When Futbol Meets Politics

Sometimes the most modest and indiscreet of news items trigger something in my memory. I catch a news blurb about such and such player or some match that recently happened and it contains a nugget of info which then leads me back to a news item or a person that I haven't thought about in years.

This happened yesterday while I was enjoying the Catalunya - Argentina. Tis' the season when people are busy buying presents for loved ones and friendly futbol matches are played far and wide. Our friends in El Infierno and their big brother in La primera are on vacation until January which gives them a chance to play in charity matches or in the case of players from several autonomous regions, a chance to play for their 'second' national team. The Galician and Basque national teams have run out squads in recent years to play teams from all over. Catalunya does the same and yesterday a Messi-less Argentina arrived to Nou Camp to play John Cruyff's Catalunya.

Circling back to my original premise, Oleguer Presas suited up for Catalunya, a player that hadn't thought about in a couple years, or really, since he left Barca for Ajax. The uber-nationalistic Oleguer probably enjoyed his time wearing the Catalunya national team jersey. He has been outspoken as any player about Catalunya receiving its independence from Spain.

Several years ago Oleguer gave an interview to Basque paper where he sympathized with the Basque terrorist group, ETA. The pockets are few and far between where ETA garners any sympathy around Spain, with the exception of the Basque country itself, so to see such a public figure come out and address his leanings towards the group was a bit stunning, if not disturbing.

Oleguer was reprimanded by his then-coach Frank Rijkaard and Barca president Joan Laporta for his statements. Another person who took exception to the Catalan's statement's was Salva Ballesta. What Oleguer is to the Catalan left, Salva is to the far right in Spain

Salva summed up his thoughts on Oleguer saying that he had more respect for dogshit than for the Oleguer himself. OK..... It is really no coincidence that the ultraconservative Salva has bounced around all of Spain, most likely due to ruffling a few feathers in dressing rooms across the Iberian Peninsula. Salva now finds himself in El Infierno playing with Albacete, a team that seems to be perfectly comfortable sitting in mid-table in the league with really no aspirations at all for promotion.

Some of Salva's best years including two separate spells at Atletico Madrid where he must have been a favorite of the 'Frente Atletico,' the club's radical and violent fan base. Say what you want about him as a person and his disdain for anyone not like him, but on the field Salva is always a force and his 137 career goals back that up.

Right now the striker has three goals for Albacete on the season and at age 34, it's a fairly impressive feat, especially for a striker. It is always uncomfortable when politics meets futbol, and it often does in Spain, but no matter what side of the aisle you are on, it's nice to see players such as Salva and Oleguer are willing to speak their minds. All too often players refuse to do so in fears of losing out on sponsorship dollars. These two players don't and I appreciate that.


As previously mentioned, no game sthis week due to the Christmas holiday.

Clasificacion:

1. R. Sociedad - 35
2. Hércules - 33
3. Cartagena - 29
4. Rayo - 27
5. Betis - 26
6. Numancia - 26
7. Salamanca - 26
8. Gimnástic - 25
9. Elche - 23
10. Córdoba - 23
11. Villarreal B - 23
12. Levante - 22
13. Albacete - 22
14. Huesca - 21
15. Recreativo - 21
16. Las Palmas - 20
17. Girona - 20
18. Celta - 19
19. Cádiz - 19
20. Real Unión - 16
21. Murcia - 14
22. Castellón - 11

Basque Delight

A derby in futbol is always a special thing, especially when two teams from the same city or regional area are pitted against each other. The great AC Milan - Inter Milan derby is always one to watch. Chelsea and Arsenal's London derby always produces good theater. And even though it has been lopsided for pretty much its entire history, I always sit down to watch the Real Madrid - Atletico Madrid derby in hopes that maybe, just maybe this is the year that Atleti can win... But they never do.

For many years our friends up in the Basque Country have been entertained by a derby that always featured Primera Division stalwarts Athletic Bilbao against their brethren from San Sebastian, none other than El Infierno 'lider' Real Sociedad. However since their relegation to El Infierno two years ago, the Basque people have been devoid of a derby which is a shame since the region has such a rich history and understanding of their clubs. As has been discussed on this blog before, it was shortly after the death of Franco when the Basque teams had their greatest success with Athletic winning two La Liga titles and Sociedad pulling down one of their own.

Fortunately this year a regional derby was able to come back into the fold but this time it was Sociedad welcoming in a town from the eastern part of the region to Estadio Anoeta. Newly promoted Real Union reside in Irun, just a hair away from the French border and are experiencing their first season in El Infierno since 1964-65. Real Union made headlines last season when, as a Segunda B team, they took down Real Madrid in the third round of the Copa del Rey (sound familiar?). Unlike Alcorcon's shocking 4-1 aggregate win, Union had to gut out 5-5 aggregate result with Madrid and advanced on the benefit of a late goal scored at the Bernabeu in the return leg. That goal evidently kickstarted the team's run to promotion.

So last weekend the regional derby between Real Sociedad and Real Union reunited after a mere 44 years with Sociedad laying a 4-1 thumping on the visitors. The locals had three goals in the net before halftime and never really gave Union a glimpse at daylight. What most of the fans in attendance probably didn't know was that the last time the two teams faced each other, Union got the best of Sociedad in a 1-3 win in San Sebastian. Otherwise, Sociedad has pretty much owned this 'rivalry' when you look at the history books.

1934 - 1935
Real Union 3 Real Sociedad 0
Real Sociedad 2 Real Union 1

1939 - 1940
Real Union 2 Real Sociedad 5
Real Sociedad 1 Real union 1

1940 - 1941
Real Union 1 Real Sociedad 6
Real Sociedad 6 Real Union 2

1964 - 1965
Real Union 1 Real Sociedad 3
Real Sociedad 1 Real Union 1

I guess it doesn't really come as a shock since Sociedad has mainly been in the Primera Division during their history while Union has languished mostly in between the Segunda B and the Tercera Division, but still, the fact that these two clubs are able to get together this season and give the Basque people something to talk about in lieu of the usual Athletic-Sociedad rivalry is compelling. All the more interesting will be the return leg in the spring when a visit to Stadium Gal in Irun may determine Sociedad's promotion hopes. We hope it will.

I swear to God I am a curse, After I give Betis tons of credit for winning two games in a row, they go out and lose to victory-challenged Murcia in a pitiful display of futbol. Then of course Celta makes me look even more like an idiot and beats Girona on the road.

Possibly the best goal of the season was Albacete's Salva lofting one in from nearly midfield and catching Salamanca's goalie by complete surprise. For sure it is a finalist.

And lastly, cheers for Diego Tristan scoring his first goal of the season for Cadiz!

If you used my picks last week to try to make some money to buy Christmas presents, then I think your loved ones can expect some thrifty items coming from you this year. A paltry three wins on last week's docket. Terrible!

Jornada 16

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


Clasificacion

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

Betis Is Back While Celta Suffers

About two weeks ago I was about ready to write off Betis' chances for a return to the Primera Division. The team was in a freefall after losing to last place Castellon and then weeks later getting drilled by Elche on the road and then tying pathetic Celta. But it's funny what a difference just four days can make as Betis have ripped off two wins in a row with a win against Las Palmas at the Villamarin over the weekend and then another home victory yesterday against Villarreal B in a make-up game from week 10 that had been cancelled due to a swine flu outbreak within the squad.

It just goes to show that if you can string together a couple results and win several matches ion a row, you can go from being a pretender to a contender in El Infierno. Betis are now in 4th place and are just three points below the promotion zone. Conventional wisdom suggests that to be a player in the promotion chase, you have to remain within six points or less of the last promotion spot, meaning that ground can be made up in two matches. Once it exceeds that golden number of six, then things get really difficult.

This is even more true on the other side of the table and Celta appear to be going the wrong way. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the Balaidos Boys considering I have personal friends in Vigo and I've seen Celta play in their home stadium, and of course was also lucky to attend their memorable 1-2 victory in the Bernabeu back in 1998 when they were a first division power.

But hard times have hit the Gallegos and unlike Betis, there just isn't the firepower to easily wipe away a deficit. Dinei packed his bags over the summer and went to Primera side Tenerife while David Rodriguez headed back to his parent club of Almeria after being loaned out last year. Unfortunately when those two players left, they took all of the goals with them.

In 14 games, Celta have amassed an underwhelming 11 goals. Even more amazing is the fact that they managed to advance to the next round of the Copa del Rey against Tenerife when they scored 2 goals in the first leg in Balaidos. For them, that was an offensive outburst.

Last year's "permanencia' hero Iago Aspas recently said that the team is 'a muerte' with their coach Eusebio Sacristan. Normally in Spain that vote of confidence leads to another casualty on the coaching chopping block about 2-3 weeks after the statement if offered up. If Eusebio makes it to Christmas, consider me shocked.

Due to Thanksgiving there was no Quiniela last week so we're back at it again this week. Funnest match-up of the weekend will be in San Sebastian with a Basque derby between Real Sociedad and Real Union. Kinda feelin an upset in that one...

