The Pride of Vallekas

And you thought you could escape these days... But hold on! This one in particular is special. It's a collaboration with Ponferradina fan Chris Pidgeon, who has made an appearance on this blog before ( here ). I enjoyed working on it and collaborating with Chris. And I hope you enjoy it too. It's the story of three Brazilian cousins who "made it" in Spain - Charles, Igor and Yuri. I talked about the unlikely rise of Charles despite the odds, and Chris talked about Yuri and what he means for Ponferradina fans. It was published on my other blog here , and on Chris' blog here . Follow @Vallecanos1924

One of those days yet again... I wrote about ex-Villarreal striker Carlos Aranda, a player who won two Champions League titles and played for a record eight La Liga clubs. It was published on 19Spains.com here and on VillarrealUSA.com here . Follow @Vallecanos1924

Yet again, one of those days!!! My piece about Salva Ballesta, the striker with controversial political views off the pitch and a knack for goals on it. It was published on 19Spains.com here and on BarcaBlaugranes.com here .

The Hinchas y Jugadores project was founded with the aim of bringing fans and footballers together. It is convenient to think of fans as fanatics and footballers as pawns on a tactics board. It is convenient. It is also wrong. Behind the scenes, fans and footballers are people, and their stories deserve to be heard. And what makes it beautiful is that all those stories, no matter the source, are connected by the sport they love. This project will last 19 consecutive days. Why 19, you ask? Because 19 is the number of autonomous communities and cities in Spain, a regionalism that is often contentious in its existence yet celebrated for its diversity. Because it was in 1919 that King Alfonso XIII of Spain came to the throne - the last monarch until the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931. Because Spain's U-19 team is one of the most successful in the world. Because La Liga players have accumulated a record 19 Ballon d'Or awards. Because I discovered a surpris...

One of those days again. I wrote about the duo that tore up La Liga - Darko Kovačević and Nihat Kahveci. It was published on my other blog 19spains.com ( here ) and on Barcablaugranes.com ( here ). Also, some news - just bought the domain prideofvallekas.com, so go ahead and bookmark it :)

One of those days yet again. It's about Francisco Javier López Bravo, a former Málaga center-back who took the club, in institutional chaos, from the Tercera to La Liga in just seven seasons. It was published on my other blog 19spains.com ( here ) and on Barcablaugranes.com ( here ).

I wrote an article about Jorge Molina and Juli and their contrasting stories on my other blog ( here ) and on BarcaBlaugranes.com ( here ). Yes, this is one of those days.