Coming To Cov - Espanyol
Last updated : 31 July 2007 By Covsupport
COVENTRY CITY V ESPANYOL
TUESDAY JULY 31ST AT 7.45PM
At Ricoh Arena, Phoenix Way,Coventry,CV6 6GE
WHO ARE THEY?
Espanyol were founded on 28 October 1900 by Angel Rodriguez as the Sociedad Española de Football.and were the first Spanish team to be formed by Spanish supporters.
Financial reasons in 1906 saw this club fold and in 1909 were re-launched under the name of Club Deportivo Español. In 1912, they were given royal patronage and can use the name Real and the royal crown on their badge. In 1931 when the Second Spanish Republic was srt up,the name changed to Club Esportiu Espanyol.
The Civil War came and went and with the Catalan language banned, the club had to changed their name to Real Club Deportivo Español.
They are based in Barcelona and were playing at Estadi Olímpic Lluís which staged the 1992 Olympics and the European Championship Qualfiying game between Andorra and England back in March.They are to move into the RCDE New Stadium at Cornella-El Prat shortly.
Espanyol have had seventy season in the top division in Spain. They have never won the title but have won the Copa del Rey four times, the Campionats de Catalunya on twelve occasions and the Copa Catalunya on four times.
Last season,Espanyol entered the UEFA Cup for the seventh time and made it through to the final where they were beaten on penalties 3-1 by Seville after a 2-2 draw in Glasgow.
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THEIR OFFICIAL WEBSITE
http://www.rcdespanyol.com/ ______________________________________________________________________________________
THE LAST MATCH AND TEAM NEWS
Espanyol have visited Coventry before. They played in a 1-1 draw at Highfield Road on August 8th 1998 in a match remembered by many of the 6,000 crowd as dull and uninspiring.
Both sides were in Northern Ireland on Saturday. The Sky Blues won 6-0 at Ballymena which was the same score that the Catalans won by at Glentoran . The game at The Oval had to have the kick off put back when Espanyol's kit failed to arrive on a flight from Birmingham.
Iain Dowie only has Ben Turner and Arjan De Zeeuw injured and will shuffle his pack round yet again.
Espanyol Coach Ernesto Valverde Tejedor will select from the following:
Keepers
Isaac Becerra Alguacil, Gorka Iraizoz Moreno, Idriss Carlos Kameni
Defenders
Francisco Javier Chica Torres, David García de La Cruz, Jesús María Lacruz Gómez, Sergio Sánchez Ortega,
Clemente Rodríguez, Marc Torrejón Moya, Daniel Jarque González, Albert Serrán Polo
Midfielders
Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod, Iván De la Peña López, Albert Riera Ortega, Ángel Martínez Cervera, Jônatas Domingos, Mohammed El Yaagoubi, Francisco Joaquín Pérez Rufete, Moisés Hurtado Pérez, Milan Smiljanic
Forwards
Valmiro Lopes Rocha, Luis García Fernández, Ferran Corominas Telechea, Raúl Tamudo Montero, Jonathan Soriano Casas
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Kick off is at 7.45pm. Tickets are priced at £15 each for adults or £25 for both this and Saturday's game v Udinese. Concessions prices are £12.50 for both games or £7.50 each.
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TRAVEL NEWS
The 101 and 103 buses to the Arena are not running for this game.
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WEATHER
Sunny with a day time of high of twenty two degrees.
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