La Quiniela - Jornada 15

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

Clasificacion:

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

Hey, isn't that???.....

It is really no mystery to those who know me or who read this blog (are there some of you who actually do?) that I tend to favor the Catalan Giants of FC Barcelona rather than Franco, err, I mean Real Madrid. I openly admit but luckily in the blogging world, one does not have to have retain any journalistic objectivity and integrity! :)

Yet there is one team that will always have a soft spot in my heart, and that is the wonderful Deportivo de la Coruna team, who along with Valencia, made Spain a four horse race from 1994 - 2004. In that span of a decade, 'Super Depor' grabbed two Copa del Rey titles, one La Liga championship and a run to the Champions League semifinals in 2004. They would have had another Liga title if Yugoslavian forward Djukic had converted a last minute PK versus Valencia on the final matchday in 1994. He didn't and Barca were crowned champs.

Those Depor teams had wonderful players: Fran, Mauro Silva, Makaay, Rivaldo, Luque, Valeron, Sergio, Bebeto, Djalminha... I could go on. But there was one striker who came aboard in the summer of 2000 that terrorized defenders everywhere in Spain. His name was Diego Tristan.

Tristan joined the club after almost signing with Madrid following a stint with Mallorca. The Andalucian broke through in 2002 and had a massive year. 32 goals in all competitions one of which was scored in their epic Copa del Rey final against Madrid when Depor pulled off the 'Centenariazo'. It was the 100th anniversary of Real Madrid to the very day and they were planning a giant party that night with the a victory in the Cup final as the icing on the cake. Well Depor evidently sent back their invitation to the after-party and decided to have their own fiesta during the match. Depor ran Madrid ragged. Mauro Silva was a genius in the midfield, Fran composed and poised as always, Sergio abusing Hierro up top and then there was Diego Tristan whose play had the likes of Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano calling him the best player in La Liga afterwards.

In the third minute, Tristan issued the first warning to Madrid that if the capital city expected the visitors from Galicia to roll over, then they would be sorely mistaken. Tristan, with his back to Madrid goalkeeper Cesar, spun and chipped a shot towards the right corner of the goal that needed every bit of Cesar's long fingertips to deflect it. Four minutes later Sergio gave Depor the lead with a goal and then just minutes after that, it was Tristan's turn when he took in a cross and slipped a shot just inside the far post while the Madrid defenders were screaming for offsides. But there was no infraction, just expert shotmaking and goalscoring.

Only the championship pedigree allowed Madrid to hang in the match as Zidane, Raul and Figo fought back to halve the score in the second half, but still fell short. Depor were crowned champs and Tristan was the toast of Spain.

The newly crowned 'Pichichi' had his sights set on that summer's World Cup, but then an unfortunate injury against Northern Ireland that spring forced Tristan to the sidelines. He never did see a single minute of action at the World Cup that summer. Spain could have used Tristan especially in their quarterfinal after an injured Raul was also unavailable. La Seleccion had two goals disallowed against Korea in that quarterfinal and eventually lost in PKs. In the chaotic aftermath, the Spanish were outraged but none more so than Tristan who was snapped in a memorable photo having to be restrained by teammates to not attack the referee.

Tristan's time in La Coruna came to a sad close in 2006 when he was ushered out the door by new coach Joaquin Caparros. From there, he went back to Mallorca for a season, then to Livorno in Italy and then up to West Ham in England.

Finally, before the 2009 season, Tristan returned home to his native Andalucia and signed with Cadiz, newly promoted to El Infierno from the Segunda B. Even at 33 years of age, Tristan is more than serviceable as a forward and has already scored several goals on the season, albeit none in league play. An ankle injury has slowed the former 'crack' but you would be hard pressed to find a fan of Spanish futbol who doesn't want Tristan to succeed at Cadiz. Let's hope he does.


As for other action in El Infierno, things have turned from bad to worse for Betis as they keep slipping further and further away from the top three. Several Betis fans took it upon themselves to remind the players of their poor play by egging their cars as they left training! 'Beticos' have tons of passion, but it should also be said that some of that passion seems to have taken up space in their heads normally reserved for the brain.

On to the games....

La Quiniela - Jornada 13

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

Clasificacion:

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

Upsets Galore

The boys from Alcorcon are going to be grabbing the majority of the headlines, and rightly so, for their superb effort against Madrid this week in the Bernabeu. The Galacticos were only able to muster up a single goal in the span of 90 minutes and never really threatened the four goal deficit that Alcorcon layed at their feet in the first leg of their Copa del Rey fixture.

But let us not forget some of the other 'sorpresas' that we got to enjoy from Tuesday to Thursday during the Copa del Rey. One that also stands out is another lower division club from the outskirts of Madrid, albeit slightly closer to the town center, taking down a traditional first division stalwart. In this case, it was Rayo Vallecano building on their 2-0 win in Vallecas two weeks before to take down Athletic Bilbao in San Mames. The final result was 2-2 but Rayo had Bilbao chasing the whole way and last year's finalists never had a chance.

Most impressive on the evening was how Rayo held the Basques in check with impressive goalkeeping and opportunistic attacks including quite possibly my favorite goal of the Spanish season. A Rayo defender cleared a ball after an Athletic corner kick that made its way to striker Collantes. An Athletic defender tried to clear that ball only to send it skyward and towards his own net. As the ball dropped down, Collantes positioned himself perfectly and rifled a volley into the net. An absolute rocket.

Rayo's sealed the decision with a late goal and sent the boisterous faithful home with long faces. A similar scene played out in the Canary Islands as Celta shocked Tenerife with a 0-1 win. Granted, this is Tenerife's first season back in La Liga but Celta has been dreadful this season and are mired in the Infierno relegation zone. Apparently their Cup play took no note of their league play and the Vigueses were on their way to the next round.

Lastly, we must pay attention to what happened in Almeria last night as Jozy Altidore's least favorite coach ever, Esteban Vigo, brought Hercules into Almeria and stunned the first division side with a 0-1 win. Almeria are coached by former Real Madrid star and former Mexican national team star and coach Hugo Sanchez who probably would have liked to have suited up for the one if he knew his team would play they way they did. Almeria's lackluster effort included a penalty kick that was flubbed by Argentine striker Piatti who gave Diego Armando zero reason to include him in Saturday's Spain-Argentina friendly after that effort. Vigo's men pulled off the upset and now he continues to look like a genius... again.

International play dominated the futbol world this weekend but the 'tios' in El Infierno would rather have a go at league play again unlike their pansy cousins in England and Germany so we have a Quiniela this week!

La Quiniela - Jornada

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

Clasificacion

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

Paliza!

This might be a little late but it still needs to be discussed. Of course I'm talking about what happened last Tuesday in a growing suburb of Madrid called Alcorcon. The third division team welcomed the 'Galacticos' to town, sans Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, and thumped their skulls 4-0.

It's not like surprises have never happened to the 'gigantes' of Spanish futbol in the Copa del Rey. Just in the last 10 years both Real Madrid and Barcelona have each twice been taken down by 'un pequeno'. Madrid were beaten back towards the beginning of the decade by nearby Toldeo 2-1 in a winner take all affair. Then of course last year the Segunda B team from Irun, Real Union, shocked the Madridistas by scoring a late goal in the Bernabeu to advance on away goals.

Barcelona's issues in the Copa also came a fair number of years ago but their fellow Catalans from Figueres still remember the day they shocked Rivaldo, Patrick Kluivert and that group. And the Barca team that flirted with relegation in 2002-2003 saw their fortunes go south against little-known Novelda 3-2.

But those were all nail-biting encounters which saw the lesser teams barely squeak out the victory. What happened last week was a complete drubbing. Madrid was disinterested and lethargic while Alcorcon looked the side that had the 450 Euro payroll.

Alcorcon resides in the southwestern suburbs of Madrid containing a growing immigrant population. The town's population has grown significantly in the last 10 years due to the influx of immigrants to Spain and social services have been built up to support the city (including now having a Metro stop!). It looks like futbol has become another one of those social services as the team could parlay this win towards getting promoted to the Infierno at the close of the season. A return leg in the Bernabeu awaits, and if there is a team that can overcome the odds and win 5-0 to advance, it's Madrid, but for now let us take a step back and celebrate the exploits of Alcorcon and their 1 million Euro payroll. Me quito el sombrero.

No action last week between Betis and Villarreal B who had to cancel their match due to the Swine Flu.

Also, take a moment and keep Fernando Caceres in your thoughts and prayers. The former Celta, Zaragoza and Valencia man was attacked by a couple hoodlums this past week in his native Argentina and his chances of living are bleak.

Sorry for the lack of Quiniela picks this week. Probably wouldn't have made my new commenting friend from Poland any money anyways!

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

Clasificacion:

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

Empatatis

It is almost to the point of laughable at what is happening down yonder in Murcia. After eight matches played, the club finds itself still winless on the season, yet above the relegation zone. How does this happen? Well, the answer to that could be in the form of another question: Why win or lose, when you can draw?

