A Colombian Revolution at Vallecas

Rayo Vallecano have achieved their best start to a top-flight season since the 1999/20 season. Despite losing their opening two games, they are unbeaten in their last five games and sit fifth in the league at the time of writing. Great team performances may have given them this start, yet there is one name on the lips of all the Rayo faithful- El Tigre.

Image: marca.com

The tiger, or as he is more commonly known, Radamel Falcao, made the move to the Spanish capital on a free transfer. He had fallen out of favour at Galatasary and needed to be somwehere he could play frequently ahead of the 2022 World Cup, when he will be 36 years-old.

After being a great success last time out in Madrid, when starring at Atleti from 2011-13 and scoring 52 times in 63 appearances in the process, a return to familiar surroundings was decided to recapture his form.

Former team mate from those Atleti days, Mario Suárez, has been playing for Rayo since 2019 and clearly remained close to Falcao long after parting ways. After the Colombian terminated his contract in Turkey, Mario Suárez raised the alarm at Vallecas.

Image: vanguardia.com

Club president Martín Presa knew what an asset he could be for the team and decided to push on with the deal without consulting coach Andoni Iraola. It wasn't a good look for the team, but credit to Iraola, the man who guided them to promotion last season took it well.

"There wasn’t much time to give an opinion,” Iraola said to Marca following his signing. However, one thing was a given, he would admired by a fanbase so loyal in support of their club. The Rayo manager soon understood the magnitude of the signing: “Rayo doesn’t tend to have players with his history.”

Should Iraola utilise Falcao smartly, by understanding when to use him, when to rest him and how to get the team playing around him, it had the hallmarks of a great signing. Just look at what Luis Suárez did when certain people wrote him off before his move to Atleti, suggesting he was too old and past it- we all know how that panned out...

Image: marca.com

Here, in this working-class part of Madrid, they use football as an outlet from their everyday life. Add to that mix a player of Falcao's callibre and you get something very special indeed.

The Colombian confirmed that Mario Suárez had told him of the values of the club before he joined. This would have consisted of telling him about the hard-working nature of the people in the area and how they don't get on too well with Martín Presa due to his links with far right politics.

Whether Mario Suárez' chat included the fans reaction to a visit from far-right politician and leader of VOX party, Santiago Abasacal, is another thing. Following Abasacal's attendance at the stadium during the pandemic, the fans went to the stadium in full hamzat suits and began a deep-clean of the stadium.

Image: football-espana.net

Why the number 3, Radamel?

Some 2,500 fans went to see Falcao's unveiling at Vallecas, an unprecedented number at Calle del Payaso Fofó. Here the striker confirmed that he would wear no.3 at Rayo: "It’s a tribute to my father. He passed his passion for this sport onto me, and he played with that number. What better memory now that he is no longer with us,” Falcao said.

Image: twitter.com

It was soon time for the football to take centre stage. Falcao made his debut on matchday five, at home to Getafe. At the time, Rayo had won one of their first four games. El Tigre entered the field with 20 minutes left to play with the score 1-0 to Rayo, Pathe Ciss soon put them 2-0 up and ten minutes from time Falcao rolled back the years with a composed finish to kill the game off, 3-0 on his debut. The ideal start.

He went onto score in his second appearance too, away to Athletic Bilbao. It was a 90+6 header this time, a goal worth three points but very much priceless to Rayo's new man. His third game marked his first start, this time against Cádiz. With the scores tied at 1-1 going into half-time, Falcao struck again on the 44'. The team went onto win 3-1. Again, the Colombian proving pivotal with his goals.

Three goals in three games for Rayo's no.3. Representing his late-father every game, playing with an old team mate, all for a club that is taking to him like their own. Due to not having season ticket holders, fans are having to queue for hours on matchday to see their tiger in action. A match made in Madrid and we cannot wait to see how it pans out. Radamel's remontada in the Spanish capital, sounds good right?

Image: semana.com