Spain 2008 News Review

Spain 2008 News Review - Sport
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By h.b. - Dec 31, 2008 - 6:57 PM

Rafa Nadal on court in Wimbledon - Photo EFE

2008 was a remarkable year for Spanish sportsmen and women.

Rafael Nadal won an Olympic gold in Beijing, won the Men’s Single Title on the grass of Wimbledon, and took the cup on the clay at Roland Garros. The Wimbledon final against Roger Federer on July 7th was described by many as the best tennis match in History. The score 6-4,6-4,6-7, 6-7, 9-7.
42 years after Manolo Santana and 14 after Conchita Martínez, Spain had a Wimbledon winner again.
Hit by injury at the very end of the season, Nadal was not present in Argentina when the other Spanish tennis players, led by Feliciano and Verdasco, emerged victorious in the Davis Cup.

Sergio García took his place in November as the second ranked golfer in the world, behind only Tiger Woods.

Luis Aragonés, the always opinionated football manager led Spain to win the Euro 08 championship.

Staying with the mangers, Juande Ramos, after a disastrous start to the season at Tottenham, answered the call from Real Madrid to take over from Bernd Schuster, after the German told the press that his side could do nothing against a Barcelona who were set to win the league.
Ramón Calderon, Chairman of Real Madrid, seems to have weathered his own personal storm with the appointment of Ramos, but he remains unpopular with the fans, many of whom blame him rather than the managers for the club’s relative lack of form or project for the future. It seems a long time ago since Real Madrid won their second consecutive league title in May this year.

Congratulations to the Spanish basketball side who came away with the silver in the match of their lives against the United States in the Olympic Final in August.

Severiano Ballesteros overcame four operations and is now undergoing a course of chemotherapy as he continues his fight against cancer and a brain tumour.

The two times world champion driver from Asturias, Fernando Alonso, came in fifth in this year’s championship which ended in dramatic fashion in Brazil with a win for Britain’s Lewis Hamilton. Fernando had told Tele 5 presenter, Antonio Lobato, at the start of the season that he would end in fifth place, blighted by a Renault R28 car which never really found its form. Lobato jumps next season to the Sexta channel as the sport also moves to the new channel controlled by the Mediapro Group.
This year saw the new Grand Prix in Valencia, giving Spain her second race in the season.
Alonso still races for Renault in the new season with a new car, but reports are that from 2011 his future will be with Ferrari, as the sport also tightens its belt as it looks to survive the economically uncertain future.

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