Futbol Digital

El otro lado de Alfio Basile.

2011-10-31T21:42:00.000-07:00

01.11.2011 - "Hablo así porque tengo unos pólipos…" - dice el Coco Basile que confiesa probar corticoides para desinflamar las cuerdas vocales y no tener algún coraje - "no me los saco ni loco… a ver si me queda la voz de Pachano."

Su nombre suena en algunos pasillos de Avellaneda, pero se encarga de aclarar que "a mi no me nombres politicamente y menos cuando hay un profesional trabajando" y que, después de 21 meses sin trabajar está en las gateras, "¿Candidato para qué equipo? No lo voy a decir porque hay gente trabajando, entonces hay que esperar. Cuando salga lo digo.”

Mientras tanto mata el tiempo en reuniones de amigos y hasta con imperdibles entrevistas como esta (vídeo) para "Duro de Domar", en la sección "El kioskito de Carla", donde habla de todo menos de fútbol.

"Cholo sos cagón..."

2011-10-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

31.10.2011 - No terminamos de concluir si las expectativas levantaron demasiado la vara, si se repite el error de concepto o si es simplemente fútbol.

Poner a Simeone en nuestra sección de CONTRATAPAS tiene sus lecturas. Si es la del hincha “Vayan al frente la p… que los parió” o “Cholo sos cagón”, caben pocas dudas.

Rácing arrancó para pelear (de una vez) el título. Cambió un “prudente” Miguel Russo (DT) por un “vertical?” Diego Simeone para poner el fútbol a la altura de su plantel.

El primer cambio que manifestó el equipo fue la solidez defensiva en todos los rubros: orden, relevos y concentración (sin dejar de mencionar las performances del nuevo arquero Sebastián Saja). Cuatro goles en contra (13 partidos) son una demostración clara.

Pero como pocas veces Tim vuelve a dar en la tecla: "El fútbol es una manta corta: si te tapas los pies te descubres la cabeza y si te tapas la cabeza te descubres los pies".

El equipo de Miguel Russo supo lograr pasajes de excelente fútbol. Patricio Toranzo, Claudio Yacob, Giovanni Moreno e incluso Pablo Luguercio circularon la pelota de manera elegante y efectiva. Iván Pillud (por derecha) y Lucas Licht (por izquierda) usaron las mejores bandas. Racing llegó a emocionar. Pero perdía partidos inexplicables e injustos. Y fueron muchos (más de la mitad de los que jugó).

Se tomó nota de las deficiencias y, entre ellas, además de traer un arquero, se cambió el DT. Hoy, Diego Simeone logró estabilizar a Racing y lo hizo (invicto) duro de roer. Pero al precio que, por ejemplo Marcelo Bielsa conoce muy bien y Tim anunciara hace años.

Gabriel Hauche convertido en extremo marcador de punta, Giovanni Moreno en el mejor cabeceador defensivo, Teófilo Gutiérrez en el Llanero Solitario y Patricio Toranzo conminado a largar rápido la pelota podría verse como el complemento que le faltaba a Racing para armarse de atrás hacia delante.

Pero Iván Pillud retenido en su banda, Lucas Licht llegando por la suya sin descarga clara, Teófilo Gutiérrez de espaldas y sin compañeros delante, Giovanni Moreno lejos del área rival y Agustín Pelletieri habilitando es el precio que Racing termina pagando por esta compensación.

O bien es una deficiencia de estado físico que no permite acortar el equipo a las dimensiones de la manta (Tim) o una falla grave de conjugación técnico – jugadores (fueron para atrás?) o este plantel no es lo que las expectativas demandan.

Rácing no pierde pero tampoco gana. Ni siquiera a un Estudiantes gastado que jugó 60 minutos con diez hombres. El hincha canta “Cholo sos cagón”, pero cuando el DT decide reemplazar a un Giovanni Moreno ausente buscando volumen de juego y sacrificando la apuesta del tiro libre salvador, luego de parar una defensa de 3 y cambiar un delantero (Viola) por un volante (Aued). Así, las (2) situaciones de Racing llegaron en los últimos cinco minutos de juego (después de que le anularan un gol válido).

El problema de Racing está claro. Sabe destruir y no construir pero tiene jugadores de construcción. El problema era eminentemente estratégico. Ahora también es anímico.

El fin del Apertura 2011.

2011-10-31T17:58:00.000-07:00

APERTURA 2011: FECHA 13

ARGENTINOS 3 VELEZ 1

NEWELLS 2 OLIMPO 2

INDEPENDIENTE 0 ARSENAL 0

LANUS 2 GODOY CRUZ 1S

BOCA 3 RAFAELA 1

BELGRANO 0 COLON 1

SAN LORENZO - ALL BOYS (SUSPENDIDO)

UNION 1 TIGRE 1

ESTUDIANTES 0 RACING 0

SAN MARTIN (SJ) - BANFIELD

Bielsa en Bilbao (16): Sporting Gijón 1 Athletic 1.

2011-10-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

31.10.2011 - Con goles de Susaeta (´61) y Barral (´70), Sporting de Gijón y Athletic de Bilbao empataron (1-1) por la fecha 11 de la liga BBVA (España).

En uno de los partidos más flojos de los últimas semanas, cuando la enfermería del Athletic indica las formaciones, hubo alguna sosobra defensiva entre los poblados ataques vascos.

Iturraspe (por Javi Martínez, lesionado), con Herrera (1º partido de titular tras la lesión) y De Marco adelante, sufrieron los profundos pelotazos a Barral en sus espaldas. Aún con un 70% de posesión, el Athletic llevó menos peligro que el recibido en propia puerta.

Los cambios del entretiempo surtieron efecto de mayor ritmo al equipo. Toquero (x Ekiza) para socorrer a Iraola en la (sufrida) banda derecha y bajar a Muniain para que colaborara en la creación. Esto significó que Aurtenetxe pasara a central y que Susaeta cayera a la banda izquierda.

Con mínimas llegadas y gracias al pobre juego aéreo rival, el Athletic se puso en ventaja (Susaeta) conectando un córner. Pero a poco, Gijón empata en un desvío de Barral (´70) y se lanza por la victoria (de la que estuvo cerca).

Fue un empate que suma en las estadísticas vascas. 8 partidos sin perder (4 triunfos y 4 empates) y 9 visitas consecutivas puntuando en Gijón (desde el 8.9.1991).

No obstante la enfermería se lleva todas las luces. Desde el partido de Valencia no dejan de sucederse las visitas: Gurpegui (baja por lo que resta de temporada), Llorente (tendinitis), Amorebieta y Javi Martínez (molestias musculares), David López, Ekiza, Gabilondo y De Marcos (la menos grave) obligan a cambiar las formaciones de cara a la Europa League.

Sporting: Juan Pablo, Lora, Botía, Iván Hernández, Canella, Eguren, Rivera (Bilic m.64), Óscar Trejo (Luis Morán m.72), André Castro, De las Cuevas y Barral.

Athletic: Iraizoz, Iraola, Ekiza (Toquero m.45), San José, Aurtenetxe, Iturraspe, Herrera, Susaeta, De Marcos, Muniain (David López m.61) y Llorente (Ibai Gómez (m.64).

Goles: 0-1. m.62: Susaeta. 1-1. m.70: Barral.

Árbitro: González González. Estadio: Sp. Gijón. Espectadores: 23.000.

Maradona en Dubai (10): Feliz cumple Diego: 51.

2011-10-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

31.10.2011 - Diego Armando Maradona pasó su cumpleaños 51 muy lejos de Buenos Aires pero acaso con menos pesar que el número 50.

Dalma, Giannina y Benjamín llegaron a Dubai para formar parte (junto a su novia Verónica) de la celebración que organizó Al Wasl (dirigentes, jugadores y cuerpo técnico). "Para mi suegro, los mejores 51. Feliz cumple, Diego", twitteó Kun Agüero (desde Manchester, cuando #FelizCumpleDiego se convertía en TT.

MARADONA EN DUBAI (I)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (II)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (III)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (IV)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (v)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (VI)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (VII)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (VIII)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (IX)

Apertura 2011: Boca 3 Rafaela 1

2011-10-31T03:18:00.000-07:00

ARGENTINOS 3 VELEZ 1

NEWELLS 2 OLIMPO 2

INDEPENDIENTE 0 ARSENAL 0

LANUS 2 GODOY CRUZ 1S

BOCA 3 RAFAELA 1

BELGRANO 0 COLON 1

SAN LORENZO - ALL BOYS (SUSPENDIDO)

JUEGAN HOY (LUNES)

UNION - TIGRE

ESTUDIANTES - RACING

SAN MARTIN (SJ) - BANFIELD

When Spain used to get the nose broken

2011-10-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

July 9, 1994. Spain got defeated in the quarter finals of the FIFA World Cup against Italy and, once more, the dreams of the Spanish people faded away and the image of the game were the tears of Luis Enrique showing his broken nose to the referee. The game was in the extra time and in the last desperate attack of the Spanish NT looking for the draw, Mauro Tassotti hit with the elbow Luis Enrique's nose inside the box in what could have been a last minute penalty to send the match to the extra time. But the Hungarian referee Sandor Puhl did not see the action and Spain had to pack the luggage.

This World Cup was seen in Spain with certain illusion. The Spanish NT had not been able to play the Euro 1992, the last big continental tournament missed by this team. The Quinta del Buitre had been the core of the Spanish team since the World Cup 1986, but the failure in the qualifiers for the Euro 92 and the success of a young generation of players in the Olympic Games of Barcelona 92, made the new coach, Javier Clemente, change the face of this team. Players like Luis Enrique, Albert Ferrer, "Pitu" Abelardo, Jorge Otero, Josep Guardiola or Santi Cañizares entered in the squad to refresh the team. Aside the "gold generation", Clemente did not hesitate to trust in other young players like Julen Guerrero and Sergi.

Luis Enrique, Guardiola, Ferrer and Abelardo among others in Barcelona'92

The expectatives were high. The new and talented faces were a good reason to believe in this team. The prestige of the veterans was pretty high too. Some of them had been shining with Barcelona in the recent years in the so called "Dream Team". We refer to players like Andoni Zubizarreta, Andoni Goikoetxea or Jose Mari Bakero, along with other talented players of the Spanish football like Fernando Hierro, Miquel Angel Nadal or Rafa Alkorta. Among them, the main pieces of quality were in the boots of the Atlético Madrid player, José Luis Caminero.

However, the debate around the team was the day by day. While the overall opinion considered that the Spanish team had enough talent to play the nice and passing football proposed by the Quinta del Buitre and the Dream Team in the previous nine years in La Liga, Javier Clemente was part of the old school of Basque football, more direct football friendly. While the general opinion made a bet for a more aesthetic style, Javier Clemente built the team from the back and his lineups used to have usual central backs like Nadal or Hierro (even both at the same time) protecting the midfield. As a consequence of it, usual demands of the fans for this position, like Josep Guardiola, were usually out of the first XI.

In one way or another, the first steps of the Spanish team during the World Cup were not bad. Despite the initial bad game against South Korea and the unexpected 2-2. Spain grew during the tournament and showed a nice image against Germany (1-1) and Bolivia (3-1). The extraordinary victory on the Swiss team (3-0) made the fans believe in the possibilities of this team. In the quarter finals, Roberto Baggio's Italy was the rival. Since 1986 and the defeat of Spain against Belgium in the penalties, there was a growing sense of curse among the Spanish fans. Now there was a good chance to finish with it. Spain was a rising team and Italy had disappointed so far. Italy had qualified as one of the best third in the group stage and needed an extra time to eliminate Nigeria in the Round of 16. Italy seemed to be far from their best version.

The game was tight, intense and beautiful. Spain probably played the best game of the entire tournament. The initial goal of Dino Baggio and the power of the Italian team did not make the Spanish team surrender. In the early minutes of the second half, Caminero tied the game and Spain played their best minutes of the tournament. There is an action that is kept in the retinas of the Spanish people. At some point of the second half, in the decisive moments of the match, a long ball left the striker Julio Salinas alone... it was him and the semifinals of a World Cup, between them, Gianluca Pagliuca. Julio Salinas was famous for making difficult the easiest things and easy the impossible... but this was too easy. Salinas had lots of options, but chose the worse to kick the ball on Pagliuca's legs. Just a few minutes later, Roberto Baggio found himself in a similar situation, but the legendary Italian forward dribbled Zubizarreta with class to score the final 2-1 for Italy.

And it is true. It was a penalty on Luis Enrique. Tassotti elbowed the nose of the Spanish forward, but the referee did not see the action. Anger, frustration, sadness... This action just reinforced the feeling of the curse. It was a way to put into an image the feelings of many people. The day after, the covers of the Spanish newspapers reflected Luis Enrique showing his broken nose to the referee in a useless and desperate situation. Useless, desperate and cursed. But Spain was out.

Many years passed since then. Spain kept failing in more or less similar situations for years and years. In the summer of 2008, Spain faced Italy in the penalties of the Euro. Once more, Spain played one of their best games in the tournament, but the constant attacks were useless and the match reached the penalties. The so called "curse of the quarter finals" was in everyone's heads. Everyone's heads. When Cesc Fàbregas scored the winning goal of the penalties, Spain broke that invisible wall. Spain was in the semifinals, but the most important, Spain broke the curse forever. When the semifinals game started, Spain knew that they had no limits. Since then, Spain has won an Euro and a World Cup.

One of the images of this weekend has been the nice gesture of Luis Enrique and Mauro Tassotti shaking hands in the last AS Roma-AC Milan. The broken nose of Luis Enrique is not a symbol anymore and, if it is, it is the symbol of past times. Now this picture of Tassotti and Luis Enrique shaking hands only make people recall that there was a time when Spain used to get the nose broken in the big tournaments. Today, Spain is the World champion.

Nacional B: River 1 Aldosivi 2

2011-10-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

30.10.2011 - La quimera del paso accidental e inmaculado por los pasillos del subsuelo llegó a su fin en la fecha 12. El invicto que (ya amenazado) ostentaba River quedó en el Bajo Flores (Nuevo Gasómetro) donde Aldosivi (último) venció (1-2) a River (puntero) en “un partido para el olvido” según palabras del propio Matías Almeyda (DT).

Técnico que debuta gana (?); Teté Quiroz en el equipo marplatense. River volvió a la sombra de sus fantasmas (?). Furios de cabeza (´22) puso el merecido desnivel en un primer tiempo de dominio marplatense. River se valió de un penal mal sancionado por el árbitro Pablo Díaz (infracción fuera del área) para llegar a la igualdad (1-1) que nunca pudo quebrar. Y faltando 6 minutos, otra vez de cabeza, Zunino puso cifras definitivas (1-2).

Histórico triunfo de Aldosivi. Histórica derrota de Ríver, “el peor partido del campeonato por lejos”, según Almeyda. Pero esto recién empieza y, como ya dijimos, este River que perdió la punta a manos de Instituto, sigue haciendo camino al andar.

History of the Spanish football: 1928-1929, FC Barcelona win the first Liga and RCD Espanyol's first Copa

2011-10-29T03:55:00.000-07:00

Previous chapter: History of Spanish football (VII): 1926-1928, the professional football and Samitier's Golden Era

The precedents

At the end of the 1927-1928 season, given the failure of the two league attempts, the clubs and the RFEF knew that they had to reach an agreement for the good of everyone. In June 1928, in the facilities of Real Madrid, the representatives of the clubs that had formed the "Liga Máximalista" and the "Liga Mínima" meet to agree the creation of a league that satisfies everyone. Members of the following clubs assisted: Celta de Vigo, Deportivo de la Coruña, Sporting de Gijón, Real Oviedo, Racing Santander, Gimnástica Torrelavega, Athletic Club, Arenas Club, CD Alavés, FC Barcelona, RCD Español, CD Europa, SD Iberia, Real Unión Irún, Real Sociedad, Osasuna, Athletic Madrid, Valencia FC, Real Murcia, Sevilla FC and Real Madrid FC.

The debate was held with normality, studying several formats of competition, although none of them received the overall approval. In order to find a definitive solution, an executive commission formed by representatives of Real Madrid, Athletic Madrid, FC Barcelona, RCD Español, Iberia SD, Real Sociedad, Athletic Club, Real Unión and Sevilla FC was named to find a solution. This executive commission held new meetings at the end of June, once the last Copa final had been played. This commission presented a proposal about the creation of the Campeonato Nacional de Liga (from now on, Liga). The proposal was the creation of a first division (Primera División) formed by 8 teams, the six historic Copa winners (Athletic Club, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Real Unión, Real Sociedad and Arenas Club) plus Athletic Madrid and RCD Español, considered two of the oldest clubs in Spain. The second division (Segunda División) would be formed by Sevilla FC, Sporting Gijón, Real Oviedo, RC Celta, RC Deportivo, Racing Santander, CD Alaves, CA Osasuna, Iberia SD, CD Europa, Racing Madrid and Valencia FC. In the early days of July, the proposal was rejected in the National Assembly by the excluded teams and for those who bet for a bigger league (the historic winners did not want to accept more than 8 teams). The disagreements still existed and the Basque clubs threat to break the negotiations to create their own Copa tournament, the clubs of Galicia also threat to enter in the Portuguese league, while others protested since they considered Real Sociedad should not be considered direct heir of the Club Ciclista that won the Copa of 1909.

The discussions were eternal and new debates were held in September and October. Finally, at the end of November, when the regional tournaments and the Copa had already started, the Extraordinary National Assembly agreed the creation of a league of 10 teams: the six Copa winners, previously mentioned, plus three finalists: CD Europa, RCD Español and Athletic Madrid. The 10th team would be the winner of an intensive previous tournament that had to be played by the Segunda División teams: Sevilla FC, Racing Santander, Valencia FC, RC Celta, RC Deportivo, Sporting Gijón, Iberia SD, CD Alavés and Real Betis. Since the winner of this tournament would not end up playing in Segunda, Racing Madrid would occupy the vacant in Segunda División.

The teams

Athletic Club

The Basque club was managed by Máximo Royo, who replaced, the Hungarian coach Lippo Hertzka. At that point, the president De la Sota and the manager Royo decided to start a deep renewal and their most important players were the goalkeeper Blasco (19 years old), the midfielder Garizurieta (20 years old) or the forwards Unamuno (19), De la Fuente (21) and Chirri II (19). Their last biggest achievement in the national level was the Copa victory of 1923, although they still had won the last regional tournament in 1928. Athletic Club was the most successful club ever in the Spanish football, although their recent seasons had been disappointing, compared with their golden era in the previous decade, so they were not a clear favorite to win the titles that had to be played this season. The youth of the team made unpredictable their performance in the season that had to start.

FC Barcelona

The culés were considered the best team of the moment. In the previous years, the club managed by Romà Forns had won three of the last four Copas and their dictatorship in the regional level was a fact. The Catalans had a very strong squad with very important players. mixing veteran players and promising names, like the legendary goalie Platko (30 years old), the German defender Walter (28), the mids Castillo (20) and Guzmán (27), or the forwards Piera (25), Sastre (22) or Parera (21). Among them, the forward Josep Samitier (26) was not only the star of the team, but also the best player of those years. The recent titles and the quality of the squad made everyone consider Barcelona the biggest favorite for this new season.

Real Madrid FC

The madridistas had been living their worst years in terms of results. In the Copa del Rey, their only achievement had been a final in 1924 and Athletic Madrid had emerged as big rival in the regional tournaments. In this situation, the club decides to make a radical change in their approach and, with the resignation of José Berraondo, the club signs the former barcelonista and madridista player José Quirante and starts a race to sign important players. As a consequence of it, players like the promising striker Jaime Lazcano (19 years old) and the veteran Juan Urquizu (27), sign from Osasuna; the young Gaspar Rubio (21) signs from Levante; and the club "steals" from their local rival, the Athletic Madrid star, Triana (26), a player of the so called "the Athletic Madrid of the lords", as a consequence of the internal institutional problems of this club, which caused some delay in the payments. Aside this signings, the veteran players José M. Peña (33), who had signed from Arenas Club in 1926, and the icon Monjardín (25) were the references of the team. All these signings made the fans dream for a better season.

Jaime Lazcano in Real Madrid

Real Unión Irún

The irundarras had been living their best years, winning 5 regional titles and 2 Copas (aside another final) in the 1920s. The core of the team had very recognizable names like the midfielders René Petit (29 years old) and Francisco Gamborena (27), the goalkeeper Emery (23) and the young forwards Garmendia (23) and Luis Regueiro (20). Most of the team was quite veteran and, with the arrival of professionalism, the club mainly focused in keeping the team instead of signing players, since the club did not enjoy the economic resources of other clubs of Spain that were getting reinforced. Despite the recent titles, the feeling around this team is that Real Unión was formed by quality players, but their peak time had passed in most of them.

