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Independiente: renovó Vallés

SALTA -- El plantel de Independiente continuó este martes con su pretemporada en Salta, mientras espera cerrar las incorporaciones de los mediocampistas Franco Razzotti y Reinaldo Alderete.
Además, el lateral Gabriel Vallés arregló su continuidad por una temporada más en el club y se integrará a la delegación que trabaja en el norte del país, a la espera del comienzo del Torneo de la Primera B Nacional.

Sobre los refuerzos, están muy cerca los volantes Razzotti, proveniente de Vélez Sarsfield, y Alderete, quien viene de descender con San Martín de San Juan.

Ambos futbolistas, de no mediar inconvenientes, se pondrán en los próximos días bajo las órdenes de Miguel Angel Brindisi.

En tanto, el delantero de Quilmes Cristian Menéndez es el nuevo nombre apuntado por la dirigencia, luego de que se complicaran las negociaciones por Sebastián Penco.

El plantel volvió a trabajar en triple turno en Salta, en donde hizo tareas físicas y luego ejercicios con pelota en el estadio de Gimnasia y Tiro.

Fabbro espera su pase a River

BUENOS AIRES -- El mediocampista de Cerro Porteño Jonathan Fabbro volvió este martes a manifestar su intención por fichar para River Plate y dijo que espera que se cierre a la brevedad su transferencia para empezar a entrenar bajo las órdenes de Ramón Díaz.

"Tengo el interés y las ganas de jugar en River. El presidente de Cerro ya lo sabe y sólo falta que arreglen las cosas entre los clubes", precisó el volante en declaraciones para la emisora La Red.

Y resaltó: "Ojalá que mi llegada a River se cierre de la mejor manera. Trato de mantener la calma, estar tranquilo y ponerme bien físicamente".

Fabbro admitió además que tuvo un contacto con Emiliano Díaz, hijo y colaborador de Ramón Díaz en River, y le preguntó cómo se sentía, pero no profundizaron sobre la operación entre las instituciones.

Racing: Nicolás Tagliafico, muy cerca

BUENOS AIRES -- El plantel del Racing Club realizó este martes un doble turno de entrenamientos en el Cilindro y el predio Tita Mattiusi de Avellaneda, en una jornada en la que quedó prácticamente sellada la llegada del lateral izquierdo Nicolás Tagliafico.

El futbolista de 20 años, proveniente de Murcia y cuyo pase pertenece a Banfield, se incorporará a préstamo por un año y se sumará a Ismael Quilez y el colombiano Fabián Vargas, quienes esperan el cierre de sus respectivas negociaciones para ser confirmados como refuerzos de la Academia.

De esta forma, luego del frustrado arribo de Emiliano Papa, el entrenador de Racing, Luis Zubeldía, tiene el lateral izquierdo que solicitó para reforzar ese sector, aunque no se informó si en la operación se incluirá el pase del delantero Javier Cámpora a Banfield como parte de pago.

Cuando la transferencia termine de sellar su arribo, Tagliafico se convertirá en el tercer refuerzo de Racing, donde ya regresaron Gabriel Hauche de Chievo Verona de Italia y Matías Martínez de Argentinos Juniors.

Por otro lado, Iván Pillud tiene muchas chances de continuar en el club pese a ser mencionado como posible refuerzo de River Plate.

En Racing además se mantienen las esperanzas para contratar al delantero uruguayo de Lanús Mario Regueiro.

Mientras tanto, el plantel, por un lado en el estadio y por el otro en el predio Tita Mattiusi, realizó este martes una doble jornada de entrenamientos por primera vez en la pretemporada con vistas al Torneo Inicial y la Copa Sudamericana, realizando tareas físicas y tácticas.

Racing volverá a practicar este miércoles en el premio Tita Mattiusi a las 10

Teo: "Mi sueño es jugar en River"

MÉXICO -- El colombiano Teófilo Gutiérrez, delantero del Cruz Azul, insistió hoy en que su sueño es jugar con el River Plate argentino aunque tenga por delante dos años y medio de contrato con el equipo mexicano.

"Está la opción de River que es un equipo grande igual que Cruz Azul, ya estoy entrenándome, esperando arreglar mi situación, solucionar las cosas, si me quedo o me voy, y la verdad que contento porque eso quiere decir que uno está haciendo las cosas bien", declaró el colombiano a medios.

"Tuve una conversación con él (técnico de River, Ramón Díaz) hace mucho rato. Es un técnico que me quiere desde hace dos años, me conoce y sabe lo que puedo aportar al equipo", añadió.

