Rafa Benítez, the bullfighter

RAFA BENÍTEZ: THE BULLFIGHTER



Rafa Benítez in his first season as Valencia CF coach

May 23, 2001: San Siro stadium, Milan; Champions League final. Valencia CF achieved the feat of playing the big final of the most important competition of the world again. But they were left wanting more once again. They were closer than the previous year but the penalty shootout’s lottery was cruel once more with Valencia CF; Pellegrino missed the decisive shot and Valencia lost the shootout to Bayern Munich.

Perhaps, the start of the summer holidays would have been the best that could have happened in order to start the following season from square one but, unfortunately, there was still one month left until the end of La Liga. The team was still meeting their main target, none other than a Champions League spot for the following season but, behind them, FC Barcelona was showing great performances despite having played a poor season, with a troublesome atmosphere, with an unhappy star (Rivaldo), and a captain who announced his departure at only 29 (Guardiola). Curiously, the last game of the season offered a dramatic match between FC Barcelona and Valencia CF at Camp Nou. A draw would have been enough for Valencia CF to get the spot, and they tied the game twice during the game; but in the 89 minute, Rivaldo showed his genius and with a bicycle kick from outside the penalty area, he scored a superb goal. In just one month, Valencia CF had lost the Champions League final and missed a spot to play the following edition. A tragedy.

Rivaldo scoring an extraordinary goal that meant Valencia CF wouldn't play the following edition of the Champions League

 

To make things worse, the social background was convulsed, as usual, and it eventually had an effect on the team. Everyone already knew that the Argentinean Héctor Cúper would not continue as the coach; despite having a love-hate relationship with Mestalla, the man who took Valencia CF to two Champions League finals in a row and who had won a Spanish Supercup was leaving the club to join Italian giants Internazionale. And Gaizka Mendieta, the captain, the symbol, and the best player of the squad, stated that he wanted to lift trophies. The “bat of the badge”, as president Pedro Cortés had named him. Real Madrid wanted to sign him but Valencia CF refused to negotiate and sell the player to that team, so he ended up being transferred to Lazio for 48 million euros, wearing a long face in his introduction as a new player of the Italian side, since he wanted to sign for Real; his checking account was happy for that move but he won no titles in Rome. Due to Mendieta’s departure, president Pedro Cortés, who had sworn that he would never sell the player, had to resign because he had broken his promise. Jaume Ortí would be his replacement. In a few weeks, the club had lost its captain, its coach and its president.

Given that situation, the director of sports, Javier Subirats, started working to find a new coach who could be a good replacement for Héctor Cúper. The coaches that could be found in the market knew about the demands of Valencia CF supporters and how they treated the Argentinean coach, and that made them doubt about accepting the job. Mané, who had led modest Alavés to the UEFA Cup final, said no. Luis Aragonés, who had taken RCD Mallorca to the Champions League, said he wanted to help Atlético Madrid go back to the top flight from the second category of Spanish football. Javier Irureta, who had made a great job with Deportivo A Coruña, also said no. Carlos Bianchi, Boca Juniors’ coach, declined, too. So, the club had serious difficulties to find a renowned manager.

Javier Subitats, Valencia CF sports director at the time

 

Subirats had been, during this time, thinking about a young Spanish coach, inexperienced at training elite clubs but, in his opinion, very valid: Rafa Benítez. When he suggested his name to the board, some of them said, mockingly, if he was talking about the bullfighter (referring to Manuel Benítez, “El Cordobés”, a well-known bullfighter in Spain). But the sports director put his job at stake and hired the Madrid-born coach. Two promotions to La Liga with Extremadura in 1998 and Tenerife in that same year, and a relegation with Extremadura were the only remarkable experiences of his career. He had also been fired by Valladolid and Osasuna in previous seasons. It wasn’t an ample résumé to coach the two-time Champions League runners-up. He landed with certain reluctance, and the doubts increased when fans saw the level of new signings, inconspicuous compared to those who had left: Rufete, Mista, Marchena and the high amount of money paid to sign De los Santos and Salva Ballesta.   

