The dawning of a new era...in more ways than one. Much has been written and said about the restructuring of European football into regional leagues but on the south coast of Spain, in the idylic Andalusian town of Cadiz they were more concerned with their own new era.
Traditionally a lower league club, short on finances but rich in passion, Cadiz started their new life in a new league and in Juan Carlos Oliveira, a new man in the dugout.
On a hot September afternoon, the locals turned out in force, no-one wanted to miss history in the making. Plenty had travelled from Toulouse too, with hope and expectation that their team could claim victory in their first ever game in the Iberian League.
After trying various formations in pre-season, Oliveira opted for a diamond 4-4-2 formation and as expected, gave full debuts to two South-American summer signings, Eduardo Berizzo and Fabian Estoyanoff. Tolouse lined up in a 4-4-2 featuring two defensive midfielders and the dangerous strike pair of Dos Santos and Moreira.
Both teams started cautiously, nervously even, perhaps a little overawed by the occasion. With Taider and Abdessadki sitting deep in midfield for Tolouse, Cadiz found a lot of time and space to play in front of them, without ever looking menacing.
It was to be Toulouse who carved out the first real chance of the match. a left wing cross was poorly dealt with by Abraham Paz and Moreira's half-volley looked destined for the top corner before Armando flung himself to his right to somehow keep it out. It was to be the only notable chance of a quiet first half. Toulouse's defensive midfielders were keeping Cadiz at bay but in turn the French team had very few options when going forward.
Cadiz came out with a little more attacking intent in the 2nd half. Andres Fleurquin, who had been doing a good job shielding his centre-back, forced a good save from Revault with a long range daisy-cutter and soon after Enrique hit a great free-kick which produced another wonderful save.
Toulouse became slightly rattled and ever more aggressive, causing the match to become very stop and start due to the amount of free-kicks. The Cadiz bench were outraged at one tackle which caused debutant Berizzo to hobble off injured but they were certainly not complaining when yet another foul finally led to the opening goal.
Cadiz players celebrate
From the resulting freekick, Aubey could only head the ball straight up into the air and when it came down, Cadiz striker Mirosavljevic outmuscled Mathieu, set himself and finished right footed, low past the despairing Revault.
The majority of the crowd inside the Ramon de Carranza stadium erupted. The goal was just reward for their tremendous support and with less than 10 minutes to play, it left Toulouse with very little time to turn things around.
Oliveira shored things up, bringing on defensive midfielder Manolo Perez and changing to a 4-5-1 formation. Toulouse had not threatened at all in the 2nd half but Cadiz' defensive approach did allow them some late impetous and there was a heart-in-the-mouth moment late on as a right wing cross was narrowly headed wide by Taider.
The final whistle was greeted by an almighty roar. It was not vintage stuff but Cadiz won't care. After all, there is no better way to start a new era than with 3 points.