That's right, Murcia are currently sporting one of the oddest W/T/L lines of any team with a 0/7/1 record on the season. Zero wins, seven draws and one loss. Only Gimnastic all the way back in week one were able to alter the trend, but then again, that was the first week of the season meaning that Murcia have reeled off seven ties in a row!

Jornada 5 saw Murcia almost collect their first win but a 92nd goal by Salamanca's Goikoetxea (not to be confused with the 'Butcher of Bilbao') spoiled the party. Otherwise, it's been a continuous plodding along for the southeastern side who fell from la Liga glory after the '07-'08 season and then dangerously dropped down to the Segunda B last before a resurgent spring ensured their safety.

"Puntuando" has always been viewed as a positive thing in the eyes of Spanish futbol expert, but at the rate that Murcia is doing it, an occasional three would be much better. Last year it took 47 points to ensure safety for Celta and Las Palmas. Trying every match over the course of the 41 weeks won't get it done. I'm not naive to think that Murcia will actually tie EVERY single match, but I think you get my point that it's time to start thinking about winning, rather than not losing.

Other notes:

How about Castellon getting their first win of the year over Betis? Cheers to Tintin Martinez for his first win as coach there. Betis are now 7th and starting to fade a bit from the top three. they were not expected to be having this much trouble and losing to the bottom feeder isn't helping matters. A loss this week could see some heads rolling.

One thing we can extract from Murcia's tendency to draw is that it helps our Quiniela! Of course, I was foolish to think that Murcia would actually lose last week so I won't make the same mistake again. Four wins last week. Not much better but at least it was some improvement.

Jornada 9

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

Clasificacion:

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

A Week Of 'Polemica'

This year so far in El Infierno the news in the middle of the week has been fairly quiet. It had been quite the contrast from last season where a new scandal seemed to break every week. Whether it was the former Xerez president being involved in a shooting at a brothel or a Rayo Vallecano play implicated in a massive cocaine sting, it certainly made for good theater.

This past week provided the first instance of off the field 'polemica' in the Segunda Division and we were treated to not one, but two flare-ups.

The first was the accusation that last year's season ending match between Las Palmas and Rayo Vallecano was fixed. Rayo had nothing to play for and was simply wrapping up their season while Las Palmas needed a point to ensure safety. The Canary Islands side at the time was just two points ahead of Alaves in the standings and required a result to make sure they stayed another season in the Segunda.

Las Palmas got the result but with only two shots on goal in a match they seemingly had to have, it did give off an air that something was amiss. UEFA apparently got wind of this and elected to add this match to the already huge list of 40 gamesthat have been suspected of match-fixing... That's right, 40 games.

40 games is a telling statistic. Essentially, yes, match fixing does happen on some level whether it's with the giants like Barcelona and Real Madrid or down to the smaller clubs like our friends in El Infierno. One would hope that it doesn't happen, but it does and frankly, there is little that can be done to penalize those involved. The referee from the Las Palmas-Rayo match publicly said that he didn't see anything 'raro' with what was going on. Hell, Spanish clubs are known for offering 'maletas' full of cash to teams to win games against opponents. How is that different than throwing a match?

The other off the field 'polemica' this year in El Infierno was the dust-up between Albacete goalkeeper Notario and Celta's Catala and Trashorras. Apparently Notario took exception to Celta's Iago Aspas placing his hands on Notario's head after the keeper had saved a shot. Words were exchanged following the match and the next thing you know a brawl is going on in the tunnel between Notario and Catala and Trashorras.

Unfortunately for Celta, it was the most fight they had shown all season. Where's that spirit on the field? All players involved, including a Celta assistant coach were rightfully suspended, yet it has been only Notario who has stepped forward with an apology to his teammates, the club, the fans and anyone associated with futbol in general. I think it was contrite... I think. Going back to our friends in Galicia, they could use a little more fight in their game because right now, they are dreadful.

One last note... congrats to new Elche head man Pepe Bordalás who got a victory in his first match as coach for the Comunidad de Valencia side. Elche beat Recreativo 3-2. But with one coaching success comes another failure, Castellon showed David Amaral the door after the team only managed one draw in seven matches on the season. Not a surprise there. In his place comes Tintin Martinez who was head man at Primera Division's Espanyol, but his coaching claim to fame came back in 1997 when he managed CE Europa to a victory over FC Barcelona in the Copa de Catalunya final.

Speaking of needing a change, have a look at my Quiniela results from last week. Terrible!! I should fire myself. Just two games correctly picked. It can't get any worse this week, can it?

Quiniela - Jornada 8

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

Clasificacion:

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

The Look of a Winner

Two-time La Liga champions Real Sociedad from San Sebastian were thought of as being one of the favorites to regain promotion last year after being relegating following the 2007-2008 La Liga season. Only problem was that the Basques could never put together a run that made them promotion worthy and they were ultimately left on the outside looking in.

Granted their titles came back in the early 80's, but this was still a team that played Champions League futbol less than ten years ago. It was mildly surprising that Sociedad was left out of the mix because frankly, they are a Primera Division stalwart and should be there, not in El Infierno.

But for now, we have the pleasure of watching their passionate fans urge their boys back to victory and a rightful place in Spain's top flight so the locals can stick their chests out whenever they travel to nearby Bilbao where Athletic have never gone down.

This year Real Sociedad appear to be doing everything right so far as evidenced by their 1-3 victory this past weekend over Numancia. It's hard enough going to Los Pajaritos and getting a point, let alone three. Just ask pep Guardiola. It was Numancia who handed Barca a 1-0 defeat before the Blaugrana ripped off umpteen wins in a row and ran away with La Liga title. But still, the defending European champs weren't even able to score in Soria against Numancia, let alone win.

So Sociedad's three goals against the newly relegated side went a long ways towards experts pegging the Basques as promotion favorites this year. The club still mainly consists of Basque players with an occasional foreigner wearing the blue and white striped jersey, plus Uruguayan coach Martin Lasarte.

Everyone's favorite journeyman 'El Lobo' Abreau is now gone and playing in Greece but the core of the team are the nine players who rose up from the club's 'cantera', also known as Real Sociedad B. The leader of this group is Xabi Prieto who has been with Sociedad since 2003 when they club was coming off that second place finish in La Liga. Prieto is one of the elder statesman on the team but still one of its most dangerous playmakers including his goal against Numancia this past weekend much to the delight of the thousands that made the trip south from the Bay of Biscay.

Real Sociedad sit second just a point behind Hercules and it would not be surprisng at all to see the club end in that exact same spot come early June.


As for last week's Quiniela. Well, it was better than the previous week with five wins including my Real Sociedad pick. Also picked the Cartagena - Villarreal B tie which I'd say if fairly impressive.

One last note - first firing of the year was handed down this week. Elche bid adieu to Claudio Barragán who the club said, "was not the leader we wanted and not right for the team." Think you could have decided on that before the season started, not six weeks in?

Jornada 7 - Quiniela

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

Clasificacion:

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

Impressive... so far

Sevilla B's abysmal play last year in El Infierno opened up the debate that The FEF needs to put together a "Liga de Filiales" so "B" and "C" teams of some of the bigger clubs could compete against each other.

I'm still in favor of the idea and think that "B" teams facing off against other independent clubs in league play is a mistake. But it won't change anytime soon so we may as well make the best of what we have, which in this case, is Villarreal B.

The Baby Yellow Submariners are already well ahead of Sevilla B's pace from last year when the junior Andalucians finished with a paltry 18 points. Villarreal B already have a victory and two draws on the season giving them five points and are currently above the relegation zone.

This apparent success lends even more credence to the fact that Villarreal are doing something right in terms of producing players and finding the right guys at the right time. The senior club is struggling this year with just two points, but prior to, the small club managed to make runs to the Champions League knockout rounds in 2006 and 2009.

You have to understand, Villarreal is tiny. The big huge Real madrid and Barca dollars aren't there. So to combat that, you have to actually rely on scouting and development of youth talent. What a concept!

They're doing something right down there in that Comunidad de Valencia hamlet as three of their players are at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt. And they're not all Spanish either. Two of the Argentineans on the squad, Marco Ruben and Mateo Musacchio, have spent significant time at River Plate. These guys assuredly played in a Boca-River game so having to endure the raining of insults from the fans at the Bombanera probably pales in comparison to hearing a slight from someone shouting at them in Balaidos or Anoeta.

So maybe Villarreal B will disprove my theory that Spain needs a Liga de Filias. Heck, maybe at this rate, they'll simply swap places with their parent side who are in la Liga's relegation zone allowing the B team to play the giants of Spain next year!


So last week's Quiniela didn't go well. Definitely would have lost money. The tally was just three wins. Pretty embarassing. Let's try it again.

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

Clasificacion:

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

Is Cartagena For Real?

OK... Admittedly I've been slack about updating this blog. Stuff happens when you have a one year old daughter, ya know?