Real Sociedad

The team managed by Benito Díaz since 1926, as player-coach, had just lost the Copa final against the legendary Barcelona of Samitier. The great star of the team was Paco Bienzobas, a 19 year old striker that had showed his potential in the last couple of seasons despite his young age. But the rest of the team was a solid block of young players that was also the core of the Spanish team in the Olympic games of Amsterdam 1928, with players like the forwards Yurrita (24), Mariscal (24), "Cholín" (22) and "Kiriki" (21); the goalkeeper Izaguirre (22), the defender Ilundain (20) or the mid Marculeta (21). With this young but competitive squad and the precedents of the team, Real Sociedad was considered one of the best teams of the moment and a clear contender for any title.

Arenas Club

The areneros were another humble club. Located in Getxo, in the Gran Bilbao comarca (although they played their games at Ibaiondo in the same Bilbao city), this club has raised as the big rival of Athletic Club during the last decades in the regional tournament and had reached two Copa finals in recent editions (1925 and 1927). The unquestionable stars was their forwards Yermo (25) and Gurruchaga (20), along with other traditionals of the team, like the defender Llantada (21) and the veterans like the goalie Jauregui (32) or Vallana (31), although these two players were not usual anymore. Arenas did not have the economic power of their rivals, so their players were mainly local. Arenas Club was considered a good team, but did not count as one of the big favorites to win the league.

Español's José Padrón

RCD Español

The pericos had been a club in trouble during the last decade. While Barcelona's popularity grew, Español struggled to find the economic resources. As a consequence of it, despite having very important players like the myth Ricardo Zamora (27 years old), the great young forward Padrón (22), or the veteran defender Saprissa (27), the club had been forced to tour through other countries of the World while playing the regional tournaments with the reserves. The reason of it was the World-wide fame of the goalkeeper Zamora and the need of finding money for the club. The president Genaro De la Riva, despite the talent of the team, had put the priorities in the survival of the club, while Barcelona and Europa grew over them in the official tournaments. The team was considered to have very important players of recognition, although the lack of references in official tournaments made them be a mistery. For this season, the most important event was the signing of the former Barcelona player and coach, Jack Greenwell.

Athletic Madrid

Under the presidency of Juan Urquijo, the club had reached the Copa final of 1926 and had been the winner of the last regional tournament (1928). The team was considered to have some great talents like the forwards Luis Olaso (28), Vicente Palacios and Cosme (24). The president Urquijo signed Fred Pentland from Oviedo to drive the team again, trying to repeat the success of 1926. However, the club had financial problems and, as a consequence of them, the forward Triana had left the team to join Real Madrid in a painful event for the club. Despite the talents in the team, the departure of some of the "Lords" of Athletic Madrid had weakened the team and was not considered one of the main challengers for the title.

CD Europa's Carles Bestit

CD Europa

The humble club of Barcelona was located in the Gràcia district of the city. Despite they did not have the economic power of their biggest rivals, FC Barcelona and RCD Español, the club had raised as power in the Catalan football in the 1920s, winning a Campionat de Catalunya and reaching a Copa final in the year 1923. In these years, CD Europa had been the second team of Catalonia in terms of results and counted on players like the forwards Bestit (20) and Cros (27) as main reference of the team. Their humble status made them focus in the permanence in Primera División. The coach was the Austrian Karl Heinlein and the squad probably was the most veteran team in Primera División.

Racing Santander

Racing Santander had to win the knock-out tournament to decide the last member of Primera División. The club's star was the Irish coach Patrick O'Connell, who had driven the team to a long list of regional titles and, the most important, to Primera División, leaving behind important teams like Valencia, Real Betis and Sevilla FC. The team was the most humble of the tournament and their players did not have the fame of others. In this team, the main references were the winger Santi Zubieta (18), the midfielder Larrinaga (17) and the powerful striker Óscar (25).

Copa del Rey

With the creation of the Liga, the Copa del Rey changed the format to become a pure knock-out tournament again. Since the discussions to create the new tournament were long, the Assembly of the RFEF decided to advance the regional competitions in order to play the tournament before the first games of La Liga. As it had always happened since 1913, the participants of the competition had to get their ticket in their regional tournaments. New regional tournaments appeared while Catalonia, Madrid, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa got new places, so also the third team of these competitions were allowed to play the tournament. These were the participants:

In the pure draw, the big clash is the one between Arenas Club and Real Unión, two historical clubs of the tournament. Arenas Club is superior in both legs and advanced to the following round. This round did not have big surprises among the giants. Still it was remarkable the victory of Racing Ferror on the winner of the Bizkaia tournament, Alavés, who counted on players like Ciriaco or Quincoces. Aside these games, it is important to highlight the victory of Valencia on Europa and the defeat of Sporting Gijón against RCD Español.

The press of those years considered that the first leg of the Round of 16 was conclusive in its results. The clash between Barcelona and Real Sociedad in Les Corts was the most interesting clash and also the most shocking result. The "replay" of the final 1928 was not a revenge for Real Sociedad, who got trashed by a brilliant Barcelona (6-0). Another big clash was the one between Arenas Club and RCD Español. The pericos and the areneros gave the fans of Getxo a big show, but a disappointing result, since the 4-6 seemed almost definitive with the 2nd leg to be played in Sarrià, Español's home .At the same time, the media considered surprising the victory of a declining Racing Madrid on Valencia at Mestalla (1-3). The valencianistas were considered a team that was growing and this result exposed the ché team, who got defeated by a Racing Madrid that played with more heart than football anyway. The two giants of Madrid did not have problems to defeat their rivals easily. So Athletic Madrid won 2-3 away in Gimnástica Torrelavega's home and Real Madrid crushed Logroño in Chamartín (8-0). The victory of the Valencian champions, Castellón, on Elche (5-0) was not a surprise either. The victory of Sevilla in the tough stadium of Osasuna (0-1) was interpreted as a symbol of the recovery of the sevillistas, while Athletic Club could only tie in Ferrol, although this result was good enough to face the next round.

In the second leg, the result only came to confirm what was seen in the first leg. Considering the initial results, no big surprises happened. RCD Español confirmed the superiority shown in Ibaiondo to end up eliminating Arenas Club from the competition (3-1). Real Madrid crushed Logroño in the away game too (0-5), while Athletic Madrid showed problems to advance against a fighting Gimnástica Torrelavega (1-1). Athletic Club was very superior in San Mamés and clear any kind of doubt on them (4-0). Castellón was also victorious in Elche (0-2) and Sevilla's football convinced in the 4-2 triumph on Osasuna. In a muddy Atotxa, the game between Real Sociedad and Barcelona was preceded by a hostile atmosphere against the culés as a consequence of their recent clashes, but the result of the first leg was impossible to overcome (0-0). In Madrid, the team of the Chamberí district, Racing Madrid, ended up surprising Valencia FC (2-1) and the valencianistas got eliminated from the competition after the euphoria created in the city for their victory on Europa.

Quarter finals - Jan 6, 1929 - Jan 13, 1929

In this round, the favorites did not fail either. The most interesting game was the derby of Madrid, between the team of Chamberí, Racing, and the one of Chamartín, Real Madrid. The madridistas were the clear favorites and they did not miss their chance to buy their ticket to the semifinals of the Copa del Rey with a brillian 1-3. At the same time, in Sarrià, Español confirmed that their regional title (the first since 1918), won with the team remaining unbeaten, had not been an anecdote. The pericos crushed Athletic Madrid with a clear 5-1 that left the team of the capital of Spain without options, while Español rose as one of the main favorites to win the title. FC Barcelona did not fail in Seville either. The 0-1 in the capital of Andalusia was not as definitive result, but Barcelona had never lost in Les Corts in this competition. More problems had Athletic in Castellón, but the Basque team achieved an 1-1 draw that was a positive result to face the 2nd leg at home.

In the second leg, the favorites did not fail. The press considered that Barcelona's victory on Sevilla (2-0) had been fair, but discreet. At the same time, Athletic suffered too much against a dangerous Castellón, who put things more difficult than it had been predicted (2-1). In the Metropolitano, Athletic Madrid wanted to impress their fans and they surely did against an Español that was defeated for the first time in the entire season (4-2). In Chamartín, the madridistas showed their clear superiority (6-2) against a weak Racing Madrid that had gone further than it had been guessed at the beginning of the tournament. The good results and nice style showed by Real Madrid impressed the press, who started to label them as one of the favorites for the final victory after lots of years of disappointing results. The only teams missed by the press were Europa and Alavés, who had been considered stronger than they finally showed.

Semifinals - Jan 20, 1929 - Jan 27, 1929

The semifinals were the key moment. Finally, four classics of the competition met. As it was tradition, the clubs of Catalonia, Madrid and the Basque country showed up as the strongest. The first semifinal was played between Real Madrid and Athletic Club. Both clubs were looking for the glory lost in the recent years. Real Madrid had been struggling without a final since 1924 and without a title since 1918. Athletic Club, the club with more Copas, had also been 6 years without a national title. The first leg was played in Chamartín, Real Madrid's home. Real Madrid was considered the favorite by the press, given their great form and results, while Athletic had some absences to face this game. Real Madrid won 3-1 as it was predicted, but the madridistas suffered too much in the last moments of the game, when Athletic scored their only goal and threatened Madrid's goal with chances that were not converted.

In Sarrià, Español and Barcelona played the first Copa derby in years. The pericos were the favorites given their amazing superiority in the regional title, while Romà Forns' team had not reached the level shown in the previous season. The matched was marked by the injury of Guzmán, who left Barça with ten men since the minute 5. Playing against ten, Español owned the game in every sense, while Barcelona could only defend their goal in the best possible way. Español got a good 2-0, but still not definitive with the 2nd leg in sight to be played in Les Corts.

In the second leg, in Les Corts, the press wondered what Barcelona could do against Español in their stadium. Since the first minutes of the game, Barcelona looked for the goal to enter in the game and they did it, but before half time, Español was able to draw. The remaining 45 minutes did not have story. A frustrated Barcelona crashed against Español's defense and the game turned ugly, as it was often in these derbies. But the 1-1 was the final result. Español, who had triumphed in the regional tournament, had defeated Barcelona in the Copa too and reached the final of Valencia.

In San Mamés, Real Madrid achieved a historical victory. The 1-4 could only confirm that Real Madrid was the team of the moment. The tournament of the madridistas had been almost perfect, but this was the kind of prestigious victory that imposed respect in the rivals. Athletic actually dominated all the first half, but they could not score the goal they needed, which mainly showed the efficiency of the merengue defense. In the second half, Real Madrid crushed Athletic at home and getting the admiration of everyone. The madridistas were in the final of Mestalla.

Final - Feb 3, 1929

The final was played in Mestalla, packed with 25,000 fans, lots of them travelling from Barcelona (4,000) and Madrid (8,000). Real Madrid and RCD Español were playing a historical final that broke the domination of FC Barcelona and the Basque clubs. There was not a clear favorite for this game. RCD Español had triumphed in the Campionat de Catalunya, with a magnificent defense led by Ricardo Zamora and Saprissa, while the leader of their attack was the fantastic José Padrón. Jack Greenwell had built an impressive squad, just as he had done with FC Barcelona some years ago. In Real Madrid, José Quirante was the opposite, a young and inexperienced coach, but definitely a talent that had made the club live great moments after years of disappointing results. This final was marked by the unusual heavy rain that fell on Valencia that left the state of the pitch in awful conditions. It passed to history as the "final del agua" (the water final).

The muddy state of the pitch forced both teams, who were technically gifted, to play direct football instead of their usual passing style. The rain and the mud turned the game ugly since the first minute and the physical contact was usual. Only 3 minutes had passed, Quesada blocked Broto inside the madridista box and the referee awarded the penalty. González shot the penalty, but the madridista Cobo stopped it. After this penalty and during all the first half, Real Madrid was superior, but just as Cobo had been great stopping the penalty, Ricardo Zamora was also essential to keep the clean sheet for Español. At half time, the result was 0-0.

Español in the final of Mestalla 1929

In the second half, Real Madrid kept attacking Zamora's goal, but in a lost counter-attack, Vantolrà made a fantastic individual actions and found Tena, who shot to the left upper corner of Cobo's goal. In the minute 10 of the second half, Español took the lead. This goal did not stop Real Madrid, who kept looking for the goal. An important incident happened only ten minutes later, in the 65'. As a consequence of a fight, the referee Pelayo Serrano sent off three players: the españolistas Broto and Tena and the madridista Rubio. With one man less, Real Madrid's attack got more constant, but the pass of minutes also made them take risks. And it was Padrón who found Bosch, who was alone and executed Cobo to score the second for Español. With 20 minutes to go, Español was two goals up and one man down. Real Madrid, knowing this superiority, kept insisting on Zamora's goal and five minutes later, the striker Lazcano put Madrid in the game again with his 2-1. Real Madrid's attacks got furious, but Zamora emerged as the hero for Español. In the last minute, the madridistas protested a penalty in Español's box and the incident ends up in a new brawl and two other players were sent off too, the madridista Triana and the españolista González. RCD Español ended up resisting, with Zamora as hero, while the madridistas disappointed, especially their attack, very inefficient in this rainy afternoon. It was a historical day for RCD Español, Jack Greenwell had taken them to their first Copa title in history.

Linguasport.com

La Liga

Only one week after the Copa final, the first edition of La Liga started. The preview of the press before La Liga exposed the state of euphoria in Español, who had triumphed in the regional tournament and in the Copa. The madridistas were disappointed with the result and, as Español, worried about the absences in the first Liga game due to the ban on the players who had been sent off in the Copa final, but they were definitely rated highly before La Liga had to start. The two Basque teams, Athletic and Real Sociedad, were considered to have good options in this race and they had to face each other in their debut in the game of the week, according to the press, while there were doubts on Barcelona, given their recent form.

In the first week, Español defeated Real Unión, despite the multiple absences in their initial XI. The pericos had to overcome a 1-2 in the last 20 minutes to win the game. At the same time, Real Madrid defeated Europa with a clear 5-0, although the local team had more problems than the scoreboard suggest, since all the goals were scored in the second half. Lazcano scored four goals for the madridistas. In Atotxa, Athletic had to tie the initial goal of Real Sociedad for a fair draw in the Basque derby that left a better taste for the visitors. The surprising result was the victory of Athletic Madrid against Arenas Club in Getxo with unexpected superiority. The week was closed with an a victory of Barcelona in Satander against Racing, achieved in the second half, but only assured in the last minutes of the game, with a great Parera leading the team.

Just a week later, the most attractive game was the visit of Real Madrid to Les Corts. A more efficient than beautiful Real Madrid defeated Barcelona at home and the absences in the starting lineup of the Catalans did not stop the first rumors of a possible replacement in the blaugrana management. The two goals of Morera made impossible the late attempt of comeback by Barcelona. Español had a complex visit to San Mamés, a defeat was possible, but the 9-0 was a heavy humiliation that was strongly criticized in the press. Carmelo and Lafuente scored a hat-track each. Real Sociedad showed their strength in their visit to the Metropolitano, only needing the first half to crush the local team, while Arenas disappointed in their visit to Europa's home, where the striker Cros showed up as great star scoring four goals. Real Unión achieved an expected victory on Racing, although they had to overcome the initial goal of the visitors in the second half. These results gave Real Madrid the leading position, as they were the only team to win the two initial games..

Samitier and Obiols stop Lazcano in the first Barça-Madrid in La Liga

In the third week, Real Madrid kept their leading position with a new victory, this time in the derby against Athletic Madrid. It had to be Triana, former Athletic icon, who scored the two goals of Real Madrid to overcome the initial 0-1 and defeat their neighbors. The reviews still considered the madridistas more efficient than powerful and convincing in their performances. Español showed a great image against Europa though and the press saw the Copa winner in their game. In just 20 minutes, the pericos had solved the game with three goals. Athletic kept impressing everyone with their amazing attacking power with another hat-trick by Lafuente, this time in Santander. Barcelona was crushed in their visit to Real Sociedad in a pathetic first half of the Catalans. The Basque team showed a convincing image against a poor Barcelona. Arenas and Real Unión tied in a disappointing game too.

The fourth weekend did not changed things much. Real Madrid struggled to beat Real Sociedad in Chamartín, but the madridistas kept the perfect sheet with another victory. The madridistas were still criticized for their football, but their results were out of question. Their two early goals were almost balanced by the goal of Bienzobas and the constant attack of Real Sociedad in the last half an hour. Español and Athletic were also growing in the standings, with two easy victories at home against weaker rivals, like Racing and Europa respectively. There was also a surprising victory of Athletic Madrid in Irún. The shock was in Barcelona, since the culés did not see the light with another disappointing result, a draw against a weak Arenas Club, with a brilliant Yermo for the Basques.

Yermo (Arenas Club) scores in Sarrià against Zamora (Español)

The results of the fifth week had the first big impact in the standings. Real Madrid reinforced their position in the top of the standings with a predictable victory against Racing. Once again Real Madrid had to overcome an initial bad result with a good second half. While the madridistas had won everything, the racinguistas collected five defeats in a row. Real Madrid increased their gap up to three points on their main rivals. Athletic was defeated in Arenas' home, in what it was the surprise of the weekend, although the goals of Yermo were not surprising anymore. Español achieved an important draw in Atotxa against Real Sociedad in the last minutes of the game, but they also lost track with Real Madrid. Athletic Madrid achieved another easy victory on a unrecognizable Barcelona, who were in deep crisis and got destroyed by the press. Europa and Real Unión tied in an useless draw for both of them.

After a weekend used for an international game between Spain and Portugal in Seville (5-0), the first after the failure in Amsterdam 1928, with the Spanish team mainly formed by españolistas and madridistas, La Liga returned with the sixth matchday. In Sarrià, a very important game had to be played. The "invincible" madridistas visited the Copa winner. Revenge or comeback? The answer of Español was solid, a 4-0 against Real Madrid was considered as a recovery of Español, who started to appear as a serious threat for Real Madrid. The madridistas, who had not been playing in a brilliant way, saw how their efficiency disappeared against the pericos. Athletic Club did not take advantage of it, since they disappointed with a new defeat, this time in Irún, against Real Unión. The irundarras led by Regueiro in attack, destroyed Athletic in a magnificent first half for a final 6-3. Arenas Club continued with their good run of results with a convincing victory against Real Sociedad, with the brilliant Yermo in top form scoring two more goals. Barcelona found some oxygen in an easy victory on the weak Europa. Despite this result, Barcelona replaced their coach, Romà Forns, to sign James Bellamy from the Italian Brescia. Athletic Madrid grew in the standings with their victory on the weak Racing Santander.

The 7th week turned out to be very positive for Real Madrid. The madridistas recovered their three point gap on their rivals with a victory on Real Unión with two goals by Gaspar Rubio. As it was usual in the Liga season, the madridistas were more efficient than convincing in their football, but their results were unquestionable. The main doubts on their future were their following visits to the always tough Northern stadiums. But their rivals were very irregular. Español was surprised by Arenas in Sarrià with a goal of Gurruchaga when the match was about to finish. Their previous victory against Real Madrid became an anecdote with this new defeat, while Arenas started to appear as unexpected challenger, showing their good state of form. Athletic Club recovered from their bad results with a huge 5-1 victory against a Barcelona that was totally out of track, despite the arrival of the new coach. Unamuno and Lafuente toyed with the Catalans in the second half. Athletic Madrid disappointed in their visit to Europa, while Real Sociedad crushed a poor Racing with their sublime attack: Bienzobas, "Cholín" and "Kiriki".

Bienzobas

The 8th week left some interesting results that caused a "traffic jam" on top. Arenas Club highlighted their good form with a victory on the leader, Real Madrid. The madridistas had some important absences and, despite their great effort, in one of their best games of the season, were defeated by the impulse of Arenas Club, who won their fourth game in a row. The madridistas saw their advantage cut by Athletic Club, who defeated a declining Athletic Madrid. This week had two important derbies. One of them in Gipuzkoa, where Real Sociedad confirmed their good state of form in an away victory on a disappointing Real Unión in a passionate derby. Real Sociedad overcame the 2-0 at half time, with one man less on the pitch due and a great Bienzobas. In Les Corts, the classic of the Catalan football was won by Barcelona in a pride victory. In the tight game, not exempt from polemics, as the words of the perico coach Jack Greenwell showed, was conquered by Barcelona in the second half with a late goal scored by Sastre. Racing Santander won their first game of the season against Europa.

The first round of the league was closed after a break for an international match of Spain. The Spanish team defeated (8-1) France in Zaragoza, with madridistas and españolistas still forming the core of the team. The ninth week of football had some important results. The leader Real Madrid got the visit of Athletic in Chamartín, the two top teams of La Liga so far. Real Madrid crushed Athletic (5-1) in a sublime game of the local team with Lazcano and Gaspar Rubio in top form. The madridistas closed the first half of the league with a solid top position, based on their regularity and their efficiency. With this defeat, Athletic kept their irregular line of results and, once more, failed to haunt the top position. Arenas Club insisted in their good moment with a tight victory on Racing. Real Sociedad failed against the weak Europa, showing an irregularity that was punishing them constantly. Español hailed their injuries of the derby with a victory on Athletic Madrid, who kept falling. Barcelona achieved their first away victory of the season with their triumph in Irún, who were not the team of the past, in a great second half of the Catalans. At this point, Real Madrid was a solid leader and Arenas Club was their main threat given their form. Athletic Club, Real Sociedad, Español and Barcelona followed them from some distance, given their constant irregularity.

