Casablanca nights**

By: Elisa | July 26th, 2008

Athletic faced a weak Udinese. Quags, Di Natale, Zapata, Felipe, Sánchez, Tissone, etc stayed home. Scaredy Cats! But they brought a half-decent side, nevertheless. Athletic took the bull by the horns and well, blitzkrieg!

A no nonsense goal fest Bilbao style. You know crosses, headers and a wicked strike by a cantera player, none other than Markel Susaeta. Two towers in the midfield with total control – Javi Martinez and Gurpegi controlled the midfielder beautifully. Game over by minute 47. This was a SWEET display by Los Leones. Oh and Koikili received his 2nd yellow card in the 90th minute. How does one get expelled during a friendly? Only Koi, like I said Bilbao style – hard, axe men, no hold’s bar. Hey guys, it’s a friendly. Sheesh.

For Udinese: Handanovic, Pasqual, Morero, Lukovic, Giovanni; D’Agostino, Inler; Pepe, Pinzi, Langella; Floro Flores.

For Athletic: Gorka, Murillo, Ustaritz, Aitor Ocio, Koikili, Gurpegi, Javi Martinez, Susaeta, Aduritz, Yeste, Extebe

24′ Goal by Susaeta – wicked one.
39′ Corner served by Yeste perfectly to Gurpegi who heads it into the net
47′ Arduritz knocks one in, Koikili with the assist

SHIRT SPONSORSHIP – WHUH?

Historic news! Athletic has agreed for the first time ever to public corporate sponsor on their kit. Petronor, a large petroleum company, which has a refinery in the Basque country, is the new sponsor. Petronor is very important economically and labor-wise to the region. They will sponsor Athletic for 3 years. The amount is rumored to be around $2 – 3M Euros per year. An official presentation will take place on Tuesday at San Mames. This was one of the election promises by President Fernando Macua for ancillary revenues to ensure a secure financial club. Macua has received a good deal of flack on private corporate sponsorship, as this is contrary to tradition. But our President states there are some small, trifle things that we must do to ensure that Athletic’s philosophy and economical stability is maintained at Bilbao. Shirt sponsorship is one of those trifle things. It will be interesting to see how community Vizcaya responds to this historic change.

Next game vs Lemona another feeder club from Paises Vasco that plays in Segunda B. Their stadium has a 5,000 capacity. Gotta love it. Then onward to Merry ol England, London that is.

Happy Birthday Ander Murillo 25 years old!