Villarreal CF

Villarreal Club de Fútbol SAD, usually abbreviated to Villarreal, is a Spanish Primera División football club based in Vila-real, a small town close to Castellón de la Plana. The team plays at the 23,000 seater El Madrigal stadium. Its famous rivals are Valencia CF and their derbies are amongst the most exciting in La Liga.

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 receive 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 took on English side Everton F.C., whom they eliminated 4-2 aggregate 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 Club

Organization

President: Fernando Roig Alfonso
Delegate Director: José Manuel Llaneza Durá
Secretary: Manuel Llorca
Press Officer: Marián Solsona
Manager: Manuel Pellegrini

The Team

The team has a number of South American players including Uruguayan striker Diego Forlán and goalkeeper Sebastian Viera, Argentinians Juan Pablo Sorín, Juan Román Riquelme, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Rodolfo Arruabarrena, Mariano Barbosa and Guillermo Franco (who plays for the Mexican national team), as well as Bolivian Juan Manuel Peña. The club has stayed true to their Spanish roots, however, by incorporating several Spanish players into the team including former Spain international striker José Mari Romero, Spanish U-21 player Héctor Font, youngster Santiago "Santi" Cazorla and Brasilian-born Spanish international Marcos Senna.

Villarreal's home kit is yellow shirts, yellow shorts and yellow socks; their away kit is black shirts, black shorts and black socks, with a light blue stripe running down the sides. It is of interest to note that during the season, Villarreal rarely ever wears their away kit due to their distinctive yellow home kit; however, during the 2005/06 season, they wore their black away kit when they visited Cádiz, whose home kit consists of a yellow shirt also.

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 2006/07

The numbers are established according to the official website:www.villarrealcf.es and www.lfp.es

As of May 19, 2006

Squad changes during 2006/07 season

In:

Nihat - Signed From Real Sociedad
Robert Pires - Signed From Arsenal F.C.
Cani - Signed From Real Zaragoza
Jose Enrique - Signed From Valencia CF

Out:

Antonio Guayre - Transferred To Celta de Vigo
Arzo - On Loan To Recreativo de Huelva
Roger Garcia - Transferred To Ajax Amsterdam
Xisco Nadal - Transferred To Hércules CF
López Vallejo - On Loan To Recreativo de Huelva
Font - Transferred To CA Osasuna
Santi Cazorla - Transferred To Recreativo de Huelva

Statistics 2005/06

La Liga	Position	Pts	P	W	D	L	F	A
Villarreal CF	7	57	38	14	15	9	50	39

Top Scores:
- Riquelme - 12 goals
- Forlan - 10 goals
- Jose Mari - 5 goals
Top Goalkeepers
- Viera - 30 goals In 29 Matches
- Barbosa - 9 goals In 10 Matches

Famous players

see also

Famous Coaches