| What
a bad week for goalkeepers, but more of that later. Our leader this week is
Valencia's Santiago Cañizares, who was the best man on his side as they
salvaged a point with a goal-less draw at Valladolid. His clean sheet, and that
of his opposite number Bizzarri, were two of the five in the latest round of
matches. López Vallejo and Alvaro Nuñez joined them in their 0-0
draw between Villarreal and Numancia, and Deportivo also kept out Espanyol in
their match. Cañizares now leads Leo Franco by one after the Argentinian
let in a single goal at Zaragoza, as did Juanmi at the other end. Incidentally,
one thing we didn't mention about Franco last week was that he has an EU
passport, a distinct advantage over Roa and Burgos as Mallorca have several
non-EU players and can only play three at a time. Anyway, on to the disasters,
and no less than three first division keepers had to leave the field of play
before the end of their games. The first of these was Molina, who took a knock
in the second half against Espanyol and had to be replaced by Songo'o. The
Camerooni keeper had complained that he had not got a game up to now despite
giving up international status to stay on for another year, and he may now get
a chance for a game or two at least to prove his point. Molina did manage to
keep out the Espanyol forwards up to his injury so he moves level with Franco
in third place. Next to fall was another Deportivo keeper, although Nuno is
currently on loan to Osasuna. He got his marching orders rather strictly after
bringing down Raúl ten minutes before half time, and Sanzol came on for
an outfield player to save Hierro's penalty with his first move. Finally
Barcelona's Dutruel was carried off just before half time with a knee injury
after clashing with Catanha, and with their other keeper Arnau out until
February, on came 18 year old B team keeper Pepe Reina, whose father Miguel
played for Barça for many years. Dutruel is expected to be out for four
or five games, and C team keeper, 17 year old Víctor, has also been
called up. Real Madrid were not without their problems either. With second and
third choice keepers César and Illner both injured, B team keeper Carlos
Sánchez was on their bench as cover for Casillas. (04.12.00) |
