Real Zaragoza
| Full name | Real Zaragoza | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Blanquillos, Maños | ||
| Founded | 1932 | ||
| Ground | La Romareda, Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain | ||
| Capacity | 34,596 | ||
| Chairman |  Eduardo Bandrés | ||
| Manager | Marcelino García Toral | ||
| League | Segunda División | ||
| 2007-08 | La Liga, 18th (Relegated) | ||
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Real Zaragoza is a Spanish football team from Zaragoza in Aragón. Founded on March 18, 1932, it will play the 2008/09 season in the Segunda División. They play in white with blue shorts. The home stadium is the La Romareda that seats 34,596 spectators.
History
Real Zaragoza was originally formed out of two rival teams, Iberia SC and Real Zaragoza CD. By the 1930s, the team was making headway in La Liga, but the Civil War put a brake on a lot of the progress made.
On September 8, 1957 the team left their original stadium (the Torrero) for the La Romareda. It was not until the 1960s that Zaragoza would see their first successes, in the Copa del Rey and in the Fairs Cup. Juan Seminario he was top scorer in La Liga (with 25 goals in 30 matches) for the 1961/62 season. The Real Zaragoza side of this era contained los Magnificos (the Greats), an attacking line of Canario, Santos, Marcelino, Villa and Lapetra. Other notable players included Reija and Violeta in defence. Fans of the side had to wait until the 1980s to experience another victory in the cup competition.
Real Zaragoza have played the majority of their history, a total of 45 seasons, in the Primera División. Being more of a specialist cup side, they have not managed to win the league, although they have come second on one occasion. In the 2001-02 season they were relegated from the Primera for the first time in 25 years; however, they earned promotion back to the Primera the following season.
In 1995 (May 10), Real Zaragoza won the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup against Arsenal FC in Parc des Princes, in Paris. The result was 1:2, and Mohammed Ali Ammar "Nayim" scored from the half in 120', just before penalty kicks.
In late May 2006, Agapito Iglesias bought Alfonso Solans' shares and took the control of Real Zaragoza. Agapito promised to build one of the strongest team in Spain and Europe. In his first year owning Real Zaragoza, Agapito bought Pablo Aimar for 11 million euros to reinforce the midfield. In a poll in 2007, Zaragoza fans voted Aimar the teams greatest ever player.[citation needed]
Thanks to Diego Milito's 23 goals in 2006/07 (he finished third to AS Roma's Francesco Totti and Real Madrid CF's Ruud Van Nistelrooy- 26 and 25 goals, respectively- for the European Golden Shoe), Real Zaragoza managed a very respectable 6th place finish, qualifying for Europe. Despite having a nearly unchanged squad from the previous campaign, the 2007/08 season would finish with this Zaragoza team becoming one of the most disappointing and underachieving teams in La Liga history. They crashed out in the first round of the UEFA Cup. By the turn of the year, they found themselves slipping further and further down the table. Gaffer Víctor Fernández was sacked, and 3 different managers, culminating with former Zaragoza standout Manolo Villanova, were brought in from January to May in a desperate attempt to change Zaragoza's fortunes. Largely due to earning a dismal 8 points from 18 away fixtures (despite having managed 34 from all their games at La Romareda), they went into their final fixture of the season needing a win to guarantee their Primera División survival. Kickoff was delayed for over an hour due to a torrential downpour, but not even the rain could keep Zaragoza from relegation as they fell to Real Mallorca 3-2, despite 2 goals from Ricardo Oliveira and at 1-1 looking like they might stay up.
Honours
Winners
- Copa del Rey: 6
- 1965, 1966, 1986, 1994, 2001, 2004
- Spanish Supercup: 1
- 2004
- Segunda División: 1
- 1978
Runners-up
- Copa del Rey: 6
- 1963, 1965, 1976, 1993, 2006
- Spanish Supercup: 2
- 1994, 2001
- Segunda División: 6
- 1929, 1936, 1942, 1951, 1956, 2003
Current squad
The numbers are established according to the official website: www.realzaragoza.com and www.lfp.es
As of February 2 2009 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Statistics 2008/09
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- Top Scorers:
- Ewerthon - 16 goals
- Top Goalkeepers
- López Vallejo - 26 goal kicks in 24 Matches
Recent History
Season Leg. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Europe Notes 1997-1998 1D 13 38 12 12 14 45 53 48 1998-1999 1D 9 38 16 9 13 57 46 57 1999-2000 1D 4 38 16 15 7 60 40 63 2000-2001 1D 17 38 9 15 14 54 57 42 Winner UC 1st Round 2001-2002 1D 20 38 9 10 19 35 54 37 UC 2nd Round Relegated Segunda División 2002-03 2D 2 42 20 12 10 54 40 72 Promoted 2003-2004 1D 12 38 13 9 16 46 55 48 Winner 2004-2005 1D 12 38 14 8 16 52 57 50 2nd round UC Last 16 2005-2006 1D 11 38 10 16 12 46 51 46 Runners Up 2006-2007 1D 6 38 16 12 10 55 43 60 2007-2008 1D 18 38 10 12 16 50 61 42 UC 1st Round Relegated
Famous players
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see also Category:Real Zaragoza footballers
Honours as a player
- Juan Seminario: 1961-1962
Notable coaches
César, 1960-63, 1968-69
Fernando Daučík- Domènec Balmanya, 1953-54, 1970-71
- Antoni Ramallets, 1963-64
Jenő Kálmár: 1970- Luis Costa
- Víctor Fernández
- Víctor Muñoz
Chronology of coaches
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see also Category:Real Zaragoza managers
See also
- Real Zaragoza B, Real Zaragoza's reserve team, formerly called Deportivo Aragón.