Before you can grasp how big this 3-2 home victory over Elche was, I need to drag you down and set in it context. Influential left sided players Kome and Ayoze were out after picking up niggling injuries a few days before, Iriome and Martinez were on the bench but on the way back from injury and not match fit. On top of that, the club chairmans cat had been run over in a bizarre accident, the tea lady’s goldfish had a splitting headache, and Tenerife were 2-1 down after 62 minutes and under the cosh. Last season, that would have spelt disaster for Tenerife, but this is the new improved version, full of fighting spirit and desire, and things were going to change.
It all started on a high with 19,119 fans welcoming the players onto the pitch with a stunning cascade of tifo (newspaper confetti) that swirled and hung in the wind, turning the Heliodoro into a wild noise filled snow scene. Roared on by their fans, Tenerife took the game to the visitors but found it hard going with Elche proving to be stubborn opponents. The breakthrough came after 39 minutes when Juanlu Hens put in a telling cross from the right and Luna rose to head it into the Elche goal.
The second half was just 2 minutes old when Perez levelled for the visitors, after former Tenerife player Santos had got the better of Hector. Santos inflamed the home fans with his celebrations to add to less than impressive memories of his efforts in the blue and white shirt.
Worse was to come, and Santos was involved again, this time feeding Fuster to put Elache ahead after 62 minutes. Coach Oltra showed his attacking mentality, bringing on Iriome for Hens, and he hardly had time to bed in before Nino hit a typically cheeky goal, turning to grab a half chance and beat the visiting goalie. Now the crowd volume was cranked up, and another attacking substitution prompted the perfect response. Cristo replaced Hector, and Tenerife pushed forward for the winner, and Ricardo sent the crowd crazy when he fired his free kick past the Elche goalie to restore the home lead. It was an anxious last 14 minutes but Tenerife stood firm, the final whistle was the cue for players and fans to celebrate a hard earned win that keeps Tenerife in second place and still dreaming of promotion.
Football fever is growing all the time now in Tenerife, the Armada Sur ran 2 coaches this week, the Oasis Bar half way stop on the motorway, had lots more independent parties of fans stopping for some singing juice, and the streets around the ground were teaming – we even had a trumpet player stood in the road serenading drivers in return for a fistful of euros.
Promotion would be a huge boost to the island and some are already realising the commercial benefits. The weekend editions of local paper Diario de Avisos contained a full page advert for the big car park near the stadium, 120 places up for grabs at 150 euros a month. The headline screamed “Don’t wait any longer, be first to enjoy the promotion of CD Tenerife.” That’s a confident claim, lets just get behind the team and savour these special moments.
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