Jimbee advance to the quarterfinals on penalties

Futsal from Cartagena is only three games away from lifting the first title in its history. Last night, Jimbee Cartagena qualified for the Copa del Rey quarterfinals in a demanding tie against Alzira. The tough Segunda team tightened the screws on Duda’s men until forcing the agonizing penalty shootout, after the 2-2 draw in regulation time. Javivi scored the key maximum penalty and previously Raúl Jerez was providential under the sticks with two saves in the shootout.

The people from Cartagena are officially in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey. This single-match round will be played on February 21 or 22, with a rival and setting to be decided when all the qualifiers are decided this Wednesday. Jimbee once again reached the quarterfinals, a round that it has never surpassed. Last season, Duda’s men fell cruelly on penalties, against Jaén, in a special event marked by the return to the mythical ‘Bombonera’.

The goal now is to be in the ‘final four’ on April 1 and 2 in Antequera, something that would be a milestone for Cartagena futsal. At the moment, Jimbee is in the quarterfinals thanks to the hard pass last night. In the noisy Palacio de los Deportes de Alzira, around 900 spectators were waiting and a motivated rival, who knew how to take advantage of his chances, took the lead on the scoreboard and stretched out the night until penalties.

Everything seemed upside down when Jesús Izquierdo put the Meloneros ahead in the 6th minute, touching a shot from Motta; Alzira, on the other hand, came up and turned the score around with goals from Castejón and Carlitos, at 15 and 16. A shot from Mellado made it 2-2 before the break. Nothing relevant happened in the second half.

Already in extra time, Alzira defended himself tooth and nail. Luçao and Mellado, with their shots at the post of the goal defended by Porky, were able to give Duda’s team the victory. In the penalty shootout, Jimbee was very accurate and scored his four maximum penalties. That’s where the figure of captain Raúl Jerez emerged, providential to stop two shots from Alzira (2-4).

Jimbee put an end to a bad patch of results by linking, with this, the third consecutive success in just seven days: the President’s Cup against ElPozo (3-1), the victory against Xota in the League (4-2) and the pass last night to Alzira in the Copa del Rey. The derby on February 10 against ElPozo, in the Spanish Cup in Granada, is marked in red. That appointment will start at 5:45 p.m. Tickets range between 10 and 23.50 euros and will have to be purchased on the website ‘tickets.rfef.es’.