Two Friendlies, Two Victories.

By: Anthony | July 20th, 2009

So sure we were up against some pretty weak opposition to say the least but it’s good to see that everyone got a bit of playing time and our goals coming from unlikely sources with Koné and Alfaro netting 2 goals each.

The lineup was changed several times during the matchup and being a friendly, unlimited substitutions were allowed. Jiménez was allowed to play around with the formation as well just to get an idea of how he may line up when the actual season starts.

Javi Varas (Juan Martín, m. 80); Casado (Adriano m. 46), Lolo, Fazio (Escudé, m. 78), Fernando Navarro (Armenteros m. 62); Jesús Navas (Alfaro, m. 57), Zokora (Renato m. 46), Duscher (Jose, m. 62), Acosta (Jose Carlos m. 46), Carreño, (Perotti, m. 53) y Koné (Rodri m. 62).

It was a small crowd of about 4000 who gathered to watch minnows UD Roteña against their giant Andalucían neighbours Sevilla Fútbol Club.

The game was all ours from the minute it went underway and poor ol’ Manolo Jiménez may face selection problems this season as Koné showed exactly why we payed so much money for him two seasons back and Alejandro Alfaro also looks like he wants in on the action this season as he netted a pair of golazzos himself.

The other goals were scored by Carreño, Navas and José Carlos. This game in general was just a sign of how well the Cantera is once again progressing and an indication of the skillful youth we have coming through the ranks.

Our second friendly however wasn’t as convincing as the first. A match against another weak side, Conil, should have been all over before it even started but the fact that a lucky Chevantón goal was the only difference maker is a bit scary to say the least.

Capel and Perotti dominated both the flanks and we played some decent football but overall we just couldn’t create any significant chances. Zokora was passing well and Alfaro always looked a threat but once again we just couldn’t create anything.

The second half was brutal, right from the get-go we looked second best. We lacked that spark, our football was dull all around and despite Zokora using his pace in the midfield, no one was there to support.

Jiménez made several changes to try and change the embarrassment which was our fútbol but they didn’t really help at all. The game ended 1-0, luckily for us and it gave us our second win in 2 matches.

Preseason as we know really doesn’t mean much but we got a bit of an indication of things to come. Of course without Fabiano and Kanouté up top it’s hard to really say what we can expect but there’s definitely a bit more steel in the midfield through Zokora which is promising. Like I said, these matches really mean nothing, we will have to wait and see.