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Latest News Page


Last updated on Friday 3rd July 2009


On this page you will find:

  • News about CD Tenerife and reports on recent games

  • Details of Tenerife's league position

  • A list of this season's goal scorers

  • News about other teams I am interested in

     

    LATEST NEWS as at Friday 3rd July

    FIXTURES EXPECTED ON FRIDAY 10th JULY

    FIRST NEW SIGNING NEARLY COMPLETED

    SOMOS DE PRIMERA - TENERIFE PROMOTED TO THE FIRST DIVISION
    Videos of the game and of the celebrations in which I took part.

    The current weather at Tenerife's stadium


    Carlos Bellvís on the verge of signing from Numancia

    Defender Carlos Bellvís is likely to sign to become a replacement for Clavero who has departed to play for Cartagena (newly promoted to the Segunda División).



    The player was with Numancia in the Primera División last season after spells with Valencia reserves and Elche. He played 28 times, received two yellow cards and scored once. The twenty four year old is a left sided player who likes to go forward and attack.


    Youngsters miss out on promotion to Segunda B: Tenerife B v Sporting Mahon 28/06/2009: 0-1 (1-3 on aggresgate)

    Tenerife B which is effectively the youth team failed to come through the final game of the play-offs with the win they needed to get promoted to the Segunda B División. In Spain, "reserve" teams can play in the same pyramid as the first team as long as they don't join them in the same league or overtake them by getting promoted when the main team gets relegated. In recent years we have played Sevilla Atlético and Real Madrid Castilla in the Segunda División whilst their main teams were in the Primera.

    Our own B team was trying to get in to the regionalised four league Segunda B División from the Tercera but lost to a much older and more expereienced Mahon team. Tenerife hit the post in the first half and played quite well according to friends who were there but they fell away in the second half, playing some long ball football and the better team won.

    Still it will be good experience for our younger players and this reserve team (known as the "cantera" in Spanish which literally means quarry in English). The cantera has provided us with some good players for the first team in recent years such as Ayoze, Cristo Marrero, Iriome, Ricardo and Vitolo.


    Getting ready for the Primera División despite the cynics

    The internet bookies are already making us one of the favourites to go straight down next season because they say we have been a long time out of the top division and are less well prepared for it than other teams. Champions Xerez who have never before played in the top flight are also tipped to go straight back down but Zaragoza are thought likely to stay up with Sporting de Gijón the other team tipped for the drop.

    However, last season in England Stoke and Hull were tipped as certainties to go down whilst West Brom were likely to stay up - in fact just the opposite happened so we shouldn't put too much reliance on what the bookies and their punters think.

    Meanwhile the club are improving the changing rooms, the media and VIP facilities at the ground, renovating some of the seating, putting plastic strip seating in part of the popular end so standing can be easier and generally improving facilities.

    Transfer speculation is rife, Crespo to join us from Sevilla is the latest rumour, and when there is a bit more news I will put it on here.


    We needed a draw to be Champions of the Liga Adelante but didn't get it: Tenerife v Castellón 21/06/2009: 2-1

    Xerez and Zaragoza stood first and second in the table before this game as they both drew away from home the day before and a draw from us would have taken us back to the top of the table and meant we finished the season as champions. Castellón were not to be underestimated, however, with this the only game left of the whole season they stood in eighth place above Salamanca who had an outside chance of promotion until the end of April and they went seventh by beating us.

    We also needed two goals to be top goalscoring team in the division and set the new record for this league since it had 22 clubs - we managed to do this joinlty with Zaragoza courtesy of our one goal.

    As the Armada Sur "General" Chris Todd had already had 100 t-shirts printed with "CHAMPIONS 08-09" printed on them he must have been even more distraught than he would have been anyway at the 90th minute winner socred by Omar after Arana (55m) had equalised the great header scored by Nino (41m) which we thought had secured us the title of Campeones.

    It is such a good job that we won last week as Hércules won 5-1 on Saturday and would have been above us if we had lost in Girona.

