The not so Running of the Bulls: Osasuna 1 – 1 FC Barcelona

By: Pedro | November 1st, 2009

Every year, the famed Running of the Bulls event is held in Pamplona. Now, modern media has done a good job at exposing such exciting and traditional events for all the average people around the world to see and hear. So, i won’t have to describe the particulars of this event. A recollection of the few glimpses from the media, a general understanding that bulls aren’t as good as dogs when it comes to being man’s best friends and your imagination will all suffice in constructing this mental exercise.

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Red. An acceptable color to entice bulls with is also culturally used to celebrate own goals.

I’m sure the common understanding is that such an event is dangerous in a very unsurprising sort of way. After all, bulls have horns, bulls are big, and when they are running at you it’s not because want your autograph. And thus, you’d imagine that in its history, there have been more than its fair share of bull and non-bull related deaths.

What if you were to guess? Would it be 5? No, maybe 25? 31? Well…

According to the wonderful world of Wikipedia, there’s been a total of 15 deaths since 1910. 15. In nearly 100 years, that’s not too bad actually.

Now, I’m sure if the bulls really wanted to, they’d be capable of achieving a higher rate than that but can the same be said for their footballing counterparts, CA Osasuna?

Well, since earning promotion in 2000, Osasuna’s average league position is right about 15. You’ll have to excuse the extraordinary moment of 2005/2006 where they finished 4th, only to drop back into a more comfortable 14th the next season.

But a bit odd in some ways. The general consensus is that the Reyno de Navarra is a reasonably tough environment to play in. The fans are as anxious in the stands as they are in front of bulls and the conditions aren’t usually the greatest in terms of the pitch and in terms of being kicked in the ankle.

Yet, for all the passing notoriety – that honestly only comes up about once a year when your team has to go there and snag points – the general contribution appears to only go toward scathing escapes from relegation and mid table mediocrity.

So, theoretically, if you overcome the whole home-field advantage psyche you should be in the clear, right? Out with the three points and onto Russia, aye?

Except for one particular problem.

You see, while there’s only been 15 deaths in just about 100 years, there’s also been countless minor and perhaps not-so-minor injuries. It’s estimated that each annual Running of the Bulls accumulates 200-300 minor injuries. The kind you and i say ouch to and oogle at the tender swollen skin but don’t bugger off and die from.

What’s even worse is that when you’re stuck with a boatload of similarly half insane mates avoiding bulls in old municipal corridors… someone’s bound to trip, fall, run into, collapse onto, and whatever else have you.

So just imagine that. You’re almost at the end of the 840 meter run, your legs are burning but you’re feeling confident that you can accomplish a fantastic feat. And just then you step on your bloody shoe laces and fall. Breaking skin from the contact on the ground and walloping your knee hard enough to make you cringe your teeth.

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Bulls or dogs? You decide. Either way, they don’t have to worry about tripping over shoe laces.

Well, if you’re having trouble getting your imagination to function you can just pop in the replay of the recent Osasuna vs. Barcelona match.

Thirty seconds away from a hard earned win. One broken Mexican defender and one unfortunate deflection later, 1-1. A bloody draw. The proverbial shoe lace trip just as things were looking peachy.

Yes, a more vicarious Messi, or at least a proper consequence for maiming a streaking Ibrahimovic could’ve stuffed the match well and proper but it wasn’t as if the team’s play was lacking offensive impetus – it was just a matter of when. The tension was there from the start. It was evident, as passes were drilled to teammates and there certainly weren’t any feet of cement.

Josep and his boys knew that Osasuna were going to hustle and pressure until their lungs burned and while there were certain occasions where the urgency waned, the control and dictation of pace was naturally Barcelona’s. Yet a goal still looked unlikely. Minor chances came and went, Messi’s shots were blocked, Iniesta got stuck in thoughts a few times and finding Zlatan never appeared as easy of a task as it always does when playing in the familiar Camp Nou.

Yes, the newly shaven Chygryinskiy didn’t have the most stunning of matches. You could even say that he hasn’t had the most stunning of debuts for Barcelona and no one would lash their tongue in angry disagreement but let’s be honest here, a bull has more testicles than Osasuna had serious goal-bound chances. It was nominal, but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t willing to try. Oh no, Aranda and Nekoum were more than ready to connect quick passes and certainly did so on a few occasions while the ol’ rifle Pandiani seemed to be on a smoker’s break.

Regardless, a goal is a goal. Whether it was Gerard Pique slicing it in or God himself wearing a Osasuna kit whilst knocking in a goal… It was to be celebrated as their own. “It is frustrating especially as it was so late in the game, but these things can happen“, lamented Josep after the game.

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Josep’s anguish as Camacho does his best bull impersonation

And that’s where it really hurts. Not the walloped knee from the shoe lace trip, nor the physical fatigue of having just sliced in an own goal at the 93rd. No, it’s a regrettable hurt, the kind that you analyze in hindsight looking for any little variable that could’ve been altered but the stinging sensation from a bruised pride and ego can’t be covered with a band-aid.

You can find solace in the fact that it was one of the 200-300 minor slip ups that happen to everyone as they run the gauntlet on any given season and so far, Barcelona has had one less slip up than the rest of the competitors.