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Pre-Season Friendly
Wednesday 4th August 2010, Kick Off 7.45pm
DW Stadium, Wigan
Tickets
The match against Real Zaragoza will be an all payon turnstile match with adults tickets costing £10 each and juniors/concession just £5. Only the Springfield (West) Stand and Boston (East) Stand will be open for this fixture.
Watch
See Roberto Martinez's pre-match interview. [WATCH]
See an exclusive interview with new signing Ronnie Stam. [WATCH]
Remember to logon to Latics Player after the game for exclusive video reaction from the manager and all the key players.
Listen
You can listen to full match commentary on the game from 7.30pm on Latics Player. If you're not already a Latics Player subscriber you can join today and get IMMEDIATE ACCESS by [CLICKING HERE].
Preview
Wigan Athletic host Spanish side Real Zaragoza at the DW Stadium in their penultimate pre-season friendly. It will be the first chance for Latics fans to get their first look at new signings Mauro Boselli, James McArthur, Antolin Alcaraz and possibly Ronnie Stam.
The game will be an emotional affair for Manager Roberto Martinez who played for Zaragoza before joining Latics back in 1995.
Team News
STAM: Could be set for debut against Zaragoza
Wigan will be without the services of Gary Caldwell who is recovering from a hip operation he underwent shortly after the end of last season. New defender Ronnie Stam is also suffering from a twisted ankle, however he has been recovering well and could make a cameo appearance.
Real Zaragoza coach, Jose Aurelio Gay, has already named 18 players for the game. The squad is: Doblas, Leo Franco, Ponzio, Goni, Jose, Jarosik, Contini, Obradovic, Diogo, Kevin, Edmilson, Gabi, Ander, Jorge Lopez, Pennant, Edu García, Marco Perez and Braulio.
The Manager
Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez will reserve a moment to welcome his old team to the DW Stadium on Wednesday night but also recognises the importance of the fixture as the team continues to prepare for the new season.
"It's a completely different type of game than we've had so far this pre-season," said Martinez,
"We've played against Turkish opposition in Austria who where completely different than the Slovenia team that we played, and then playing against a Spanish side, you'll see that tactically they're very well organised, they're well aware, they're very flexible, they read the games very well and they're going to put us into different situations than we'll face against Dundee.
"It's important that we are adaptable as a team, we need to know hope to cope with these different ideologies in football teams and that's going to help us a lot.
"They're a stylish side and they play with flare.
"They've always been very successful I would say in cup competitions and they always play in an attractive manner.
"To see them play here at the DW Stadium is great especially with the links we have, obviously with Jesus (Seba), Isidro (Diaz) and myself coming from there back in 1995."
Head to Head
The two sides have never previously met.
Meet The Opposition
Manager: José Aurelio Gay
Gay has been associated with Real Zaragoza throughout his career, serving the club as both a player and manager. The 44-year-old served as a player between 1991 and 1996. As a midfielder he made 114 appearances scoring 20 goals.
After 10 years in management he eventually returned to Zaragoza in 2009 firstly taking charge of the 'B' side before taking over the first team manager position following the sacking of Marcelino García Toral on 12 December 2009.
Real Zaragoza Squad
| No. |
Nationality |
Pos |
Name |
| 1 |
Spain |
GK |
Toni Doblas |
| 2 |
Uruguay |
DF |
Carlos Diogo |
| 3 |
Spain |
DF |
Javier Paredes |
| 4 |
Italy |
DF |
Matteo Contini |
| 6 |
Spain |
DF |
Raúl Goni |
| 7 |
Spain |
MF |
Jorge López |
| 8 |
Spain |
MF |
Ander Herrera |
| 9 |
Nigeria |
FW |
Ikechukwu Uche |
| 11 |
England |
MF |
Jermaine Pennant |
| 12 |
Brazil |
MF |
Edmílson |
| 14 |
Spain |
MF |
Gabi (captain) |
| 15 |
Spain |
DF |
Francisco Pavón |
| 17 |
Spain |
MF |
Ángel Lafita |
| 18 |
Colombia |
FW |
Marco Pérez |
| 20 |
Croatia |
MF |
Marko Babić |
| 21 |
Czech Republic |
MF |
Jiří Jarošík |
| 23 |
Argentina |
MF |
Leonardo Ponzio (vice-captain) |
| 24 |
Serbia |
DF |
Ivan Obradović |
| 25 |
Argentina |
GK |
Leo Franco |
| 26 |
Spain |
DF |
Víctor Laguardia |
| 27 |
Spain |
MF |
Kevin Lacruz |
| 38 |
Spain |
FW |
Álex Sánchez |
| -- |
Brazil |
DF |
Pablo de Barros |
| -- |
Cameroon |
MF |
Franck Songo'o |
| -- |
Spain |
FW |
Braulio |
Match Officials
Match Referee:Chris Foy
Assistant Referees: Jake Collin & Bob Pollock
4th Official: Andy Scregg