The second round of La Liga was opened with a 10th week of football that had important events in the standings. In Barcelona, Real Madrid got surprising crushed by Bestit's Europa. The europeos made a fantastic first half to destroy Real Madrid. Once more, Bestit was the main reference of Europa, scoring four goals. With this result, the madridistas lost their gap on Arenas Club. The areneros triumphed against Athletic Madrid. The Basque team shared the top position and points with Real Madrid. The irregularity of Real Madrid and the constant rise of Arenas made the Basques feel positive about their future. The other main rivals of Madrid took advantage of the situation to cut distances. So Athletic Club defeated Real Sociedad in San Mamés in an intense Basque derby, scoring three goals in the second half to overcome the 1-2 at half time, while Barcelona had it easy with Racing Santander, with Arocha in top form. Español failed in their visit against the weak Real Unión, wasting a good opportunity to grow in the standings and evidencing they were not the team that had impressed everyone in the regional tournament and the Copa.

The 11th week had some delayed games, so it started with Arenas looking for an at least eventual top position. And they achieved a draw that actually gave them the lead in the standings, but the 1-1 at Ibaoindo, Arenas' home, against the weaker Europa could only be seen as a failure in a key moment. Bestit ruined Yermo's party in the last minutes of the game. After 6 victories in a row, their good run stopped in the most unexpected moment. In Sarrià, Español and Athletic played a decisive game, especially for the local team. The team of Jack Greenwell and Ricardo Zamora did not fail to achieve an important and convincing victory on Athletic to keep surviving in La Liga with a hat-trick by Gallart. Three days later, the week was closed. Barcelona visited Chamartín in a decisive game for the culés. Since James Bellamy took the team, the recovery of the team was evident, but they needed to confirm their good state against Real Madrid. The madridistas were affected by many injuries and ended up noticing them. Barcelona took their revenge and defeated their rivals in Chamartín with a goal scored by Sastre in the last minutes of the match to confirm that they were surprisingly back in the race for the title. For the first time in the entire season, Real Madrid was not the leader of La Liga. At the same time, Real Sociedad missed their chance to enter in this race with a draw against a broken Athletic Madrid.

Only one week later, the 12th matchday started with surprising results. Arenas Club, who had reached the top only 3 days before, was destroyed in the Gal Stadium by Real Unión. After the good run of results, Arenas Club started to fail in the key moments and this time it was against a Real Unión who were struggling to achieve good results. The 7-1 was extremely harmful for Arenas though. At the same time, Athletic Club could not pass from a poor 0-0 draw at home against Racing in a huge error at this point of the season. Previously, Español had defeated Europa in a Catalan derby that was fully dominated by the pericos. With this result, Español seemed ready to compete for the top position looking for a historical treble. The rest of matches were delayed 3 weeks, because the RFEF had organized a historical friendly game against England.

For the first time ever, the Spanish NT met the inventors of football. It was in the Stadium Metropolitano, in Madrid. The Spanish NT formed with Zamora (RCD Español); Quesada (Real Madrid), Quincoces (CD Alavés); Prats (Real Madrid), Peña (Real Madrid), Marculeta (Real Sociedad); Lazcano (Real Madrid), Gpiburu (FC Barcelona), Gaspar Rubio (Real Madrid), Padrón (Español), Bosch (Español). The Spanish NT won the game (4-3) with two late goals scored by Gaspar Rubio and Goiburu. It was the first defeat of the English NT out of British Islands in history.

The 13rd week had some games delayed, but Real Madrid played to recover the first position in Atotxa. In an extraordinary balanced and tight game, Real Madrid ended up losing a game that they had in their pocket with ten minutes to go, in goals scored by Marculeta and "Cholín", which costed them the two points. With this defeat, the madridistas made evident their bad moment, the worst in the entire season, as Real Sociedad grew in the standings in a late effort to fight for the title. Athletic Madrid defeated Real Unión, although none of them was a challenger for the title. The rest of games were delayed as Español rose as eventual leader.

The 14th week was the one of normality after some delayed games. As the key moments arrived, the emotion grew and the errors were paid. Español got surprised at home against Real Sociedad, who due to a goal of the great Bienozbas, resisted to surrender in La Liga. At the same time, Real Madrid's poor form was more worrying and evident than ever and they tied at home against the weak Racing Santander. Arenas took advantage of all these results to climb to the top again, even if it was just in an eventual way, given the delayed games. Bellamy's Barcelona was the other team that was favored by the results and, for the first time in the entire season, a title was a very likely possibility. Their 4-0 victory on Athletic Madrid with a magnificent Samitier was the reason of it.

Español 1929

All the delayed games (except the Arenas-Barcelona) were played in a mid-week journey. In the derby of the capital, Real Madrid solved their game against a sinking Athletic Madrid, recovering the top position of the standings. A top position that was not really effective. Barcelona and Arenas were with one game in hand and, since there were four teams on top with 17 points (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arenas and Español), any result in the clash between Catalans and Basques would have changed this position. This delayed game was postponed until the end of June. In fact, Español missed their chance to reach the top with a disappointing draw against Racing in Santander. Athletic Club were just two points away from the top, but their draw in Europa's home was a serious error in this race.

La Liga entered in the last month of competition and, definitely, June opened with good news for Real Madrid in a perfect 15th week for them. The madridistas had to receive the visit of a rising Español in Chamartín in a clash that was decisive in the race for the title. In a key moment, the press highlighted the great game of Real Madrid against Español and their striker, the rising star Gaspar Rubio, emerged to put Zamora's Español in problems to fight for the title. This result was even more positive considering the draw of Barcelona against Europa in the new stadium of Montjuïc, which had opened for the International Exposition 1929, where the game was hosted. In this Catalan derby, Barcelona disappointed and lost a point that could be essential in the race for La Liga. But Arenas definitely damaged their chances with their defeat in Atotxa in their Basque derby against Real Sociedad in a very tight game. With all these results, Athletic also recovered some of their chances with a home victory against Real Unión.

Arenas Club 1929

Given this situation with three weeks to go, Barcelona and Arenas had one game in hand to be played in Ibaigondo. Real Madrid's fixtures were tough, with two visits to the Basque country to face Real Unión and their direct rival, Athletic, in a game of big rivalry, and also receive Arenas in Chamartín. Aside the delayed game, Barcelona had to be visited by Athletic and Real Unión at Les Corts and had to play their chances in Montjuïc, where Español played the last games of this season. In the case of Athletic, aside these games against Barcelona and Madrid, they also had to face Athletic Madrid. Español had to play against Arenas and Athletic Madrid away and Barcelona at home. Arenas, the last challenger, had to play games against direct rivals like Español in Sarrià, Madrid at home, Athletic Madrid away and Barcelona at home. The tight standings were as it stands:

The last three weeks started and there was nothing decided, but the 16th week had to start to clarify things and it surely did. In a direct clash for the title, in a classic in Les Corts, Barcelona confirmed their great form with an important victory against Athletic based on 20 fantastic minutes of the second half with Samitier showing up in the important moments. As Barcelona kept their options in La Liga, Athletic saw how their chances started to vanish in Catalan lands. At the same time, in the other direct clash for the title, Arenas Club finished with the Treble dream of Español in the first 45 minutes of the game, with a 3-0 that allowed the Basque team to be a definitive option for the last games. Real Madrid did not fail to keep their position on top with a hard-working victory in Real Unión's home, saving a very complicated away match. Real Madrid (21 points), Barcelona (20) and Arenas (19), the last two with a match between themselves in hand, were the only options.

The 17th week had to have consequences. Arenas visited Chamartín and Barcelona had to visit Español in the eventual home of the pericos at Montjuïc. In Barcelona, as the culés were fighting for the title, Español's main goal was to avoid this fact. The game was very tight in the first half and Platko saved Barcelona (and the title chances) in a penalty shot by Saprissa. The second half started with a fast goal of Español that really left Barcelona in trouble, but the blaugranas were able to save a point in the last minutes of the game with a goal scored by Sastre. At the same time, in Chamartín, and considering the result of Barcelona, Real Madrid gave a great step forward in the title race with another convincing victory in a key moment of the season and, this time, against Arenas. The goal of the captain Quesada in the first half and Triana in the last moments of the game left Arenas out of the title race. These results left only Real Madrid and Barcelona with options, although Real Madrid had the title in their hands. The 2 point difference was not definitive 100% even with a madridista victory in the not-so-easy stadium of San Mamés, but the goal difference was so favorable to Real Madrid that this eventual victory would leave Barcelona without chances, unless a miracle had to happen.

Athletic's Lafuente

The last week was passionate, but did not solve anything yet. Real Madrid visited San Mamés looking for a victory that would almost give them the title, but everything went in the wrong direction for them very soon. Only after three minutes, Athletic was able to score, putting La Liga upside down. Real Madrid's behavior was good and the team fought for the goal to draw. But in the second half, Athletic scored the second and the madridistas Rubio and Lazcano, who had been brilliant through all the tournament, failed to appear in this important day. In Les Corts, Barcelona knew that their title chances passed through two victories and this is what they looked for since the very first second. Barcelona crushed Real Unión in an easy game and the result of San Mamés was considered as positive. Tied in points and with a match in hand, La Liga was in Barcelona's hands to be won or lost one week later in Ibaiondo, Arenas' home.

In this game, played in Ibaiondo, Barcelona needed one point. As it was predicted, Madrid was better in the goal difference and Barcelona needed to tie or win the match to win the title. As it had been proven during the season, Ibaiondo was not an easy visit and Barcelona had to suffer. At half time, the result was a tight 0-0 that left things open to any possible option. In the second half, Arenas was playing better, but Parera ended up giving the lead to Barcelona after 20 minutes. Only a few minutes later, the same Parera scored the second and the last minutes did not change anything. Barcelona won the game in Ibaiondo (0-2) and, as a consequence, the title: FC Barcelona was the first Liga champion.

This was the most usual formation of the champion:

BDfutbol.com

In Segunda División, the season developed along with the Primera División games. As in Primera División, the fight for the promotion place was very tight during all the season and the balanced level of all teams made the fight very beautiful. Sevilla FC was the team that ended up winning the first Segunda División season earning their right to play the promotion games against Racing Santander, who were the bottom team in Primera División. The first promotion game was played in Sevilla and the local team won with a short advantage (2-1). However, Racing Santander were able to overcome this result in the second leg (2-0) to keep their position in Primera División one more season. In the bottom part of the standings, the historical RC Celta got relegated to Segunda B along with Racing Madrid, who were really struggling to survive with very important financial problems.

Spain also presented a candidature to organize the first FIFA World Cup in the year 1930, which had to be decided in the Barcelona meeting of 1929. Along with Spain, other countries like Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and Uruguay also presented their bids. At the end, Uruguay's bid included the construction of a big central stadium and the return of expenses for all the visitors and the rest of the participants withdrew. Uruguay, who were the World champions de facto, since they had won in the last Olympic games, were the first nation to organize a World Cup.

Conclusions

At the end of the season, the Catalan football was victorious. RCD Español had won their first Copa del Rey in history, while FC Barcelona won the first Liga ever. In this season, FC Barcelona was not the solid and unbeatable team of the previous campaigns. As a result of it, RCD Español won their first regional title in a long time and extended their superiority on their eternal rivals with a new victory in the Copa del Rey. These two teams probably had the most relevant players of those years, the goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora and Josep Samitier, rivals and good friends too.

La Liga was a relative success. In the first games, due to the long discussions, the fans did not live the attraction of the new event. While the heartbreaking games of the Copa were still rated highly, given the tradition of the competition, La Liga needed time to reach the heart of the fans. At the end, given the passionate moments of the last weeks and the prestige of the teams, the attendances grew and, despite all the problems, it was a big success.

As Barcelona won the title, confirming that they were the best team of the moment, they also showed signals of decline, while new threats appeared in the horizon. The young and competitive Real Madrid and Athletic grew in this season and seemed determined to live good moments again. Arenas Club, Real Sociedad and Español, more humble than the three giants, were the nicest surprises, while Europa, Real Unión and Athletic Madrid were veteran teams with a glorious past, but uncertain future. At the end, Racing Santander kept their position in Primera División too, since they defeated Sevilla in a promotion final.

Bielsa en Bilbao (15): Athletic 3 Atlético Madrid 0.

2011-10-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

28.10.2011 - Con goles de Fernando Llorente (´67 ´71) y Toquero, Athletic de Bilbao se impuso (3-0) al Atlético Madrid en San Mamés para ponerse 8º en la Liga (12 puntos).

En un partido que tuvo pasajes nivelados, Athletic alternó momentos de dominio y aprovechó las desinteligencias del fondo colchonero.

Ya Radamel Falcao (AM) había avisado y Amorebieta (AB) se había ido lesionado (entró San José) cuando, en el minuto 43, llegó el punto de inflexión: Llorente, que jugaba con problemas en la rodilla y sin saber lo que aguantaría, hace muecas de dolor y el cambio se da por hecho. Toquero se prepara pero el riojano se levanta y pide paciencia a Bielsa. San Mamés ruge, Llorente resiste ante un Atleti adormecido.

Del descanso emergió el mismo Athletic intenso (con Ander Herrera por Javi Martínez) bajo una intensa lluvia. El gol vasco era cuestión de tiempo. Y llegaron… 3 en 8 minutos.

Llorente dos veces y Toquero no le dieron tiempo de reacción al Atleti que, ya con resultado puesto, intentó infructuosamente el gol del honor.

El Athletic corrige la marcha de dudoso inicio, la confianza crece, Iturraspe renueva hasta 2015 y Bielsa empieza a sumar adeptos, incluso ya le hicieron la primera canción: “Nadie como el Loco Bielsa”, del grupo getxotarra Lord Machineja.

Athletic Club: Iraizoz: Iraola, Ekiza, Amorebieta (San José, min.18), Aurtenetxe; Javi Martínez (Herrera, min.49); Susaeta, Iturraspe, De Marcos, Muniain (Toquero, min.64); y Llorente.

Atlético de Madrid: Courtois; Silvio, Miranda, Godín, Filipe Luis; Assunçao, Gabi; Reyes (Salvio, min.58), Diego (Koke, min.80), Arda Turan (Domínguez, min.72); y Falcao.

Goles: 1-0, min.67: Llorente. 2-0, min.71: Llorente. 3-0, min.74: Toquero. Árbitro: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (Comité Cántabro).

BIELSA EN BILBAO 1

BIELSA EN BILBAO 2

BIELSA EN BILBAO 3

BIELSA EN BILBAO 4

BIELSA EN BILBAO 5

BIELSA EN BILBAO 6

BIELSA EN BILBAO 7

BIELSA EN BILBAO 8

BIELSA EN BILBAO 9

BIELSA EN BILBAO 10

BIELSA EN BILBAO 11

BIELSA EN BILBAO 12

BIELSA EN BILBAO 13

BIELSA EN BILBAO 14

Selección Argentina: convocados vs Bolivia y Ecuador.

2011-10-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

27.10.2011 - Alejandro Sabella dio a conocer la lista de 21 jugadores que actúan en el exterior, para los partidos ante Bolivia y Colombia (11 y 15 de noviembre 2011), en Buenos Aires y Barranquilla respectivamente, correspondientes a las eliminatorias sudamericanas para Brasil 2014.

Messi, Lionel (Barcelona - España)

Mascherano, Javier (Barcelona - España)

Di María, Ángel (Real Madrid - España)

Higuaín, Gonzalo (Real Madrid - España)

Banega, Ever (Valencia - España)

Demichelis, Martín (Málaga - España)

Romero, Sergio (Sampdoria - Italia)

Andújar, Mariano (Catania - Italia)

Burdisso, Nicolás (Roma - Italia)

Gago, Fernando (Roma - Italia)

Fernández, Federico (Nápoli - Italia)

Lavezzi, Ezequiel (Nápoli - Italia)

Denis, Germán (Atalanta - Italia)

Pastore, Javier (Paris S.G. - Francia)

Monzón, Luciano (Niza - Francia)

Zabaleta, Pablo (Manchester City - Inglaterra)

Agüero, Sergio (Manchester City - Inglaterra)

Gaitán, Nicolás (Benfica - Portugal)

Rojo, Marcos (Spartak Moscú - Rusia)

Sosa, José (Metalist - Ucrania)

Guiñazú, Pablo (Internacional - Brasil)

Copa Argentina: 32vos de final.

2011-10-27T16:02:00.000-07:00

Grupo 1 (Sede: Salta)

1) Vélez Sarsfield - Racing (Trelew)

2) Brown (Pto.Madryn) - Rosario Central

3) Belgrano - Sacachispas

4) Colegiales - Independiente

5) Olimpo - Ctral.Norte (Salta)

6) Excursionistas - Huracán

7) Boca Unidos - Ctral.Córdoba (Rosario)

8) Santamarina (Tandil) - Boca Juniors

Grupo 2 (Sede: La Plata)

9) Estudiantes (La Plata) - Unión (San Juan)

10) Guaymallén (Mza) - Deportivo Merlo

11) San Martín (San Juan) - Sarmiento (Junín)

12) Talleres (Cba) - Colón

13) Tigre - Defensa y Justicia

14) Desamparados (SJ) - Gimnasia (La Plata)

15) Aldosivi - Ind. Rivadavia (Mendoza)

16) Racing (Olavarría) - Argentinos Juniors

Grupo 3 (Sede: San Juan)

17) Lanús - Barracas Central

18) At. Policial (Catamarca) - Instituto (Cba)

19) Unión - Chacarita

20) Villa Dálmine - San Lorenzo

21) All Boys - Atlanta

22) Dep. Riestra - Quilmes

23) Almirante Brown -Sp. Belgrano (San Francisco)

24) Def. de Belgrano - River Plate

Grupo 4 (Sede: Catamarca)

25) Godoy Cruz - Sportivo Italiano

26) Estudiantes (Caseros) - Atlético Tucumán

27) Atlético de Rafaela - Ferro C.Oeste

28) At. Paraná - Banfield

29) Racing Club - El Porvenir

30) Patronato - Newell's Old Boys

31) Gimnasia (Jujuy) - Sarmiento (Resistencia)

32) Lamadrid - Arsenal

La patada de Camoranesi en la cara de Toranzo.

2011-10-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

27.10.2011 - No satisfecho con los u$s 50.000 que le costó el caso Pizzo, Mauro Camoranesi no pretende poner la cadena en su lugar y anoche, en el (accidentado) partido Rácing - Lanús (1-1) fue con su botín sobre la cara de Patricio Toranzo luego de ser expulsado y antes de insultar a Diego Simeone (Rácing DT).

Trompis a Bottinelli.

2011-10-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

27.10.2011 - La derrota ante Arsenal (la 6º en 12 partidos) fue un nuevo piso para San Lorenzo. El equipo se fue insultado del viaducto (Arsenal) y Jonathan Botinelli, cual enfermera atenta, cruzó el dedo índice sobre los labios (antes de otros gestos).

La dirigencia decidió que luego, el plantel entrenara a “puertas cerradas” y sin atención a la prensa (en la Ciudad Deportiva). Pero, sin seguridad a la vista, cayeron visitas al fogón.

“A poner huevo, esto es San Lorenzo…a ganarle a All Boys” oyeron Bottinelli y Salgueiro, últimos en entrar a las duchas.

De pocas pulgas como en la cancha, Bottinelli no recibió bien el reclamo y luego de entredichos, entrando al vestuario recibió un trompis “cerca de la ceja” que le dejó “el ojo marcado”.

Según data (sólo) periodística la cuestión habría continuado dentro del vestuario donde Pablo Migliore le habría propinado otro bife (mano abierta) a Jonathan después del reclamo de “pasividad” ante la situación.

Inmediatamente volvió a reflotarse la ida de Bottinelli del club, donde ya había pasado (sin golpes) dos situaciones similares.

El caso quedó en manos de Futbolistas Argentinos Agremiados mientras Roberto Ribas (vicepresidente azulgrana) salió a condenar los hechos: “El Club San Lorenzo de Almagro repudia los hechos ocurridos y apoya a los jugadores y al cuerpo técnico…el club iniciará las investigaciones administrativas para saber lo que ocurrió”.

La nueva decisión, por el momento, es darle licencia al jugador y cambiar el lugar de concentración (Hindú Club de Don Torcuato o Sheraton de Pilar).

Los ecos trascienden la débil situación de Omar Asad (DT). El promedio y la crisis institucional rajan la estructura de San Lorenzo.

El show de Tiziano Crudeli.

2011-10-26T16:39:00.000-07:00

26.10.2011 - “No hace falta estudiar periodismo para ser periodista” es una conocida máxima de Jorge Lanata que cree más loable picotear algo de filosofía y sentido común para hacer buenas preguntas.

