Thank all of you for your congratulations. Maddi Jr. is doing great. He watched his first Villarreal match this past Sunday, and was a bit disappointed, but he looks forward to the team taking care of business this weekend on the return to El Madrigal.
Yesterday, March 10th, was Villarreal's 87th anniversary from the date of the founding of the club. In honor of that, I wanted to bring back a post from March 10, 2008, in the early months of this blog, concerning the history of the club. This is a history regarding the club's kit, from Phil Ball's book, Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football. It also plays into the history of the nickname, the "Yellow Submarine":
Villarreal, from near Castellón on Spain's eastern coast, made their debut in the top flight in 1998 and brought an unusual kit story with them. Nicknamed, rather obscurely, the Submarines (allegedly after the Beatles song) their yellow shirts date back to 1947 when the son of the club's president travelled to the nearest big shopping city (Valencia) to buy some replacement white shirts and black shorts - then the team's official colours. Unfortunately, when he got to the store there were no white shirts in stock and, with the season about to start, he panicked and bought the only batch remaining, which happened to be yellow. On returning to Villarreal the players thought the shirts were fine, but that they didn't go too well with the black shorts. The president's son, decisive if nothing else, travelled to Castellón this time and bought a batch of white shorts which he subsequently had dyed blue on the vote of the players. The club still sports the combination initiated by this act of democratic aesthetics.
Pretty cool, eh?
Other news items worth noting:
Atletico Madrid are allegedly targeting Giuseppe Rossi as one of the potential replacements for the Forlan/Aguero duo. This seems as much of a joke as a news item, as anyone with a pulse knows that if Rossi says goodbye to Vila-real, it will be for the grandeur of Serie A, not a forever-underachieving side in the south of Madrid. Of course, I could be wrong - I never saw Forlan leaving for Atletico until it happened, and to this day I still don't quite believe he wears the shirt of the mattress-makers.
Jose Manuel Llaneza has indicated that he hopes Juan Carlos Garrido can continue at the helm of the sub next season. I think Garrido is very promising (and of course, I love his sideline antics). The most important thing, though, is wins. We will see if he can follow through with those over the last few matches of the season. Of course, after Madrid's bailout from the Champions League, there could be a certain Chilean looking for work in the offseason....
Bad news on the injury front. Godin did not finish practice yesterday after straining a muscle. I could not gather which muscle this was, but I have to think it was in the legs somewhere. He has been playing superbly as of late, so to lose him would be a major blow.
Also, Santi Cazorla, expected to return this week, is not yet ready for action. And worse, he does not know when he will be available. He wants (and needs) to get to 100 percent before returning to the pitch, and the doctors are not yet able to say when that will be. This is doubly bad for Santi, who has probably all but lost his chance at appearing for Spain in June (which, I note, is only THREE months away!). I guess there is a silver lining for Villarreal fans - considering the injuries this season, he is all but assured to return to the squad next season (and perhaps well-rested and fully healthy). Hopefully he can get better sooner rather than later and can see action in South Africa.
And lastly, Bruno needed a hug yesterday after getting whacked in the face by Cani's flailing arm during practice.
