Valencia Club de
Fútbol (also known as Valencia, CF or just Valencia or Los
Ches) is a team in the first division of the Spanish
Football League.
Founded in 1919, Valencia CF is based in the city of
Valencia, Spain. The team's home stadium is the 53, 000
seater Mestalla, which was opened in 1923.
Valencia CF won the Spanish title for the sixth time in May
2004, their second in three years.
Valencia CF won the UEFA Cup for the third time in 2004,
tying four other teams for the most UEFA Cups won. After
suffering recent tough losses in Europe in the finals of the
UEFA Champions League in 2000 and 2001, the team was finally
able to triumph in the finals of European play.
Thanks to good coaching, one of the best defences in world
soccer, including the charismatic Italian Carboni and the
fiery Argentinian Roberto Ayala, and an imaginative
playmaker, young Pablo Aimar (also from Argentina), Valencia
has grown into one of the world's great teams.
On June 1, 2004, Rafa Benitez stepped down as coach of
Valencia amid rumors that he was headed to Liverpool F.C.;
those rumors proved true, as he was hired by Liverpool two
weeks later.
On June 8, 2004, Claudio Ranieri was named the new head
coach. |