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Osasuna history in English

Anything you´d like to talk or debate about regarding Osasuna, in English
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daib0
Mensajes: 56
Registrado: 29 Ago 2012, 22:39

Osasuna history in English

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OK, this is only taken basically from Wikipedia in English, but I was not entirely happy with the English in the article, so I have revised it a little. This little resume could be useful if any of you have to include something on the club to a foreign source, and you need to present it in English!

David


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CA Osasuna


Club Atlético Osasuna, or simply CA Osasuna, is a Spanish football team based in Pamplona, in the autonomous region of Navarre. Founded in 1920 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the 19,800-capacity El Sadar Stadium. The team's home kit is red shirt, navy blue shorts, black socks with red back, whereas the away one is navy blue shirt, orange shorts and navy blue socks.

The word Osasuna means "health" in Basque (used in a sense of "strength", "vigour").

Founded in 1920, Osasuna first reached Segunda División in 1932. They made it to La Liga three seasons later.

The club achieved their first ever UEFA Cup qualification in 1985–86 after finishing sixth, eventually reaching the third round in the 1990–91 edition. Finishing last in 1993–94, the side spent six years in the second level; in 2005 it reached the Copa del Rey final for the first time ever, losing after extra time to Real Betis.

After a stellar 2005–06 domestic campaign, Osasuna made history by finishing in fourth place – tied for best ever – what meant the possibilty of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League in the following season through the play-off matches. This achievement was made even more dramatic by the tension that was maintained until the last day of the championship in which both Osasuna and Sevilla FC were vying for the fourth place – both teams eventually ended the season with the same number of points, however Osasuna pipped the Andalusian team due to their head-to-head record; However, Osasuna didn't make it to the Champions League group phase, as they were eliminated by Hamburger SV in the third qualifying round, leaving the Navarres to enter in the UEFA Cup for the fifth time in their history. So, Osasuna were drawn in Group D of the 2006–07 UEFA Cup along with Parma FC, RC Lens, OB Odense and SC Heerenveen. The club qualified for the knock-out stage, finishing second in their group, and were drawn against FC Girondins de Bordeaux, who had dropped into the UEFA Cup following an unsuccessful Champions League campaign; the Spaniards progressed 1–0 on aggregate, drawing 0–0 away before winning 1–0 in Pamplona through an extra time winner by Javad Nekounam. Next up were Glasgow Rangers, and Osasuna again progressed, following a 1–1 draw in Scotland and a 1–0 win at home. They were drawn against German side Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the quarter-finals. Regarded as severe underdogs, they not only progressed to the semifinals but did so in style (a 3–0 away win had virtually sealed the tie, but the Rojillos also won the second leg, 1–0); in the last-four round the club was drawn against holders and fellow Spanish side Sevilla, eventually losing 1–2 on aggregate after a 1–0 home win.

In the following two seasons, Osasuna struggled in the league: in 2008–09, they only avoided relegation on the final day: going into the final matchday in 18th place, at home to none other than Real Madrid, they fell behind 0–1, but came back with two goals (the decider courtesy of Juanfran, a Merengue youth graduate). The team remained in the top flight until 2013-14 when once again an intense end of season saw them lose Premier status on the last day of the season despite winning; they were dependent on other results which didn't go in their favour.


League Historical Summary:

35 seasons in La Liga
34 seasons in the Second Division
13 seasons in the Third Division (2º B)
1 season in Regional Categories (= lower than 2ºB)


Current Manager:

Jan Urban (Polish pronunciation: [born 14th May 1962) is a Polish retired footballer who played as a striker, and the current manager of CA Osasuna.

His professional career was closely associated to Górnik Zabrze and Osasuna, and he also coached and worked with the latter club in various capacities.

Urban represented Poland at the 1986 World Cup.

In the 1989 summer Urban moved to Spain and joined CA Osasuna, going on to be one of the Navarre team's most important players of the following decade. He scored 13 goals in 34 games in his second season to help the club finish in a best-ever fourth position in La Liga, thus qualifying to the UEFA Cup; this included a hat-trick against Real Madrid on 30 December 1990, in a 4–0 away win.

Urban started the 1994–95 campaign with Osasuna in the second division, but returned to the top flight with Real Valladolid in the winter transfer window. He closed out his career at 36 after one-season stints with CD Toledo (also Spain, second level), VfB Oldenburg (Germany) and former side Gornik.