    The players were wearing a special shirt for the game which incorporates our four promotions to the Primera División in the design. It is understood there will be just 300 made and they will sell for 75 euros to supporters. The photo shows Cristo Marrero (left) and Dani Kome with the shirt.





    Tenerife star Juanlu Hens now has his own website

    Click on the picture and then on "Entrar" to go to it:





    PROMOTED !!!!!! : Girona v Tenerife 13/06/2009: 0-1

    Tenerife played this vital game at the same time as our three rivals for promotion needing just one point to go up and all three to be sure of staying top of the table regardless of other results.

    Over a thousand of us were there to watch as Dani Kome (40m) scored the goal that clinched promotion for us despite the three other teams all winning.

    There are pictures and comments about this match on a special page which you can go to by clicking here and a video of the match is below:





    Here's a video showing how we celebrated - if you knew where I was you could see my holding up my "Somos de Primera" scarf at about 8m 30s into the video and a quick view of Carlos a few seconds later:




    The league leaders came to the Heliodoro hoping to get promoted but we beat them and went top ourselves: Tenerife v Xerex 07/06/2009: 2-0

    Hércules and Zaragoza both won on Saturday so the former were just three points behind us and the latter have overtaken us having played an extra game. Xerez could have been promoted if they got just one point and we needed four points from our three remaining games to be sure.

    Nobody is invincible but the league leaders were a tough game for any team and I predicted a 2-2 draw but Sergio Aragoneses kept the third clean sheet of his return to the team and we beat them 2-0 through goals by our twin strike force of Alfaro (15m) and Nino (84m) despite having Ricardo sent off in the 27th minute with a direct red card.

    This result means that we have identical head to head results but we have a goal difference of 32 and Xerez of 30 so we are top of the league with two games to go and only need one point from the remaining two games to secure promotion. Hércules can only draw level with us on points but have a better head to head so would go above us if we finished equal on points.

    The remaining fixtures for ourselves and all the teams who can finish above us are:

    table test
    Week
    		 Tenerife Xerez
    		 Zaragoza
    		 Hércules

    		1st
    78 pts         		2nd
    78 pts
    		 3rd
    77 pts
    		 4th
    72 pts
    40
    		 Won
    		 Won
    		 Won
    		Won
    41
    		 Girona (away)
    		 Huesca (home)
    		 Córdoba (home)
    		 Albacete (home)
    42
    		 Castellón (home)
    		 Celta (away)
    		 Rayo (away)
    		 Salamanca (away)


    Here is a video of the goals.




    Injuries and international call ups rob us of key players

    Dani Kome has been called up for two vital Cameroon games and, because the Liga Adelante goes on beyond the season in most of Europe including the Spanish Primera División, this clashes with our two last home games against Xerez and Castellón. Cameroon also have a friendly inbetween these games but it is hoped he will be released to come back and play in the away game at Girona.

    Manolo Martínez has a hamstring injury and seems certain to miss three games and maybe all four left this season whilst Marc Bertrán has a knee injury and was not risked against Sevilla Atlético especially as he then faced a two hour flight back to Tenerife immediately after the game. Marc is much more likely to play again this season though.

    One positive feature of this season is that we do have good players to cover. Cendrós and Culebras were in from the start of this game whilst Óscar Pérez, Ángel and Ayoze were brought on as substitutes. The down side of this was that Ayoze was carried off on a stretcher in some pain after a tackle late in the game.

    This game also marked the second reappearance of Sergio Aragoneses in goal after his serious illness with pancreatitis during the season and he kept his second clean sheet. Luís García has done much better than predicted by many after his first game in place of Sergio (at Alicante when he was blamed for both their goals but probably only at serious fault with the first in a 2-2 draw which cost us two points we would be delighted to have now) but if our number one choice can keep three more clean sheets we would almost certainly be promoted.


    A great result against the already relegated tailenders: Sevilla Atlético v Tenerife 30/05/2009: 0-4

    This was a great result especially as Rayo Vallecano lost and now cannot overtake us in the league table. When we know the result of Hércules's game at home to Celta de Vigo played at midday in the Peninsula and I will update all the information in this news item and the information about our league position and goalscorers.