Gutiérrez, de 28 años y quien ya jugó en el fútbol argentino con el Lanús y el Racing Club, se mostró decidido a bajar sus pretensiones económicas con tal de llegar a River.

"Soy hincha de ese equipo desde niño, pero más allá de todo, para ganar a veces tienes que perder, es fundamental saber que un equipo grande se interesa en ti, lo más importante es que todos quedemos contentos de parte del Cruz Azul y de parte mía".

´Teogol´, como lo apodan y autor de seis goles en el pasado Clausura 2013 mexicano, señaló que está agradecido por el apoyo que le han brindado en los pocos meses que ha estado aquí, mismos en los que él ha dado todo lo que tiene.

"Falta que se pongan de acuerdo los clubes y nada más y luego sentarnos con mi representante y manejar la mejor opción", declaró.

"La oferta ya la sabe el club y en lo personal ya saben lo que quiero. Sólo queda esperar lo mejor para mí y para mi familia, estoy trabajando duro y vamos a ver qué se resuelve", añadió.

Internacional reject €18m Napoli bid for Damião

Internacional have revealed they have rejected an €18m offer from Napoli for striker Leandro Damião.

Club directors confessed they rejected a verbal offer for the Seleção international from the Italian club, reports Football Italia.

Napoli have been linked with the striker, who is also a target for Southampton and Inter, as a replacement for PSG bound Edinson Cavani.

“We received an €18m verbal offer from Napoli, according to the player’s agent,” director of football Luis Cesar Souto de Moura told Lancenet.

“We don’t accept that this is Leandro Damião’s value. We are certain he will play the 2014 World Cup with Brazil’s national team.

“We have not had any talks about setting a value as we don´t intend to sell the player. The offer that was presented to us was lower than what he is worth.”

It has until now been suggested Internacional would release Damião for €20m.

Hungarian goalkeeper on trial at Fluminense

Hungarian goalkeeper Dániel Kovács is on trial at Fluminense, after impressing the club in a recent friendly.

He shone when his team Vasas Kubala were beaten 1-4 by Fluminense´s under 20 team in a friendly tournament in Hungary.

Fluminense´s head of youth developed Fernando Simone talked with Globo Esporte about Kovács, he said: "We watched Dániel during our trip [to Europe] and we brought him back for a period of trials.

He will initially stay with us for two months, then he might stay until December and sign a contract in the future."

Nikola Damjanac was the last European goalkeeper to play for Fluminense, he had a short and disappointing spell at the club in 2001.

Atlético MG-Newell´s is the most important game in club´s history, says Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho Gaúcho believes that the Libertadores semifinals between Atlético Mineiro and Newell´s is the most important game in his club´s history.

Newell´s won the first leg 2-0 in Argentina, so Atlético Mineiro need a three-goal difference to advance to the final.

The game is thus very important for Atlético Mineiro, Ronaldinho is quoted by Globo Esporte as saying about it: "It´s extremely important that the fans support us once again.

This is one of the most important games, if not the most important one in the club´s history. Everyone is thinking positive, we will fight until the last minutes to get a result."

Atlético Mineiro have never reached the Libertadores final before, while Newell´s were beaten in the 1988 and 1992 finals.

Dunga: Not signing Nilmar could be traumatic

Internacional´s manager Dunga has admitted that failing to sign Nilmar could be traumautic if expectations to bring him to the club are too high.

Negotiations continued yesterday as Nilmar and his agent Orlando da Hora met Internacional executive director Newton Drummond in Porto Alegre.

The former Villarreal forward is the favorite option to replace Leandro Damião, who might be in his way to Europe, although an offer from Napoli has recently been rejected.

The club´s president Giovanni Luigi is not confident they can sign Nilmar though, he told Rádio Bandeirantes: "We are always monitoring Nilmar, he has a great affection for the club, but it´s very difficult to make it happen.

I have been talking with his agent and with his father-in-law, who is a big Internacional fan. It seems more likely he doesn´t come though."

Dunga is also skeptical about the possibilities of signing the Al-Rayyan forward, he told reporters at a press conference: "Any club would like to have Nilmar, but it would be very difficult if we dreamt of signing him, and he did not arrive. The trauma would be higher."

Barrantes´ brace boosts Costa Rica over Cuba


http://www.youtube.com/w…A9stOwJ7ZV8

PORTLAND, Oregon – Michael Barrantes struck for a second-half brace to lift Costa Rica to a 3-0 victory over Cuba in the Group C opener of the CONCACAF Gold Cup at JELD-WEN Field on Tuesday evening.