Esta (expandida) no colaboración al reconocimiento de la profesión (muchas veces erosionada por el interés empresarial que le da cabida para terminar deformándolo) también se retroalimenta de la imagen de no pocos “periodistas”.

Qué nos queda si consideramos al periodismo deportivo como un apéndice (o especialización) del rubro… las historias de Olé, las payasadas de Horacio Pagani, las sospechas sobre Gastón Recondo o la fama de Marcelo Araujo pueden ser un mínimo mosaico del asunto.

Aquí tenemos un ejemplo importado de Italia: Tiziano Crudeli, veterano periodista deportivo de 68 años, hace de las suyas en la península que vive apasionadamente el fútbol.

Nació en Forli pero a los 12 años (por la prematura muerte de sus padres) se trasladó a Milan donde, después de pasar revista a los pormenores del tenis (gráfica y TV), recaló en el fútbol, agregó la radio y su encendido amor por el Milan.

Pasó por Telereporter, Antena 3 , Tuttosport (redactor), Telelombardia (comentarista), hizo un dúo (del tipo Leto – Costa Febre) con Elio Hornos (interista), escribe en El Día y en la revista Forza Milan mientras “ilumina” las transmisiones de “Siete de Oro” y el programa “Diretta Stadio” (canal 7).

En no pocas descripciones o mini biografías, acaso en honor a la simpatía (?), puede leerse que Tiziano Crudeli “es algo más que un relator italiano. Es un hincha que trasmite las emociones que vive un tifosi del Milan en cada partido de su equipo”.

Según esta particular lectura un periodista deportivo sería menos que un tifosi con micrófono (?).

Aquí el último recorte de sus conocidas performances (micrófono en mano), salido a la luz por el desigual trámite del último partido del Milan visitando al Lecce (Serie A) que conminó al veterano del odio al amor en menos de una hora.

El vigente campeón italiano (ahora en puestos de Europa League) se fue al descanso con tres goles adentro: Giacomazzi (´4), Oddo (´30 penal) y Grossmuller (´37) pusieron al Lecce 3-0.

Pero en el segundo tiempo un hat trick de Kevin Prince Boateng (que reemplazó a Robinho ´46) puso las cosas en empate en 14 minutos y, más tarde, el colombiano Yepes (de cabeza) puso el 3-4 definitivo.

Apertura 2011: Colón 0 Boca 2

2011-10-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

26.10.2011 - Con goles de Nicolás Blandi (´14 y ´63), Boca venció (0-2) a Colón en el estadio Estanislao López (Santa Fe) y mantiene la ventaja de 6 puntos en la cima del Apertura.

Las ausencias, todas, favorecieron a Boca. Riquelme, Viatri, Cvitanich, Higuaín, Tomás Costa, Garcé y la Virgen de Guadalupe faltaron a la cita. Cierta teoría (que no compartimos) aminoraba las probabilidades de Boca, tanto por los reemplazos obligados (Chávez, Blandi y Mouche) como por el invicto que mantenía el Sabalero desde la ausencia de la Virgen.

El fútbol vence fantasmas y vacas sagradas. Un Boca sólido (que mantiene más de 600 minutos de valla invicta) aplastó a Colón en su casa, comandado por un ambicioso Pochi Chávez, un mediocampo de precisión y orden (Somoza entre los centrales, Rivero dandola siempre redonda, Ervitti haciendo relevos) y un goleador llamado a su cita (Nicolás Blandi).

Con menos parsimonia que verticalidad, Boca se impuso arrollando física y mentalmente a su rival al que dominó durante los 90 minutos para hacerle precio (2-0) y mantenerse en lo más alto acumulando un invicto de 22 partidos.

Colón: Diego Pozo; Salustiano Candia, Maximiliano Pellegrino, Ronald Raldes y Pablo Lima; Iván Moreno y Fabianesi, Sebastián Prediger, Adrián Bastía (69′ German Lessman) y Bruno Urribarri (26′ Lucas Mugni); Leandro González y Esteban Fuertes. DT: Mario Sciacqua.

Boca: Agustín Orión; Facundo Roncaglia, Rolando Schiavi, Juan Manuel Insaurralde y Clemente Rodríguez; Diego Rivero, Leandro Somoza y Walter Erviti (73′ Nicolas Colazo); Cristian Chávez; Pablo Mouche (78′ Orlando Gaona Lugo) y Nicolás Blandi. DT: Julio César Falcioni.

Goles: 14′ y 63′ Blandi (BOC)

Árbitro: Juan Pablo Pompei. Estadio: Brigadier General Estanislao López (Colón).

Apertura 2011: Vélez 1 Estudiantes 0.

2011-10-25T16:49:00.000-07:00

25.10.2011 - Ganarle en casa y por la mínima (1-0) a este devaluado Estudiantes que dirige Russo y despide a Verón no es nota sobresaliente para el vigente campeón del fútbol argentino. Pero acumular la cuarta victoria consecutiva en estos breves torneos de racha sí llama la atención de los focos.

Si bien el Fortín repite sus inicios fuera de training y tarda en entrar a la velocidad crucero que se le conoce a su (actual) plantel, esta temporada el adormecimiento inicial fue un tanto mas pronunciado. Acaso las repentinas ventas de Santiago Silva y Maxi Moralez (hicieron uso relámpago de la rescisión) sumadas a la programada de Ricky Alvarez resintieron los engranajes.

Este Vélez no luce pero vuelve a solidificarse para trabajar los partidos (y ganarlos) y, sumando, asomarse a la pelea del campeonato con la esperanza de enlazar a Boca (fecha 14), mientras da lugar para rutilantes apariciones como la de Héctor Canteros.

Después de un comienzo traumático (1 punto sobre 15 entre las fechas 4 y 8), el Fortín parece haber acomodado sus piezas y volver al ruedo. Sin brillos ni sobras el 2-1 a Lanús, 1-0 a San Martín (SJ), 1-0 a Independiente y este 1-0 sobre Estudiantes (último) tonifican un plantel acostumbrado a mirar desde arriba.

El tempranero y solitario gol del Mago Ramírez (´6) fue el preámbulo que terminó siendo la flor de un pálido juego disputado en mitad de cancha. Así, mientras espera rival en (cuartos de) la Copa Sudamericana, espera tropiezos de Rácing y Boca, ya sus inmediatos competidores por el Apertura.
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Todos los premios "Balón de Oro" (1956 - 2010)

2011-10-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

25.10.2011 - Mundo Deportivo adelantó parte de la nómina de 50 jugadores preselccionados por el Comité Técnico de la FIFA (en el que figuran hombres como Romario, Maturana, Bilardo o Jomo Sono) para la próxima elección del Balón de Oro 2011 que se entregará el 9 de enero (2012) en Zurich.

Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Andrés Iniesta, Gerard Piqué, Cesc Fabregas, Charles Puyol, David Villa, Dany Alves, Alexis Sánchez y Erik Abidal (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso, Iker Casillas, Cristiano Ronaldo, Özil y Khedira (Real Madrid), Sergio Agüero y David Silva (Manchester City), Diego Forlán y Wesley Sneijder (Inter), Arjen Robben, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm, Mario Gómez, Thomas Müller y Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich), Rafael Van der Vaart (Tottenham Hotspur), Robin Van Persie (Arsenal), Samuel Etoo (FC Anzhi Majachkalá), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Neymar (Santos), Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernández (Manchester United), Luis Suárez (Liverpool), Franck Ribéry y Miroslav Klose (Lazio).

El 1° de noviembre se dará a conocer una nueva nómina con 23 candidatos y el 5 de diciembre (2011) quedará sólo la terna finalista.

La nómina completa de los premios "Balón de Oro" desde su creación (1956) es la siguiente:

Manchester City multa a Tévez por u$ 1.600.000

2011-10-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

25.10.2011 - Como caso testigo y precedente (en el país que más teme la “rebeldía”), la dirigencia del Manchester City hizo pública la sanción y multa por u$s 1.600.000 a Carlos Tévez a través de un comunicado en su página web en el que presenta cinco (redundantes) normas presuntamente violadas por el Apache.

“Manchester City Football Club puede confirmar que se ha concluido una audiencia disciplinaria en relación con la acusación de mala conducta por Carlos Tevez.

La acusación se refiere a los acontecimientos durante el partido de la Liga de Campeones contra el Bayern Munich el 27 de septiembre de 2011.

Tras una investigación detallada y la audición asociada, una comisión disciplinaria ha sostenido la acusación de mala conducta. Cinco infracciones por separado del contrato fue la base de la decisión.

Como resultado de ello Carlos Tevez ha sido multado con salarios de cuatro semanas, ha sido suspendido por un período de dos semanas (ya recibidas) y recibido una advertencia por escrito en cuanto a su conducta futura.

Las cinco obligaciones contractuales que la comisión disciplinaria encontró violadas son las siguientes:

1. La obligación de participar en un partido en el que se selecciona al jugador a jugar para el Club dirigido por un oficial del Club.

2. La obligación de realizar las demás funciones y participar en otras actividades que sean compatibles con el ejercicio de las funciones del jugador y que sean razonablemente necesarios de él.

3. La obligación de cumplir y actuar de acuerdo con todas las instrucciones legales de cualquier funcionario autorizado del club.

4. La obligación de observar los estatutos y reglamentos de la FIFA y la UEFA, el Reglamento de la FA, el Reglamento de la Liga, el Código de Prácticas y las reglas del club, incluyendo pero no limitado a la infracción de la Regla E3 (1) del Reglamento de la FA (obligación del jugador para actuar en el mejor interés del juego y no actuar de manera que es incorrecta o que trae desprestigio al juego).

5. La obligación de no hacer nada a sabiendas o por imprudencia, ni dejar de hacer algo que es probable que traiga descrédito al club o al juego de fútbol o (como se define en el contrato) causar daños en el Club.

Carlos Tevez tiene el derecho de apelar esta decisión ante la Junta Directiva del Club en el plazo de 14 días."

El Apache gana unas 250.000 libras semanales (285.000 euros o u$ 400.000), con lo cual estaría perdiendo u$ 1.600.000.

TEVEZ: BYE BYE MANCHESTER
TEVEZ PRENDIDO FUEGO EN MANCHESTER
MANCHESTER: TÉVEZ A LA BASURA
MANCHESTER CITY SUSPENDE A CARLOS TEVEZ
FILIPPO, EL HIJO DE MANCINI SE NEGÓ A ENTRAR DESDE EL BANCO
TEVEZ EN CARICATURAS
TEVEZ MAXIMO GOLEADOR SUDAMERICANO DE LA PREMIER LEAGUE
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Aris - Paok, el clásico de Salónica (Grecia).

2011-10-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

25.10.2011 - El fin de semana, por la 7º fecha de la Liga de la castigada Grecia, se jugó el clásico de Salónica entre el Aris y el PAOK (1-1) en el Estadio Kleanthis Vikelidis (Aris). Abrió la cuenta Nikos Lazaridis (´3 Aris) y empató Sakis Papazoglou (´49 PAOK).

Aquí (en tres vídeos), la llegada de los jugadores al estadio, la salida del equipo al campo de juego y el gol de PAOK (visitante).

LLEGADA DE LOS JUGADORES

SALIDA DEL EQUIPO

GOL DE PAOK (´49)

From Granada to Udine: How to make money in football

2011-10-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

Granada CF has always been a humble club. The club of Andalusia has always been a humble club which, even though it enjoyed some more or less successful periods in Primera División during the 40s, 50s and 70s, has always been a so called equipo ascensor, that is "elevator team". One of these clubs that jump from one division to another. Something changed in 2009, when Quique Pina convinced Giampaolo Pozzo, Udinese's owner, to buy shares of the club.

Who is Quique Pina? Quique Pina is a former player of Tercera División teams that had a dream: to have his own football club. In the year 1999, Quique Pina starts from scratch, founding Ciudad de Murcia, a club located in the city of Murcia. The club starts in the lowest division, the Group B of the Territorial Preferente, with four divisions over them. Quique Pina started to show his talent to find interesting players that help the team to get promotions. In only one year, Ciudad de Murcia reached the Tercera División. Quique Pina is able to convince a former Primera División player like Idiakez and other clubs of the province to help to build a squad via loan agreements. The results can not be better and the team promotes to Segunda División B, the Spanish third division. Pina kept reaching similar agreements and in a matter of two years, the club reached the Segunda División. This promotion was significant, since the Segunda División B is not a joke anymore. B teams of the Primera División clubs and historical teams of the Spanish football play in this national division.

Enrique Pina

Ciudad de Murcia only needed two years to promote to Segunda División, leaving in their way historic clubs of the region, like Cartagena FC, and meeting the traditional club of the city, Real Murcia. In this 2004, the situation was weird, Real Murcia holds the love of the local fans, it has been representing the city since 1919 and, suddenly, a new club without fan base and tradition was sharing stadium and division with them. With Real Murcia in serious financial and economic trouble, Ciudad de Murcia becomes a real threat for the traditional club of the region. In these years, the goal is to stay in this division, but they do it wisely. Players like Dani Güiza are signed from important clubs like FC Barcelona to get a name and be sold for important figures in just two years. After two years in Segunda, Quique Pina built a team to promote to Primera División and, in the following two seasons, the team ended up in fourth position, very near the promotion.

In the year 2007, a change in the rules of football allows to sell the position of a club in a certain division. This is the beginning of the contacts of Quique Pina with the city of Granada. Pina sold the club to a Granada businessmen and the club, without fan base (the usual image of the Nueva Condomina was a stadium full of empty seats), changes its name to Granada 74. Without Quique Pina and without the support of the city (in a similar case, this Granada 74 was an experiment, while the love of the city was for Granada CF), the team does not have a future and gets relegated.

Gino Pozzo

The relationship between Quique Pina and the Pozzo family comes from long ago. Gino Pozzo, Giampaolo's son, is a football agent and met Quique Pina in an operation. As a consequence of it, their relationship started and, in these years, Ciudad de Murcia and the Pozzo family reached eventual agreements. Once Pina had left Ciudad de Murcia, he also joined the game of the football market. In the summer of 2007, as an example of it, Pina gives the Pozzo family the chance to sign a couple of Chile players, Alexis Sanchez and Mauricio Isla, at a very good price. The results are so good for both sides, that the contacts grow.

In 2009, Gino Pozzo, who lives in Barcelona, and Quique Pina started to work together in the ownership of a Spanish club. The Pozzo family offered 4M euros to buy RCD Espanyol, although the operation does not work. In the same summer, Lorenzo Sanz, former Real Madrid president, sells his ownership in the historical Granada CF and the Pozzo family sees their chance to put a feet in the Spanish land. The Pozzo's buy Granada CF, placed in Segunda B, to clear their debt. As a result of this operation, Quique Pina gets named administrator of the club.

Udinese & Granada

With the financial help of the Pozzo family and the good eye of Enrique Pina in the lowest divisions, Granada only takes one year to return to Segunda División. It was last summer when the links of Granada and Udinese get more obvious. With the club in Segunda División, Gino and Giampaolo Pozzo consider that Granada would be the perfect test ground of young players with potential to grow in competitive football. Udinese, who are fighting for big goals in the Serie A, have a very competitive squad and the young talented players who are not ready to play with the first team need minutes to grow. Granada is their destination. Players like Alex Geijo, Nyom, Dani Benitez, Jaime Romero and others join the club as platform to grow and as test for them in competitive football. The deal can not be better. As the players gain value with their fantastic performances, the club takes advantage of the support of a top European club to be a power in Segunda División. Only one year again. One year is what Granada needed to return to Primera División for the first time since 1976, 25 years later.

The formula of Quique Pina and the Pozzo family work. Their good eye in football allowed them to but cheap and sell with big revenues, while their clubs remain healthy and successful. While football is a ruin business in all the World, Pina and Pozzo show how things are done in the financial and sport aspects, proving that it is possible to mix success and business.

Tonight, Granada CF receive the visit of FC Barcelona in their home, Los Cármenes, and Udinese Calcio is the leader of Serie A.

Matias Almeyda, moto, cocina y fotos.

2011-10-24T16:56:00.000-07:00

24.10.2011 - Wilde sigue recorriendo (no sólo) Buenos Aires y encontrando las huellas que el fútbol deja en la ciudad para constituir nuestra querida sección "FUTBOL URBANO".

Ahora, en una pizzería de Boedo, encontrando a Matías Almeyda "Gladiador", junto a Carlos Gardel en la pared (atrás de la barra) que da (orgullosa) al público visitante.

"Almeyda es lo más grande que hay", dice Roberto (pizzero y dueño). Y en estos días, cuando ser de Ríver no es sólo "ser de Ríver", su imagen, en plena transición de jugador a entrenador, se acrecienta.

Maradona en Dubai (9): Bani Yas 1 Al Wasl 2.

2011-10-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

24.10.2011 - Sufrió Diego. Con goles de Darwish Ahmed (´6) y Olivera (´9) venció (1-2) al Bani Yas (último subcampeón) y puntea con 6/6 puntos la Etisalat Pro-League.

Pero no fue fácil. Si bien el equipo se encontró arriba a los diez minutos, quizá el resultado (2-0) adormeció el juego y permitió que el Bani Yas (donde juega David Trezeguet) descontara y (sin ideas) se viniera al humo.

Así fue, de sufrimiento, todo el segundo tiempo hasta que, con tiempo cumplido salió un remate que parecía controlado, pero se desvío y se pararon los corazones… Todos miraron la pelota, el Nasser (arquero) quedó en el piso y le pelota dio en el travesaño. Y salió. Respiró Maradona y Al Wasl que queda puntero y ya cerró el contrato anual del delantero uruguayo Richard Porta.

MARADONA EN DUBAI (I)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (II)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (III)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (IV)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (v)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (VI)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (VII)

MARADONA EN DUBAI (VIII)

Bielsa en Bilbao (14): Valencia 1 Athletic 1

2011-10-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

24.10.2011 - Un profundo estiletazo de Ever Banega con definición de Roberto Soldado en el minuto 88 (1-1) impidió que el Athletic de Bilbao se llevase un triunfo de Valencia.

Los vascos fueron superiores, dominaron gran parte del partido y vencían con gol de Iker Munian (´71) pero el saldo no fue el mejor: al empate se le suma la lesión del capitán Carlos Gurpegui (rotura del ligamento cruzado anterior para 7 meses de ausencia) y de Fernando Llorente (tendinitis).

Quizá la derrota era un castigo excesivo para el Valencia, pero se mostró nervioso y sin ideas durante muchas fases del partido que fueron aprovechadas por el Athletic que presionaba y asfixiaba.

Bielsa entró a Gurpegui y Toquero por Iraola y Llorente en el entretiempo. Diez minutos después se lesionó Gurpegui (entró Ander Herrera) y cambió la fisonomía del equipo que ya no tuvo claro control como en la primera parte y quedó parado de contra.

Así, en el enésimo pase errado valencianista y cuando peor lo pasaba el Athletic, Muniaín controló la pelota y marcó desde fuera del área (´71). A partir de entonces, sin ideas ni pausa Valencia se fue al humo y en una jugada aislada,la genialidad de Banega propició el empate de Soldado (´88).

BIELSA EN BILBAO 1

BIELSA EN BILBAO 2

BIELSA EN BILBAO 3

BIELSA EN BILBAO 4

BIELSA EN BILBAO 5

BIELSA EN BILBAO 6

BIELSA EN BILBAO 7

BIELSA EN BILBAO 8

BIELSA EN BILBAO 9

BIELSA EN BILBAO 10

BIELSA EN BILBAO 11

BIELSA EN BILBAO 12

BIELSA EN BILBAO 13

Lessons of a 1-6

2011-10-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

A derby is not a normal game. A city or a region or even a country gets divided in two sides. Football gets more tribal than ever, it is you or the neighbor. The game crosses the usual lines of sport to become a social event, especially in the local derbies, where the rival neighbor lives next door. The fans of both teams get mixed in their work places, pubs or even in the same family in a more or less healthy banter. This is why yesterday was a terrible day to be a Manchester United fan. Manchester City, their eternal enemy, crushed them at home in a historical 1-6 and the Theater of Dreams was the one of nightmares... the worst nightmare.

This game was interesting to watch for several reasons. First of all, it was the derby of the city of Manchester and this is enough to know that we are talking about a different game. But this time we were in front the most attractive Manchester derby ever. Manchester City was the leader, two points ahead United, who played at home to assault the first position. We were talking about two giants. Manchester United has been the team of the Premiership in the last couple of decades. In this time, Alex Ferguson has built an empire and has written the most memorable era in the history of the club. On the other hand, Manchester City was (still is) a rising power. Since the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan has the ownership of the club, he did not hesitate to spend whatever it takes to be the best team on Earth. They are still to prove that they can actually be the best, but things were working smoothly so far, since the team was leading the table of the Premier League with iron hand, not showing weaknesses in their football. All this mix made this game something really interesting.

