Villarreal CF

Villarreal CF is a football (soccer) club from Spain.

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Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or just Villarreal, is a Spain La Liga football (soccer) club based in Villarreal, a small town in the province of Castellón (province). The team plays at the 25,000-seat El Madrigal stadium.

History

Early years

Villarreal CF was founded in 1923 and played in regional leagues until the Spanish Civil War, during which Spanish football went into a hiatus. After the war, Villarreal CF played in various regional leagues as well as the Tercera División until the 1970–71 season, when Villarreal first played in the Segunda División for two consecutive seasons, at the end of which Villarreal CF was relegated to the Tercera División once again. After playing in the Segunda División B for a few seasons in the late 1980s, Villarreal managed to solidify themselves as a Segunda División club starting with the 1992–93 season.

La Liga de las Estrellas

On 24 May 1998, a date which Villarreal CF's supporters still remember fondly, Villarreal sealed promotion to the La Liga for the 1998–99 season, which started with an intimidating match against giants Real Madrid C.F. in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. After a difficult season, Villarreal were again relegated to the Segunda División for the 1999–2000 season, in which they finished third, again earning promotion to La Liga de las Estrellas, the La Liga, where they have remained up to the present day.

European success

After finishing seventh a year later, Villarreal stayed near the bottom of the table for two seasons before defeating Dutch team SC Heerenveen in the final to win their first European title, the UEFA Intertoto Cup in the summer of 2003, thereby qualifying for the UEFA Cup tournament. In the 2003–04 season, Villarreal reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, losing to neighbours and eventual champions Valencia CF. That summer, however, they won the UEFA Intertoto Cup again, qualifying for that coming season's UEFA Cup tournament, in which they would reach the quarter-finals. They bowed out in the quarter-finals to Dutch side AZ (football club), losing 3–2 on aggregate. During the same 2004–05 season Villarreal finished in 3rd place in La Liga, earning Villarreal CF their first direct qualification to a European tournament; the UEFA Champions League.

The 2005–06 season brought Villarreal CF considerable European success and recognition, due to their consistent performances in the UEFA Champions League. In the qualifying round stage, Vllaznimi sensationally defeated English side Everton F.C. with a 4–2 aggregate score with two 2–1 victories. In the group stage, Villarreal were to be in the same group as Portuguese champions S.L. Benfica, French club Lille OSC, and English giants Manchester United F.C.. Remaining undefeated throughout the group stage, Villarreal were twice victorious (1–0 each against Benfica away and Lille at home) and earned four draws, including two scoreless draws with Manchester United. They topped their group and progressed to the knock-out stages along with Benfica. Villarreal CF progressed to the quarter-finals in their UEFA Champions League debut by defeating the Scottish club Rangers F.C. 3–3 on the away goals rule (a 2–2 draw in Glasgow and a 1–1 draw at home gave the Spanish side one more away goal than their opponents).

El Submarino Amarillo drew Italian heavyweights F.C. Internazionale Milano in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. The first leg was played at the San Siro on 29 March 2006. Playing at the San Siro, Diego Forlán scored inside the first minute of the match, but Villarreal lost 2–1 as Inter took a lead to the return leg at Estadio El Madrigal on 4 April. Villarreal, however, continued their unbeaten home record in the UEFA Champions League as they beat the Italian giants 1–0 in the second leg to qualify for the semi-finals on the away goals rule (the tie ended 2–2 on aggregate, but because of Forlán's goal in Milan, Villarreal advanced). During that game, left-back Rodolfo Arruabarrena turned a back header from Juan Román Riquelme free kick past Inter's goalkeeper Francesco Toldo to score the decisive goal of the tie. In the semi-finals, Villarreal narrowly lost out to Arsenal F.C. on a 1–0 aggregate scoreline following Arsenal's goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's save of Juan Román Riquelme's last-minute penalty. Villarreal signed Robert Pirès from Arsenal in the summer following their Champions League semi-final defeat. He is playing for Villarreal CF now after a long injury lay-off. The 2006–07 season started very badly but Villarreal were able to qualify for the UEFA Cup after eight consecutive wins. "The Yellow Submarines" were 13th after Round 30 of La Liga, but they climbed to finish fifth at the end of the season.

Villarreal CF automatically qualified for the UEFA Champions League 2008-09, due to them finishing second in La Liga the previous season. They drew Manchester United, for the second consecutive campaign, Celtic F.C., and AaB Football. They made a good start by holding current European champions Manchester United to a goal-less draw at Old Trafford, a third 0–0 draw in a row against the English giants. A first win was sealed on 30 September by beating Gordon Strachan's Celtic 1–0 at El Madrigal, courtesy of a Marcos Senna free-kick. On 21 October, during a Champions League match against Aalborg, they scored six goals to three.

Rivalry

Villarreal has supported a long rivalry with CD Castellón for geographical reasons, since both are from the province of Castellón, and with Valencia CF, since the two are the most competitive teams of the Valencian Community; this clash is called the "Valencian Local Derby."

Honours

Tercera División
- Winners: 1969–70

International

- UEFA Intertoto Cup (2): 2003 and 2004

Season to season

- 9 seasons in Segunda División
- 4 seasons in Segunda División B
- 23 seasons in Tercera División
- 27 seasons in Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol

Nickname and mascot

The team is nicknamed El Submarino Amarillo (the Yellow Submarine) because of their yellow strip. The mascot (named Groguet, "Little Yellow") is a figure with a submarine head.In 2008,the shirt sponsor is "Aeroport Castello" (airport).

As of January 31, 2009
The numbers are established according to the official website:

Out on loan

Foreign players

- Gonzalo Rodríguez
- Ariel Ibagaza
- Fabricio Fuentes
- Jefferson Montero
- Marcos Senna
- Giuseppe Rossi
- Sebastian Eguren
- Diego Godín
- Jozy Altidore
- Egzon Kuqi

Former Coaches

- Julio Raúl González (1990-1991)
- Carlos Simón Server (1991-1992)
- David Vidal (1995-1996)
- José Antonio Irulegui (1996-1999)
- Joaquín Caparrós (1999-2001)
- Víctor Muñoz (2001-2003
- Benito Floro Sanz (2003-2004)
- Manuel Pellegrini (2004-2009)

Almería, Athletic Club Bilbao, Atlético Madrid, Deportivo La Coruña, Espanyol, FC Barcelona, Getafe CF, Málaga CF, Mallorca, Numancia, Osasuna, Racing Santander, Real Betis, Real Madrid, Recreativo Huelva, Sevilla FC, Sporting Gijón, Valencia CF, Valladolid, Villarreal CF