Eventually, time proved that Subirats had made the right decision and hit the mark with Benítez; but history could have been different had the team lost their game at Montjïc against RCD Espanyol in December; Benítez, after a series of bad results, was put in doubt and the score was 2-0 at half-time but the team reacted in the second half and won 2-3. He exploited Héctor Cúper’s defensive style and took it to a different level. The rest of the story is well known and that win against RCD Espanyol was the turning point that boosted the team to win the 2001/2002 La Liga title and, two years later, the 2003/2004 La Liga and the 2004 UEFA Cup.

Rufete, scoring one of the goals of the comeback win at Montjuïc

 

1998/99.- Atlético Madrid 0 Vs Valencia CF 3 (Final Copa del Rey)

The longest season

THE LONGEST SEASON

Valencia squad celebrating the Copa del Rey

1998-99 season will always be remembered by Valencia CF fans due to several facts: during the season, the stadium fences were removed, it was the last season that the players wore black socks and, of course, it was the season in which the team won the first trophy since the European Supercup in 1981: the Copa del Rey. For many fans, it meant the first title that they witnessed in their lives. But the season was hard and, above all, very long. 64 games divided among La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup and several friendlies.

The season began sooner than expected, in the beginning of July 1998, because Valencia CF had to qualify for the UEFA Cup via Intertoto Cup, the last chance that UEFA gave the clubs to get a spot in that competition if they hadn’t taken care of business in the previous season in their leagues.

The previous season had been a little tumultuous. Jorge Valdano got fired in game 3 after three losses and also due to a stupid mistake in Santander, when he introduced four non-EU men in the pitch, when only three were allowed. There also was a radical style change with his substitute, the Italian Claudio Ranieri, from a more creative one that Valdano displayed to the defensive and intense one that Ranieri used. Most of the players that had been signed in the summer had ended up being a terrible fiasco, as was the case of Moussa Saïb, Marcelinho Carioca, Morigi, Campagnuolo or Del Solar; apart from that, the club failed in rehabbing Romário for the second time. And last, but not least, the president Paco Roig resigned from his position, being replaced by his advisor Pedro Cortés.

The team ended the season 9th in the standings, four points shy from a UEFA Cup spot. Still, the team showed some good performances in the second half of the season: the team won at the Bernabeu and Camp Nou (this one was epic), there was a newcomer player who performed at a world class level, the Romanian Adrian Ilie, the Argentinean Claudio López had an exciting progression and a box-to-box player who had spent the previous five years unnoticed finally exploded: Gaizka Mendieta. Apart from that, there was a veteran core that sustained the team, such as Carboni, Angloma, Djukic and Milla.

Ilie after scoring a goal against Steaua Bucharest

Therefore, Valencia CF had to do their homework in July and signed a bunch of players to achieve their goal. The club acquired an Italian classic forward, Cristiano Lucarelli, from Atalanta, who didn’t succeed at Mestalla despite being the top scorer of Serie A with Livorno a few years later. They also signed a central defender from PSG, who played outstandingly, the former French international Alain Roche. A couple of Romanian players were signed, too, one of them having played a fantastic season for UD Salamanca the previous year and who also participated in the 1998 FIFA World Cup held in France: Gabi Popescu; the other Romanian player was a strange signing since, from the very moment he was presented as a new Valencia CF player, he showed no talent at all, unable to do three douches in a row with the ball in his feet, but he was the brother of one of the stars of the team: Sabin Ilie, Adrian’s brother, who was told he was the better of the both; he spent a few months and didn’t play a single minute for the club. Two Swedish players landed in Valencia in that summer, who had optimal performances: the long range shooting specialist Stefan Schwarz and the sober-minded central defender Joachim Björklund, the latter being an important asset for the team in the following three years. Téllez was also another new signing, a robust defender from Alavés, who only played one game for Valencia CF. More onwards, in the winter transfer window, Valencia CF signed another Romanian, Dennis Serban, who was unsuccessful at Mestalla. But the best signing of the season was that of goalkeeper Santiago Cañizares, who replaced retired Andoni Zubizarreta; he came as a free agent from Real Madrid and his story with Valencia CF is well known in his ten year spell at the club.