So on to the futbol. Without question, the big story so far this season is the surprising good play of FC Cartagena who are newcomers to El Infierno. The club is relatively new being founded in 1995 and has never spent a season above Segunda B until this year. Expectations were modest coming into the season and any Cartagena fan would have been happy with simply surviving its first year in the Segunda.

Well, apparently the players didn't get the message. Turns out that the squad decided to pick up 10 points in their first four matches thus making them lider.It is mainly a domestic squad with the exception of a Panamanian and a Frenchman. Upon further inspection of the roster, you can see why the club does generally well as there are quality players with experience at even some of the biggest clubs in Europe.

It starts with goalkeeper Ruben who rose through the youth ranks at Barcelona and even managed to snap a couple appearances back when Ronaldinho was running rampant for the Blaugrana. Unfortunately for Ruben, Victor Valdes and Albert Jorquera were firmly entrenched ahead of him so he elected to head south along the coast towards Murcia and has been with Cartagena since last season.

The aforementioned Frenchman is Pascal Cygnan who came in from Villarreal and also spent four years at Arsenal, including playing a role in Arsenal's legendary "Invincibles" squad which went unbeaten in the EPL. Before that, it was eight years at Lille. He might be 35 but this guy knows how to play and was a wise 'fichaje'.

There's another graybeard who plays up front, Victor, who is also 35 and has nine years at Valladolid and four years at Villarreal under his belt. The man has scored nearly 150 goals in all competitions and serves a perfect complement to his partner in crime, Enrique de Lucas.

Lucas also has a European portfolio after spending time with PSG in France and then one season at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho. He is native Catalan but don't ever expect to see Lucas at Camp Nou cheering on the reigning Europeam champs. Lucas is a 'Perico' through and through after getting his start at Espanyol.

So there you have it, a very nice blend of hungry young players combined with players who may be on the wrong side of 30 but are still very apt and very skilled to teach the other teams in El Infierno a thing or two about class futbol.

This weekend they get their biggest test when they travel to Sevilla to play Betis who still pretty pissed about not being in the Primera.
======

I decided that in order to make things more interesting, instead of just listing last week's scores, I'll be giving my predictions of this week's upcoming matches in true 'Quiniela' fashion.

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


Clasificacion:

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

Back and Back Big!

Now you really didn't think I was going to forget that my beloved El Infierno had started back up, did you?

As is custom, the Spanish gratiously allowed the rest of Europe to start their futbol season prior to their own kickoff. We are all aware of the headlines made by Real Madrid over the summer with their infusion of Galacticos 2.0, but largely unnoticed was what transpired over the summer in the Segunda Division in what in my opinion was the biggest news piece.

Esteban Vigo. Remember that guy? We talked about him alot last season. He was the Xerez coach who got Confederation Cup hero Jozy Altidore in a midseason loan from Villarreal but elected to never play Jozy, hell, that's doing it justioce. Esteban only called his name once to sit on the bench and then Jozy never even saw a minute of action in that 3-0 blowout over Hercules.

Well, it was hard to be critical at that time seeing that Xerez rode the brilliant coaching of Vigo all the way to their first ever appearance in the Primera Division where they will get smacked around all year long by their older and stronger opponents.

But in a rare move, Esteban said, "Thank, but I'm pretty comfy here in El Infierno, so good luck playing Barca next year and I'll just head east to Alicante to coach Hercules."

So there you have it. The best coach in the Liga Adelante was so taken with the second level of Spanish futbol that when he was given the once and a lifetime chance to coach a Primera Division side, he turned it down and decided to go coach another team in El Infierno. In a way, I admire his spirit.

That said, I hold a grudge against the guy for keeping Jozy on the bench, but I cannot dispute his ability to coach up a team so here I am on September 4th telling you that Hercules will return to the Primera Division for the 2010-2011 La Liga season. In the meantime, let's enjoy the games, shall we?

Jornada 1 - Resultados

Celta - Numancia 1-2
Cádiz - Salamanca 0-1
Villarreal B - Levante 2-2
Betis - Córdoba 3-0
Castellón - Hércules 0-0
Real Unión - Recreativo 0-1
Rayo - Albacete 3-0
Girona - Cartagena 0-1
Murcia - Gimnástic 0-1
Las Palmas - R. Sociedad 1-1
Elche - Huesca 0-2

Clasificacion

1. Betis - 3
2. Rayo - 3
3. Huesca - 3
4. Numancia - 3
5. Cartagena - 3
6. Gimnástic - 3
7. Recreativo - 3
8. Salamanca - 3
9. Levante - 1
10. Villarreal B - 1
11. Las Palmas - 1
12. R. Sociedad - 1
13. Castellón - 1
14. Hércules - 1
15. Celta - 0
16. Cádiz - 0
17. Girona - 0
18. Murcia - 0
19. Real Unión - 0
20. Elche - 0
21 Albacete - 0
22 Córdoba - 0

Enhorabuena

Unlike most years, the final 'temporada' of the Spanish Second Division will be one without drama which is unfortunate for people like myself who crave the torture and ecstasy within futbol. My sentiments, however, fall on deaf ears in three Spanish towns which are celebrating the euphoria of a triumphant return to the Primera Division.

Let's start with Xerez. The land of flamenco has never had a Real Madrid or a FC Barcelona come to the Estadio Chapin so the locals will be in for a treat. I'm glad for the people but frankly, personally I'm still bitter at the way Jozy Altidore was treated by the club. He would have been much better off being loaned out to Levante or maybe Real Sociedad where he actually would have gotten some playing time. Xerez coach Esteban Vigo never wanted Jozy there and that was evident. Only the clubs execs wanted him and thus started a cluster-you-know-what of epic proportions.
But, let's set that aside briefly and tip our caps to Xerex who put away some old choking ghosts of the past and will delight their fans with their first ever appearance in the Primera Division. Enhorabuena.

Next is Tenerife who returns to La Liga for the first time since the 2001-2002 season. For a side that spent so much time in the Primera back in the 80s and 90s, the seven year drought must have felt like an eternity. It's good to see the Canary Islands represented in the First Division and we'll have that next year. Who knows, maybe the islanders will even be able to make a run towards a Europa League berth like they did back in the mid 90s. La Cara de Tenerife is back!

Last but certainly not least is Zaragoza. The long-time first division club from Aragon is rightly back in the Primera. Credit players like the Brazilian Ewerthon who muscled his way to being the leading scorer in this year's Liga Adelante. The 1995 Recopa Champs will be competitive in next year's la Liga so don't expect them to be a one and done.

So this weekend all matches have zero implications except where teams will lay in the final standings. Alaves secured their fate of relegation when las Palmas tied so the 2001 UEFA Cup runners up will descend further down to La Segunda B and who knows if we will ever hear from them.

Speaking of the Segunda B, there is still work to be done in the promotion playoffs. Cadiz and Cartegena have already secured their spots in next year's El Infierno leaving two more spots to be had. Sunday sees the return leg of the two playoff matches between Alcorcon-Real Union and Villarreal B - Real Jaen. Both first leg games ended in 0-0 draws so look for the Real Madrid giant killer Real Union to advance and the modest club from the north of Granada, Jaen, to lay claim to the final spot in next year's El Infierno.

Resultados - Jornada 41

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


Clasificacion

1. Tenerife - 81 Ascendido!
2. Xerez - 81 Ascendido!
3. Zaragoza - 80 Ascendido!
4. Hércules - 75
5. Rayo - 69
6. R. Sociedad - 64
7. Levante - 63
8. Castellón - 62
9. Salamanca - 60
10. Gimnástic - 57
11. Elche - 53
12. Murcia - 52
13. Huesca - 50
14. Córdoba - 50
15. Girona - 49
16. Albacete - 48
17. Celta - 47
18. Las Palmas - 46
19. Alavés - 43 Descendido
20. Alicante - 34 Descendido
21. Eibar - 32 Descendido
22. Sevilla At - 18 Descendido

The Cava Is On Ice

Tomorrow just may be the day where all positions in El Infierno are decided. Then again, it may not. After this weekend, this is still one last week to play, yet the teams at the top who are so close to promotion still have some work to be done. More on that later.

Meanwhile, at the bottom, Celta took a huge step towards avoiding relegation to Segunda B by beating Alaves 2-1 thanks to two goals from iago Aspas, a player who will now go down in Celta lore. Only Las Palmas can be caught by the Basque side and the gap is a fairly wide five points. This all but closes a sad state of affairs for Alaves who, as mentioned numewrous times before in this blog, rose to European glory by coming oh-so-very close to winning the 2001 UEFA Cup. The only holdover from that team is Astudillo who promised to walk back to Vitoria completely naked should Alaves survive. Thankfully for the majority of the northern Spanish countryside, it looks like that won't happen so cows in Asturias will be spared the site of a naked poney-tailed futbolista doing a reverse of the Camino de Santiago.