After a scoreless first half, Barrantes finally broke down the stingy Cuban defense in the 52nd minute, taking an attempted clearance off his chest and firing a side volley into the net from 17 meters to put the Ticos in front.

Jairo Arrieta doubled Costa Rica’s advantage in the 71st minute, following his own saved point-blank shot from a Kenny Cunningham cross.

Barrantes added his second goal in the 77th minute, when he took two touches and tucked the ball to the right of goalkeeper Odelin Molina from 26 meters to give Costa Rica a 3-0 lead.

A midfielder at Norway’s Aalesund, Barrantes nearly had a hat-trick, but his goal in the 67th minute was called back when Alvaro Saborio was ruled offside.

Four minutes from full time, Cuba´s Jose Ciprian Alfonso got behind the Ticos´ defense, but his attempt was saved by Patrick Pemberton. The Alajuelense goalkeeper made three stops on the night to earn the clean sheet as Costa Rica’s unbeaten streak against Cuba, which dates back to 1998, continued.

Costa Rican defender Roy Miller had the game’s first scoring chance, but he put his open shot from eight meters well over the bar following a 21st minute corner kick.

Three minutes later, Cuba nearly capitalized on an error deep in the Costa Rican defensive third. Alberto Gomez, however, was also unable to put his shot from 20 meters on target.

Eight minutes before the break, Gomez missed on a header with the goal wide open.

Costa Rica, which opened the 2011 Gold Cup with a 5-0 victory over Cuba, extended its unbeaten streak to six consecutive matches. The Ticos will take on Belize Saturday night, while Cuba will meet the United States. Both matches will be held at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.

Wondolowski hat-trick lifts U.S. over Belize

PORTLAND, Ore. – A first-half hat-trick by Chris Wondolowski led the United States to a 6-1 win over CONCACAF Gold Cup debutants Belize in both team’s Group C opener at JELD-WEN Field Tuesday night.

The United States took the group lead over Costa Rica, 3-0 winners over Cuba in the first game of the doubleheader, via goal differential.

Wondolowski struck first in the 12th minute as Trevor Lennen’s attempted clearance of a Joe Corona header across the face of goal landed right at the San Jose Earthquakes forward’s feet. The play initiated by a back-post cross by Jose Torres ended with a point-blank goal to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead.

Wondolowski added his second goal in the 37th minute, firing home a diving header at the edge of the six-yard box from a Kyle Beckerman cross.

One minute after Belize pulled a goal back when an unmarked Ian Gaynair headed in Elroy Smith’s free kick from 10 meters, Wondolowski completed his hat-trick, heading in Michael Parkhurst’s cross in the 41st minute.

The Americans´ relentless pressure in the Belizean defensive third resulted in a fourth goal in the 58th minute when second-half substitute Stuart Holden knocked in Landon Donovan´s laid-off header. The assist was Donovan´s 50th in his international career, becoming the first U.S. player to reach that milestone.

Donovan set up the fifth U.S. goal as well, playing a set piece across the net where Michael Orozco headed in his second career goal in the 72nd minute.

Donovan clinically finished from the penalty spot four minutes later after Honduran referee Hector Rodriguez called a handball against Belize. It was the Los Angeles Galaxy star’s 52nd career goal, another U.S. record.

Wondolowski, whose name on the back of his jersey was misspelled with three ‘Ws,’ was dangerous from the opening kick. A third-minute cross forced busy Belizean goalkeeper Shane Orio into action.

In the eighth minute, Donovan slipped by a defender and sent a back-post cross to Clarence Goodson, who nodded the ball back across the box. But Orozco’s volley from six meters was off the mark.

U.S. goalkeeper Nick Rimando had his first touch in the 23rd minute, racing to the near post to tip away a deflected shot.

In the 33rd minute, Donovan had a brilliant turn on the ball and slipped a pass to an open Corona on his right. But his shot was parried away by Orio for a corner kick.

Three minutes later, Torres’ shot following a deflected Donovan cross sailed over the crossbar.
Deon McCaulay had the first Belizean scoring chance, but he put his 24-meter shot wide of the far post in the 39th minute.

A nifty three-pass sequence freed DaMarcus Beasley on the left side of the box in the 56th minute, but Orio pushed the ball away for another U.S. corner.

The United States will take on Cuba in the second game of the group stage at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday. Belize will face the Ticos in the other match in Sandy, Utah.