these Brazilian-born players who decided that his chances of making the Canarinho were slim so becoming a Turkish citizen would prove to be an easier route to international play. He was right and is a regular member of the Turkish player pool. His club history is quality as well. Auerelio was part of that 2008 Fenerbahce team which took out Sevilla in the Round of 16 of the Champions League. Needless to say, he was welcomed with open arms by the Betis fans whose disdain for their crosstown rivals never ceases to amaze.

This all leads to the larger point that Betis have quality players on its squad, and the fact that they seem stuck around sixth place in the Segunda Division is a hair-scratcher. Could Sunday’s win be a turnaround? Perhaps, but they still wouldn’t be a firm bet on my Quiniela.