Espanyol and Sentimentality

By: Cesar | May 1st, 2009

Call me sentimental but this video on Foroche TV of Valencia’s 2-1 victory over Espanyol in 2002 at the Mestalla pulled out lots of Valencia CF sentimentality and emotion.

For the ones that lived through it, what a game! For the ones who came to the club a bit later, watch and imagine what it was like …

As Wikipedia puts it:

In the second part of the season, (Rafa) Benítez’s team suffered a small setback after losing 1-0 in the Santiago Bernabéu to Real Madrid, but they recovered from this setback and achieved four victories and two draws in the following six games. The games against Las Palmas, Athletic de Bilbao, Alavés, Real Zaragoza and Barcelona.

In one of those crucial games they would come up against Espanyol, Valencia were trailing 1-0 at half-time and a man down too with the dismissal of Carboni, but after two goals from Baraja, Valencia achieved a 2-1 victory. Furthermore, Real Madrid’s defeat in Anoeta to Real Sociedad left Valencia with a three-point lead at the top of the table.

I’ll never forget that game. I was in a Spanish restaurant in New York, watching the match by myself, trying to hear the lone TV showing the game in a corner of the main hall. People milled about, but no one cared about the Valencia match. Carboni gets a red card. Espanyol goes up by one. But slowly, Valencia starts building some momentum and score a goal. Then, with time winding down, Baraja nets the second and the Mestalla goes absolutely bonkers. As did I, with restaurant viewers imagining what hallucinogenic drugs I was on.

Getting the updates from Anoeta as Real Madrid were getting crushed 3-0 to Real Sociedad while Valencia were pulling off the impossible at the Mestalla … it was pure bliss …

Then the following week at Malaga, with a chance to win the championship … I sat at Nevada’s, cynical Barca and Madrid fans mocking me, telling me this would be a one-and-done.

“Hey, everyone gets lucky once!”

Who cared? When Roberto Ayala scored a sky high header to put us in the lead and calmed the boisterous crowd down by asking for patience, I couldn’t contain myself.

When Fabio Aurelio sealed the championship with a goal near the end of the half, I laughed, I got misty, I drank … It was celebration time.

My Valencian friend drove around the city waving his Valencian flag for all to see, proud of our club’s achievement. We decided to have a drink at the same restaurant I watched the Espanyol game at. We were so loud with our singing and dancing, the Madrid fans at the bar asked us to continue our party in a separate room or leave. We chose the room and caused a ruckus I’m sure they haven’t seen until the Euro 2008 championship!

Here’s a video chronicling the entire 2001/02 season, Valencia’s first league championship in 31 years.

Enjoy!

I want to feel this way again … I want to see Valencia pull off the impossible … I want to know that it’s not just about the money, but also about heart, tenacity and a will to win.

Valencia c. 2001/02 had that team, with a bunch of no-names like Rafa Benitez, Mauricio Pellegrino, Djukic, Mista, Rufete, etc.

Why can’t Valencia c/ 2009/10 do that? Villa, Mata, Silva, Vicente, Alexis, Albiol …

In so many ways, the current incantation of Valencia CF is way more talented than that title team.
But that team pulled victory from defeat, played together and never let an opponent dominate them, even in losing.

We’re starting to see the same kind of style from Unai Emery’s boys. Let’s see how they do this weekend against Espanyol. And let’s ride back to the Mestalla and blow the title race for Real Madrid next weekend … just because we can …

If you can’t tell already, I have a DEEP affection for this club. I’m not from Valencia, but Valencia is a part of me …

Some of my affection stems from my time living there. Some from the fun moments I’ve associated with the club, like meeting players in Valencia or watching matches with strangers and new friends.

Others come from moments like the Valencia-Espanyol game.

I think ESPN’s Bill Simmons said it best today when talking about the classic Chicago Bulls-Boston Celtics that’s going to a Game 7 tomorrow:

We love sports for the simple reason that we never know when this will happen. It rarely does. We watch a lot of crummy games. We watch sporting events that had potential to be great and weren’t. We watch sporting events that almost made it, but one dumb thing happened to screw it up: A foul at the wrong time, a penalty, a two-base error, whatever. We keep watching. We keep hoping. And when everything clicks, it’s blissful.

Isn’t it though?

AMUNT! Hope you enjoyed my sentimental blog post …