Dzeko says six

What no one really expected was the 1-6 at the end of the match. Any victory (or defeat, it depends on your perspective) in a derby has a special effect. The winners get a dose of euphoria, while the losers get a painful slap in the face. But a beating of this kind crosses the usual lines, which are already exaggerated, of the usual feelings after a derby. This 1-6 will not be the result of one more derby, but a historical one, something that both sides will remember, each one in their own particular way. Alex Ferguson described the day as his "worst-ever day"... and Alex Ferguson is old enough to have lots of bad days, despite he has usually enjoyed more happy days. For the Manchester City fans, this result will be written in golden letters in their history, the chase of DVDs of the game has already started for sure and the years will pass and the City fans who watched this game will tell their children and grand-children about it: "The day we won 1-6 at Old Trafford".

Which kind of effect is supposed to have a 1-6? It is evident that this is the kind of result that has consequences. From the City point of view, it definitely is a turning point in their history. The petrol-money has given them the chance to build a super-team, but a collection of stars does not guarantee titles. In fact, they did not win a title yet, but this victory is so powerful, so noisy and so special that now they really have good reasons to believe that their dream is closer to be reality. It is evident that this result does not close the English league. There are lots of games to be played yet and the five point gap is not definitive. But something has changed. Until yesterday, Manchester City was one of the favorites to win the title. At this point, no one would hesistate to say that City is THE favorite to win the Premier League, not forgetting that the Champions League is a possibility too. This change is the minds of City fans and rivals is not irrelevant.

Balotelli, eccentric and brilliant

From the United point of view, this result is a shock. Manchester United is used to mistreat rivals, especially in recent times. During the last two decades, United is the owner of the Premier League and, even in the worst moments of this period, they have always been the reference, the rival to beat. But this time United was the mistreated team. When you are so used to win, a defeat is always painful... but this kind of beating is a torture. This result will have consequences. It does not matter how well United has been doing so far, this 1-6 sets a "before" and an "after". At this point, the United players, staff and fans will probably be wondering what has happened and how it actually happened. This result will mark the season of United or, at least, the following dates. This result will haunt them as a ghost during the entire year and it will not disappear. The following games will show us how Manchester United digested this terrible defeat. This digestion is a must, the result evidences a problem that requires solutions. It is impossible to know if the solutions are in hand or if they will have to be found at the end of the year. We are talking about the current winner of the competition and the runner-up of the Champions League.

In each case, the emotions must be focused in the right direction. The euphoria is dangerous for City. The title is not in hand, there are lots of games to be played, there are lots of moments of suffering to be suffered and, probably, lots of moments of joy to live too, but the league is only won when the maths say so. The 1-6 can only be good news, but Mancini's job is to put the team's feet on the ground. There are many precedents of failure celebrations.

Face-palm Rooney in the Theater of Nightmares

Depression is United's danger. The result is emotional, but Alex Ferguson must throw all the feelings to the garbage to build a bubble to isolate the team from the hostile environment. Emotions must turn into rationality. Nine matches have been played so far, so twenty-nine are yet to be played including one in City's home. United is only five point down, not an impossible distance to overcome in just a few weeks. And this is when history is a useful tool. Alex Ferguson and his boys must sit down, get calm and take a look to what they have done in recent years. It is not that we are talking about a veteran team without a future, but a collection of important players that are in their best age and their previous achievements are good and high enough to make a reference on the pride of the team. The 1-6 must be an accident, not a turning point, not the end of a cycle. As we said in a previous entry, if there is a word to define Alex Ferguson, that is competitiveness. Manchester United must use this game to learn. It is not time to regret, but time to compete, as their coach always did.

In one way or another, it has been the result of the weekend. A historical one in a year of historic results in the Premier League. This 1-6 is a result that has shocked the entire World, a memorable day for Manchester City and their fans, while the rest of the World look at them in a mix of envy, admiration and a certain dose of surprise. This result has made me turn my view to them. Until yesterday, a team that was a collection of individuals with an average coach, Roberto Mancini, and now a reference in Europe. Everyone will talk about them seriously now... but I also believe that, if there is a team and a coach that can actually turn a 1-6 into something positive that can only be Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson. We will see.

1-6, a historic result

Se devela el misterio de la Virgen de Colón.

2011-10-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

23.10.2011 - A casi dos meses de su desaparición, se sigue develando el misterio de la Virgen de Guadalupe de Santa Fe. A la falsa “restauración de la estatua” que se presentaba como discurso oficial ya habíamos contrapuesto la imagen del propio Garcé retirando la Virgen “mufa” subido arriba de una grúa (el mismo Garcé que fue convocado al Mundial de Sudáfrica 2010 por aparecer en los sueños de Diego Maradona).

El ovillo empezó a desarmarse cuando personal de la Unidad Regional XVII de la Policía de San Lorenzo ubicó y trasladó (a Santa Fe) a declarar al supuesto restaurador, Saúl Miller, que no confesó restauración alguna sino la hechura de una nueva estatua.

Los afiches, cargadas, presiones y banderas habrían empujado a Ariel Garcé a mandar un comunicado “espontáneo” a la Justicia en el que sigue mintiendo pero ya de manera incomprobable.

La presentación:

" I) Que vengo a comparecer espontáneamente ante V.S. porque de acuerdo a trascendidos periodísticos se me estaría investigando en relación con la causa de referencia como supuesto responsable de los hechos investigados.

II) Que en tal sentido vengo a declarar formalmente todo lo que sé, la participación que tuve, y a asumir las responsabilidades que pudiesen corresponderme si hubiese algún delito en mi accionar.

III) Que si V.S. considerase que puedo resultar imputado de algún delito solicito se exprese cuál sería, se me cite para declaración indagatoria, y se me dé intervención procesal a los efectos de preservar adecuadamente mi derecho de defensa.

IV) Que a continuación relataré los hechos vinculados a la denuncia y mi intervención en los mismos:

Como es de público conocimiento estoy lesionado desde el mes de agosto, lo que me impide jugar, viajar y concentrar con el plantel.

Que con los integrantes del plantel profesional de fútbol de Colón veníamos charlando sobre la imagen de la Virgen de Guadalupe que presidía el estadio, y habíamos algunos ido a verla, advirtiendo que estaba muy deteriorada, y eso la afeaba.

Como casi todos los jugadores y el cuerpo técnico somos muy creyentes, nos parecía una falta de respeto que la imagen siguiese en esas condiciones, y que nadie se preocupase por remozarla.

Por eso nos propusimos bajarla y buscar un restaurador que la devuelva a su belleza original. Todo sería cubierto con dinero donado por los mismos futbolistas. A todos nos pareció una buena forma de honrar a la Virgen. Y así lo hicimos saber al presidente Germán Lerche, quien no nos objetó.

El 7 de septiembre, como yo no me encontraba afectado a la práctica deportiva, los compañeros me pidieron que me encargue del operativo y contratamos una grúa para retirar la estatua.

Cuando llegó la grúa al estadio, llamamos desde la guardia al presidente Lerche y le pedí permiso para entrar a sacar la Virgen, y él me autorizó, insistiéndome en que lo hagamos bien y la restauremos pronto a su lugar.

Acto seguido la bajé ayudado por los operarios, y al verla de cerca advertí claramente que estaba muy dañada: se veían rajaduras, agujeros, y pedacitos faltantes. Recuerdo que pensé: “el milagro es que no se haya caído hasta ahora sobre los espectadores”.

Luego la hice cargar en una camioneta, aunque no la aseguré con sogas ni la protegí de otro modo, pensando que por ser pesada no había riesgos de que se caiga.

Luego me encaminé hacia el taller de un restaurador que me habían recomendado para que la arregle. Tras algunos kilómetros de viaje, empecé a sentir muchos ruidos, y de pronto un ruido muy fuerte, y me bajé a ver. Lamentablemente los movimientos, los baches, los badenes, y la velocidad, habían provocado la rotura de la imagen.

Al ver la imagen rota me asusté, me desesperé, no supe que hacer, pensé que los compañeros se iban a enojar conmigo, empecé a insultar, a llorar, y terminé arrojando los restos de la escultura.

Por ignorancia, yo no había atado ni protegido la estatua. También, después de lo ocurrido, muchos me dijeron que debería haber buscado un transporte especial para este fin, cosa que ni se nos ocurrió.

Volví a Santa Fe y cuando me junté con el plantel les conté todo lo ocurrido a los jugadores y al cuerpo técnico. Obviamente que todos se preocuparon pero me entendieron.

Unos días después enfrentamos todos juntos al presidente Lerche y le contamos la verdad. El nos sugirió que vayamos a hablar con el padre Axel.

Finalmente el sacerdote nos llevó a todo el plantel a una reunión con el Obispo Arancedo. Allí le contamos toda la verdad a las autoridades eclesiásticas, tal como la acabo de relatar ante V.S. Ellos me dijeron que me quedara en paz.

Inmediatamente hicimos contactar al artesano que había hecho la primera. No fue fácil encontrarlo y pedirle que deje sus trabajos y se concentre en esto. Es una persona mayor y con problemas de salud, y pese a ello se dedicó completamente a nuestro problema.

Le pedimos que haga una nueva imagen de la misma Virgen, usando las mismas técnicas que en la anterior, reconstruyéndola, usando los mismos materiales y la misma estructura, para que quede lo más parecida posible, para poder restaurar a la Virgen en su sitial.

El lo hizo con muy buena disposición y logró una hermosa imagen que honra mucho mejor a nuestra Madre Santísima. El plantel completo estamos muy tranquilos, tenemos paz en nuestras conciencias, y nos sentimos más unidos que antes tras haber enfrentado este problema.

No hubo mala intención, no hubo mentiras, no hubo falta de respeto.

Hubo una decisión devota y un accidente.

Es todo lo que puedo informar a V.S.

Y es toda la verdad."

Manchester United 1 Manchester City 6

2011-10-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

24.10.2011 - Las parcialidades de Manchester, unidas hace unos días bajo el unánime nombre de Carlos Tévez, volvieron a dividirse. Con goles de Balotelli (2), Aguero, Dzeko (2) y Silva, Manchester City humilló (1-6) al Manchester United en Old Trafford y se consolida en la punta de la Premier League. Los diablos rojos no recibían más de 5 goles en su estadio desde 1930 cuando el Huddersfield les ganó por 0-6 y el Newcastle por 4-7 en una misma semana.

"Fue el peor día de nuestra historia. Incluso como jugador, no creo que nunca perdiera por 1-6. No puedo creerme este marcador." (Alex Ferguson, Manchester United DT).

Los goles de Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) vs Málaga.

2011-10-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

22.10.2011 - Errando un penal en el minuto 94, Lionel Messi permitió que Sevilla se llevara un punto del Camp Nou (Barcelona) y que Real Madrid le soplara la punta del torneo, después de vencer (0-4) a Málaga a domicilio con un desigual hat trick de Cristiano Ronaldo.

History of Spanish football (VII): 1926-1928, the professional football and Samitier's golden era

2011-10-22T16:18:00.000-07:00

Professional football became a fact in these years. The clubs agreed to take a step forward due to the internal pressure of the players and the international debate about the matter. In this new scenario, the clubs had to find new ways to fund their activity and one of the main agreements was to increase the amount of games in order to get higher incomes via tickets. In this situation, the creation of a league similar to the English one became a necessity, although the debates were long and not exempt from polemics. At the same time, in order to adapt to the new times, the Copa acted as a kind of league and cup tournament all together. In these years, Barcelona kept dominating the competitions, having their main rivals among the Basque teams.

1925-1926

During this season, not only in Spain, but in the World football in general, the debate on the professionalization of the sport rise to change the shape of the game forever. In the FIFA congress of Rome, the debate broke since the main international tournament at that time, the Olympic games, and football were questioned. The Olympic spirit was based on amateurism, but professional football was a fact in several countries, especially in the four associations of the United Kingdom and in Denmark. In other countries, like Spain, professionalism was also a question that had to be answered. In Rome, despite the debates which did not close the question of professionalism, FIFA ended up approving a first definition of it. As a consequence, the RFEF also approved professionalism domestically.

Professionalism required new structures. The clubs needed to find new ways to fund the new expenses on salaries and, as a consequence of it, new ideas to rise the amount of spectators, members and ticket-holders in their stadiums. The adoption of professionalism made necessary the reform of the competitions which mainly had a local or regional character in order to jump from this reduced territorial impact to a national tournament with a higher amount of games that would make possible to face the new expenses of the sport. The final step of this process was the creation of La Liga in the year 1929. Until then, new steps were taken in order to accomplish with these goals and, in this season, these new ideas affected the most traditional national competition: the Copa del Rey.

The first change in the Copa del Rey was the acceptance of the top-2 clubs of each regional tournament in the competition. For the first time since the free inscription had been abolished by the RFEF in 1913, the Copa del Rey enjoyed teams that were not winners of their regional tournaments. At the same time, the format changed in order to increase the amount of games. The new system of the competition was the following: 8 groups of 3 teams each, so the winner of each group would play the Quarter finals. The semifinals and the final would be play in one game. These were the participants of the Copa del Rey:

Own source

Group I: RCD Español, Valencia FC and Iberia SC

Evidently, RCD Español was the main favorite in this group. The pericos counted on players like Ricardo Zamora, the best paid player at that time and an international icon; the central back from El Salvador, Saprissa, and their new signing, the player of the Canary Islands, José Padrón. The main challenger was Valencia FC, who counted on players like the international Eduardo Cubells. Iberia SD, one of the teams that ended up founding Real Zaragoza, was the most weak team on paper.

Español did not disappoint and won all the games of the group with the expected superiority, while Valencia disappointed and could not even challenge for the top position of the group, missing their chance to advance to the next round

Group II: FC Barcelona, Levante FC and Zaragoza CD

There could only be one favorite: Ralph Kirby's FC Barcelona. The culés, despite the economic troubles related with the ban of Les Corts due to political reasons, counted on really important players like Josep Samitier, Paulino Alcántara, Emilio Sagi-Barba, Agustín Sancho, Vicente Piera or Franz Platko. Aside the already known stars, the club also signed the Uruguayan star Héctor Scarone, who had triumphed in the previous Olympic Games in the year 1924. Scarone failed to adapt to Barcelona and left the team, only playing 10 games with the clubs. With this collection of stars and international players, the Catalans were very superior to their humble rivals, Levante FC (one of the clubs that ended up forming the current Levante UD) and Zaragoza CD (who ended up merging with Iberia to form Real Zaragoza).

The Catalans completely owned their rivals, confirming the superiority shown in the regional triumph in the Campionat de Catalunya and they did not give any chance to their rivals in the fight for the first position of the group.

Linguasport.com

Group III: Real Madrid FC, Sevilla FC and Real Murcia

Juan De Cárcer's Real Madrid, who were winners of the Centro tournament, were the favorites in their group, despite they were not in their best moment in history. Still, they counted on important players like the international Juan Monjardín, as main star of the madridistas in those years. The madridistas also counted on their two first signings, the international José María Peña, from Arenas Club (18,000 pesetas, 188 euros), and "Miguelón" from Racing Sama. Sevilla FC rised as challengers, a classic club in the competition. Real Murcia was the most humble team in the group. The away victory of Madrid in Seville and the error of Sevilla in Murcia was enough for the madridistas to advance, only losing one game, when the group was already solved.

Group IV: Athletic Madrid, Real Betis and Cartagena FC

Athletic Madrid had failed to retain the regional tournament, but still counted on important international players, like Vicente Palacios and Luis Olano or the central back "Pololo". But the most important addition of the new Athletic Madrid was the signing of the prestigious coach Fred Pentland from Athletic Club. Despite being the main favorites to advance, Real Betis, a club that had never won an official tournament, made things very difficult to Athletic Madrid. Real Betis forced the replay in the last game of the group. The tie-breaker was played in Madrid and Fred Pentland's squad defeated Betis with a clear 4-2, which allowed the colchoneros to advance.

Linguasport.com

Group V: RC Celta Vigo, Sporting Gijón and Cultural Leonesa

In this group, there was not a clear favorite and the classic Copa teams, Celta and Sporting, were supposed to battle for the place in the Quarter finals. Celta's most relevant player was the international Pasarín. With Cultural Leonesa acting as sparring, Celta and Sporting had to decide the top position in their clashes. None of them failed at home and they were forced to play a replay, which was clearly won by Celta (5-0) in Madrid.

Group VI: RC Deportivo, Real Unión Deportiva and Club Fortuna

A group without classic clubs in those years and without a clear favorites. On paper, the most developed football of Galicia (Deportivo from A Coruña) and Asturias (Fortuna from Gijón), made them be more favorites than Real Unión Deportivo (a club that ended up forming Real Valladolid). At the end, the deportivistas were able to impose the football of their region and advance.

Linguasport.com

Group VII: Real Unión, Athletic Club and Racing Santander

It probably was the most powerful group on paper. Three clubs that knew each other and classics in this competition. Athletic Club was the club with more titles at that moment, counting on players like the international Chirri I or Acedo, although the club was suffering the departure of Fred Pentland and was in transition time. Real Unión was a power back then too, with the fantastic midfielder trio René Petit, Ramón Eguiazabal and Francisco Gamborena. Real Unión had recovered the crown in Gipuzkoa, defeating Real Sociedad.

Real Unión was very superior and, for the first time in this tournament, they were able to defeat Athletic Club in San Mamés, which turned out to be essential to achieve the first position of the group, eliminating the powerful Athletic from the last rounds of the tournament.

Group VIII: Real Sociedad, Arenas Club and Gimnástica Torrelavega

This group was meant to be a battle between Real Sociedad and Arenas Club, the two Basque clubs. Despite Arenas Club counted on the international Errazquin, they surely missed the departure of Peña. Real Sociedad was very superior in the group and defeated Arenas Club in their two clashes. These victories allowed Real Sociedad to advance to the Quarter finals with less competition than it was predicted initially, given the former runner-up status of Arenas Club.

Linguasport.com

Quarter finals

The quarter finals were played among the winners of each group at the end of April 1926. The most relevant games were played among the teams of Catalonia and Madrid. In the first leg, RCD Español faced Athletic Madrid and the Catalans clearly defeated Pentland's Athletic (6-1). But the supposed superiority of the pericos vanished in the second leg, played in the Metropolitano, where the local team was superior (2-0). A tie-breaker was played in Zaragoza to decide the finalist and the tight game was won by Athletic Madrid, surprising Zamora's team, who failed once more in this competition.

But if there was a classic game, it had to be the one between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, given their old rivalry, started in 1916. On paper, the Catalans were superior, but no one really expected the clear victory of the blaugranas in Chamartín, humilliating Real Madrid at home with a clear 1-5. With this away victory, FC Barcelona confirmed their superiority in Les Corts, where the local fans could also celebrate the 3-0 victory on the madridistas, getting the ticket to the semifinals.

Athletic Madrid's Luis Olaso

The most surprising result happened in the clash between Celta and Real Sociedad. In those years, the Basque clubs were always favorites in their games. Probably, the 2-1 victory of Celta at home was not a big surprise, since the galegos had been playing in this competition for years and were a classic. But the 2-2 in Atotxa was the end of the run of Real Sociedad in this competition and a historical victory for Celta. Real Unión did not get surprised by Deportivo though. The irundarras only highlighted their clear superiority with two victories, an easy 3-0 at home and the expected 2-3 victory in A Coruña.

Semifinals

The semifinals were played in one leg played on neutral ground for the first time in decades. The first semifinal was played between Athletic Madrid and RC Celta Vigo in San Mamés (Bilbao). There was not a clear favorite for this game and the expected balanced became an evidence during the 90 minutes of the game. In the first minutes of the game, Athletic Madrid looked for the victory and dominated the game. As a consequence of it, Olaso took advantage of a great pass of Tudury to face Celta's goal. Olaso was more technical than powerful in the definition and advanced his team in the scoreboard (1-0). Celta reacted looking for the goal that could tie the game. After half an hour, the celtarra Chicha headed a ball into the net to tie the game, setting the 1-1 at half time.

In the second half, it was Celta who surprised Athletic Madrid in the early minutes and Polo scored the 1-2 for his team. Athletic Madrid needed to tie and started to dominate the game again. During all the second half, Athletic Madrid closed Celta in their own field, enjoying multiples chances, driven by a magnificent Olaso. However, Celta's defense was efficient during all the afternoon. But when Celta was almost celebrating their pass to their first final in history, a foul is kicked into the box and, after several rebounds, the ball falls in Cosme's feet, who sotfly pushed the ball into the net, forcing the extra time. In the extra time, Celta had to play with their goalkeeper, who had been seriously injured, being replaced by a usual defender. In these circumstances, Athletic Madrid looked for a winning goal and, given their huge dominance of the game, they achieved it. Cosme, who had saved Athletic Madrid, also scored the last goal of the game. After the 3-2 for Athletic Madrid, Celta did not have the strength to look for the draw. Athletic Madrid advanced to their second final in history.

