Osasuna - Valencia [R]

Discussion in 'Comunidad Valenciana' started by Argentina Girl, Jan 17, 2005.

  1. Argentina Girl

    Argentina Girl New Member

    Jul 7, 2004
    This game (shadowed by the family tragedy that hit Caneira) ended 0-0.

    Osasuna were down to 10 men at the end of the match but I think we can be satisfied with this result since Osasuna always are very strong at home.

    Good play by our gk and nice to finally see Ayala back on the pitch!
     
  2. Vincent1

    Vincent1 New Member

    Jan 17, 2005
    Cani make some falses, we have only one chance in last minute (Baraja volley), it is foolish, that match wasnt postponed. Stupid Referee :-(
     
  3. Quango

    Quango BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 25, 2003
    Colorado
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    I don't think it was in the referee's hands. They tried to contact the head of the Spanish FA, but he was unreachable. Phil Ball mentions it in his article this week: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=322154&cc=5901
     
  4. Vincent1

    Vincent1 New Member

    Jan 17, 2005
    thanks for info, its sad
     
  5. The Double

    The Double Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 11, 2002
    Denver
    I didn't even care about the result after I heard about what happened with Caneira's daughter. So sad.
     
  6. The Double

    The Double Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 11, 2002
    Denver
    From The Article

    Then to cap it all, this Sunday's game between Osasuna and Valencia was played out to the tune of a 0-0 draw, a noble pact on the part of the players who had previously agreed not to play the game. Literally an hour before the game, the Valencia defender Marco Antonio Caneira, changing for the game, was told that his eight-month old daughter had been rushed to hospital with serious respiratory problems. Rushing to a private flight from Pamplona's small airport, he was told as he boarded that she had died.

    His Valencia team-mates, on hearing the news, began to change back into civvies, saying that they had no wish to play the game. The Valencia president, Juan Bautista Soler, on asking his Pamplona counterpart, Patxi Izco, to ask his players what they wanted to do, learned that they also favoured the abandonment of the game. The referee, González Vazquez, had no objection to this, but nevertheless pointed out that he did not have the authority to call off the game for this reason. The only person who could ratify the game's suspension was Angel Villar, recently re-elected president of the Spanish Federation.

    They called his office. They called his home. They called his mobile - but he was incommunicado. Cometh the hour, disappeareth the man. Without Villar's endorsement, and without any institutional back-up from a deputy, the players were forced to play a game that the public would have happily seen abandoned. Osasuna supporters, interviewed on Spanish radio as they left the stadium, all said this.

    So where was Villar? Surely, Sunday is a working day for the president? He was certainly on the other end of the line when the bomb scare ended the game at the Bernabéu before Christmas. And if he happens to be on the golf course on the occasional Sabbath, how about leaving the mobile on? Then again, how about delegating responsibilities so that this kind of crisis can always be dealt with? Well - that probably requires a collective IQ of something above 50, which is clearly a bit high for these fellows.
     
  7. El Che

    El Che New Member

    Aug 30, 2004
    Virginia
    What a terrible situation. I wish somebody from Valencia had just stood up and said, no way we're playing even if it means forfeiting the three points.
     
  8. RandyNA74

    RandyNA74 Member

    Jun 9, 2004
    Washington, DC
    Club:
    SSC Napoli
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    It is a travesty that this game was played. But unfortunately no one present had the power to postpone the game. Ball's article places the blame on the appropriate guilty parties quite well.
     

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