    Just because Sevilla's B team are bottom of the league and already relegated didn't mean we could automatically expect an easy game against them as they were likely to be playing for pride and we had Manolo Martínez out with a hamstring injury (possibly for the rest of the season) whilst Marc Bertrán was still not 100% recovered from his knee injury sustained in last week's victory after he scored the third goal so also didn't play. Kome and Ricardo have also been injured but were training lightly this week and both played from the start although they were substituted later on in the game.

    High scoring Alfaro was relishing a game at the club he is on loan from. With 18 league goals to his name this season he was way up in the Liga Adelante goalscoring table (with Nino at the top) and it was Alfaro (9m) who soon opened the scoring in this gamefrom a Nino pass only for Nino (24m) himself and Kome (27m) to make the game safe before half-time. Juanlu Hens took the corner (touched on by Alfaro) which led to Nino's goal and passed to Kome for the third.

    In the second half Nino (50m - penalty) put us further ahead from the spot after Sevilla's captain Gallardo had fouled him in the area and was sent off for a second yellow card offence. We also hit the bar twice and had other good chances but the three points were the main objective in this game and we secured them effectively. With such prolific goalscorers it is no wonder we have now recorded the highest ever total for a club in the Segunda División since it has contained 22 teams and 42 fixtures.

    Here is a video of the highlights:




    Deportivo Alavés came to the Heliodoro fighting to avoid relegation but went away empty handed: Tenerife v Alavés: 24/05/2009: 3-0

    Alavés were in 18th position (one of four relegation places) but just one place and four points from safety when they came to the Heliodoro with all to play for and we were looking for maximum points to maintain our second position which we held before the weekend although Zaragoza who played lowly Alicante overtook us with a 3-0 away win on Saturday.

    My prediction for this game was a 3-0 home win and the team fulfilled this exactly with goals from Alfaro (19m), Nino (56m), Marc Bertrán (61m). The game also saw Sergio Aragoneses make his comeback after his long spell out of the team suffereing from pancreatitis.

    Here is a video of the goals:



    Xerez and Rayo Vallecano suffered unexpected defeats whilst Hércules drew so the top of the table (showing the only teams who can now finish above us looks like this after all the weekend's games had been played:

    1 Xerez 75
    3 Tenerife 72
    2 Zaragoza 71
    4 Hércules 68
    5 Rayo Vallecano 65
    6 Real Sociedad 63



    Fourth placed rivals inflict a big defeat on us: Hércules v Tenerife: 16/05/2009: 3-1

    I watched this game live with friends Carlos Padrón and Dave Dye and hundreds of other Tenerife fans from many different places - quite different from last year when there were just a few of us. An otherwise nice weekend was spoilt by the result and the fact that, despite having more of the possession in this game than our rivals we gifted them goals which allowed them to catch up on us in the league.

    Here are some photos I took:


    Carlos far left and Dave far right with some other fans
    we met outside our hotel and shared a beer with on the way to the game.


    We meet David Torres (right) at lots of our away games.


    Frankie came on a day trip from London and brought his banner with him.
    (Tinerfeño = Tenerifean, Orgullo = Pride, Desde = From, Londres = London)


    "Woolley, Woolley, una foto" they shouted at me
    and here it is guys - I hope you like it.


    This was before the game - we only looked that glum afterwards.


    Carlos and Dave - optimistic before the kick-off.


    So was I despite Dave cutting off half of the "Draig Goch" when he took the photo !!


    The teams came out and we cheered them enthusiastically.


    When the game started we showed why we have been doing so well recently.


    We had most of the play and attacked well.


    However, Ezequiel Luna and the others left gaps in the defence which Hércules
    exploited scoring three and hitting the bar with their few goal attempts on target.


    So, at the end, after applauding us, the players slouched off disconsolately.


    As we were kept in the ground, whilst Hércules fans dispersed, our contingent chanted "El cuarto no sube" (the fourth placed team doesn't go up) at the departing home supporters. Let's hope it's not us who "no sube" and that we keep in the top three.


