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!
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
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
No comments:
Post a Comment