Back to the top, Xerez lost at Tenerife to drop to 2nd place but it doesn't really matter as they are still just a single point away from earning promotion to the Primera Division for the first time in club history. Part of me hopes they drop the home encounter against Huesca and then lose the season finale in Balaidos mainly because I'm still smarting from the fact that Jozy Altidore never played a single minute for Esteban Vigo. I can only imagine what kind of hand-writing might be happening should Huesca pull off the stunner and Hercules creep to within three points heading into the final weekend of the season. But let's be honest, it won't happen and Xerez and the islanders out in the Canaries look safe for promotion. Tenerife travels to Catalonia to play Girona who should be applauded for a stellar performance their first season in El Infierno. Playing in the smallest stadium with one of the smallest budgets, the club still finished with 49 points in 15th place. Not bad.

As for the other team destined to drink cava on Saturday, Primera Disvision stalwart Zaragoza looks safe to secure their pass back to glory as they are at home against Cordoba who are just glad to not be relegated. The 1995 Recopa winners belong back in the elite of Spanish futbol and it will be good to have them there.

Resultados - Jornada 40
Albacete - Murcia 0-0
Celta - Alaves 2-1
Rayo - Real Sociedad 4-1
Salamanca - Zaragoza 1-3
Tenerife - Xerez 2-0
Eibar - Girona 2-2
Levante - Elche 2-0
Huesca - Sevilla Atletico 3-0
Gimnástic - Castellon 0-1
Córdoba - Las Palmas 4-1
Alicante - Hercules 1-2

Clasificacion

1. Tenerife - 78
2. Xerez - 78
3. Zaragoza - 77
4. Hércules - 72
5. Rayo - 68
6. R. Sociedad - 63
7. Levante - 62
8. Salamanca - 60
9. Castellón - 59
10. Gimnástic - 54
11. Elche - 53
12. Huesca - 50
13. Córdoba - 50
14. Murcia - 49
15. Girona - 49
16. Albacete - 48
17. Celta - 46
18. Las Palmas - 45
19. Alavés - 40
20. Alicante - 34
21. Eibar - 32
22. Sevilla At. - 17

Bienvenido Recre, Numancia y.... Betis!?!

It is that special time of year when drama unfolds for teams who have been barely noticed all season long due to their inability to string together victories. In Spain's Primera Division, the fate of Recreativo was already sealed going into the final weekend as they will be part of this blog during the 2009-2010 season.

The Pajaritos from Numancia had at outside shot at survival but it was not meant to be. The club that started off its season beating the trichampions FC barcelona 1-0 at their modest little stadium, will be playing in El Infierno next season.

The third team would be playing in El Infierno next season was the one subject to tons of debate. Who would it be? Surely it would be Osasuna who had to beat Real Madrid at home to have any chance at not being relegated. But credit the Pamplona side for overcoming a 0-1 deficit and winning 2-1 setting of pandemonium in the stands at the Estadio Rey de Navarre. Maybe it would be Getafe who had to get a point in Santander against Racing to ensure their survival? Nope. A Granero goal in the first half was all the suburban Madrid team needed and so last year's UEFA Cup quarterfinalist gets to play with the bog bioys next year. What about Sporting? The newly promoted side had the luxury of playing Recre but still the Asturianos had to overcome a 1-0 deficit and won 2-1.

That left us with the Betis-Valladolid match which at first shaped up as one of those *wink* *wink* let's tie this match so we both can stay up. But a funny thing happened on the way to summer vacation. All the teams below them won and so the enxt thing you know, Betis were fighting for their survival because they did not own the tiebreaker against Getafe. The purple men from Castilla y Leon struck first but Betis would equalise in the second half and were desperately seeking the game-winner. Time after time the Betis chances were brushed aside. At the final whistle, disbelief set in at the Ruiz de Lopera as the beticos will now be playing in El Infierno next season. For the Betis fans, some of the most passionate in Spain, it was like a funeral except that with the tears, there were also riots in the streets afterwards and fans yelling at the team president that he was a 'cabron'. Needless to say, betis in El Infierno next year will make things very interesting.

As for our actual Segunda Division teams themselves, props to Xerez for now being just a single point away from promotion. With three weeks left in the season, all they need is a draw in one of those matches. It may not come this week since they travel to second place Tenerife, but depending on what Hercules does at now relegated Alicante in the Alicante derby, both teams could be celebrating promotion out on the island this weekend and what a fun party that would be.

Speaking of Hercules, their draw against Celta now leaves them five points behind Zaragoza in the race for the third and final promotion spot. Making up five points in three weeks is a long shot. Hercules need to beat their crosstown rivals and then hope Zaragoza gets tripped up in Salamanca on Saturday which will be a tough match for the Aragoneses.

So the drama unfolding at the top is starting to look anticlimatic but the drama at the bottom, once an afterthought, is getting serious. Alaves are three points behind Celta in the fight for the last surivival spot. How sad to see two clubs who fared so well in recent years in European play now struggling to avoid relegation to the third level of Spanish futbol. The noose is tight for the Galicians whose nightmarish second half continues. The match of the weekend could very much take place on Saturday when the two teams meet.

Resultados - Jornada 39
R. Sociedad - Cordoba 0-2
Zaragoza - Albacete 3-0
Hércules - Celta 2-2
Alavés - Huesca 3-0
Las Palmas - Salamanca 1-1
Levante - Rayo 1-0
Elche - Castellon 0-1
Murcia - Alicante 3-1
Xerez - Eibar 3-0
Girona - Gimnastic 2-1
Sevilla At - Tenerife 0-4

Clasificacion:

1. Xerez - 78
2. Tenerife - 75
3. Zaragoza - 74
4. Hércules - 69
5. Rayo - 65
6. R. Sociedad - 63
7. Salamanca - 60
8. Levante - 59
9. Castellón - 56
10. Gimnástic - 54
11. Elche - 53
12. Murcia - 48
13. Girona - 48
14. Córdoba - 47
15. Huesca - 47
16. Albacete - 47
17. Las Palmas - 45
18. Celta - 43
19. Alavés - 40
20. Alicante - 34 (Relegated)
21. Eibar - 31 (Relegated)
22. Sevilla At - 17 (Relegated)

Four For Two

With the first promotion ticket almost booked for Xerez, we can safely say that the race to the Primera Division will now see just four teams battling for two spots. The efforts of Real Sociedad and Salamanca are probably going to go by the wayside. It now boils down to Hercules, Tenerife, Zaragoza and Rayo Vallecano who are separated by just four points. There are five weeks left in the season and there is no reason to think that any of the four will be out of contention by that last Sunday.

Tenerife lost to Hercules over the weekend making it their first defeat in 18'jornadas', a truly astounding statistic. Despite their 'puntuando' ways, their pormotion is not secure.

Rayo got a boost from the previously mentioned Teresa Rivero and ripped off two straight wins since the BBQ held at the presidenta's home. Apparently all they needed was a little home cookin.

Hercules to me look the most solid of the bunch and I think they will secure promotion. Yes they have their setbacks and occasional defeats, but from a consistency standpoint, they have been the most solid.

Zaragoza has their hands full this weekend against an Alicante team that has completely defied the odds and are now just 6 points away from safety. Back around the Christmas holiday, people, including myself, were making a mockery of their coaching carousel. Evidently Carlos Granero ended up being the right guy and I'm gonna pick an Alicante upset over Zaragoza this weekend which may very well leave the Aragoneses out of the promotion spots for the rest of the season.

Alicante also faces off against Hercules and could hurt their hopes. A week later they could seal Alaves' fate into releghation to the Segunda B. The Alaves fans showed their displeasure with their team's recent play by spraypainting the team's painting ground. Classy! Sad to see the former UEFA Cup finalists have fallen.

In any event, a meeting with already relegated Sevilla Atletico in the last week of the season just may push Alicante to safety. It'll be worth watching.

Jornada 37 - Resultados

Rayo - Cordoba 5-0
R. Sociedad - Albacete 1-0
Zaragoza - Celta 3-0
Hércules - Tenerife 3-1
Alavés - Eibar 1-1
Las Palmas - Alicante 0-1
Levante - Salamanca 1-2
Elche - Girona 2-1
Murcia - Huesca 0-0
Xerez - Castellon 1-0
Sevilla At - Gimnastic 1-3

Clasificacion

1. Xerez - 75
2. Tenerife - 69
3. Zaragoza - 68
4. Hércules - 67
5. Rayo - 65
6. R. Sociedad - 60
7. Salamanca - 59
8. Levante - 56
9. Castellón - 53
10. Gimnástic - 51
11. Elche - 50
12. Huesca - 46
13. Las Palmas - 44
14. Albacete - 44
15. Murcia - 44
16. Girona - 42
17. Celta - 41
18. Córdoba - 41
19. Alavés - 37
20. Alicante - 34
21. Eibar - 30
22. Sevilla At - 16

Mama Knows Best

Saturday afternoon features one of those juicy affairs where two teams face off against each other and the only worthwhile result is three points. In this case, Rayo Vallecano will make the quick bus trip out of the capital city and over to Salamanca to play in what is essentially an elimination game for any chance of reaching the promotion zone to La Primera.

