The Pride of Vallekas

His story is not unique. It is a story of a family fleeing violence, settling in a foreign land and making a name for themselves through hard work. It's the story of a striker named Tariq Spezie. It's a story that interested me because his brothers (Omar and Nura) were born in Dubai, a city I've lived in. And he was born in Sharjah, merely an hour away from Dubai. His Italian father from Verona (who worked in a tire company) and Spanish mother from La Mancha - which explains his last name Sevilla - saw the political situation in the region worsen. It eventually led to the Iran-Iraq War, and the family relocated to Italy with their one-year infant, and later to Spain. Tariq played youth football in modest clubs in Catalonia, such as Racing Blanenc and Vilobí, and supplemented his fluent Italian with Castilian and Catalan. However, he moved to Valladolid due to a family relocation, and made his senior debut with Real Valladolid B at the age of 19. He would compete the 1...

Continuing from part 1 yesterday, which you can read here... But perhaps the most controversial signing in my opinion was not of one who clocked many appearances but who scored many goals, and that is the signing of 2008-09 Segunda B's top scorer Tariq Spezie . Tariq's story is genuinely unique - he was born in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates to an Italian father and a Spanish mother. As the political situation in the region worsened, eventually leading to the Iran-Iraq War, the family relocated to Italy with their one-year infant, and later to Spain. Tariq played youth football in modest clubs in Catalonia, such as Racing Blanenc and Vilobí, making his senior debut with Real Valladolid B at the age of 19 and competing the 1999-00 season in the Segunda B and the next one in the Tercera with the club, scoring a combined 22 goals. He would play for another reserve team in the 2001-02 campaign, as he helped Espanyol B finish second in the Segunda B. Tariq spent the following eig...

Who doesn't like ranting on Granada? I enjoy it. A lot. But this story is not about Granada. It is about a story, a sad one at that - how a club avoided disappearance by becoming subservient to a foreign club. This is part 1 in a multi-part series. Part 2 comes out tomorrow. Hopefully. If you look at it from Granada's perspective, Gino Pozzo was a ray of light at the end of a dark tunnel. In 2002-03, Granada depended on itself to get promoted to the Segunda B, but an unfortunate own goal by Juanjo against Quintanar del Rey at home tore the dream to shreds. The following season was excellent, but in the play-offs, a theoretically inferior rival - La Roda - would eliminate them. In that year, players were forced to lock themselves in the stadium as a protest for not receiving their wages. In 2006, the team was promoted from the fourth level. And good thing that happened, since at the time Granada was in the worst sporting and economic position in its history. Loren...