Tercera Opposition - Harder Than They Should Have Been

Villarrobledo, a town that sounds made up, celebrated their 50th anniverssary with a match against Getafe at the Campo Municipal de Fútbol "Nuestra Señora La Virgen de la Caridad" (try fitting that in a chant.)

A small, historic town located way, way, way out in the wilds of Albacete, CP Villarrobledo are actually no strangers to Getafe, given that Getafe B play in the same Tercera División group as them.

Nonetheless the first team were a different proposition altogether, and they gave Getafe a tough game. In the end a solitary goal from Ike Uche was the only difference between the sides in front of 2,000 eager fans.

Line-ups nicked from the Geta official site:

VILLARROBLEDO:
Ortíz; Zapata; Seco; Neyra; Cano; P. Domínguez; Dorado; Antonio; J. Blas; Futre y Mario. También jugaron: Borgoñón; DIego; Pepelu; Benítez; Iras; Rubio; Raúl Martínez; Melero; José Luis.

GETAFE:
Pato; Contra; Belenguer; Ibrahim; Rafa; Guerrón; Celestini; Sousa; Adrián; Uche y Soldado. También jugaron: Gonzalo; Cortés; Cata Díaz; Mario; Licht; Mario Cotelo; Casquero; Polanski; Gavilán; Albín; Manu; Kepa y Juanfran.

More Friendly Wins

Yesterday Geta faced Vitesse Arnhem and emerged as 2-0 winners. Uche opened the scoring 15 minutes in; Manu doubled it a quarter-hour later. Overall this was a far, far better showing than most previous games and one truly worthy of admiration. No video yet.

Today, meanwhile, an altered line-up defeated non-leaguers SV Cuiyk 8-0 (eight-nil.) Albín managed the first two, Polanski hit the third, Celestino made it four, and then Albín sealed a 5-0 first half advantage with his third. He made it a personal four just after the break, leaving it to Celestini and Manu to seal the rout.

That concludes the trip to Holland. The guys fly back to Madrid tomorrow to prepare for the final stage of pre-season, comprising a game for the reserves with Villarrobledo, a local derby of sorts with Rayo Vallecano, and finally a trip to Salamanca.

Friendly Round Up Vol. II

Since last we met Victor Muñoz's side slammed Belgian mid-table side Lierse SK 3-0 thanks to goals from Contra (pen.), Granero, and Celestini. Set-pieces played a part; as well as the penalty, Granero's goal was a rather delightful free-kick. Video:



Of course it's great to see us rack up the goals, but the penalty in particular was won via an over-the-top, kick-and-rush ball, the kind of which generally doesn't work against the Liga's more cultured defences. So, there is still work to be done.

Today Geta meet Vitesse Arnhem, although I don't think there's a live stream.

Friendly Round-Up

1. FC Nürnberg managed a 0-0 draw with El Geta at the weekend as the Azulones ended the brief German leg of their tour. Marca reports that the new-look midfield pairing of Eugen Polanski and Javi Casquero was positive, which certainly is cause for relief after the debacle against Olympiacos.

Back in the Netherlands, the site of that 2-1 loss to the Greeks, today sees a double training session in anticipation of a meeting with Lierse SK. Two days after that comes a sterner test in the form of Vitesse Arnhem. The day after, a presumably second-string side will go head to head with non-league outfit JVC 31 Cuijk, a mid-table side at the top level of the third tier of Dutch football.

Then it's back to Spain for a local-ish derby with Rayo Vallecano - well done to them for being back in the Segunda, by the way - on the 17th, and three days later it's off to UD Salamanca for the home side's presentation.

Olympiacos vs Getafe - Live

Here.

Enjoy.

Line-up: Pato; Contra, Cata, Mario, Licht; Cotelo (Guerrón 27), Granero, Celestini, Gavilán; Manu, Uche

So far: 1-0 Olympiacos after 43 minutes through former Real Sociedad hero Darko Kovacevic, who scored at a poorly-defended corner. Pato was slightly indecisive; Licht should have cleared the ball at the post; wheover was marking Darko (I didn't see who) failed to deal with their man. Not encouraging.

Full Time Update: It finished 1-0 to Olympiacos. A very poor performance from Getafe, for whom Albín and the youths were the only real stand-outs. Worryingly, Guerrón was awful, as was Contra.

Pre-Season Starts With A Win; Soldado Approaches

Geta defeated Gimnástica Segoviana this weekend thanks to goals from Manu, Uche, young Juanfran, Cortés, and new signing Ibrahim Kas. Business as usual, really.

Soldado is appararently close to arriving after Madrid accepted a €6m bid. Presumably this comes with incentives and a buy-back clause.