Urban earned 57 caps for Poland during six years, netting seven goals in the process. He was selected to the 1986 FIFA World Cup squad, appearing in all four matches (three starts) as the national team reached the round-of-16 in Mexico.
'Splanglish fan' afincado en Pamplona - Reading FC [Royals Rendezvous] y Osasuna
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hlloris
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Registrado: 05 Jul 2012, 22:10

Re: Osasuna history in English

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Modric: "The toughest away match in #LigaBBVA for me used to be the one against Osasuna and now it is vs Atleti."
Futbol con aroma a patxaran (blogsasuna dixit)
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hlloris
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Registrado: 05 Jul 2012, 22:10

Re: Osasuna history in English

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http://sport360.com/article/spanish-lig ... ting-gijon

A day in Pamplona contrasting the fortunes of Osasuna and Sporting Gijon

by Phil Ball
Monday 30 March 2015
Osasuna's El Sadar stadium gleams in the Pamplona sunshine. Osasuna's El Sadar stadium gleams in the Pamplona sunshine.
For a team whose name means ‘health’, Osasuna are not exactly fit as a fiddle this season. As if their off-the-field problems were not enough, they are under investigation for match-fixing during last season’s unsuccessful attempt to avoid relegation, have an ex-president and ex-director recently released from prison on bail, and financial problems popping up like poisonous mushrooms - things on the pitch are not going too well either. Nine games without a win, and one place above the relegation places, the dreaded Segunda ‘B’ is looking like a distinct reality.


Nicknamed ‘El Pozo’ (the Well), Spanish football’s third tier is a dark depth from which many sides never return. For Osasuna, it’s a long way from the wonderful days of 2007, when the club reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals against all the odds, only to lose to compatriots Sevilla.

Dreary imagery aside, on a sunny Sunday with the Easter holidays in sight, and with no top-flight action to distract, the one-hour drive to Pamplona over the mountains from San Sebastián didn’t look too daunting. The newish motorway takes you high up into the clouds, through the Pyrenean foothills and down into the basin of northern Navarre where the landscape begins to hint at the changes to come further south.

Pamplona is best known for its mad, week-long July fiesta ‘San Fermin’, where bulls are corralled in the early morning through the narrow streets of the city’s old quarter. With their horns close to the backsides of hundreds of fleeing runners, the ritual attracts the brave, the bold and those who fancy a little dabble with death and all before they finally get to sit down for their breakfasts. For the rest of the year, however, it’s a fairly tame city, cold and edgy in winter and only worthy of a visit due to the beauty of the surrounding region.

Osasuna fans were not too welcoming of the players on the visiting team.Osasuna fans were not too welcoming of the players on the visiting team.

The stadium, renamed ‘El Sadar’ after a brief flirtation with the controversial moniker ‘El Reyno de Navarra’ (The Kingdom of Navarre), was inaugurated in 1967 and now holds 20,000. Out on the southern limits, surrounded by supermarkets and industrial estates, it’s notoriously difficult to park. The ground demands you follow the flow of cars into a supermarket car-park and trust that nobody will mind before joining the stream of folks as they flit hurriedly along short-cuts through alleyways that lead to the ground.

The tall western stand [below], built in 1990, comes into view and I nip to the ticket office to get a behind-the-goal seat. No press pass today. I want to sit in the stands and get a sense of a club that may be living on borrowed time, in one of the worst periods since its foundation in 1920. They could be relegated for financial irregularities, match-fixing, or just plain lack of points. Choose your execution method.

To rub things in further, their visitors today are Sporting de Gijón, another Segunda ‘A’ team more associated with the top flight but in much better health. They sit in 2nd place, and their two seasons in the league look like they might be coming to an end. The teams appear to be travelling in different directions. Up in the tall western stand, there are easily a thousand Sporting fans. Gijón is to the west in Asturias, a five-hour drive away, but it hasn’t deterred their fans who are buoyed by rather higher expectations than those of their hosts.

El Sadar's western stand where opposition fans sit.El Sadar's western stand where opposition fans sit.

Osasuna haven’t won at home since January 3, when they beat Leganés 2-1. Their last win of any description was at Barcelona ‘B’ on the 25th of the same month. It’s been a long, hard winter, but today the sun is shining and there’s a decent-sized crowd, considering the circumstances. The ground looks bigger than I remember, but the last time I was here it was for a Copa Del Rey game at night, and it was teeming down.

I plonk myself behind the north goal, but the white nets seem to be made of thicker material than usual, rendering the view appalling. I can’t see anything at the other end, but when the play approaches my goal the action is in-your-face, with the players disconcertingly close. The Osasuna goalie with his back to us is Asier Riesgo [below], whose surname means ‘risk’. Not a good omen. It reminds me of my childhood dentist back in England, Dr Payne, and the guy who sold second-hand cars down the road called John Rust. You just want to quietly advise them to get another job. Riesgo was at Real Sociedad until 2010, when he lost his place to Claudio Bravo, whose surname means ‘brave’. Which would you prefer? The Osasuna rectors seem fairly clear on this themselves, since Riesgo has only made 12 full appearances for the first-team since joining.

