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