A veces España es un país increíble como durante la semana pasada pase al quirófano en Valencia y se nota allí dos pantallas, una por la radiografía y otra por el partido del Getafe contra el Bayern…..al mismo tiempo mi cirugía fue retrasado por dos horas, posiblemente porque el equipo de Carrete estuvo delante de mi dado el cambio entre las actuaciones en Finestrat y la de ayer. Ganamos este partido gracias al trabajo de todo el equipo desde Tomas hasta Diego, la actitud y el movimiento era un año de luz mejor. Aunque ganemos por el mínimo se nota las ocasiones de gol y la mejora en todos aspectos del juego y la sonrisa de la Peña Pimpollo al final del encuentro.

Medical services across the Costa Blanca were recovering yesterday from UD Altea’s visit to Monovar after a surprising outbreak of ‘good football’ writes Matthew Bell. Following on from the nadir of Finestrat the week before the glut of goals was completely unexpected, likewise the repeated actions of passing the ball to players wearing the same shirt and moving into space expecting another pass, which had several of the loyal fans shaking their heads in disbelief. The unforeseen entertainment began on 2 minutes when Nene powered in a header from an Angel corner (0-1) bringing the travelling fans to their feet for the first time since January (2001…). The normally lacklustre Raul began to skip down the right wing like Figo in his prime and from one of his crosses Diego Domenech thudded a header onto the bar with the ‘keeper totally beaten. Meanwhile several Altea fans headed for the bar as Marin (of all people) won tackle after tackle in the centre of the park and Altea looked like a team transformed. Quite how and why this took place on the lunar surface (rolled stone with a covering of gravel…..see the pictures on www.udaltea.info ) will puzzle many for years to come. Nene was playing very well in the centre of midfield & with confidence high he smashed a 30 yard shot onto the post on the half hour. The star man (and Trofeo Pimpollo winner) was undoubtedly Manu who has endured a torrid season with injury after injury but recovered after a glaring miss (42’) to chest down Nene’s exquisite pass moments before the break to stroke the ball home (0-2, 44’) and as the players headed for the dressing rooms they were given a standing ovation by the travelling fans.

Carrete’s half time message was evidently on of ‘keep playing like this and we might nick the points here lads’ and the ball was passed around the ‘surface’ to great effect as Armstrong & Aldrin skipped merrily by. Diego Domenech was proving a thorn in the home side’s back line and really should have scored (50’) only for the Monovar ‘keeper to parry the effort and Angel was desperately unlucky to see his subsequent volley crash against the post. The same fate would await Manu just a couple of minutes later as he barged his way through the home team’s back line. For long periods of the game Monovar were out of the game but their captain Perico is a class act & he reduced the arrears (75, 1-2) with a direct free kick which Beckham would have been proud of. As if to prove that the my footballing world had gone completely mad Altea’s right winger Raul conjured up a goal a minute later which many would believe to be impossible as he chested down a clearance and from fully 25 yards he volleyed it into the top corner of the net which brought even home fans to their feet to applaud. The brilliance of the goal evidently shocked Bazaga as moments later he was caught out by a long ball ‘over the top’ and the arrears were reduced (2-3, 90’) but the score stayed the same and the game was won after a terrific game where both sides attacked at will for the 90 minutes.