20:50 Nov 6, 2011 

I agree. This kind of sloppy use of language is all too common among second-rate hacks ;-)

18:49 Nov 6, 2011 

It being a title of a magazine article, an element of meaninglessness doesn't surprise me

17:34 Nov 6, 2011 

if they lost on the 8th occasion, surely?

17:16 Nov 6, 2011 

As a native Spanish speaker, if I read "La novena es la vencida" I understand "ninth time lucky" that is to say, they lost the previous eight finals and there is definitely no other way to interpret it. If they won and lost, then "la vencida" is totally wrong.

11:32 Nov 6, 2011 

Thanks for your help Charles and Allegro.
As I've already said, the significance is that it's the ninth time they have taken part in the tournament. On the previous eight occasions they have both won and lost.

11:26 Nov 6, 2011 

There are plenty of hits for "la cuarta", "la sexta", "la octava", "la novena": whichever number you choose. The set phrase part is "la vencida" rather than "la novena" in particular. The basic expression I associate this with is "a la tercera va la vencida", which corresponds to "third time lucky". I think "ninth time lucky" captures it best.

11:24 Nov 6, 2011 

Did they win 9 times in succession? Or just on the 9th occasion? What is the significance of nine?