Even so, as some of the new signings hadn’t lived up to the expectations, most of the players who already were in the roster had to step up and progress the way they were expected to. There was a lot of excitement among fans, so much that president Pedro Cortés, in the team’s presentation before the supporters, asserted that the Geperudeta  (the Virgin of Desamparados, the patron saint of the city) had told him that the team would win a trophy that season.

The team had a good start in the Intertoto Cup. Fortunately, as he had a long ban in La Liga which meant that he couldn’t play the first five games of the competition, Claudio López didn’t go on holidays after finishing his participation with the Argentinean national team in the World Cup; he went straight to practise to help the team qualify for the UEFA Cup. Valencia CF knocked out Shinnik Yaroslavl, a weak Russian team, playing their away game at a stadium that was more like a swimming pool, with Mendieta requiring help from a teammate to be able to kick a corner, a funny image. They also won Marcelo Bielsa’s RCD Espanyol, full of youngsters from their youth system, among which future stars could be found: Capdevila, Tamudo or Sergio González. Valencia CF finally won the final against Casino Salzburg (currently known as Red Bull Salzburg).

Valencia CF seemed to be working well and was fully fit to start La Liga season solidly. Besides, there was an extra motivation that year: that was the first season in which the top 4 of La Liga would get a spot for the following Champions League and the team looked a good contender and one of the favorites.

Ranieri’s playing style was pretty simple and Italian-like: strong defense, playing with three central defenders and two wings in some games and a powerful counterattack, exploiting Claudio López’s speed and Ilie’s talent. It was a style the team felt comfortable with when they played against big clubs who had to control the games, but the team suffered against weaker teams who used a more defensive style.

Valencia CF started the season at home against a difficult team, who had spent a lot of money in new signings, Arrigo Sacchi’s Atlético Madrid. The team won thanks to a single goal by Miguel Ángel Angulo, which certified the ambition of the team to be in the top positions. But in away games the team seemed to be weak and found it difficult to play well and get results. Claudio López came back from his ban in October, and he did it against his favorite opponent, Louis Van Gaal’s FC Barcelona, at Mestalla, in a game in which a wonderkid made his debut in La Liga for the Catalans: none other than Xavi Hernández. Barça won 1-3, showing that Valencia CF was still a little immature to compete against the previous year’s La Liga champion. But from that game on, the team started to win home and away games, eventually reaching the top 4, which gave a spot for the Champions League.

The team also started the UEFA Cup, thanks to their performance in the Intertoto Cup in July. Their first opponent was Romanian Steaua Bucharest, where the before mentioned Dennis Serban played for. Valencia CF won the tie easily and, in the next round, they would have to play against one of the big clubs in Europe, Liverpool FC. It was a fantastic opportunity to be measured against one of the most attractive and historical teams in Europe. Liverpool FC had very talented players, such as McManaman, Fowler, Ince and the English wonderkid of the time, Michael Owen. The double value of away goals was the only thing that gave Liverpool FC the qualification; Valencia CF was a great competitor but was knocked out without losing any of both legs. The team had to focus on La Liga. 

The progress of the team was so good that, at the end of the first half of the competition and after two wins at RCD Mallorca’s Lluis Sitjar and Atlético Madrid’s Vicente Calderón, Valencia CF could be considered as a solid contender for the lead of La Liga. But a series of unexpected losses moved the team away from the title fight.