The last two weeks have been very unkind to Rayo as they have lost rather horridly to Segunda B bound Alicante and 13th Albacete, 2-0 and 0-3. In an effort to cheer up the squad, Rayo President Maria Teresa Rivero, had the team over for dinner not to chastise them, but to cheer them up, give 'em a pat on the back and assure that she is 100% behind them.

As the mother of 13 children and 36 grandchildren, the woman knows a thing or two about trying to get the best out of youngster. I'm not sure if the same applies to her futbol children, but nevertheless, I applaud her efforts. I just wonder that if Rayo drops this weekend's affair in Salamanca, will she give them a spanking at the next home match in front of the whole crowd at the modestly named Estadio Teresa Rivero?

At the very least Rivero is now able to amply follow a futbol match. She admitted back in 1994 when she became president of Rayo after her husband died that she had only seen one futbol match in her entire life and that was in Murcia when she was a little girl... and she didn't even know which teams were playing (Real Murcia had to have been one of them, right?!?!). Not exactly the kind of business/futbol experience that men like Joan Laporta or Florentino Perez have, but it still merits respect that a woman in a machismo country like Spain has been the President of a futbol club for 15 years. Rivero should also be credited for trying to forward women's rights within the futbol world which included publishing a book on the topic.

Rivero has come a long way since 1994 when she was found bored to tears and actually asleep in the 'palco' of Rayo's stadium. Now universally respected by her club presidential colleagues, Rivero is carving a special niche in Spanish futbol and we're lucky that we get to see it in El Infierno.


One other note from El Infierno - Cheers to Sevilla Atletico for beating Girona at home last weekend! Maybe once the relegation was made official, they could kick back and play relaxed futbol. Evidently that worked. Too bad only 100 people were in attendance in the stadium to see it.

Resultados - Jornada 35

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


Clasificacion

1. Xerez - 69
2. Tenerife - 66
3. Zaragoza - 62
4. Hércules - 61
5. Rayo - 59
6. Salamanca - 56
7. R. Sociedad - 54
8. Levante - 53
9. Castellón - 50
10. Gimnástic - 47
11. Elche - 46
12. Huesca - 45
13. Albacete - 44
14. Murcia - 43
15. Girona - 42
16. Las Palmas - 41
17. Celta - 41
18. Córdoba - 40
19. Alavés - 35
20. Alicante - 31
21. Eibar - 29
22. Sevilla At - 16

Time For 'La Liga de Filiales'?

Each professional futbol federation in Europe has their own way of operating. From the number of teams in the first division to promotion/relegation/Champions League/UEFA Cup playoff scenarios (don't even have me try to explain the Dutch one. It'll take hours). Countries like Scotland have a league specifically for youth or reserve sides. Italy features regular weekday matches between reserve sides. And then there's Spain which has a quirky setup where reserve teams, commonly known as 'B' or 'C' teams, play against other clubs vying for promotion to the next level. In the case of a reserve team in El Infierno, it makes for the odd situation where promotion can never be attained since the parent side is already in the first division. However this might change soon and the case of this year's Sevilla Atletico presents a good argument.

Simply put, Sevilla Atletico never had a chance this year and were officially relegated after last weekend's defeat versus 'lider' Xerez. They were a sacrificial lamb all season long which has resulted in just one solitary win in 34 weeks so far this season. All the other teams in El Infierno could look at the 'temporada' and at least count on six points in the two matches they were to play against Sevilla Atletico, which is Sevilla FC's youth/reserve team. The low point for the squad came a couple weeks ago when first division aspirant Hercules thumped them 8-0. Talk about a world-class thrashing...

Sevilla Atletico is in the unfair position of being a feeder team that is competing against teams who are aiming for promotion to the first division or trying to stay alive in the second division. There's a conflict there. The other 19 teams are looking to win every week, Sevilla Atletico's goal is to develop players into first division quality. The first emphasis is not on winning, but rather individual development... and that's not fair to players and fans. Why should a player even care about winning when promotion is impossible? Instead, the attitude turns to, 'Let's see how well I can play individually today and maybe get noticed by a first division team.'

So what is the remedy? A 'Liga de Filiales', or rather, a "Reserve League' where clubs like Real Madrid, Sevilla, Barcelona can have their 'B' teams compete against each other in one league and have their 'C' players compete against each other in another league. And with so many clubs having so many reserve teams, you could have a Liga de Filiales B-1, B-2 where promotion and relegation is at stake.

It's time for the Spanish Futbol Federation to start looking at this option so we can stop putting up with conflicting interests in games with high stakes like last weekend's Xerez-Sevilla Atletico tilt.

Other news from El Infierno... I failed to mention last week that Jozy Altidore had toenail surgery and is out for four weeks. I have to doubt that he'll return this season.

Massive game this weekend at La Romareda between Zaragoza and Tenerife who are in the 3rd and 2nd spots respectively. A victory would most assuredly secure Tenerife's spot in La Primera Division next year.

Big thumbs up to the players at Alicante who pulled off the huge upset defeating Rayo Vallecano last week and dropping them out of the promotion place. The Comunidad de Valencia side is still 9 points from safety but has had a terrific second half of the season. It's a shame their 'ida' went so poorly or else they would be spending another year in El Infierno. As it looks now, they'll be relegated to the Segunda B but I can't help but think we'll see them in this blog again during the 2010-2011 Liga Adelante season.

Jornada 34 - Resultados
Albacete - Cordoba 1-1
Celta - Levante 2-2
Salamanca - Elche 1-1
Tenerife - Las Palmas 1-1
Eibar - Zaragoza 2-3
Huesca - Real Sociedad 1-2
Castellón - Hercules 0-0
Gimnástic - Murcia 3-0
Xerez - Sevilla At. 2-0
Girona - Alaves 0-1
Alicante - Rayo 2-0

Clasificacion
1. Xerez - 66
2. Tenerife - 65
3. Zaragoza - 61
4. Hércules - 60
5. Rayo - 59
6. Salamanca - 53
7. R. Sociedad - 53
8. Levante - 50
9. Castellón - 47
10. Gimnástic - 46
11. Elche - 46
12. Huesca - 44
13. Girona - 42
14. Albacete - 41
15. Las Palmas - 40
16. Córdoba - 40
17. Celta - 40
18. Murcia - 40
19. Alavés - 35
20. Alicante - 31
21. Eibar - 29
22. Sevilla At - 13

Adios Capitan

We've discussed here before how rare it is for a player to stay with a club for his entire career. The current nature of futbol does not lend itself to permanency. Look no further than our friend 'El Loco' Abreau for Real Sociedad! But this week futbol saw a career come to an end for a player who spent a whopping 20 years with the same club. A rarity indeed.

Luis Carlos Cuartero hung up his boots on Monday for Real Zaragoza after spending 20 years with the Aragonian club. The name will most likely be unfamiliar to you as he never scored alot of goals or really even made the starting 11 consistently. But what was consistent was his devotion to his club and to mentor younger players. Cuartero rightly served as captain for Zaragoza at the end of his career including the epic 3-2 triumph over Real Madrid in the 2004 Copa del Rey. It was Cuartero who memorably shouted from the 'palco' of Montjuic after receiving the trophy from 'Su Majestad' El Rey Don Juan Carlos, "Viva la Virgen de Pilar!" This being a reference to the statue of the Virgen Pilar at the Basilica in Zaragoza.

The native of Aragon understandedly wept at his press conference. The last two years were not what he hoped after experiencing injury and relegation from the first division with the club. But Cuartero's heart has been and will always be with zaragoza. This was fittingly summed up last year before the final game of the season when Zaragoza faced Espanyol and needed a win to have a chance at staying in the first division. Cuartero simply stated, "Yo juagria este partido con un cojo." Which means, "I would play this game completely crippled."

At the end of Monday's press conference, team officials and the press stood up and applauded the veteran, a scene rarely seen in Spanish futbol. We should do the same.

Resultados - Jornada 33
Rayo - Celta 4-1
R. Sociedad - Tenerife 1-2
Salamanca - Albacete 3-1
Zaragoza - Gimnastic 1-0
Hércules - Girona 3-0
Alavés - Xerez 1-2
Las Palmas - Eibar 1-0
Levante - Huesca 1-0
Elche - Sevilla Atletico 2-0
Murcia - Castellon 2-2
Córdoba - Alicante 2-1

Clasificacion

1. Xerez - 63
2. Tenerife - 62
3. Rayo - 59
4. Hércules - 59
5. Zaragoza - 58
6. Salamanca - 52
7. R. Sociedad - 50
8. Levante - 49
9. Castellón - 46
10. Elche - 45
11. Huesca - 44
12. Gimnástic - 43
13. Girona - 42
14. Las Palmas - 40
15. Murcia - 40
16. Albacete - 40
17. Celta - 39
18. Córdoba - 39
19. Alavés - 32
20. Eibar - 29
21. Alicante - 28
22. Sevilla At - 13

El Ultimo Suspiro

To this day, injury time remains one of futbol's greatest mysteries. How does the referee actually calculate how much injury time should be added at the end of the 90 minutes? If you watch enough futbol, the majority of the time a first half will see one minute added before halftime and then the second half will see three extra minutes added, even though you hardly noticed a difference in those two minutes of stoppage between the two halves.