Whatever Osasuna, in their classic red shirts and black shorts, don’t look like a side down on their luck, and the short-sleeved crowd are hollering their support. Every decent touch, every full-blooded tackle earns roars of approval from the bear-pit. This has traditionally been a ground where angels fear to tread, and the Osasuna ultras, ‘Indar Gorri’ (Red Strength) over in the south stand have a poor reputation, as do some of the Sporting followers. The large police presence was conspicuous outside the stadium but the Sporting fans have been herded together in the west stand, more visible than audible. They’re decked out in their traditional red and white stripes, but down on the pitch the team is dressed in a natty olive green, one shade darker than the bright baize of the sun-lit pitch.

Osasuna goalkeeper Riesgo's name means 'risky'.Osasuna goalkeeper Riesgo's name means 'risky'.

As befits their relative positions in the table with eleven games to go, Sporting look the better side. They look bigger, fitter and faster, breaking up Osasuna’s midfield passing with ease and breaking with swift and menacing efficiency. There’s a confident strut about them and, although the home side scurry and scamper enthusiastically, Sporting look the business. The elegant Pablo Pérez is controlling matters, keeping the wide players stocked with plenty of possession, and several venomous crosses from Miguel Angel Guerrero almost meet their target. The game is entertaining, with some quality play on show.

Last weekend I watched a Segunda ‘B’ game between Real Sociedad ‘B’ and Trival Valderas, and there now seems to be an abyss between these two games. The aforementioned affair was populated by gangly kids and watched by 750 people. This one is a fully-grown combat, watched by a 16,000 strong paying public. The Spanish league can always delight, in its colourful and varied intensity, but there is a steep cliff at the end of the path where Segunda ‘A’ ends and the rest begins. You can peer over the edge and squint, but it’s hard to see things clearly below.

Half-time arrives and I scramble up and down the honeycomb stairs behind the stands, emerging from different holes and snapping photos from different angles, looking for a decent shot. Finally, a steward wags his finger at me and tells me I can’t do this. It’s unclear why, but he’s big and looks confrontational, so I decide not to argue. I settle down into my seat late, but it’s already clear that Osasuna have a different set of intentions, in a game they really must win. The tiny home midfielder Sisi is suddenly running things, working at involving the equally diminutive but skilful Congolese loan player Cedrick on the right. Clearly, they’ve decided to exploit this channel for the half and as the game wears on, the simple tactical decision begins to pay dividends.

Sporting (green) attack Osasuna's defence in the first-half.Sporting (green) attack Osasuna's defence in the first-half.

Suddenly, Sporting’s stocky defenders look ungainly and panicky, their midfielders no longer have the ball, and Osasuna are pelting their penalty area with fizzing crosses, half shots and scuffed attempts, one of which rebounds off the post. Alberto García, their Catalan goalie, dressed in a horrendous combination of pink and purple, is now leaping about like a man possessed but he somehow manages to keep the ball from crossing the line. The man to my right, hitherto fairly calm, is now on his feet and shouting imprecations at Alberto, as if the keeper can really hear amid the din. “You’re going to mess up, you son of a dog!” he hollers. “That’s because you’re a mess yourself. How can you dress up in that kit!” he screams, as if this really is a major point. “No tienes vergüenza! Vete a casa!” (You’ve no shame! Get thee gone!).

But Alberto saves the day several times, poor dress sense or otherwise, and emerges as the hero of the afternoon. Sporting settle for the point, and stay 2nd, two points behind Betis - who have already won at Recreativo. Sporting have still lost only two games in 31, and despite their second-half wobble, look well placed to go up. They have the crowd and the resources, but so do Osasuna, who are now in 18th place, only three points above Racing Santander, another old First Division side fallen on hard times.

Watching their impassioned supporters encouraging their team to the last, you feel sorry for this set of supporters that are staring relegation and financial meltdown in the face. And they are in this situation due to a small cadre of allegedly corrupt men, seemingly about to receive the hard arm of the law in a case which still threatens to become Spain’s biggest-ever football scandal. The fans deserve better, but there’s not a lot they can do. Ever fallen in love with something you shouldn’t have? At this juncture Osasuna fans look unlucky in love.
Futbol con aroma a patxaran (blogsasuna dixit)
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daib0
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Registrado: 29 Ago 2012, 22:39

Re: Osasuna history in English

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good article. I still can't believe how Osasuna didn't get the win, that second half was unbelievable. It seemed a magnet was place on the penalty spot to stop the ball ctossing the line. Sisi and Cedrick had a great game, Nino was a bit quieter but he's always running about and causing problems for defenders. Given that Osasuna always play better against the bigger teams we probably wouldn't be any worse in the table if we were still playing in the Premier!!
'Splanglish fan' afincado en Pamplona - Reading FC [Royals Rendezvous] y Osasuna
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