In these days, the team started their participation in Copa del Rey. To begin with, there was a regional derby against Levante UD, that was in the third category of Spanish football at those times; Valencia CF had no problems in defeating them. February offered three duels in only ten days against FC Barcelona, since they would be the following opponents in the quarter-finals of Copa del Rey. That time, Valencia CF did compete. And how! A 2-3 win at Camp Nou in the first leg (with a memorable goal by Mendieta after a corner); at Mestalla, Valencia CF certified its qualification by winning 4-3; and a few days later, in their La Liga game, Valencia CF won at Camp Nou again, 2-4 this time. And these results had a common denominator: Claudio López, “el Piojo” (the louse):  six goals in three games. He had taken the measure to Van Gaal who, thanks to his stubbornness, using the same system over and over again, let the Argentinean feel comfortable, and Claudio took advantage from it, destroying Frank de Boer, Abelardo, Sergi and Pellegrino.

Claudio López celebrating a goal against Barcelona

In La Liga, Valencia CF continued its path regularly, with big wins at the previously mentioned Camp Nou, and also at San Mamés in Bilbao, combined with surprising point losses against weaker opponents like Rafa Benítez’s Extremadura.

In June, the team was battling for a Champions League spot and their opponents were RCD Mallorca and Celta Vigo and, in the Copa del Rey semifinals, Valencia CF had to face Real Madrid. The result of that tie is well known, one of the club’s biggest wins against “los merengues”. The final score in the first leg at Mestalla was 6-0 and supporters ended the game comparing Real Madrid with the weak San Marino national team, who had just conceded the same amount of goals in their game against Spain a few days before. The second leg was perfunctory. Atlético Madrid awaited in the final.

Mestalla's scoreboard with the final result of the Copa del Rey game against Real Madrid

Meanwhile, Valencia CF’s qualification for the following season’s Champions League was in jeopardy; the team lost against relegated Tenerife in the penultimate game, so Valencia CF had to depend on others to achieve their purpose. The opponent for that spot was Celta Vigo and Valencia CF had a home game against Héctor Cúper’s astounding RCD Mallorca, who had mathematically qualified for the Champions League. Valencia CF had to win and hope that Celta would lose their home game against Atlético Madrid. And that’s what happened. Valencia CF won their game and Atlético defeated Celta at Balaídos, which gave the “colchoneros” a spot for the following season’s UEFA Cup because, as Valencia CF had qualified for the Champions League, the Copa del Rey runner-up would play the European second most important competition; and, if Valencia CF had failed, the qualified team for the UEFA Cup would have been the 7th in La Liga. Hence, a big party started at Mestalla, with Claudio López running around the stadium with a “senyera” (the Valencian flag) on his shoulders. People thought he was saying goodbye. A lot of big clubs had a serious interest in signing him and Valencia CF had to do their best to keep him. But they did and he stayed for one more season. It was Claudio Ranieri’s farewell, who had decided to leave and sign for Atlético Madrid; the Italian would be replaced, curiously, by Héctor Cúper.

Claudio López, with the "Senyera" on his shoulders

June 26, 1999 was the big day. Valencia CF reached the Copa del Rey final, that would take place at La Cartuja stadium, in Seville. The team arrived stronger than ever and Atlético had serious doubts about their possibilities. Their path in La Liga had been inconsistent. Sacchi had been fired in the middle of the season and had been replaced by Serbian Radomir Antic, and they had finished 13th. Valencia CF showed an amazing superiority from the first to the last minute of the game. Claudio López showed a fantastic form, scoring two wonderful goals, but the star of the game was Gaizka Mendieta. His goal was extraordinary; it can’t be explained with words, considered one of the most beautiful in history. Valencia CF won the game 3-0; twenty years later, the team took the trophy home, and it also had been eighteen years without a title in Valencia. The city of Valencia received their players the way champions deserve. And all that happened a few days shy from the first anniversary of the start of the preseason. A very long, intense season, that allowed Valencia CF to compete against the best and, best of all, it was just a warm-up for all that would happen in the following years.

