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EspañolVILLARREAL CF
'Villarreal Club de Fútbol SAD', usually abbreviated to 'Villarreal', is a Spanish Primera División football club based in Vila-real, a small town in the province of Castellon. The team plays at the 23,000 seater El Madrigal stadium.
History
Early Stages
The club was founded in 1923 and played in regional leagues until the Spanish Civil War, during which time Spain football went on a hiatus. After the war, the club played in various regional leagues as well as the Third Division until the 1970/71 season, when Villarreal first played in the Segunda División for two consecutive seasons, at the end of which the club was relegated to the Third Division once again. After playing in the Segunda División B for a few seasons in the late 80s, Villarreal managed to solidify themselves as a Segunda División club starting with the 1992/93 season.
''La Liga de las Estrellas''
On May 24, 1998, a date which the club's supporters still remember fondly, Villarreal sealed promotion to the Primera División for the 1998/99 season, which started with an intimidating match against giants Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabéu. After a difficult season, Villarreal were again relegated to the Segunda División for the 1999/2000 season, in which they finished third, again earning promotion to ''La Liga de las Estrellas'', the Primera División, this time to stay for good.
European Success
After finishing 7th a year later, Villarreal stayed near the bottom of the table for two seasons before defeating Dutch team SC Heerenveen in the final to win their first European title, the UEFA Intertoto Cup in the summer of 2003, thereby qualifying for the UEFA Cup tournament. In the 2003/04 season, Villarreal reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, losing to neighbours and eventual champions Valencia CF. That summer, however, they won the Intertoto Cup again, qualifying for that coming season's UEFA Cup tournament, in which they would reach the quarter-finals. They bowed out in the quarter-finals to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, losing 3-2 aggregate. During the same 2004/05 season Villarreal finished in 3rd place in La Liga, earning the club their first direct qualification to a European tournament; the UEFA Champions League.
The current 2005/06 season brought the club considerable European success and recognition, due to their consistent performances in the Champions League. In the qualifying round stage, Villarreal contreversially defeated English side Everton F.C. on a 4-2 aggregate score with two 2-1 victories. In the group stage, Villarreal were to be in the same group as Portuguese champions SL Benfica, French club Lille OSC, and English giants Manchester United F.C.. Remaining undefeated throughout the group stage, Villarreal were twice victorious (1-0 each against Benfica away and Lille at home) and earned four draws, including two scoreless draws with Manchester United. They topped their group and progressed to the knock-out stages along with SL Benfica. The club progressed to the quarter-finals in their Champions League debut by defeating the Scottish club Rangers F.C. 3-3 on the away goals rule (a 2-2 draw in Glasgow and a 1-1 draw at home gave the Spanish side one more away goal than their opponents).
''El Submarino Amarillo'' drew Italian heavyweights Inter Milan in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The first leg was played at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on March 29, 2006. Playing at San Siro, Diego Forlán scored inside the first minute of the match, but Villarreal lost 2-1 as Inter took a lead to the return leg at Estadio El Madrigal on April 4. Villarreal, however, continued their unbeaten home record in the Champions League as they beat the Italian giants 1-0 in the second leg to qualify for the semi-finals on the away goals rule (the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate, but because of Diego Forlán's goal in Milan, Villarreal advanced). During that game, left-back Rodolfo 'El Vasco' Arruabarrena turned a back header from Riquelme's free kick past Inter's goalkeeper Francesco Toldo to score the decisive goal of the tie. In the semi-finals, Villarreal narrowly lost out to Arsenal F.C. on a 1-0 aggregate scoreline following Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's save of Juan Román Riquelme's last-minute penalty, the penalty was won by Jose Mari. Villarreal signed Robert Pires from Arsenal in the summer follwing their Champions League semi-final defeat. He is playing for the team now after a long injury lay-off.
The Team
Nickname and Mascot
The team is nicknamed ''El Submarino Amarillo'' (the Yellow Submarine) because of their yellow uniforms. The mascot (named ''Groguet'', "Little Yellow") is a figure with a submarine head.
Current squad 2007/08
''As of August 10, 2007''
''The numbers are established according to the official website:www.villarrealcf.es and www.lfp.es''
Foreign Players 2007
In the Spanish league only three non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team. Those with European ancestry can claim a passport from the nation their ancestors came from. e.g Gonzalo can claim a Spanish passport as he has Spanish ancestry. If a player does not have European ancestry he can claim a Spanish passport by playing in Spain for 5 years.
★ 'Gonzalo'
★ 'Fabricio Fuentes'
★ 'Leandro Somoza'
★ 'Pirès'
★ 'Cygan'
★ 'Mavuba'
★ 'Nihat'
★ 'Viera'
★ 'Franco'
★ 'Matías Fernández'
★ 'Giuseppe Rossi'
Statistics 2006/07
★ 'Top Scores':
★
★ Forlan - 19 'goals'
★
★ Cani - 4 'goals'
★
★ Tomasson - 4 'goals'
★ 'Top Goalkeepers'
★
★ Viera - '25 goals' In '28 Matches'
★
★ Barbosa - '19 goals' In '11 Matches'
Recent History
:
| Season | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GS | GA | P | Cup | Europe | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998/1999 | 1D | '18' | 38 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 47 | 63 | '36' | relegated after play-off | |||
| 1999/2000 | 2D | '3' | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 61 | 46 | '66' | promoted | |||
| 2000/2001 | 1D | '7' | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 58 | 52 | '57' | ||||
| 2001/2002 | 1D | '15' | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 46 | 55 | '43' | ||||
| 2002/2003 | 1D | '15' | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 44 | 53 | '45' | ||||
| 2003/2004 | 1D | '8' | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 47 | 49 | '54' | UC | semi-final | ||
| 2004/2005 | 1D | '3' | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 69 | 37 | '65' | 2nd round | UC | quarter-final | |
| 2005/2006 | 1D | '7' | 38 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 50 | 39 | '57' | last 16 | ECL | semi-final | |
| 2006/2007 | 1D | '''5''' | ''38'' | ''18'' | ''8'' | ''12'' | ''48'' | ''44'' | '''62''' | last 16 | IT | 3rd round | |
Famous players
''see also ''
Famous Coaches
★ Manuel Pellegrini
★ Benito Floro
★ Víctor Muñoz
''see also ''
External links
★ Villarreal CF Official Website //
★ Villarreal CF Poland Fan Site
★ Villarreal CF Latvian Fan Site
★ Stadium Guide: Estadio El Madrigal
★ Website supporters. Local information
★ Villarreal CF Poland Site
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