There have been legendary injury times such as Manchester United's two injury time goals to beat Bayern Munich in the 1999 UEFA Champions League final. There was also the classic case of a corrupt referee adding 12 (12!) minutes of injury time to a match in South America until the home side finally scored the game-winner. Those aside, any European league will feature several matches every weekend where the balance of the match is tipped either for or against a team either right before or during injury time. This happened over the weekend with Rayo Vallecano and Zaragoza.

Zaragoza traveled down to the Comunidad de Valencia to play Castellon and amid a downpour, maintained a slim 0-1 advantage after a goal in the 45th minute. With a whopping 5,000 people in attendance, time ticked down as Zaragoza was ready to claim the three precious points and situate themselves in the promotion zone. The referee ordered another three minutes be played at the Estadio Municipal de Castalia as part of injury time and that's when disaster struck for Zara. Defender Pulido foollishly brough down Nsue in the area and Ulloa gladly converted the PK for Castellon to equalise the match. Just like that, Zaragoza lost two points and fell back to one point behind in the promotion zone.

On the flip side, Rayo Vallecano and Huesca were dealing with freezing winds in the Aragon city on top of a sopping wet field after recent rains. Hardly any offense was generated at all and a 0-0 result was all but a sure thing. Then lo and behold in the 89th minute (right as injury time was about to start!) Rayo forward Piti was the recipient of a counterattack and plucked the ball from outside the area into the Huesca net to give Rayo the three points. Rayo now sits third and in the promotion zone.

Remember these two matches should Rayo finish ahead of Zaragoza in the race for promotion.

Other news and notes out of El Infierno:
Xerez coach Esteban Vigo finally gave the nod to Jozy Altidore to suit up against Hercules. That was the good news. The bad news is that Jozy didn't play even though Xerez was up 3-0 in the second half. The resouding win for Xerez over 2nd place Hercules gives Xerez 60 points a bit of breathing room.

Tenerife keeps rolling. After that 0-0 tie against Rayo, the islanders went back home and thumped Levante.

Enhorabuena to Girona and Celta for getting their first wins in El Infierno in over two months!

Resultados - Jornada 32

Albacete - Elche 2-1
Celta - Cordoba 1-0
Tenerife - Levante 5-1
Eibar - Real Sociedad 1-1
Huesca - Rayo Vallecano 0-1
Castellón - Zaragoza 1-1
Gimnástic - Las Palmas 0-0
Xerez - Hercules 3-0
Girona - Murcia 1-0
Alicante - Salamanca 0-0
Sevilla At - Alaves 1-1

Clasificacion:

1. Xerez - 60
2. Tenerife - 59
3. Rayo - 56
4. Hércules - 56
5. Zaragoza - 55
6. R. Sociedad - 50
7. Salamanca - 49
8. Levante - 46
9. Castellón - 45
10. Huesca - 44
11. Gimnástic - 43
12. Elche - 42
13. Girona - 42
14. Albacete - 40
15. Celta - 39
16. Murcia - 39
17. Las Palmas - 37
18. Córdoba - 36
19. Alavés - 32
20. Eibar - 29
21. Alicante - 28
22. Sevilla At - 13

El Nuevo Líder

This weekend promises to be one of the very best in El Infierno. There are several games on the slate with major consequences for teams in place for promotion, attempting to get to the promotion zone and of course teams hoping to avoid relegation. Let's talk about some of them.

Rayo Vallecano - Tenerife
Rayo officials have already declared that the game is sold out. With Rayo sitting in 4th spot, just a point behind 3rd place Hercules, they'll need their best effort against (surprise!) new leader Tenerife. The environment at Estadio Teresa Rivero will be electric. Rayo is handing out 15.000 red and white flags to fans attending the game, plus another 2,000 trumpets will be given to fans throughout the stadium. This game to be played on Saturday could either vault Tenerife into a very commanding position to earn promotion, or tighten up a race that seems destined to end on the final day of the season. Rayo is so tough at home and the Vallecas stadium will be rocking. I'd mark down a good ol' '1' on the Quiniela.

Murcia-Xerez
Well, well, well.... Xerez has finally fallen from the 1st place spot in El Infierno and have thus created panic and anxiety among their fan base. Xerez travels to a very much improved Murcia side and will have their hands full. Murcia coach Jose Miguel Campos is still foaming at the mouth after his side unjustly lost the three points against bottom feeder Sevilla Atletico after the referee gave the 'colista' not one or two, but three penalties, of which all three were converted to end the game in a 3-3 tie. Campos has all but saved Murcia's season, making him one of the hottest young coaches in Spain.
Meanwhile, Xerez is playing the, "we're not worried, we're focused, we'll be ok" card after they dropped a 2-1 result last weekend at home against Zaragoza. However a press conference yesterday by defenseman Juan Redondo was a little more revealing when he said, "if we don't get promoted this year, I'm not quite sure what will happen.." Sounds a little foreboding, no? And to top that off, now the Xerez fans are clamoring for Jozy Altidore to get a shot. All he did was score four goals in two games in CONCACAF qualifying for the US. As one Xerez fan said online, "Well, I think we should use him and take advantage of him before Villarreal takes him back." Now there's a novel idea. Ya veremos. I'm picking the sorpresa and another '1' in my Quiniela. Murcia gets it done and the Xerez crisis continues.

Elche-Alaves
Keep an eye out for this game as Alaves is looking to climb out of the relegation zone. Both Las Palmas and Cordoba are two points ahead of the Basque side and both are at home this weekend where they are tough to beat. Alaves will need a really strong road effort to have a chance to beat mid-table Elche. If both Las Palmas and Cordoba were to win their and Alaves loses, that's a massive gap of five points between safety and relegation. Considering Deportivo Alaves was the toast of Europe when they dramatically lost to Liverpool in the 2001 UEFA Cup final on an own goal in extra time. Obscure to most in Europe, their play earned praise from all over the continent. Now, they are on the brink of relegation to the Segunda B, and who knows if we'd ever hear from then again.

Resultados - Jornada 30
Celta - Albacete 0-0
Tenerife - Cordoba 2-0
Alavés - Hercules 1-3
Eibar - Rayo 0-1
Huesca - Salamanca 0-0
Castellón - Real Sociedad 0-3
Gimnástic - Levante 2-0
Xerez - Zaragoza 1-2
Girona - Las Palmas 2-2
Alicante - Elche 0-3
Sevilla At - Murcia 3-3

Clasificacion:

1. Tenerife - 55
2. Xerez - 54
3. Hércules - 53
4. Rayo - 52
5. Zaragoza - 51
6. R. Sociedad - 48
7. Salamanca - 45
8. Castellón - 44
9. Huesca - 44
10. Levante - 43
11. Gimnástic - 41
12. Elche - 39
13. Girona - 39
14. Murcia - 39
15. Albacete - 37
16. Celta - 36
17. Las Palmas - 33
18. Córdoba - 33
19. Alavés - 31
20. Eibar - 28
21. Alicante - 24
22. Sevilla At - 12

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

The old saying in show business is that there is no such thing as bad publicity. There are some owners of sports teams that would also share that same sentiment, like Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones. In the world of European Futbol, the big teams like Manchester United, AC Milan and FC Barcelona are used to drama and bad pub. It usually gets a shrug of the shoulders by their fans and makes for some interesting reading in a sports daily while enjoying a cup of coffee or a pint. I would venture to guess that a team that aspires to earn promotion from El Infierno to La Liga would rather do without any team drama. Unfortunately for Xerez CD, what happened last week has landed them in the papers for something other than their play.

In the very early hours of last Wednesday morning, "la madrugada" as they say in Spain, gunshots were fired in a brothel in the sleepy Andalusian town. That news alone probably would have made the local paper somewhere in the back pages. But when police were called to the scene and realized who was actually there and had allegedly been involved, the story got much more interesting. Xerez President Joaquin Bilbao and his personal chauffeur (nice!) were led away in handcuffs after firing gunshots in the brothel which fortunately did not harm anyone but did end the decoration life of several pieces of crystal hanging in the brothel. Reportedly, Bilbao and his chauffeur got into an argument with some other patrons. Evidently some punches being thrown. Judging the the photo above, Bilbao bore the brunt of one of those blows. Bilbao then left the brothel saying he would be back for 'revenge'. This meant retrieving his gun and proceeding to show his aggressors a lesson and blasted away on a chandelier.

