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Showing posts with the label Vitória de Guimarães

The A-Z guide to Rayo Vallecano (Addition edition): P is for Porto (3rd January, 2018)

Most signings that have featured in this A-Z guide have been those that worked out, and that's a testament to Rayo's technical management. This is a story of the opposite. He lasted just 16 minutes. Rayo were losing at home to Real Zaragoza 1-0, and Juande Ramos had one substitution left. It was the last throw of the dice - midfielder Jordi Ferrón was taken off for him, a striker. That was his Rayo legacy. Born in Luanda, Portuguese Angola, striker Quinzinho signed with Porto in 1995 from local club Atlético Sport Aviação (ASA). He was sparingly played during his spell at the former club as he was barred by Domingos Paciência first and later Mário Jardel, also being loaned to fellow Primeira Liga sides Leiria and Rio Ave. After a third loan spell to Rayo Vallecano in the latter half of the 1998-99 season, Quinzinho returned to Portugal where he represented in quick succession, always in the top division and still owned by Porto, Farense, Aves and Alverca. In Ja...

In pictures: Abdoulaye Ba - from Premer League potential to Segunda stopgap (20th September, 2017)

Today's article is not filled with words. Rather, it is a mini-project I've been working on for a week but have decided to end. I was trying to assemble photos of Abdoulaye Ba in the news - all of them. Yes, every transfer rumor and done deal that I could find. Why, you ask?  I was trying to see what attention a "promising" youngster actually gets. I attempted to do all, but settled on news mentions to Premier League clubs, a league he has never played in. And even if I missed out a mention here or there, what I found was a fabricated ecosystem that we all consume. I hope you enjoy watching it from the outside. The first time Abdoulaye Ba became a "thing" was July 3, 2012, when talkSPORT linked him to West Ham, Stoke City and QPR. Then ESPN linked him to Aston Villa: And then the Daily Mail reported that the deal looked dead: But Mail Online wouldn't give up, saying that Aston Villa wouldn't give up. But then nothing. ...