Morientes Shines In Betis Pantomime

[LFTWNG11]

Posted 29/08/06 09:02

The Premiership might have been going ages (well, a week), but La Liga only kicked off over this beautiful Bank Holiday weekend. Can we make anything of the first games? Well, no, but Tim Stannard can...

On Saturday night, La Liga's first match of the season was shaping up to be an intriguing affair. Not only was it a chance for Valencia to test their title-chasing mettle against the visiting Real Betis, but it was also an opportunity for the home fans in the Mestalla to watch the newly signed Joaquin in his debut against the club he had just left.

However, there was a slight problem. Joaquin was eighty miles away at second division Albacete - where he had just been sent on loan.

For those Premiership fans banging their heads on walls in a futile attempt to block out the tedium of the Ashley Cole to Chelsea saga, a relocation to Spain is highly recommended. Here, transfer deals are anything but dull and this particular one was no exception.

Whilst it's true that a move from Betis for Joaquin had been on the cards for some time, no club had ever stumped up hard cash for the winger - until last week, that is. Having successfully manoeuvred themselves into the Champions League group stages, Valencia had decided that the time was financially right to make a serious bid for the Spanish international who had spent his entire career at the Seville based club.

A 25 million euro fee was quickly agreed with Betis and everything seemed to be going tickety-boo. Then Joaquin refused to sign his leaving papers, after a dispute over a 300,000 euro bonus. With this process incomplete, the midfielder was unable to join his new employers.

Joaquin decided to play hard ball with the Betis management, guessing they would cave in at the thought of missing out on the transfer bonanza. Unfortunately for the winger, Betis is run by the barking mad Manuel Ruiz de Lopera - and it was a particularly bad time to mess with him.

De Lopera was still fuming after facing a thorny issue with another player - Ricardo Oliveira. The last time the striker had been seen in a Betis shirt was when he was being carried off against Chelsea with a crocked knee, back in November.

To assist his recovery, the Brazilian was loaned out to São Paulo with the hope that he would return to Spain for the start of the new season. Oliveira fundamentally disagreed with this premise and tried - but ultimately failed - to secure a permanent move to South America. Eventually, the striker returned to Betis, ten days late and was punished by the club for his tardiness with a whopping one million euro fine and the threat of a transfer to Turkey.

When Joaquin started to play up as well, a now apoplectic de Lopera decided to call the midfielder's bluff by loaning him out to Albacete - effective immediately - with the aim of forcing the player to go on strike. However, Joaquin dutifully hopped in a car and drove across the country, where he took a photo of himself outside the closed Albacete stadium to prove he had obeyed orders.

By now, the actual match in Valencia was second billing to this culebrón or soap opera, that even the Spanish papers found a little odd. In the end the encounter was considerably more conventional than the ongoing Joaquin affair, with Valencia securing a 2-1 win, which included Fernando Morientes' second goal in two games for his new team.

With only one match taking place on the Saturday, Valencia were leading the league table for the next twenty hours - roughly the time taken by Joaquin to complete his mammoth journey. But on Sunday night, Getafe took over at the top with a 2-0 away victory against Osasuna. The men from Madrid owed their victory to the excellent work of new 'keeper Roberto 'El Pato' Abbondanzieri - last seen between the posts for Argentina in the World Cup.

Boos are already being heard in the Bernabeu after a less than thrilling 0-0 draw against Villarreal failed the impress the Real Madrid crowd. In an attempt to meet pre-match expectations, Fabio Capello had confessed that "this team hasn't had any physical conditioning for about three years...we're going to suffer for the first few matches". He wasn't wrong. The excuse did not wash with Tomás Rocero of AS who claimed the word boredom had been redefined to read 'football in the hands of Fabio Capello'.

Barcelona recovered from their shock Super Cup defeat at the hands of Sevilla with a victory on Monday night, but were pushed all the way by their opponents, Celta Vigo, in the Balaidos. It took two dubious offside decisions - and a great strike by Leo Messi from Andrés Iniesta's run - to give the league champions a narrow 3-2 win.

Game of the round took place in A Coruña where a youthful Deportivo beat Real Zaragoza 3-2 to give a happy ending to a previously troubled summer story for the club.

La Liga's referees began what is sure to be another lamentable campaign at the derby day encounter between Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad. However, for the opening stages of the game the tie was most noticeable for the extraordinary number of Keegan perms on display, both on and off the pitch. The only explanation must be that 'Risky Business' and 'Unforgettable Fire' are still be topping their respective charts in an 80's obsessed Basque country.

Nevertheless, this hairdressing oddity was soon forgotten, when, midway through the first half, a free kick was handled in the Sociedad box, apparently by Real centre back, Mikel Labaka. Penalty for Bilbao.

Then Athletic striker Aritz Aduriz informed the match officials that "if anyone touched the ball, it was me" - a theory backed up by the tv replays. 'Don't care,' thought the ref who confirmed that the penalty still stood. Although Aduriz successfully despatched the spot kick, parity was restored in the second half when Mikel Aranburu equalised for Sociedad in the closing stages.

Espanyol slumped to a new low after last week's 4-0 cup loss to Barcelona by starting their league campaign with a 1-0 home defeat to Catalan rivals and new kids on the block, 'Nastic.

Recreativo - the second promoted team - managed a 1-1 draw with Mallorca, but only after aptly named opposition goalie Toni Prats spectacularly palmed a shot into the back of his own net in injury time. The last of the Primera's fresh faces, Levante, are due to make their debut on Tuesday night against new European Super Cup winners, Sevilla.

Atletico Madrid showed the summer's 45 million euro transfer splurge had been well spent with a somewhat fortunate 1-0 victory against zero euro spending Racing Santander. "I can handle suffering like that and winning all thirty eight matches" joked a relieved Javier Aguirre, the new rojiblanco coach, after the game. The fans may disagree.

Like all good pantomimes, the Joaquin transfer finished with a happy ending - at least for Joaquin. The winger returned to Sevilla, dropped his claim for his unpaid bonus and signed for Valencia in a tearful ceremony on Monday. While Joaquin may live happily ever after, it could be a different story for his old club as they face the future without one of their brightest stars.

[delfino_1936]

Big Morientes is back and looking the goods!!!

[The one and only]

morientes is all class hope he finishes his career off good in spain


looks all good from the get go