La Liga Wrap Up–Jornada 1

The first Jornada of La Liga is behind us, and it was a weekend filled with some great football, but seemingly overshadowed by the current situation with Puerta in Sevilla. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid was not televised anywhere as the cable rights war is still going on between Audiovisual and Mediapro in Spain.

Real Madrid 2-Atletico Madrid 1
Atletico: Agüero 00′ (1)
Real Madrid: Raul 14′ (1) Sneijder 79′ (1)
Atletico Madrid came out to a lead on a header by Sergio Agüero, but the Madridistas would not be stopped as they countered with 2 goals by Raul and by newcomer Wesley Sneijder to take the win. Leo Franco should have stopped the last goal by Sneijder, but was screened by his own player in the process.

It was a shame not to be able to watch the Derbi as they are always entertaining. I wanted to see Diego Forlan shine for his new club, and also see how the new Real Madrid team does under Schuster.

Sevilla FC 4-Getafe 1
Getafe: P. Hernandez 2′(1)
Sevilla FC: Jesus Navas 45′ (1) Luis Fabiano 66′ (1) Kanouté 69′ (1) Kerzhakov 81′ (1)

A goal by Pablo Hernandez in the 2nd minute stunned the Sevilla side at home in the Sanchez Pizjuan. Hernandez cooly slotted home a set piece over the wall and into the left side of the goal, leaving keeper Andres Palop with no chance.

Sevilla controlled the ball well in the first half, but Getafe looked determined to avenge their defeat in the Copa del Rey final, attacking fearlessly in the first 20 minutes.

The wheels came off the Getafe bus when Sousa was sent off with two consecutive yellow cards. One for dissent on a clear non-penality call, and the second for what the referee deemed a deliberate handball on a Kanoute cross. Cortez was then sent off for a horrendously late challenge on Diego Capel on the left hand side, putting Getafe 2 men down.

Sevilla mounted a comeback in the second half, scoring 4 unanswered goals on a powerless Getafe defense. Duda was without a doubt the man-of-the-match, whipping in ball after ball from the left hand side, contributing on 3 of the goals scored in the game.

The game was overshadowed by the incident with Antonio Puerta, who is still in critical condition.

Real Murcia 2-Zaragoza 1
Real Murcia: Mejia 16′ (1) Baiano 68′ (1)
Zaragoza: Oiviera 29′ (1)

Newly promoted Real Murcia took the lead on a goal by Mejia on a pass by Pablo Garcia. Oliviera countered with a chip over Murcia keeper Notario.

Zaragoza dominated the play in the second half, but couldn’t mount a sustained attack and instead played a possession game. Murcia took the lead for good on a goal by Baiano, who again was set up by Pablo Garcia.

Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta is in a Fight For His Life

With my Sevilla scarf proudly wrapped around my neck on Saturday, I watched one of the scariest things I have seen in my football career.

During the Sevilla-Getafe match, Sevilla fullback Antonio Puerta collapsed on the field after running back to defend a Getafe counter attack. When Puerta hit the ground, he was unconscious and worse, he was beginning to swallow his tongue. Teammate Ivan Dragutinovic saw Puerta hit the ground, ran over to his side, and pried his jaw open in order to grab his tongue so he did not affixiate as the medical staff for Sevilla rushed onto the field.

Mind you…this was all on live TV.

As the medical staff reached Puerta, he sat up and walked off the pitch under his own power, seemingly alright, but with something obviously wrong.

Puerta made it back to the dressing room, but his heart stopped again and CPR was preformed on him before rushing him to El hospital Virgen del Rocio, in Sevilla.

He suffered two more stoppages of his heart in the hospital while being treated by doctors attempting to find the cause of the problem.

Doctors report that Puerta is in what we would call ‘critical but stable’ condition at the moment. His breathing is being assisted by a respirator for fear that his heart will stop again and he will quit breathing. He is also under heavy sedatives so that he does not awake as they run tests to see what is the cause of the problem.

Last season, Puerta had a ‘heart’ problem, but passed rigorous doctor and medical tests to return to action. Doctors are looking to see if this is related to his current condition, but have not released any more info as of yet.

Real Betis, Sevilla’s eternal rivals, have issued a statement wishing for a speedy recovery, along with the rest of the Spanish Footballing Community.

As more information becomes available, I will make sure to have it here.

It is a shame to say, but times like this show that our favorite players are not invincible as we think they are. And even if they do miss goals from 2 feet away, they are still people, and bad things can happen.

If you want to send your words of encouragement to Puerta, email puertaestamoscontigo@sevillafc.es

Please join me and the Spanish community and keep Antonio Puerta in your prayers.