All he could have been and never was

ALL HE COULD HAVE BEEN AND NEVER WAS

Zahovic celebrating a goal with Juan Sánchez

This story goes back to the spring of 1999. In La Liga, Valencia CF had a great chance to get a Champions League spot and, in Copa del Rey, they had to face a thrilling tie against John Benjamin Toshack’s Real Madrid in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Javier Subirats, the then director of football, started working for the following season’s squad and one of the first names made public was that of the Slovenian Zlatko Zahovic. He was a skillful attacking midfielder, with an obvious goalscoring ability and, aged 28, he was in the prime of his career.

But there was a major problem to deal with the negotiation. The footballer belonged to FC Porto and its president was, and still is, a hard nut to crack: none other than Pinto da Costa. Valencia CF had already suffered in their own flesh previous negotiations in the past with him, mainly when they tried to sign FC Porto star Jardel. FC Porto’s president demanded an exorbitant amount of money to let Zahovic go to Valencia CF but everything changed when the Slovenian tried to pressure his club to go to Spain. At that moment, Pinto da Costa, with a remarkable anger, said that Zahovic would never play for Valencia and, afterwards, transferred the player to Greek giants Olympiakos.

The player experienced a tough year in Greece. His irregularity and his wayward personality didn’t help very much. In June, 2000, he played a remarkable UEFA Euro, co-hosted by Belgium and Netherlands, as part of the Slovenian squad. Valencia CF never lost its interest and, in the summer of that year, they managed to sign him in exchange of 6 million euros (about 1.000 millions pesetas at the time).

He was one of the most exciting additions for the European runners-up alongside Carew, Baraja, Ayala, Diego Alonso or Deschamps. But his nature soon clashed to that of the coach, the Argentine Héctor Cúper. The Chabás-born trainer didn’t give many minutes to the Slovenian and didn’t have much confidence in him in the first months of the season. Zahovic eventually lost his patience when Valencia decided to sign, in the winter transfer window, River Plate wonderkid Pablo Aimar, for whom the club paid more than 20 million euros. His minutes decreased even more but he was still part of Cúper’s plans and an example of that was the evening of May 23, 2001.

Valencia CF reached the Champions League final for the second time in a row. This time the game would take place at San Siro Stadium, in Milan, and the opponent would be Bayern Munich. In the 66 minute, Héctor Cúper decided to introduce the Slovenian into the game, replacing Juan Sánchez. That was the moment when Zahovic had the chance to become the most important player in the history of Valencia CF. It happened during the extra time, 1-1 on the scoreboard, and with the golden ball rule (whoever scored, would win the game); in a jumbled play in Kahn’s penalty area, the ball came to him from a teammate and he had the opportunity to introduce the ball into the empty net, which would have brought the big Cup to Valencia. But he failed. He stumbled on the ball and Kahn eventually grabbed it. Later, he had another chance in the penalty shootout. With Valencia CF leading the series, Zahovic decided to shoot the team’s third attempt. If he had scored, Valencia would have cherished the Cup. But he failed again. He took a short run-up and Kahn saved the shot.

 

Zahovic missing his penalty in the 2001 Champions League final shootout

 The rest of the story is quite well-known. Bayern took the trophy home and Europe still owes one to Valencia CF. After all that happened, in a smart move by Javier Subirats, Zahovic returned to Portugal and went to Benfica in a trade involving Carlos Marchena, who signed for Valencia CF. Zahovic went unnoticed and, curiously, he could have been the player that would have given the world’s most important trophy to Valencia CF.

He spent the rest of his career in Benfica, with unnoticed performances. He took part in the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, where he was expelled from the player’s meeting by his national team coach, Srecko Katanec, after insulting him due to being substituted in the opening game for Slovenia. He retired in 2005 and he’s currently working as a director of football at NK Maribor, in his home country.

Zahovic in the present