El Atlético de los Caballeros

At the same time, the second semifinal was played in Torrero (Zaragoza), Iberia's stadium, between FC Barcelona and Real Unión. Given the quality of their players, this semifinal was an advanced final. In the first half, Real Unión surprised Barcelona and was a machine of football since the very first minute. The impulse of the irundarras got Barcelona confused and, aside some exceptional chances, this half was fully dominated by Real Unión. In this situation, René Petit advanced his team in the scoreboard. Still, in a counter, Barcelona was awarded with a penalty, which was missed by Sagi-Barba and stopped by Emery. However, the 0-1 at half time was considered too short. Only a magnificent Platko avoided a bigger advantage for the Basque team.

In the second half, things changed since the very first moment. Very soon, Samitier tied the game in a beautiful personal action (1-1) and, when only 8 minutes of the second half had passed, a collective action between Piera and Samitier ended up in Paulino Alcántara's feet, who kicked the ball with the usual violence. Emery almost stopped the ball, which ended up slipping between his legs. In just a few minutes, Barcelona had turned the game upside down. Real Unión tried to tie the game, but they suffered the consequences of their great physical effort of the first half and Barcelona did not suffer too much. In the last minutes of the game, as a consequence of the frustration, the international player of Real Unión, Errazquin, was sent off due to an agression. For the second year in a row, FC Barcelona was in the final.

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Final

The final was played in a packed Mestalla (Valencia) in front of 17,000 fans in a windy afternoon of May. FC Barcelona was the favorite on paper, given their collection of stars, but Athletic Madrid was a rising team. The athleticos had not triumphed in their regional tournament and struggled to advance from the group stage, but their recent games had been good, which gave them hopes to surprise the culés.

In the first minutes of the game, there was not a clear owner and the tension was evident, as a fight between Platko and Triana showed. But Athletic Madrid was able to hit first: the defender "Pololo" hanged a ball into the box that was headed by Vicente Palacios, making Platko's efforts useless. This goal affected the Catalans and Athletic Madrid enjoyed their best minute of the game. Despite the efforts, Barcelona was unable to control the game, enjoying some chances, but also leaving the game open for a possible second goal of Athletic Madrid. The 1-0 was the result at half time.

FC Barcelona, Copa winner 1926

In the second half, Ralph Kirby's team had to look for the draw, but things did not change much in the first minutes. Quite the opposite, in a counter attack, Palacios dribbled Platko and was tackled by Walter inside the box. The referee awarded Athletic Madrid with a penalty and Cosme did not miss the chance to score the second for Athletic Madrid in what it was a surprising result after 58 minutes (2-0). Barcelona had half an hour to overcome the game and the reaction came in an error of the Athletic Madrid defender "Pololo" who gave the ball to Planas. Taking advantage of the spaces left by Athletic Madrid, Planas gave the ball to Samitier, who showed his class to score the 2-1. But when this goal was still celebrated by the culés, Sagi-Barba crossed a new ball into the box, which was slightly touched by Piera, leaving Just alone, who scored the 2-2 only one minute later. As it had happened in the semifinals, Barcelona was able to overcome their worst moments in just a few minutes. In this second half, things were as it had been predicted and Barcelona closed Athletic Madrid in their own field, enjoying multiples chances to score the winning goal. But this goal did not arrive and the 2-2 sent the two teams into the extra time.

The extra time did not change the trend of the game and Barcelona still was superior, although Athletic Madrid, in the hands of De Miguel, Olaso and Palacios threatened Platko's goal with some dangerous counters too. The final had to wait until the second half of the extra time to be decided. This time, Just connected with Samitier, who assisted Alcántara in a classic trademark pass. The striker crossed the ball when the goalkeeper Barroso was coming out of his goal to score the decisive goal for the blaugranas. In the remaining 8 minutes, Barcelona essentially defended the result, while Athletic Madrid tried with more heart than heart. The 3-2 was the result at full time and FC Barcelona had achieved their 7th Copa title in history, the second consecutive. At the same time, this historical Athletic Madrid started to be called the Atlético de los Caballeros (The Lord's Atlético).

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1926-1927

Professionalism had been accepted, but the clubs and the federation (the national and the regional ones) agreed to start the negotiations for the creation of a league, having the English football as reference. There were several proposals for the creation of a league. The problem was that there was not a strong central power in football. Despite the existance of the RFEF, some of the regional federations, some of them older than the RFEF itself, had a lot of power and so did the clubs. At the same time, the debates in the press were hot too. One of these proposals was led by Arenas Club, who proposed a league in which the first division would be formed by the historical winners of the Copa: Athletic Club, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Real Unión, Real Sociedad (who had won in 1909 under the name of Club Ciclista) and the same Arenas Club. This proposal had the name of "Liga Minimalista".

At the same time, the new president of Athletic Madrid, in disagreement with Arenas Club, proposed a different league with more teams and the elimination of the regional tournaments. But this proposal, known as "Liga Maximalista", did not count on the support of the RFEF, who considered that it was elitist, since the regional tournaments were considered essential for the most humble clubs and the development of the game. In one way or another, nothing was agreed in this year.

These negotiations were not easy, but they did not affect the development of this season, which continued with the same format used in the previous one. The only difference was the acceptance of the winner and runner-up of a new regional tournament: Extremadura. As a consequence of the extension of the Copa del Rey, two of the eight groups would have four teams, instead of the three used in the rest of the groups.

The participant clubs were:

Group I: Real Madrid, Sevilla FC and CD Extremeño

In Real Madrid, Juan De Cárcer, who had been the coach for six years, had left the coach and the team decided not to count on this figure for this season. In spite of this fact, Real Madrid dominated the Regional tournament with an extraordinary superiority, getting the ticket for this competition. At the same time, Sevilla FC continued with their dictatorship in the Copa de Andalucía, winning the title for the 9th time in a row. These two clubs were supposed to fight for the place in the Quarter finals. CD Extremeño, from the new regional league of Extremadura, was definitely more humble and less professional.

The results of the group were as they were predicted. Sevilla and Real Madrid crushed Extremeño in every single clash against them and they decided the place in the next round in their particular clashes. Each team won at home, favored by the home factor and the winner of the group had to be decided in a tie-breaker played in Badajoz. The madridistas were superior, defeating Sevilla to advance.

Group II: CD Europa, CD Castellón and Cartagena FC

In Catalonia, CD Europa challenged for the title with FC Barcelona, but the blaugranas ended up winning the title. However, Europa had left Español out of the Copa and had the chance to compete against the best once more. Español had disappointed in the regional tournament and, despite the good players they had, the club got in war with the Catalan federation due to a tribute game for Barcelona and their previous title. In Castellón, the prestigious coach Jack Greenwell had accepted the challenge of training with a humble club. The modern methods of Greenwell took the best of this team and was the runner-up in the Levante regional tournament for the first time ever. The last club was the runner-up of Murcia, Cartagena FC, on paper the weakest club of the group.

In this group, Europa was the favorite, given the power of the Catalan football compared with other regional tournaments. However, the results showed that these teams were more balanced than predicted and the home factor was decisive. All the teams won their home games and the final three-party tie had to be broken in a mini-tournament played in neutral ground, where Europa could finally show their superiority.

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Group III: Sporting Gijón, RC Deportivo, Racing Santander and Real Union Deportiva

This group did not have a clear favourite. Sporting Gijón was the biggest club of Asturias and was enjoying a sweet time with players like Herrera, Morilla, Loredo, Alfredón or Argüelles, all of them from the region. Deportivo, with players like Chacho or Ramón González, broke a long run of victories in the regional tournament of Galicia of the teams located in Vigo. Racing Santander was also a dominant club in their region, winning their 5th title. Real Unión Deportiva was the weakest team, although this team of Valladolid were winners of their region too.

But, at the end, the group was a walk in the park for a magnificent Sporting, who was very superior to their rivals in the group, remaining unbeaten to reach the knock-out rounds of the Copa del Rey.

Group IV: Real Unión, Athletic Club and Real Zaragoza

Real Unión kept the core of the previous seasons and, with players like Petit, Gamborena, Regueiro or Echeveste, they were one of the main favorites to win the competition. In front of them, a big rival too, Athletic Club. However, Athletic was in low moments, despite the signing of the Hungarian coach Lippo Hertzka, who had been managing Real Sociedad in the previous seasons. Real Zaragoza was the perfect victim for the two Basque clubs.

Real Unión and Athletic kept a fight in this group that was also decided in their direct clashes, solved with home victories in each case. This group also needed to be decided in a tie-breaker played in Zaragoza, where Real Unión showed that they were living a sweet moment and closing the season for a disappointing Athletic in low hours.

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Group V: FC Barcelona, Valencia FC and Real Murcia

FC Barcelona was another top favorite to win the title, although the coach who had driven the club to the triumphs, Ralph Kirby, had left the club. The new coach was Richard Dombi, an Austrian coach, with long experience in different Central and Eastern European clubs. Barcelona won the regional title again, the fourth in a row, confirming that the club was in one of their best moments in history. In the Levante regional tournament, Valencia FC was also the dominant club, winning their third title in a row driven by the great Cubells. Real Murcia, who was the weakest team on paper, was also the owner of their regional tournament, although far from the level of their rivals.

FC Barcelona did not fail and the Catalans were able to confirm their favorite condition and won all the games, but the one played in Mestalla. The blaugranas advanced to the next round, where they would need to defend their crown in this competition

Group VI: Real Betis, Athletic Madrid and Patria FC

Athletic Madrid was the favorite to win this group. The athleticos had lost one of their most important presidents, Juan De Estefanía, who had achieved the most important triumphs of the club, and had been replaced by Luciano Urquijo. The prestigious coach Fred Pentland was also replaced by a player-manager, De Miguel. The team struggles with all these changes and fails to be a serious challenger of Real Madrid in the regional tournament. Betis was a rising team in Andalusia and Seville. Despite they had never won an official title, Betis was already the main rival of the powerful Sevilla and their fan base was really strong. Patria FC was a very humble club from a very small town of Extremadura and very weak compared with their rivals.

Surprisingly, Athletic Madrid got surprised by the rising Real Betis, who were able to defeat Athletic Madrid at home and to surprise the colchoneros in the Metropolitano. The runner-up of the previous edition of the Copa del Rey failed to advance to the following round, a very disappointing result for the club.

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Group VII: Arenas Club, Real Sociedad and Iberia SD

As always in those years, the Basque clubs were favorites in this competition and, in this particular case, Arenas Club and Real Sociedad were the winners of their regional tournaments. In Real Sociedad, a very young Paco Bienzobas made his debut in this season. Arenas did not have big stars, but the block was the main asset of this solid team. Iberia definitely was a weaker rival, without real chances to advance.

As it was predicted, Arenas and Real Sociedad were the top teams and, as it had happened in other groups, each team won their home games, so the tie had to be broken in a replay that was played in Madrid. Arenas Club, the winner of Bizkaia, did not fail and achieved the victory (2-1), which allowed them to advance to the Quarter finals.

Group VIII: RC Celta, Gimnástica Torrelavega, Club Fortuna and CD Español

In this group, the evident favorites were the runner-up of the tournament of Galicia. Pasarín's Celta found no rival in the group with the lowest level among all the ones who competed in this Copa del Rey. Celta won every single game against clubs with much lower tradition and economic power.

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Quarter finals

In this round, with the 8 best teams of each group, the "real" Copa started with the knock-out stages. In the first leg, the home factor was essential as the result showed. In Chamartín, the balanced game between Madrid and Europa was more tight than the result shows, but the madridistas were able to defeat (2-0) their Catalan rivals, who also had their chances to surprise the local team. In Les Corts, FC Barcelona did not have a walk in the park in their game against Betis (4-1) as the score suggest and even the Catalan press considered the victory "too severe". In El Molinón (Gijón), Sporting surprised Real Unión (3-2) in a worked victory over the Basques. It was a clash of absences, since Sporting did not count on Herrera and Real Unión played without René Petit. In Getxo, Arenas Club did not get surprised by Celta either and the 3-1 truly reflected the superior level of the Basque club.

In the second leg, the most shocking result, according to the press, was the defeat of Barcelona in Seville against Betis. Despite the injuries and absences in the Catalan team, everyone expected them to win (or draw at least) anyway. But the 1-0 for Betis was enough to force a replay and the béticos were applauded by their great achievement. Equally surprising was the 4-1 victory of Europa on Real Madrid. The victory of Europa was a possibility, but the superiority of the Catalans was not in any prediction. The surprises did not finish there and Arenas Club, who were considered clear favorites given their performance in the first leg, raised doubts about the team. Celta defeated the Basque team with the same result of the first leg (3-1) and also forced the replay. In Amaute, Real Unión's home, the local team got reinforced by their star, René Petit, who made the difference in the final 4-1.

Arenas Club in 1927

So all the clashes had to be decided in games played in neutral ground. In Santander, Real Unión and Sporting had to decide a place in the semifinals. Sporting surprised Real Unión with the return of Herrera to the lineups and took the lead in the game, reaching the half time with advantage. However, Real Unión imposed rationality in the second half to overcome the result to advance (3-1). At the same time, Real Madrid humilliated (8-1) Europa in Zaragoza. Europa had shown a better image in the first two games, but Real Madrid had a wonderful afternoon of football and the madridistas seemed to reach their best level in the key moments. In Madrid, Arenas Club suffered to defeat Celta, but the celtarras would need to wait another year in their eternal search of glory. Arenas imposed their attitude and physical power over Celta (3-2). Finally, also in Madrid, Barcelona defeated Betis thanks to a goal scored by Samitier in the early minutes of the game. The Catalans were superior and the scoreboard did not reflect the reality of the game in that sense (1-0), although this lack of efficiency raised doubts on the "double champion".

Semifinals

As in the previous edition, the semifinals were played on neutral ground, in Torrero (Zaragoza). The first semifinal was a classic of the competition, Real Unión-Real Madrid. The recent history made the unionistas favorites, although the madridistas were a rising team in that moment. But Real Unión did not give a chance to a weaker Real Madrid. The Basque team managed and dominated the whole game with a magnificent Petit and the final 2-0 was considered too short, given the lack of efficiency of Errazquín in this game. Real Unión only confirmed the predictions and advanced to the final, their 4th final in less than 10 years.

The surprise was the victory of Arenas Club on FC Barcelona. In the case of Barcelona, the star Samitier reached the game in bad physical conditions, a fact that definitely affected his team, although Arenas could not count on their star defender Vallana either, while Yermo was not in his best physical form either. Each team in their own style, technical in the case of the Catalans, physical in the case of the Basques, played a fantastic game that ended up with a 3-3 after 90 minutes. In the extra time, the best physical form and the enthusiasm of Arenas made the difference and the half injured Yermo scored an epic goal in the last minutes to decide the finalist. FC Barcelona, big favorite of the competition, had fallen in the semifinals.

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Final

In the final played in the stadium of Torrero, in Zaragoza, in front of 16,000 enthusiastic fans, there was a clear favorite: Real Unión. The game was essentially physical, but the fair play between the two Basque clubs was remarkable too. The defenses of both teams shined over the forwards, the fantastic duo of Real Unión, the classic Alza-Berges, was able to avoid Arenas' chances on the goal defended by Emery. At the same time, despite the absence of Vallana, still injured, Llantada and Críspulo were amazing too.

In the first half, the weight of the game fell on Real Unión's shoulders. René Petit did not hide in this important game either and the star of Real Unión led the first attacks of his team during the game. In these initial minutes, the Arenas goalkeeper, Jaúregui, had to make several interventions to keep his goal unbeaten. Arenas Club also counted on several chances, but the defense of Real Unión and their goalkeeper were very efficient in their jobs. At half time, despite the domination of Real Unión, the 0-0 was the result in the scoreboard.

Real Unión in 1927

In the second half, Real Unión also dominated the first minutes, but Jaúregui remained immense defending his goal. At some point, Arenas started to enjoy their best minutes, enjoying their best chances. It was when the Arenas captain, Laña, shot from almost the midfield line, surprising everyone... but the ball hit the crossbar. Only a few minutes later, the referee Escartín disallowed a legal goal for Arenas, scored by Robus, in an "imaginary offside", according to the reports. When the match was reaching the minute 90, there was an action that could have defined the game. A crossed ball by Echeveste (Real Unión) was stopped by Laña (Arenas) inside the box. The penalty was awarded by the referee. The game was in the already experienced René Petit, but Jauregui seemed to be blessed that day and stopped the ball, forcing the extra time (0-0).

In the extra time, Real Unión forced the engine looking for the victory with an impressive pressure on Jauregui's goal. But the goalkeeper of Arenas remained unbeatable, stopping chance by chance the continuous attacks of the irundarras. The game had been so physical that the muscular cramps were usual in those minutes. In the last minutes, when the game was losing impulse given the tiredness of the players, the winger of Real Unión Sagarzazu found Echeveste inside the box. This time, the striker of Real Unión found the calm to prepare his shot and the goalkeeper Jauregui, who had been doing miracles all the afternoon, could not stop the ball that went into his net. It was just 3 minutes before the end. Echeveste, with this goal, gave Real Unión their 4th title in history, a deserving victory for a historical team of this decade.

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1927-1928

During the spring and summer of 1927, the conversations to create a league continued. The RFEF had a meeting Santander during April. Initially, the RFEF seemed to accept the "Liga Mínima", counting with the winners of the Copa in history: Athletic Club, Barcelona, Real Madrid, , Real Unión, Real Sociedad and Arenas Club, but with two exceptions with the inclusion of Español and Athletic Madrid. This proposal found the radical opposition of clubs like Valencia, Sevilla, Celta, Sporting or Racing Santander.

Since there is not an agreement, two parallel and separate unions of clubs were created: the Unión de Clubes Campeones, which promoted the "Liga Mínima" with the historical winners of the Copa and, at the same time, the Liga Profesional del Fútbol Español, which gathered clubs like Athletic Madrid, Iberia SD, Celta Vigo, Sevilla, Valencia, Sporting Gijón, Racing Santander and Real Murcia. At the same time, trying to avoid the rupture, the RFEF imposed a solution, changing the format of the Copa, which would be divided in four groups of six teams each, who would face each other in two rounds, advancing winner and runner-up to the knock-out phase. In this way, the amount of games was increased, although this solution was not satisfactory for all the clubs.

At the end, the clubs decided to start their leagues, the "Máxima" and the "Mínima" (also called "Torneo de Campeones"), but not breaking the status quo of regional tournaments and the Copa del Rey. These leagues were not considered official and this fact plus the lack of atractive of these leagues made both fail and many games were cancelled or abandoned, while most of the teams did not present their best teams in this competition.

Once more, the Copa del Rey would be the most important tournament and the participants would be chosen among the regional winners, although the format made the competition to be similar to a league system after all. At the same time, in order to avoid so many replays, the RFEF decided to count the goals instead of the victories in order to decide the knock-out rounds and also the goal difference to decide the ties in the group stage. These were the participants:

In order to set the groups a previous round, was needed and the runner-ups of the Catalan and Centro tournaments (Europa and Real Madrid) had to face the winners of Baleares and Extremadura (US Mahon and Patria FC). The clubs of the powerful regions did not fail. Madrid defeated Patria with a 10-1 global result, while Europa did the same with US Mahón (13-3).

Group I: Real Celta, Real Oviedo, Deportivo, Cultural Leonesa, Racing C. Langreo and Real Unión Deportiva

The main favorites of this group were the clubs with a higher economic power: Celta, Deportivo and Oviedo, although Racing Langreo was not ruled out, since they had left Sporting out of this competition for the first time in a long time. Sporting had lost some of their most important players, who were signed by other clubs, like Herrera, who had signed for Athletic Madrid.

During the first round of the league, the most rich clubs showed their superior level. Deportivo was the best team after five games, leading the standings with 8 points, closely followed by the champions of Asturias, Oviedo (7 points) and their eternal rivals, Celta (6 points). Cultural Leonesa still hold some chances, while Langreo and Real Unión Deportivo failed to be an option

In the following games, the defeat of Deportivo in Oviedo and the decisive draw at home against Celta, left the three favorites in 11 points with 2 games to be played. In the last matchday, Deportivo closed their miserable second round with a defeat against the weaker Cultural Leonesa, while their rivals did not fail in their games. These results left Deportivo, winner of Galicia, out of the Copa, while Celta and Oviedo advanced to the Quarter finals.

Group II: CD Alaves, Real Madrid, Racing Santander, Athletic Club, Gimnástica de Torrelavega and Athletic Madrid

Real Madrid was a rising team, as they had proven in the previous edition of the Copa, despite their defeat in the regional tournament. The club had signed a new coach, the former Real Madrid and Barcelona player and referee, José Berraondo, famous by the incidents of 1916, which broke the relationships of the two clubs of his career. In the team, the most relevant players were Juan Monjardín and Félix Pérez Marcos. In Atheltic Club, the team still managed by Lippo Hertzka still was under construction. In this year, Unamuno was signed from Alavés, while the young Garizurieta and Chirri II were promoted from the reserves team. This team won the regional tournament, but the biggest surprise was the appearance of CD Alavés, who had left Arenas Club out of the Copa. Alavés was a team full of young talented players like Ciriaco and Quincoces, who started to peak. Athletic Madrid still enjoyed a fantastic team, with players like Vicente Palacios, Luis Olaso or Triana, who had taken the team to a new regional tournament. Patrick O'Connell still managed Racing Santander, who had signed Loredo from Sporting, although the two teams of Cantabria (Racing Santander itself and Gimnástica were the weakest teams on paper).

