In 1999, an Ecuadorian banking tycoon called Rodrigo Paz wanted to take the team he owned, Liga de Quito, to the next level and make it a major force in Latin American football. As well as spending heavily on players, he hired Manuel Pellegrini, a Chilean coach who had been successful in his home country and was starting to make a name for himself across South America. With the full backing and confidence of the club owner, the quietly spoken coach’s methods were effective and he won that year’s national championship in style, as well as taking the previously underperforming team on an impressive run in the Copa Libertadores continental tournament. Fast forward to 2010 and Pellegrini … [Read more...] about Pellegrini embraces Málaga’s long-term dream
Sports
The rise, fall and resurrection of Sevilla FC
On March 16, CSKA Moscow scored one of last season’s biggest Champions League upsets by knocking a half-hearted Sevilla side out of the competition at the last-16 stage with a 2-1 win at the Andalusians’ Sánchez Pizjuán stadium. “It’s a bad result and I ask our supporters to forgive us for that,” said coach Manolo Jiménez afterwards. It was the first time in several years that a Sevilla coach had needed to apologise to fans, after a run that saw the club leave its cross-city rival, Betis, standing and establish itself as a European force. Sevilla announced its arrival at that peak by winning the UEFA Cup in 2006, its first major European title and the fruit of several years’ work by … [Read more...] about The rise, fall and resurrection of Sevilla FC
Is a steak really why Contador’s reputation is at stake?
Alberto Contador has faced some pretty stiff challenges over the last couple of months. More than one of those have been posed by Andy Schleck, the rider from Luxembourg who was right on his rear wheel for so much of the Tour de France, before the Spaniard secured his third Paris victory. And yet, the latest test for Contador cannot be solved by his incredible ability to accelerate up steep hills, dancing on the pedals as he does so. A positive drugs result during this year’s Tour for a banned substance, clenbuterol, means he could possibly be stripped of that latest title and banned from the sport. The test was carried out on July 21, three days before the end of the race and the UCI … [Read more...] about Is a steak really why Contador’s reputation is at stake?
Rafa Nadal stakes all-court claim as the greatest
When Rafa Nadal dropped to the blue surface of Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows having defeated Novak Djokovic to win the US Open, the world number one’s third Grand Slam victory of the year, he laid to rest one of the debates surrounding his leviathan rivalry with Roger Federer. There is now little doubt that at present, the Spaniard is the best tennis player in the world, the year-end number one ranking already sown up with two months of the season to play. His ninth victory in the sport’s four showpiece tournaments elevated Nadal to a status occupied by few in history and only himself and Federer in actuality – that of a holder of the Career Grand Slam. That Nadal achieved tennis’ … [Read more...] about Rafa Nadal stakes all-court claim as the greatest
Hércules’ Italian job on Barça restores Liga intrigue
While staff at the Spanish Economy Ministry have been telling anyone who will listen for the last few months that “Spain isn’t Greece”, over at the football federation, they’ve had a rather more tricky time of it trying to convince us that “Spain isn’t Scotland”. Scotland in this context means a country with only two teams that ever look remotely like winning the domestic league. And over the last few years, while Real Madrid and Barcelona may not resemble Celtic and Glasgow Rangers in any way on the pitch, each pair of teams seems to enjoy a similarly vice-like duopoly on the silverware. So it was refreshing to see league champion and European powerhouse Barcelona humbled 2-0 by newly … [Read more...] about Hércules’ Italian job on Barça restores Liga intrigue
It’s Real Mourinho vs. Spain FC as La Liga begins
Nobody can accuse Spain’s top teams of lacking stars. Real Madrid has Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Iker Casillas and now Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira. Barcelona, meanwhile, has eight players from Spain’s World Cup-winning squad, including Xavi Hernández, David Villa and Pedro Rodríguez. And yet, as the Spanish league season gets underway, the eye is drawn not to midfielder Andrés Iniesta, a football genius in an accountant’s body, or the stepovers and hair gel of Ronaldo, but rather the two sharply dressed men overseeing these players at the side of the pitch. This season, perhaps more than any other, is a battle between two managerial auteurs: Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola and Madrid’s José … [Read more...] about It’s Real Mourinho vs. Spain FC as La Liga begins
Spanish athletes drop the baton ahead of 2012
For any athlete, the unequivocal backing of the head of a national body charged with overseeing the sport to which you have dedicated your life is one of those things surely taken for granted: when King Canute had a hard time of it holding back the waves, a spin doctor with the gyrating power of the planets would have been required to assure the monarch’s subjects that all would come good in the return leg - perhaps a rematch staged under floodlights. It must then have come as some surprise to Spain’s athletes when the country’s Athletics Federation (RFEA) president, José María Odriozola, laid into his charges who had competed at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona. Odriozola’s … [Read more...] about Spanish athletes drop the baton ahead of 2012
A nation united by World Cup glory?
When the Spanish football team touched down at Barajas airport with the World Cup trophy on July 12, there was a curious sight amid the jubilant reception. As the players descended the steps onto the runway, Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernández, two of the team’s key members, did so carrying their belongings wrapped in a Catalan flag. While Iker Casillas held the trophy aloft as he led his team past cheering airport staff and the press and onto a waiting bus, Puyol and Xavi looked ever so slightly timid as they together lugged their gear –and the senyera flag– across the tarmac. It could not detract from what was a highly moving scene for any Spanish fan, but it was a reminder that while the … [Read more...] about A nation united by World Cup glory?
Striker worry threatens to keep world from Spain’s feet
The French composer Hector Berlioz once wrote: “the luck of having talent is not enough; one must also have a talent for luck.” In reaching the World Cup semi-finals, Spain showed that it had discovered the latter in abundance in South Africa, in the temporary absence of the harmonious assurance of the former. A generation of players that makes up the most talented squad at the tournament enjoyed the sort of luck that makes champions in defeating a resolute Paraguay 1-0 in Johannesburg’s Ellis Park stadium. As a well-balanced first half drew to a close, Nelson Valdez brought down a cross with a deft touch and fired past Iker Casillas, only to see the strike ruled out for an offside … [Read more...] about Striker worry threatens to keep world from Spain’s feet
Spain equipped for football immortality
It's pretty good to be a Spanish football fan at the moment. The reigning European champions set off for South Africa following a 6-0 victory against Poland in Murcia's Nueva Condomina stadium that emphatically rubber-stamped the 'tournament favourite' tag already hanging around Spain's neck. Poland are by no means a decent team, racking up just 11 points in a qualifying group that included San Marino and Northern Ireland, and if it were not for for Manchester United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak Spain might have eased to double figures. But it is not so much the scoreline as the source of the goals that will have made Spain's opponents – if any had failed to notice over the last two years – … [Read more...] about Spain equipped for football immortality