Valencia soccer team

The soccer world is never short of interesting stories, but every now and then you find a story that is really uplifting because a player or a team exhibits just the kind of character qualities that you hope to see. A team fitting that description this year is Valencia, champions of the Spanish league and newly crowned winners of the UEFA cup, a tournament involving top sides of all the countries of Europe.

Valencia managed to win the Spanish league title ahead of Real Madrid, Barcelona, and others. Real Madrid is a handpicked team that has the brightest stars from numerous countries: England, France, Brazil, and Spain. These are the faces on the magazines with multi-million dollar contracts on and off the field. Folks that are known by one name and idolized by millions of fans. Barcelona is loaded with talent from Holland, one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the world. But it was Valencia that won both the league title and this European trophy.

Here's what some of the players on the team said:
"This is the product of the hard work the team has been putting in over the years. We don't have big stars, the resources or media attention that other clubs have, but the group of players are very good . . . This group of players deserves everything it has achieved. Everyone works with seriousness and dedication, they battle away for every minute of every game and that has been what has made it a great year."

The team even manages to have a good sense of humor. At the age of 39, one of its players became the oldest person to win a European club title. In reply, he said, "I don't think of myself as old, it's just that I've got a lot of experience." Quite an impressive team.