During the first round of the league, the surprise was Alaves, unbeaten by their rivals and with surprising important results, like the victory against Athletic or the draw in Chamartín against Real Madrid. These results allowed them to lead the group with 8 points. The alavesistas were closely followed by Real Madrid and Racing Santander, in a one point margin. Athletic Club did not lose their chances despite their average performances, but their defeats and draws against their direct rivals were punishing them. Definitely, the most disappointing results were the ones of Athletic Madrid, who lost all the games. The runner-ups of 1926 were out when things had just started.

In the following 3 games, Alavés kept their impressive line of results, including a draw in San Mamés. Real Madrid were able to follow the good results of the leader, remaining 1 point far from them, while Athletic was 2 points away, but wasting the chance to catch their regional rival in the direct clash. O'Connell's Racing Santander started to fail in the important moments and started to lose their chances, while Gimnástica and Athletic Madrid kept their mediocre path.

In the last two games, Alavés only needed to assure the first position and despite they dropped points in these games, their solid position and the direct clash between Athletic and Madrid allowed them to win the group. Real Madrid were also able to draw in Bilbao to win in Alava, although this result was not enough to reach the first position. Athletic's victory against Real Madrid was essential to keep their chances alive until the last game, but their defeat in Santander left Athletic out of the knock-out stages once more.

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Group III: FC Barcelona, Real Sociedad, Real Unión, Europa, Iberia SD and Patria Aragón

FC Barcelona, who had won the fourth regional tournament in a row in a close fight with Europa, which required a final, had fired Domby as a request of the players, who also demanded to be managed by a former player of the club and member of the Board: Romà Forns, the first Catalan coach in the history of the club. The team that had been a power during the last decade started a transition. Paulino Alcántara had retired the previous season, while Sancho started to disappear from the lineups. The stars of the team were Samitier, Sagi-Barba, the German defender Walter and the legendary goalkeeper Platko. In Real Unión, the current winners of the competition, the base of the team were the players that had taken the club to the victory the previous season, so Petit, Luis Regueiro, Gamborena, Emery and company were considered as one of the main favorites for the title, since they had also triumphed in their regional tournament. In a similar way, the biggest rivals of Real Unión, Real Sociedad, counted on a solid team that was ready to fight for the title. Benito Díaz was the manager of the team who counted on the forward Paco Bienzobas as main player along with others like the goalie Jesús Izaguirre, the midfielder Amadeo Labarta and Trino Arizcorreta and the also forwards "Cholín" and "Kiriki". The humble but efficient Europa, as challenger for the Catalan title could not be discarded either, while the Aragonese Iberia and Patria did not have the tradition to compete with these rivals.

In the first five games, FC Barcelona won all the games, except a draw at home against Real Unión, a direct rival, leading with 9 points. As it was predicted, the other two challengers were the two Basque clubs. Real Sociedad (8 points) also won all the games, except their defeat in Les Corts, while Real Unión (8 points) had only dropped points in their visits to the direct rivals, but they had to receive the visit their rivals in the second round of the league.

In the following games, Barcelona seriously damaged their chances with the defeat in Atotxa against Real Sociedad and the unexpected draw at home against Europa, who had failed to convince in this competition. Real Unión started to fix the results of the first round, as the victory against Real Sociedad showed. So, before the last game, Real Unión led the standings with 15 points, while they were followed by Barcelona and Real Sociedad with 14. The goal difference favored Barcelona over Real Sociedad, but the Catalans were in trouble, since they had to visit the Gal stadium, the new home of Real Unión. In this last week, Real Sociedad did not fail in their game, with a victory that assured their pass to the Quarter finals. But FC Barcelona achieved an epic and important victory in Irún against Real Unión. The current champions were out of the competition, while Barcelona and Real Sociedad advanced in the competition.

Group IV: Real Murcia, Valencia FC, Cartagena FC, Sevilla FC, Real Betis and Levante FC

In this group, there was not a clear favorite and all the teams had a similar level on paper. In the Copa de Andalucía, for the first time in history, Real Betis won the title over the clear dominant team of the competition, Sevilla FC. In the Valencian tournament, there was a similar situation and Levante FC were able to win the regional title over Valencia FC. The ché team had signed an English coach, James Herriot, to drive the team where Cubells and Montes were the clear stars. Real Murcia, who had won their third regional title in a row, was the strongest team, while Cartagena FC were constantly the main challengers.

In the first round, the supposed balance got evident. Four clubs finished the first round with real chances to advance to the following round. The most efficient and also the surprise was the good level of Real Murcia, who were able to lead the standings (7 points), despite their initial defeat at home against Sevilla. But only one point down, Valencia, Betis and Sevilla followed them closer. Cartagena was the weakest team, as it was predicted, while Levante disappointed with only one victory in these five games.

In the following three games, Real Murcia were able to keep the lead with two more victories. Valencia kept being their main rival, keeping the negative one point gap, despite a humiliating defeat against Cartagena. Betis still hold some options with one victory and a draw, although the fixtures did not favor them, since they had to visit Murcia and receive Valencia. Sevilla lost all the options with two surprising defeats at home and a draw in the derby. Real Murcia only needed a victory in the last two games and they did not fail to dominate the group. The clash between Betis and Valencia was decisive too and the valencianistas finished with the options of Betis with an away victory. So Murcia and Valencia advance, while Andalusia failed.

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Quarter finals

In the first leg of this round, FC Barcelona and Real Oviedo met in Les Corts, packed with 45,000 people in the stands. The Catalans were clear favorites and they did not fail. Barcelona played a fantastic first half to reach the half time with a stunning 4-0 with goals by Samitier and Sastre in pairs. In the second half, the game was crazy and the crowd had to applaud both teams, Oviedo did not surrender and presented a heavy fight, which was equally responded by Barcelona for the final 7-3 with Samitier scoring 4 goals.

In La Condomina, Alavés visited Murcia. It was a very balanced game dominated by the defenses in the first half, which ended with a 0-0. In the second half, the surprising Basque club was superior and was able to achieve a 2 goal gap, although Murcia could score the honor goal in the last minutes. The 1-2 for CD Alavés result looked decisive though.

Alavés in Les Corts

In Coia, Vigo, Celta's first half was sublime and made the local fans to dream with a historical victory against Real Sociedad. The early goals of Murilla and Lecube allowed Celta to win 2-0 at half time. However, the goal of the Basque Yurrita in the last minutes of the game set a final 2-1 that left things open for the second leg.

The surprising result was the one of the game played in Chamartín between Real Madrid and Valencia. The madridistas were superior on paper and they only needed 16 minutes to score two goals. The 2-0 result at half time made the madridistas believe that they almost had the ticket to the semifinals in their pocket. But a poor second half of the madridistas and the goals of the valencianistas Pérez and Rey surprised the local fans. The 2-2 result in Chamartín was a great achievement for Valencia.

Josep Samitier

In the second leg, noone really thought that Oviedo could actually overcome the four goal advantage for FC Barcelona. As a result, the game was more beautiful than passionate. The match, without emotion, given the result of the first leg, was interesting as the final 2-2 showed.

In Mendizorroza, Alaves' home, the game was not as peaceful for the locals as the predictions made everyone think. In fact, Real Murcia were able to tie the clash with a goal in the first half. The worrying result for Alavés at half time made the home team react in the second. Alavés were able to overcome the result with two goals in only 15 minutes and ended up winning the game with a clear 3-1.

In Atotxa, Real Sociedad needed to overcome the bad result of the first leg and it was not an easy task for them. Real Sociedad looked for their place in the semis since the first minute, but at half time they had only tied the clash (1-0) with a penalty scored by Bienzobas. The polemics grew in the second half, with another penalty for the Basques, also scored by Bienzobas, which caused the protests of Celta to the referee Serrano Pelayo. Real Sociedad could only celebrate the victory when the game was about to finish and the Basques scored the definitive goal (3-0).

Valencia's Cubells

In Mestalla, the local crowd and the ché team had a chance to reach the semifinals against one the giants of the competition. Definitely, the plan of Valencia was not coward and their attacking football allowed them to achieve an early 2-0 with two goals scored by Ródenas. In the second half, Real Madrid tried to overcome the extremely negative result, but they could only scored one goal (Uribe) when the game was near the end. In the last minutes, Real Madrid tried it, but Valencia was able to resist to reach a historical semifinal.

Semifinals

In the first leg of the semifinals, Unamono's and Ciriaco's Alavés visited Les Corts. The surprising Basque team had been doing a great campaign and, despite the higher prestige of the Catalans, they fought against the barcelonistas until the last minutes of the game. The press of the following day showed the respect Barcelona had for Alavés and their campaign. Alavés played with the usual Basque style, more physical than technical, totally opposed to the blaugranas. In the first half, Samitier, who was in great form, led the attack of the culés, who were able to show a great level of football. But, despite the good level of the Catalans, the home team could only score in the last minutes of the first half with a doubtful penalty on Piera by Quincoces and scored by Más.

In the second half, Alavés looked for the goal and Barcelona looked full of doubts. Definitely, the best minutes of Alavés were in these minutes of the second half. However, the attacks of the Basques were inefficient and, in the last minutes, the visitors paid their efforts. When the local fans were worried about the short result to face the second leg, Carrulla scored the second for the Catalans in the minute 72. The good luck went with the Catalans too. Only three minutes before the end, a shot was deflected by the Alaves defender Carrullo into their own goal. The final 3-0 was probably excessive, but probably definitive to face the second leg with guarantees.

The second semifinal was played in Atotxa, where Valencia visited Real Sociedad. In the first minutes of the game, the surprising Valencia enjoyed the best chances, but pretty soon the game got ugly, with violent tackles, and the visitors started to lose their initial concentration. With the game changing its direction, Real Sociedad scored the first goal with certain dose of luck, since it was the valencianista Reyes who deflected the ball into his goal in the minute 27. The valencianistas suddenly disappeared from the game and Real Sociedad did not miss their chance to crush Valencia. In the last 15 minutes of the first half, Cholín twice (35' and 44') and Mariscal (38') broke the dreams of the valencianistas.

In the second half, Valencia looked for a goal to enter in the game, but it was Kiriki who scored the 5th for Real Sociedad. The rest of the game did not have much story. A depressed and lost Valencia could only creep on the pitch and two more goals of the donostiarras closed the historical 7-0 victory and Real Sociedad definitely sealed the pass to the final for the first time since 1913.

With the results of the first leg, this second round of games did not have much story. In Mendizorroza, Alavés knew that their small chances passed from an early goal that could make Barcelona feel doubts. Their initial pressure on Platko's goal was huge, but Barcelona knew how to manage this situation to keep their goal safe. The suicidal attacks had its consequences. In the minute 20, Sastre scored the first goal for the blaugranas, a goal that totally destroy the hopes of Alavés. The local team collapsed and the blaugranas became the only owners of the game, toying with Alavés. Before half time, Arocha scored two more goals to leave the game without any kind of emotion (0-3). In the second half, things did not change much and, while Barcelona enjoyed their own football, Alavés only wanted the game to finish. Sastre again and Samitier scored two more goals to close the beating on the home team (0-5).

Real Sociedad's Bienzobas

In Mestalla, despite the lack of emotion given the 7-0 of the first leg, the stadium presented a good atmosphere. The valencianistas wanted to give their fans the pleasure of a victory to close the season. This was the purpose of the home team, who attacked Real Sociedad's goal since the first minute. When the game had just started, the referee awarded Valencia with a penalty. Pérez shot the penalty and scored, but the referee considered that a Valencia player had entered into the box and the penalty had to be repeated. In this second chance, Izaguirre, Real Sociedad's goalie, stopped it. Right after this chance, Valencia got the lead in the scoreboard with a goal scored by Ródenas, in a polemic action protested by the donostiarras. Valencia kept insisting in the attacks, while Real Sociedad lacked tension on the pitch, as a consequence of it, Ródenas scored the second for Valencia. The valencianistas were crushing their rivals and a handball inside the Basque box was awarded with a new penalty. Once again, Pérez made the attempt, but Izaguirre was Real Sociedad's hero stopping the second penalty of the afternoon. Real Sociedad reacted in the last minutes of the first half and, in a counter, Bienzobas crossed the ball to "Kiriki" who calmed his team down with a goal. The 2-1 was the result at half time.

In the second half, Valencia kept insisting and Ródenas scored his hat-trick in the first minutes of the second chapter of this match. Despite the dominance of Valencia and their best chances, the game died slowly, given the overall result. Real Sociedad scored the last goal of the afternoon, again "Kiriki", and the referee made the final whistle, which gave Real Sociedad the ticket to the final.

Wikipedia

Final

The final was played in El Sardinero, Santander, between Real Sociedad and Barcelona, who attracted 18,000 fans to the stadium. Both clubs had already met in the group stage and each team had won in their own stadium, so the game did not have a clear favorite, given the good results of both teams through all the tournament.

Barcelona started dominating the first minutes of the game, although their chances were reduced to some corner kicks and soon Real Sociedad also showed up to have some shy chances too. The game was more intense than beautiful and the defenses dominated the attacks. When the half time was about to come, in a divided ball inside the box, Platko grabbed the ball, but the Basque striker Amadeo kicked the goalies head. Platko who had saved his team in this action had to leave the game injured and the Catalan forward Arocha was the new goalkeeper of the team, a fact that was worrying for Barcelona. The 0-0 was the result at half time though.

Platko injured in the final

But the problems of Barcelona had just started. Samitier got injured with an open wound in his head. The Catalans were with nine men on the pitch and Real Sociedad tried to take advantage of the situation without much success. Some minutes later, a dizzy Platko could return to the pitch and Arocha could return to his position and also Samitier made his reappearance. And this return could not have been better for the Catalans, Piera found Samitier inside the box who placed the ball inside Real Sociedad's goal. It was the minute 53. After this goal, the game turned violent, once again Platko got charged inside his box and this incident caused a brawl. Despite the attempts of the referee, the game got really ugly, with constant fouls and incidents, with Real Sociedad desperately looking for a goal to tie the game. In the minute 83, Sevilla ended up drawing the game, "Kiriki" passed the ball to Mariscal who face Platko, the shot was almost blocked by the Hungarian goalie, but finished in the net. The 1-1 was the result after 90 minutes. There was an extra time, dominated by Real Sociedad, but the result did not change a replay had to be play.

Linguasport.com

Final Replay I

The tie-breaker was played three days after the first game. The atmosphere was tense, given the ugly incidents of the previous match. Barcelona missed Platko for this game, as a consequence of his injuries in that game. There were 13,000 fans in the stadium, given it was a labor day. As it happened in the first match, the Catalans started dominating the game, but the weight of the game started to change from hand to hand very soon, without a clear owner. When the match reach the first half an hour, Bienzobas connected with Cholín who passed the ball to "Kirki" and the striker only needed to push the ball into the net (1-0). The game did not change much with the goal, with more intensity than quality and the result at half time was the already known 1-0 for Real Sociedad.

After the half time, the game followed the trend of all the minutes played by these two teams. The lack of a clear owner could have made possible a decisive goal for Real Sociedad or the draw for Barcelona and this is what it finally happened. Samitier dressed as playmaker to invent a pass to Piera, who faced Izaguirre to beat him in the desperate exit (1-1). As it happened in the first game, the game got ugly, the accumulate tension exploded and Guzmán, the Barcelona midfielder, hit "Kiriki" and gets sent off. The tension spread to the stands too and the police had to appear to calm down the situation. But the atmosphere in the pitch did not cool down and ten minutes later, in the 80', Cholín got fouled by the Catalan Carulla and the Basque responded by punching him, being also sent off. The final result of this tense game was another 1-1. In the extra time, once again, Real Sociedad was the best team, but Llorens, the reserve Barcelona goalkeeper appeared to save his team. This result forced a new replay.

Linguasport.com

Final Replay II

Spain had to play the Olympics at Amsterdam and the replay had to be postponed several weeks. The base of the Spanish team was mainly formed by Real Sociedad players (7 of them went to Amsterdam, Zaldua, Labarta, Aizkorreta, Bienzobas, Cholin, Mariscal and "Kiriki"), while no one of Barcelona traveled was called by the Spanish team, who had remarkable absences like Zamora or Samitier. As it happened in 1924, Spain failed to meet the good results of 1920 and the team had to go back home after the Quarter finals. Spain defeated Mexico in the first round (7-1), but once again was beaten by Italy, this time after a humilliating 7-1 in a replay. These Olympic matched postponed the final that was finally played at the end of June, almost two months after the first game between Barcelona and Real Sociedad.

It was played in El Sardinero too, this time in front of 16,000 fans. Since the first minute, Barcelona closed Real Sociedad in their own field and the attacks of the Catalans were very dangerous. In the minute 8, Samitier dribbled three players to shot to a corner of Real Sociedad's goal, unreachable for Izaguirre (1-0). Barcelona kept dominating the game and feeling more comfortable on the pitch, but only a few minutes later, Walter committed penalty on Marculeta and Zaldúa tied the game (1-1). This goal was just an anecdote as the continuous attacks of Barcelona proved and, in the minute 21, the culé Arocha takes advantage of an error of Jauregui, who did not stop an easy ball, to score the 2-1. Only 4 minutes later, in a long ball, Samitier fooled Jauregui with a movement without the ball, displacing the goalkeeper and Sastre scored the third for Barcelona. The rest of the first half was a lesson of football of Barcelona, although the result did not change.

Barcelona, Copa winner 1928

In the second half, Real Sociedad was decided to tie the game, but Barcelona changed their tactics to have a more defensive approach, which ended up being successful. Real Sociedad's attacks got constantly lost, while Barcelona kept the advantage. In the minute 65, the incidents of the first two games reappeared. Barcelona's Llorens got tackled by Real Sociedad's Mariscal and the goalie got helped by Carulla. Mariscal and Carulla ended up punching each other and, as a consquence, being sent off. Real Sociedad kept being the best team in the last minutes of the second half, but Barcelona resisted without too many problems. At the end, Barcelona won the match (3-1) and their 8th Copa title in history, the third in four years, showing up as the main power of the recent times. In the post game reactions, Cholín complained about the referee while the Catalan coach Romà Forns said that, "when football is played, Barcelona is the best team", suggesting bad manners in their rivals.

Linguasport.com

Summary of titles

Copa del Rey

10 - Athletic Club (1902, 1903, 1904, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1921, 1923)
8 - FC Barcelona (1910, 1912, 1913, 1920, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1928)
5 - Real Madrid (1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1917)
4 - Real Unión Irún (1913, 1918, 1924, 1927)
1 - Real Sociedad (1909)
1 - Arenas Club (1919)

Maradona: "Pelé bajó en el podio y se quedó con la de bronce".

2011-10-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

Marco Fabián de la Mora: el sicario de las Chivas.

2011-10-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

21.10.2011 - Junto a Cruz Azul y Santos Laguna (puntero), las Chivas de Guadalajara terminan de conformar el trinomio dominador del Apertura 2011 mexicano. La última goleada (5-2) sobre Estudiantes Tecos (en el estadio Jalisco) significó la confirmación de que el equipo dará pelea y el primer hat trick en la carrera de Marco Fabián de la Mora:

“Era importantísimo sacar estos tres puntos, no los podíamos dejar ir y en lo personal agradecer a Dios por este tipo de actuaciones, mi primera vez que meto tres goles en un partido, hay que seguir buscando metas nuevas, y hay que seguir trabajando igual”.

Fue en la apertura del marcador (1-0) cuando Marco Fabián festejó su gol simulando asesinar a su compañero, Alberto Medina, (cual sicario) de un disparo en la frente.

A raíz de este festejo, que pudo pasar pero no pasó inadvertido, la dirigencia de las Chivas publicó un comunicado oficial en su web:

A todos los Medios de Comunicación y a la afición en general:

El Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A. de C.V. se ha pronunciado siempre a favor de la No Violencia, encabezando campañas por la Paz y la sana convivencia tanto en el futbol como en la sociedad.

Por ello, al ser la No Violencia uno de los principales estandartes en la institución, lamentamos el festejo realizado por nuestros jugadores Marco Fabián de la Mora y Alberto Medina Briseño, después del primer gol que anotara Marco Fabián al equipo de Estudiantes Tecos, la noche del sábado dentro de la Jornada 13 del torneo Apertura 2011.

Los jugadores que participaron en este festejo, serán reconvenidos por la institución, porque ellos son ejemplo para los niños y jóvenes de nuestro país, así como de los mas de 30 millones de aficionados que son orgullosamente Chivas.

El gol, debe ser siempre motivo de alegría y de festejos que nos hagan vibrar de pasión y nos recuerden que el futbol es un juego que une y llena de euforia los corazones.

