Atlético Saguntino host Navalcarnero with a quarter-final spot on the line
Atlético Saguntino play CDA Navalcarnero this Wednesday at 9pm at the Nou Camp de Morvedre stadium in the Copa Federación round of 16, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.
One win and they will be a single step from the Copa del Rey: that is what is riding on Atlético Saguntino's match this Wednesday, 16 September, when Sagunto's football club hosts CDA Navalcarnero at 9pm at the Nou Camp de Morvedre stadium in the Copa Federación (a Spanish regional-to-national cup competition) round of 16. Coach Guillem Beltrán is banking on the very toughness of the opponent to bring out his side's best football.
The team is not arriving in peak physical shape, though: the scoreline did not go their way on a visit to Clariano, where they lost by a single goal, a setback that halted what had until then been a perfect start to the season, with two straight wins, one in the league over Atlético Levante and another in this same cup over Torrent. Even so, Beltrán believes those days of rest have done the squad good ahead of such a demanding fixture, and is counting on the desire to stay alive in the competition to do the rest.
Waiting for them is a different kind of opponent from Saguntino's usual Group VI rivals: while Saguntino compete in Tercera Federación, Navalcarnero play a tier higher, in Segunda Federación, and are chasing promotion places with a physical, hard-hitting squad that, across this cup run, has conceded no goals at all in five matches while scoring eleven -a stat that alone explains the respect it commands among the Sagunto squad. Their most recent step in the competition came away at Talavera, where they arrived at a goalless deadlock and eventually won it in extra time through Asier and Álvaro Domínguez.
Playing at home is no small detail for the Saguntino coach: beyond the sporting advantage, it spares a squad that combines football with studying or other jobs the strain of a midweek away trip. Beltrán is also hoping the crowd responds to a different kind of opponent and pushes the team on from the stands.
To get this far, the team already had to come through a tough tie of its own: it knocked out Torrent thanks to goals from Kike Torrent and Aitor Sáez, in the 71st and 83rd minutes of a match at San Gregorio in which the hosts pushed hard late on without finding an equaliser. Beating Navalcarnero now, in a single-match tie with no room for error, would mean a direct ticket to the Copa del Rey, a competition reserved for only the four clubs that reach the Copa Federación semi-finals -a huge incentive for a regional-level side that rarely gets the chance to face clubs from Spain's top two divisions.
A place in the Copa del Rey would not benefit the first team alone: Atlético Saguntino runs a youth academy that supplies much of its squad, and sees these cup ties as extra motivation, since the prestige of facing higher-division opponents tends to bring bigger crowds and more media attention to a club that usually competes away from the spotlight. The club, based in Puerto de Sagunto, is also one of the small group of Valencian Community sides to have reached a Copa RFEF final, a precedent it often uses to motivate supporters in its toughest ties. Aware of that history, Beltran has asked his players to compete without extra pressure, reminding them the team already showed it could come through a tough tie in the previous round against Torrent.
The club has urged fans to arrive early at the Nou Camp de Morvedre, given the ground's limited capacity and the interest this kind of single-match tie between different divisions usually draws.
The club has also set up its official channels to give live updates on the result for anyone unable to follow the match from the stands.
The club hosting on Wednesday also carries its own pedigree. Founded in 1922 and based at the Nou Camp de Morvedre since 1977 -a modest 250-seat ground expecting a strong crowd- the Sagunto side is no stranger to big occasions: a decade ago they were crowned Tercera División champions, and the following season, by then in Segunda División B, they lifted their first Copa RFEF against Fuenlabrada. Getting another shot at a final, however modest, fits that same story. According to Golsmedia, with additional background from Wikipedia on the club.