Once the news broke, Bilbao had no other choice but to resign his post as President of Xerez. For Xerez coach Esteban Vigo this was pretty much the last thing he needed to happen as his team had been in a mini-slump picking up only two points in their last three games. For a team that has never gained promotion to La Liga, a distraction like the club president getting arrested for firing his gun in a seedy brothel is not particularly welcomed. To Vigo's credit, the club went out and beat Las Palmas on Gran Canaria with a late second half goal. This tempered worries for now that a repeat of the 2001-2002 season would not happen. That was the year Xerez was looking good for promotion only to secure a meager four points in their last eight games and fall way out of contention. Will Xerez be able to hang on despite all of the club distractions? That is one of the biggest questions heading into the final months of El Infierno.


As for the games, a HUGE match this weekend between Zaragoza and Xerez at the Estadio Chapin. I can't help but think one of the Xerez supporters will be hanging some clever banner mentioning Bilbao. For you Jozy Altidore fans, another week of him not wearing a Xerez uniform and it won't happen again this weekend as Jozy has been called by US Coach Bob Bradley for this week's World Cup qualifiers.

Resultados - Jornada 29

Albacete - Huesca 0-2
Rayo - Gimnastic 3-2
R. Sociedad - Girona 2-0
Salamanca - Tenerife 1-2
Zaragoza - Sevilla At. 4-0
Las Palmas - Xerez 2-3
Levante - Castellon 3-1
Elche - Hercules 2-2
Murcia - Alaves 1-0
Córdoba - Eibar 1-1
Alicante - Celta 2-2

Clasificacion

1. Xerez - 54
2. Tenerife - 52
3. Hércules - 50
4. Rayo - 49
5. Zaragoza - 48
6. R. Sociedad - 45
7. Castellón - 44
8. Salamanca - 44
9. Huesca - 43
10. Levante - 43
11. Gimnástic - 38
12. Girona - 38
13. Murcia - 38
14. Elche - 36
15. Albacete - 36
16. Celta - 35
17. Córdoba - 33
18. Las Palmas - 32
19. Alavés - 31
20. Eibar - 28
21. Alicante - 24
22. Sevilla At - 11

Locos por 'El Loco'

Every sport has its share of journeymen. These are players who, for whatever reason, cannot seem to stick with a team. Futbol has a tendency to have more of its share of journeymen. This has to do with the fact that there are so many clubs spread out throughout the world. Some players bounce around their home country playing for different teams in a certain league. Some may even venture beyond borders and play in a different country or two. Then you have journeymen like Sebastian 'El Loco" Abreau whose career has spanned six different countries and three continents (if you count Israel as part of Asia which I will).

The 32 year old Uruguayan striker has now played for a total of 15 clubs, including his current club, Real Sociedad. His professional career started at age 20 so in 12 years of playing professional futbol, El Loco is averaging under a year with each team. The club career is as follows (deep breath): Defensor, San Lorenzo, Deportivo de La Coruna, Gremio, Tecos, San Lorenz (again), Nacional Montevideo, Cruz Azul, Club America, Nacional Montevideo (again), Dorados Sinaloa, CF Monterrey, San Luis, UANL Tigres, River Plate, Beitar Jersusalem, River Plate (again) and Real Sociedad. *whew!*

In regards to his playing time in Spain, El Loco's playing rights were owned by Deportivo from 1998-2004. In that span of time he was loaned out six different times to Brazilian, Uruguayan and Mexican sides including a stint with Gremio of the Brazilian league where he shared the pitch with a very young player by the name of Ronaldinho. It's quite a shame that El Loco managed to see time in only 15 matches with the Galician club in those six years as he missed out on those wonderful Super Depor teams that won a la Liga title, a Copa del Rey title and an appearance in the 2004 Champions League semifinals.

To his credit, El Loco remains humble and good natured about his nomadic professional career. He's jovial in the clubhouse and continues to wear jersey #13 for luck wherever he plays. El Loco should also be lauded for his relationship with the press where he has said that if someone is going to take the time to ask him a question, he will provide a thoughtful response as opposed to cliches. Good for him.

So why are we talking about El Loco? Well, in the eight games he has played with Real Sociedad after taking the place of the injured Diaz de Cerio, all he has done is score six goals. This included a hat trick last weekend against El Infierno leaders Xerez at the Andalusian's home grounds of Estadio Chapin. It was Xerez's first defeat since December and all of the sudden tightened up the standings in La Segunda Division. It has also extended a lifeline to fans of the Donostia club who thought their hopes of promotion evaporated with De Cerio's injury. That has now changed with the exploits of El Loco. Real Sociedad find themselves just 7 points behind the final promotion spot with plenty of futbol to play and El Loco leading the charge.


A couple other news and notes. No sign of Jozy Altidore in uniform in that Xerez-Real Sociedad game last weekend. Hope he enjoyed watching El Loco.
Also, Murcia is welcoming back Francisco Gallardo to the mix. The midfielder from Sevilla has already spent one tour of duty in Murcia playing for the side in 2006-2007 where his play garnered the respect and affection of Murcia fans. Unfortunately for Gallardo, he will always be known for a very unfortunate and lewd goal celebration in 2001 when he was with Sevilla. After a Sevilla goal, Gallardo took it upon himself to congratulate his teammate's strike by nibbling on the teammate's penis. Yowza. That charade earned him a fine and suspension by FEF and rightly so! Let's hope Francisco keeps any goal celebrations this year to above the waist.

Resultados - Jornada 28

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

Clasificacion

1. Xerez - 51
2. Hércules - 49
3. Tenerife - 49
4. Rayo - 46
5. Zaragoza - 45
6. Castellón - 44
7. Salamanca - 44
8. R. Sociedad - 42
9. Huesca - 40
10. Levante - 40
11. Gimnástic - 38
12. Girona - 38
13. Albacete - 36
14. Murcia - 35
15. Elche - 35
16. Celta - 34
17. Las Palmas - 32
18. Córdoba - 32
19. Alavés - 31
20. Eibar - 27
21. Alicante - 23
22. Sevilla At - 11

Andalucian Desperation

Matches like the one that took place at El Arcangel last weekend in Cordoba is what helps make futbol so special. Promotion and relegation within a futbol division is the most logical method to ensure integrity within the sport. I compare that to what happens in the NFL, NBA or MLB. Teams who are in the lower rungs of their conference or division have no incentive to try. They know they are not making the playoffs, so why bother giving a full effort? Thankfully, futbol does not follow the same guidelines. Last week's Cordoba-Castellon match was a clear reason why promotion and relegation works so well.

Castellon made the quick trip over to the former Arabic capital of the Iberian Peninsula to play in a match that had huge consequences for both teams. Cordoba was hovering in 19th place, the final spot in the relegation zone, and desperate for the three points. Meanwhile Castellon was a mere two points behind the promotion zone with thoughts of dates next year in the Nou Camp and Santiago Bernabeu dancing in their heads. What this gives us is a match where both teams are desperately seeking a win. And this is what provides some of the best futbol and drama. The fans at El Arcangel were not disappointed.

Several minutes prior to halftime, Castellon's Mario Rosas gave the visitors a 0-1 lead, and for the moment, a spot in the promotion zone. After halftime, Cordoba's veteran leaders, the Italian Pierini and Spainard Yordi took charge and led the Cordoba comeback. The former Fiorentina player equalised in the 65th. Cordoba maintained the pressure in the second half, but as the minutes ticked down, it looked as the 'empate' was sure to happen. It was then in the 93rd that Yordi took in a long ball only to be pushed down in the penalty area. The former Zaragoza player, who earned two Copa del Rey titles with the Aragon side when it was in La Primera, coolly slotted home the PK. Cordoba keeper Raul Navas was also a hero barely knocking away a Castellon chance in the dying seconds to ensure the three points. With the win, Cordoba stayed 1 point above the drop zone while Castellon dropped another point further from Hercules in the fight for the third promotion spot.

This is the type of game that begs the question: Who is the more desperate team? The one fighting for promotion to one of the greatest leagues in the world? Or the one that is trying to survive and avoid futbol obscurity. Such is life in El Infierno where every week dreams and desperation are juxtaposed on a patch of grass.

For those keeping track, Jozy Altidore once again sat our Xerez's last game. The "Free Jozy" campaign is reaching a fever pitch!

Resultados - Jornada 27
Albacete - Eibar 2-0
Celta - Huesca 0-1
Rayo - Girona 1-1
R. Sociedad - Sevilla At. 1-0
Salamanca - Gimnastic 4-0
Zaragoza - Hercules 2-2
Las Palmas - Alaves 2-1
Levante - Xerez 2-2
Elche - Murcia 1-1
Córdoba - Castellon 2-1
Alicante - Tenenrife 2-2

Clasificacion
1. Xerez - 51
2. Tenerife - 48
3. Hércules - 46
4. Rayo - 45
5. Zaragoza - 44
6. Castellón - 43
7. Salamanca - 41
8. Huesca - 40
9. R. Sociedad - 39
10. Levante - 39
11. Gimnástic - 37
12. Girona - 37
13. Albacete - 35
14. Murcia - 35
15. Elche - 34
16. Celta - 33
17. Las Palmas - 31
18. Córdoba - 31
19. Alavés - 30
20. Eibar - 27
21. Alicante - 20
22. Sevilla At - 10