Chivas estará siempre en pro de la No Violencia.

Atentamente, Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A. de C.V.

“Por ahí hubo una confusión - salió a disculparse Marco Fabián - la verdad yo después le pedí una disculpa (al árbitro), yo no sabía que había pasado ahí, era una apuesta que tenía con el Venado (Medina) de un juego de Nintendo, pero bueno, yo no sabía que por festejar algo así de una pistola que te amonestaban, era lo que preguntaba pero no vuelve a pasar”.

Al parecer la Play Station y el Nintendo no sólo desenfocan a los jugadores de los vídeos de fútbol sino también de los diarios y noticieros (?). Apenas una semana antes de su trágico festejo, 24 personas que fueron asesinadas en Acapulco se sumaron a los más de 44.000 muertos en México desde que Felipe Calderón (presidente) dijo emprender una campaña contra el narcotráfico (2006).

Las repercusiones y polémicas trajeron luego la noticia de que ambos (Marco Fabián de la Mora y Alberto Medina) habían sido multados para donar el dinero al “Fondo de atención a niños hijos víctimas de la violencia en Ciudad Juárez”, institución creada en una de las más violentas ciudades del país.

Entonces Marco Fabián tuvo que borrar la historia del Nintendo con otra más humana:

“Estoy muy arrepentido de lo que pasó y muy contento de estar acá – dijo en la Institución solidaria - pero es algo que me da gusto comentarlo. Estoy muy arrepentido de lo que pasó el sábado por la noche en el festejo, ahora es cuando me doy cuenta de una parte de mi vida que he sufrido tanto y que ahora por primera vez la voy a contar…

Todos tenemos una historia que contar, la más personal y la más sagrada. Va por mi hermano Jonathan, donde quiera que te encuentres. Siendo yo un niño tenía como figura a mi hermano, un joven de 23 años, un mexicano inteligente amante de la vida, con quien viví experiencias felices, Jonathan se rodeó de amigos pocos sinceros y andaba en malos pasos… después de aquella tarde (Jonathan) jamás regresó, jamás supimos de justicia, lo encontramos masacrado en una zanja".

La cuestión de la cifra donada es un misterio (dada la cantidad de informaciones cruzadas). Mientras unos medios publican que la multa ascendió a $50.000 (u$3650) para cada uno de los jugadores, otros cuentan que fue de u$10.000 y otros que el par de jugadores decidió duplicar su propia multa para recolectar junto al resto del plantel la total suma donada: unos u$ 73.000 para unos o u$100.000 para otros, aunque también puede leerse (en más medios) que Jorge Vergara y Angélica Fuentes (dueños de las Chivas) pusieron u$80.000.(?)

Nada nuevo. La celebración de Marco Fabián fue apenas un apócope del Rambo del Stjarnan islandés, los sicarios siguen trabajando por el mundo y algunos medios mostrando sus resultados como victorias).

Bielsa en Bilbao (13): Athletic 2 Salzburgo 2.

2011-10-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

21.10.2011 - El Athletic de Bilbao reaccionó tarde y, si bien logró mantener su invicto en la Europa League, sólo sumó un empate (2-2) ante Red Bull Salzburgo en San Mamés.

Desde febrero (2011) que Llorente no se asomaba al área a la hora de patear un penal. Entonces, en el Vicente Calderón, Muniain y David López peleaban por la ejecución hasta que apareció Llorente para terminar el pleito, errando.

Con Bielsa, el lanzador es David López (que convirtió vs Betis en la única derrota hasta el momento en San Mamés). Desde ayer se sabe que el 2º en la lista es Llorente. No era la mejor noche. Erró un tiro en la puerta del arco rival y perdió la pelota que significó el 0-1. Pero Llorente se recompuso y por partida doble.

El Athletic se fue al descanso 0-2 y en el complemento, empató a través de dos penales ejecutados por el goleador.

Los penales no fueron según Ricardo Moniz (DT Salzsburgo), “ninguno de los dos me pareció justo».

Athletic, viento en popa, mantiene la diferencia de 3 puntos sobre su perseguidor Paris Saint Germain de Javier Pastore (empató 0-0 con Slovan Bratislava) por el Grupo F de la Europa League.

BIELSA EN BILBAO 1

BIELSA EN BILBAO 2

BIELSA EN BILBAO 3

BIELSA EN BILBAO 4

BIELSA EN BILBAO 5

BIELSA EN BILBAO 6

BIELSA EN BILBAO 7

BIELSA EN BILBAO 8

BIELSA EN BILBAO 9

BIELSA EN BILBAO 10

BIELSA EN BILBAO 11

BIELSA EN BILBAO 12

Maradona: hace 35 años de su debut.

2011-10-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

20.10.2011 - El 20 de octubre de 1976 (miércoles), en el entretiempo de Argentinos Juniors - Talleres (Córdoba) (0-1), el entrenador del bicho, Juan Carlos Montes le dijo "Vaya Diego, juegue como usted sabe. Y si puede tire un caño", (entró por Giacobetti) y, efectivamente, en la primera pelota que tocó tiró un caño (a Juan Domingo Cabrera).

Diego tenía 15 años (le faltaban 10 días para cumplir los 16), había llegado a La Paternal con un pantalón de corderoy, "con este calor?" le dijeron... "Es el único que tengo..."

Diego hizo todo, fue número uno y supo derrapar. Hizo muy famoso el nombre de Argentina y es considerado el mejor jugador de la historia. Pero ciertas actitudes le valieron una cantidad de críticos irrenunciables. Insistimos, sin estadísticas de aval, en que la cantidad de furiosos críticos de Maradona crece considerablemente entre aquellos que no lo vieron jugar.

Unos pequeños rebotes en twitter, donde fue recordado el amiversario de su debut:

dani_marquardt

hace 35 años fue el debut de Maradonna :) ídolo!! y a los que no les gusta que la sigan chupando, ahah y vos toti la tenes adentro ;) jajaja

Seba_Almafuerte

Hace 35 años empezaba la historia del mejor jugador de la historia, gracias por dejar la bandera Argentina en lo mas alto...#DiegoMaradona

santinougues

Hace 35 años debutaba D10S.

inonaz

Hace 35 años Diego debuta en argentinos! Y yo daba vueltas por los huevos de mi viejo!

esteban_ebrecht

Hace 35 años comenzó en nuestro país una enfermedad llamada "Maradona". La cura: tener por lo menos dos dedos de frente.

mundoparodico

Hace 35 años se empezaba a escribir la más bella historia jamás escrita en la historia del fútbol mundial. Hace 35 años debutaba Diego.

pabloro90

Hoy hace 35 años que debutó un tal Diego Armando Maradona. Simplemente genio, simplemente crack, simplemente unico. GRANDE DIEGO!

cristobalrojas

Hoy, hace 35 años, debutaba un jugador que metió un túnel a un rival en la primera pelota que tocó. Para AAAJ, Diego Armando Maradona

ebetas

Hace 35 años, murió en la cárcel, víctima de la tortura, el diputado Mario Amaya, perteneciente a la Unión Cívica Radical,

RECOMENDABLES POST LPND SOBRE DIEGO MARADONA

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MARADONA 1981

MARADONA Y LA FERRARI

MARADONA EN CARICATURAS

MARADONA 64 PELÉ 36

30 FRASES DE MARADONA

LA LIGA INGLESA RENDIDA ANTE MARADONA

Manchester: Tévez a la basura.

2011-10-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

20.10.2011 - No satisfecha con la condena mediática a través de los diarios y portales y luego de ahorcar e incendiar su muñeco, la comunidad (entera) de Manchester, reunida entre las parcialidades del United y el City se ven aunadas (confabuladas) por la unánime razón: Tévez.

Quizá mirando el vídeo pueda denotarse la prolijidad de la (enésima) campaña en contra de Carlos Tévez. Acaso menos contra el jugador que contra la actitud de “rebeldía” o “resistencia a la autoridad” desmesuradamente denostada en un país conservador como Inglaterra.

Volvemos a marcar que la actitud de Tévez es muy difícil de defender. Si bien (a partir de sus deseos públicos de emigración) la dirigencia del club optó por castigarlo subrepticiamante (forrearlo), el Apache, como cualquier otro jugador de renombre, tiene distintas posibilidades (menú) como para aclarar los tantos.

No obstante, y volviendo al vídeo, no deja de asombrar cierta reiteración y acento en denostar la actitud de “rebeldía” (en este caso) personificada en Tévez. La edición de imágenes donde se suceden personajes urbanos comunes (ninguna autoridad de ningún tipo) pretendería marcar que la campaña viene de abajo hacia arriba (?).

Sin embargo, el gasto (y la organización) en la decoración de los camiones y “precisamente” la ausencia de voces y caras dirigenciales manifiesta todo lo contrario: en Inglaterra estos asuntos de provocar a la autoridad exceden por demás al mundo del fútbol.

The Spanish youth on sale

2011-10-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

The poor economic and financial situation of Spain, in general, and in football, in particular, are opening possibilities of business to vultures in search of opportunities. Since one month ago, an investment fund called Doyen Group (do not look for it in google, you will find absolutely nothing) has been reaching supposed sponsorship agreements with some clubs of Primera División, like Sporting, Getafe and Atlético Madrid, that seems to be extended to other clubs, like Espanyol or Sevilla in Primera División and Deportivo in Segunda, who also signed agreements with them. For now, these agreements are made for figures that go from 100,000 to 150,000 euros.

Some sources claim that Doyen Group is an English fund with Portuguese capital, some other sources suggest that the Russian money is behind this strange fund. But what is the reality of this investment fund? It is evident that the intentions of Doyen Group go beyond the simple sponsorship agreement, after all they are not willing to sell or promote any product, service or event. Today, the Spanish newspaper El País explains the intentions of this fund.

This fund wants to invest in the ownership of the rights of young talents. As it is well known, the South American market of young players is saturated of investment funds, scouts and agents, especially in the main "factories" of talent, Brazil and Argentina. But the success of Spain in football, not only in the first team of the national team, but also in the youth levels (Spain won the U-21 and U-19 Euro tournaments last summer, as no one else has achieved previously) has caught the attention of this fund. In recent times, Doyen Group has been scouting and analyzing the youth academies of several Spanish clubs and, convinced by the magnificent health and methods, has decided to invest in players, all of them under 24, who have potential to increase their market value in mid or short term.

Doyen Group offers different possibilities in their offers and this flexibility seems convincing for several clubs who are needed of money in these times of crisis. The fund's offer for the "important" clubs is to give them the chance to count on established players who are out of reach for these clubs, given their poor financial state. At the same time, the more humble clubs are getting offers for the total ownership of their best young players with the chance to count on them until a transfer to a bigger club makes possible to make the business profitable for the fund, real owner of the rights of the player. In both cases, the percentage of participation in the ownership of the rights are open to negotiation. The fund also gives these clubs the chance to act like platforms, mainly in international movements. The fund loans them a player for a certain time in order to give the "asset" the possibility to show his talent in La Liga and raise his value for future transfers.

For now, the clubs only admit sponsorship agreements, like Sporting, who already made an official statement on this defending the solvency of this fund, although admitting that this deal could be extended... without more explanations. Atlético Madrid, who also wear the name of the group in the sleeves of their shirt, has made official this agreement, which would also affect the rights on the elite boxes and the static banners of the stadium.

What Doyen Group proposes is what is called the "Third Party Ownership". A legal formula that is accepted in countries like Turkey, Portugal or Spain (although it has never been used in the Spanish clubs), but forbidden in the Bundesliga or the English Premier League since 2007. The Spanish clubs see this agreement as a solution for these times of drought. But this is what we could label as "bread for today, hunger for tomorrow". As we claimed in previous occasions, the Spanish football needs to be reviewed from top to bottom. The league with the clubs with the most important international achievements must look for solutions that avoid the mortgage on its assets. What Doyen Group propose is to make La Liga a feeder league for richer European clubs. Even though it is true that these clubs are in truly need to find funds for today, they must never forget the future. To put the youth academies in the hands of this kind of funds only serves to anticipate future incomes, but it is unlikely that this anticipation makes the investment on youth academies more profitable in the long term.

Fernando Llorente in the youth level

As a consequence of these agreements, we would see several Primera División clubs acting as mere platforms or feeder clubs for the giants of football, going in the opposite direction of where they are supposed to go. A policy that would only make the gap between "big" and "humble" clubs bigger and bigger and, what it is even worse, cutting the connection of the club and its community, represented in the local talents, the most loved and respected players by the fans.

The economic and financial problems of the clubs are serious, there is not doubts about it. But these times of crisis also require long term perspective. There are several ways to face this situation and La Liga, represented by the Liga de Fúbtol Profesional (LFP), must decide: do we want a top league or do we want to feed the Premiership and the Bundesliga with our best talents? Lion or mouse? It is sad to see that the Spanish youth is on sale. Seriously, where are we going?

Violencia en el fútbol: fotos.

2011-10-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

Mike Havenaar empuja a Japón.

2011-10-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

20.10.2011 - Junto a Jordania, Australia e Irán, Japón viene pisando fuerte en la (tercera fase de la) Eliminatoria mundialista (2014) de Asia (que disputan los 20 equipos clasificados para 4.5 plazas).

La goleada (8-0) sobre Tayiskistán lo consolida (al tope del grupo C) reafirmando el notable crecimiento del fútbol japonés en los últimos tiempos.

Dirigido por (el italiano) Alberto Zaccheroni (desde el final de Sudáfrica 2010), Japón aborda la eliminatoria asiática con la expectativa de prolongar su idilio mundialista que empezó hace 13 años, cuando consiguieron su primera participación (Francia 1998) venciendo a Irán en repechaje. Desde entonces vienen dominando las clasificaciones asiáticas entrando a las tres últimas Copas del Mundo (pasando dos veces a 2º ronda).

La nueva generación de jugadores moldeada por Takeshi Okada (DT) tiene lugar en los planes de Zaccheroni (actual DT). A una serie de impactantes victorias en partidos amistosos, entre las que destaca el 1-0 sobre Argentina, le siguió su contundente actuación en la Copa Asiática (01.2011), donde despachó a Australia en la final para reclamar su 4º título continental, constituirse en máximo ganador continental (sobre Arabia e Irán) y ganar su lugar en la próxima Copa Confederaciones (2013).

En esta potencia emergente liderada por el conocido Keisuke Honda (que toma la posta de los retirados Hidetoshi Nakata y Shunsuke Nakamura), hace su flamante presentación (canterana) Mike Havenaar (24), que en la última goleada (8-0) sobre Tayiskistán, su 3º partido internacional, se bautizó con un doblete (el 1-0 y el 5-0).

Ni de apellido ni de rasgos japoneses, este zurdo de 1.95 mts nacido en Hiroshima pelea el gol, cabecea como pocos (no quiero imaginar una marca de Demichelis u Otamendi) y es el actual goleador de la Liga japonesa con la camiseta del Ventforet Kofu.

Dido Havenaar (54), su padre holandés, fue quien emigró a la isla en 1986 adquiriendo la doble nacionalidad (holando – japonés) para atajar en el Mazda FC de Hiroshima (ahora Sanfrecce Hiroshima de la J. League). Un año después (1987), nacía Mike de una atleta campeona nacional de heptatlón y luego (1994) la familia se naturalizó japonesa (su hermano menor, Nick, juega en las juveniles del Nagoya Grampus).

Mike empezó su carrera futbolística en el Consadole Sapporo, donde su padre (Dido) jugó y más tarde trabajó como entrenador de porteros. Cuando Dido se trasladó a Yokohama F. Marinos, Mike se incorporó a las juveniles y fue promovido al primer equipo en 2006 (debutó el 15 de abril de 2006), para convertir el apellido en el primero que cuenta con dos generaciones en la (historia de la) liga japonesa.

Cedido a préstamo, se fogueó en el Avispa Fukuoka (2008) y en el Sagan Tosu (2009) después de pasar por el Sub 20 japonés y jugar la Copa Mundial de Canadá (2007).

Hoy, Don Dido, aquel arquero holandés que se aventuró a la famosa Hiroshima disfruta también de su primera nieta, nacida el 5 de agosto (2011) de madre japonesa.

El misterio de la Virgen de Colón.

2011-10-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

19.10.2011 - “Los fieles viven con desolación este acontecimiento", leyó en su homilía Monseñor José María Arancedo (Arzobispo de Santa Fe) durante la Misa celebrada (en desagravio) en la Basílica de Guadalupe, "lamento no haber tenido estos datos sobre su paradero. No fue posible tomar contacto con la imagen."

Se trata de la estatua de la Virgen de Guadalupe (2.2 mts) (de centenaria tradición católica en la ciudad) desaparecida el 7 de septiembre y que se ubicaba desde 2001 en la platea Oeste del estadio Brigadier López (Colón), obsequiada por el ex entrenador Jorge Fossati.

Desde entonces el único que ascendía hasta ese lugar para limpiarla y cuidarla era el dirigente (integrante de la CD de Colón), Carlos Marín. Pero José Luis de Santi, integrante del Tribunal de Honor de la entidad, salió indignado: “La pregunta del millón es qué tiene que hacer un jugador como Garcé, que se trepó con una grúa hasta el lugar donde estaba la Vírgen. La semana pasada por unanimidad habíamos dicho que no, así que no entiendo por qué pasa esto.”

En efecto, José de Santi aclara que “es una mentira que la hayan sacado para restaurarla” y que “yo renuncié ante este hecho tan triste que se produjo, que daña la fe de todos nosotros… soy un fervoroso creyente y no puedo estar por un lado venerando a la Vírgen y por el otro aceptando que es mufa. Tengo 67 años y 50 en el club; fui vicepresidente, manejé el fútbol y aunque ahora la vuelvan a poner, yo no vuelvo porque el hecho se produjo”.

Así es. Si bien las versiones oficiales bajadas por Germán Lerche (presidente de Colón) a través de un comunicado después de la reacción “popular” indicaron que la escultura fue retirada para su restauración, la colisión con versiones no oficiales es radical: la estatua habría sido destruida en el campo de un vidente que, como el grupo gestor de jugadores implicados, le atribuyeron la condición de “mufa” (sobretodo después de la derrota con Unión).

Al poco tiempo, una sorpresiva revelación periodística ilustrada con fotos que el vespertino local no precisa dónde ni cuándo se tomaron, mostró una imagen virgensística presuntamente "restaurada" por un artista cuya salud tiene a maltraer una diabetes.

Se trata de Saúl Miller, el autor de la Virgen original, que fue localizado días después por personal de la Unidad Regional XVII de policía de San Lorenzo y trasladado (a declarar) a Santa Fe.

Fue personal de esa regional el que habría logrado la primera "confesión" del artista referente a que había realizado una copia de la Virgen y no una restauración de la anterior como se venía sosteniendo (Lerche).

El padre Odilio Panigo, párroco de la Basílica de Guadalupe, también salió compungido ante la intermedia versión que contaba sobre un “secuestro” de la Virgen para que un vidente le quitara las malas ondas: “La comisión dijo que iban a restaurarla y reubicarla, pero esa versión salió después de la reacción de la gente. Sinceramente me preocupa que se manosee la imagen, pero también como hincha del club me preocupa que se atribuya a la vírgen los malos resultados”.

De todos modos, parece que la Virgen no se parece.

La respuesta de Julio Grondona a Daniel Vila.

2011-10-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

19.10.2011 - Ya reelecto (por octava vez consecutiva) al frente de la AFA, a través de los canales institucionales, Julio Grondona respondió por medio de una solicitada publicada hoy en los principales diarios argentinos mientras, por la vía legal, ya asentó una demanda (contra Ávila y Vila) por extorsión, coacción y amenazas que quedó caratulada como "Coacción agravada y amenazas" en el juzgado de instrucción nº 38 a cargo de la Dra. Vilma López.

"Vila, otra vez

Es conocida públicamente la campaña de difamación a dirigentes de la Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA) que viene realizando desde hace un tiempo el empresario de medios Daniel Vila.

Son conocidos, también, los mezquinos intereses que conducen al empresario Vila a abusar del poder de sus medios de comunicación para cumplir su propósito de ser presidente de la AFA.

El lunes 17 de octubre de 2011 ocurrió otro episodio de esa campaña. Se difundieron dos supuestas cámaras ocultas con imágenes confusas que involucrarían a dirigentes de la AFA.

Los hechos divulgados por América TV, América 24 y C5N son absolutamente falsos.

La denuncia penal formulada por Carlos Avila se dirige contra un ex socio de áquel, fallecido en marzo de 2010, con el único propósito de pretender legitimar la difusión de videos ilegales e intencionadamente editados.

No existe ninguna investigación penal en la República Argentina en la que se investigue a dirigentes de la AFA por lavado de dinero.

La única verdad es que el armado de toda esta operación mediática fue la confirmación de la coacción agravada que vienen sufriendo altos dirigentes de la AFA y cuya investigación está siendo llevada adelante por la Justicia Penal".