    Wallpaper to download

    For those of you who don't speak Spanish and / or don't visit the Zonablanquiazul Forum here is a link to one of the threads which has a splendid "wallpaper" to download for your computer:

    http://www.zonablanquiazul.com/forum/index.php?topic=37491.0

    The text is probably best translated as "2009 - a year to remember"

    Thanks to RaPMaN for his hard work in making this.


    Interview about Peña Internet in the "Tenerife Sun" newspaper

    The "Tenerife Sun" English language newspaper of 16th October, 2008 has an interview of myself done by Chris Todd of Armada Sur about the origins of my page, my favouritee players, my views on Spanish football, Tenerife's promotion prospects and other related topics.

    Click here to read a transcript of the interview.


    Fixtures, results, pre-season results.

    The fixtures for 2008-9 are shown in full on a special fixtures and results page

    At the suggestion of one of my Armada Sur friends I have changed the format of my results page to show the attendances at each match and have also altered the format slightly so the scorers and links to match highlights are featured more prominently.

    I have been able to link to a video of the goals and other highlights in all matches this season so far and the videos can be accessed by clicking on the names of our goalscorers. If we don't score (hopefully this won't be too often) I will put a link to the highlights of the game.

    Finally, I have put in the sequence in which the home and away goals were scored


    Tenerife's 2008-9 league position

    CDTsmall.gif - 1.9 K games
    played     		at home / en casa away / fuera total points
    total     		league
    position
    W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A
    CD Tenerife 42
    of
    42         		15   3   3   50   20  9   6   6   29  27   24  9  9  79   47  81  3 
    of
    22

     


    Goalscorers 2008-2009 ( penalties shown in red brackets )

    Player league
    goals     		cup
    goals         		total
    Nino   29  ( 4 )   0    29 ( 4 )
    Alfaro     20    2    22 
    Ángel     6     0      6 
    Richi    6     0     6 
    Juanlu Hens    4     0     4 
    Kome    5    0      5 
    Cristo Marrero    1     1     2 
    Luna    2     0     2 
    Marc Bertrán    2     0     2 
    Óscar Pérez    1     0     1 
    Pablo Sicilía    1     0     1 
    Ricardo    1     0     1 
    own goals / propia puerta    0   0     0
    CDTsmall.gifCD TENERIFE total  79  ( 4 )  3    82  ( 4 )


    News about other teams I support




    Stoke lost 4-1 to Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday 23rd May in the final game of the season but finished in a credible 12th place to confound all those who predicted their immediate return to the Championship. The teams who go down are Newcastle, Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion.


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    In the qualifying competition for Euro 2008 Wales finished fifth with a 2-2 home draw against the Republic of Ireland and a 0-0 away draw in Germany as the last two results.

    In the qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa we are drawn against Germany, Russia, Finland, Azerbaijan and Leichtenstein.

    The first matches was home to Azerbaijan on Saturday 6th September 2008 and Wales won 1-0 with a goal in the 83rd minute after dominating most of the game without scoring and missing a penalty in the process.  This was followed by an away game in Russio on Wednesday 10th September when Wales again missed a penalty with the score 0-0 (this time the culprit being Gareth Bale) but after falling behind to a Russian penalty soon after they equalised only to have victory taken from them with about 8 minutes of the game remaining.

    At home to another small nation, Leichtenstein, Wales struggled to score again but never looked like losing and went one up with four minutes of the first half remaining.  However, another missed penalty a few minutes later meant we waited anxiously until near the end of the game to score a second and relax.

    Germany were our next opponents - away on Wednesday 15th October - and we put up a solid defensive display with few attacking options deployed.  However, we succumbed to a single goal in the 71st minute and remain on 6 points with Germany leading the group on 10 and Russia also on 6 points but having played a game less than us.


    A friendly against Poland held in Portugal (where both teams were at training camps) in front of a handful of spectators resulted in a 0-1 loss due to a late goal conceded by a young Wales team.

    On Saturday 28th March we lost 0-2 at home to Finland which probably ended our hopes of qualifying and then went on a few days later to lose 2-0 at home to Germany. However, they did beat Azerbaijan 1-0 away from home on Saturday 6th June with the youngest ever Wales team to play in a competitive match.



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