Snak

Cruzado se reincorporó en Newell´s

ROSARIO -- El mediocampista Rinaldo Cruzado peruano se reincorporó a las prácticas de Newell´s Old Boys, pese a no tener aún resuelta su continuidad en el club.

El ex-Alianza Lima y Sporting Cristal, entre otros, se sumó con permiso especial un día después al trabajo que lidera el nuevo entrenador Alfredo Berti, reemplazante de Gerardo Tata Martino.

Para garantizar la continuidad del peruano, de 28 años, Newell´s deberá pagarle unos 400 mil dólares por una porción del pase, pero todavía no se llegó a un acuerdo en cuanto a la modalidad de pago.

Después del trabajo, en conferencia de prensa, el volante Lucas Bernardi se comprometió a "mantener esas ganas de ganar" como demostró el plantel en el semestre anterior.

"Hay material humano. Se logró un objetivo y ahora hay que volver por otro, pero depende de cómo respondamos como grupo. Material hay y todos tenemos expectativas de llegar con chances en el último tramo del torneo", opinó.

Bernardi reconoció que con el nuevo cuerpo técnico de Berti "hay muchas expectativas" y como también con los refuerzos, que "son todos de jerarquía".

Newell´s ya incorporó al arquero Adrián Gabbarini -libre de Independiente-, al defensor Franco Lazzaroni (Defensa y Justicia), el mediocampista Damián Manso (Deportivo Cuenca) y el delantero David Trezeguet (River).

Entre las bajas, la más importante fue la de su goleador Ignacio Scocco (Inter de Porto Alegre) y la del defensor Santiago Vergini, quien no seguirá en el club rosarino.

Heinze: "Voy a seguir un tiempo más"

ROSARIO -- El defensor Gabriel Heinze anunciará el viernes oficialmente que continuará en Newell´s Old Boys por los próximos seis meses.
"Voy a seguir un tiempo más. Considero que puedo aportarle más a este club y también sigo por todos los chicos que están haciendo un esfuerzo grande para mantener este camino", expresó el jugador por una señal de cable.

De esta manera, Heinze, de 35 años, continuará ligado en el club, con el que se consagró en el Torneo Final 2013, hasta diciembre y luego se decidirá si extiende hasta junio de 2014.

Tagliafico no llegará a Racing

BUENOS AIRES -- El presidente de Banfield, Eduardo Spinoza, confirmó el viernes que el lateral Nicolás Tagliafico no pasará a Racing Club y admitió que le molestó que el técnico Luis Zubeldía haya intervenido para presionar al jugador.
"Lo de Tagliafico a Racing ya no hay chances. Estuve hablando con Cogorno y Molina y les dije que la posibilidad está caída hace varios días desde que se cayó la llegada de Cámpora, que era un jugador que nos interesaba", expresó el dirigente por una señal de cable deportiva.

Spinoza reconoció además que le molestó que le técnico de Racing, Zubeldía, haya llamado a Tagliafico para que este presione a Banfield y pueda desembarcar en Racing.

"Nos molestó un poquito y más de alguien tan ligado a Lanús (por Zubeldía). Primero hay que esperar que los clubes se pongan de acuerdo y después hablar. Hay cierta molestia porque incomodó al jugador", señaló el presidente.

Så er der sæson start i Colombia...

Inicia el Finzalición en Colombia

BOGOTÁ -- El actual campeón colombiano, el Atlético Nacional, comenzará el viernes la defensa de su título en el torneo Finalización colombiano ante el Atlético Huila, al que visitará en su casa en la ciudad de Neiva, en el sur del país.

El equipo verde, dirigido por Juan Carlos Osorio, no contará para esta nueva temporada con el volante creativo Macnelly Torres, quien jugará en el fútbol árabe, al tiempo que no se han confirmado grandes contrataciones para el equipo.

El Nacional viene de derrotar al Sevilla español en uno de los compromisos de la Copa Euroamericana, que enfrenta a clubes de América y Europa.

Por su parte, el Millonarios, que juega el domingo con el Equidad, es uno de los equipos que más se ha reforzado para esta temporada con la llegada de cuatro jugadores, entre los que destacan el volante argentino David Ramírez y el delantero Dayro Moreno.

En busca de una mejor temporada, el Atlético Junior, que inicia el torneo visitando al Envigado, se ha reforzado con siete jugadores.

El equipo del argentino Miguel Ángel ´Zurdo´ López cuenta ahora con Michael Ortega, quien regresó de Alemania, además de Tressor Moreno, Juan Guillermo Domínguez, Jhersson Córdoba, Jamell Ramos, Felipe Correa y el paraguayo Marcos Riveros.

Se destaca además en el inicio del campeonato el partido entre el Independiente Medellín y el Deportes Tolima, de buen desempeño en el torneo Apertura, así como el encuentro entre el Once Caldas y el Deportivo Cali.

Cierra esta primera jornada el partido entre el subcampeón del torneo Apertura, el Independiente Santa Fe, y el Alianza Petrolera el martes 30 de julio.

Este partido fue aplazado a petición del equipo rojo de Bogotá, que pidió a la División Mayor del Fútbol Colombiano (Dimayor) unos días más de preparación luego de disputar la semana pasada la final en la que perdió el título con el Atlético Nacional en Bogotá.

= PROGRAMA DE LA PRIMERA FECHA:

Viernes:

Atlético Huila - Atlético Nacional

Cúcuta Deportivo - Itagüí


Sábado:

Deportivo Pasto - Deportes Quindío

Boyacá Chicó - Patriotas

Equidad - Millonarios


Domingo:

Independiente Medellín - Deportes Tolima

Once Caldas - Deportivo Cali

Envigado - Atlético Junior


Martes: Independiente Santa Fe - Alianza Petrolera.

Sporting fichó a Fredy Montero

LISBOA -- El internacional colombiano Fredy Montero recalará en el Sporting de Lisboa cedido por el club estadounidense Seattle Sounders, informan los medios portugueses.

Montero, que cumplirá 26 años a finales de este mes, jugó los últimos seis meses también en régimen de cesión en el colombiano Millonarios.

El Sporting, que atraviesa una crítica situación económica, se guardó una opción de compra para adquirir el jugador.

En un proceso de profunda transformación liderado por el presidente Bruno de Carvalho, el Sporting, el tercer club portugués más laureado, apuntala con Montero una joven plantilla que tiene como meta volver a conquistar la Liga portuguesa once años después de la última.

Montero es el cuarto refuerzo del Sporting después de los brasileños Jefferson y Maurício, lateral zurdo y central, respectivamente, y el delantero de Guinea-Bissau Salim Cissé.

sæsonstart i Paraguay.

Comienza el Clausura paraguayo

ASUNCIÓN -- El Guaraní y el Libertad se preparan para luchar por la revancha en el torneo Clausura 2013 paraguayo, que arranca el viernes con el Nacional como favorito, tras ganar el pasado torneo Apertura.

Al Guaraní no le basta con ser segundo como en el anterior torneo, que el Nacional ganó con holgura, y se prepara "con muchas pretensiones" para la nueva competición, declaró el veterano arquero Pablo Aurrecochea.

"Contamos con nuevos jugadores que andan muy bien y tienen sed de hacer bien las cosas", advirtió el portero del Legendario, que se enfrentará el viernes con el Cerro Porteño.

Francisco Arce, técnico de Cerro Porteño, aseguró el jueves que el Ciclón tiene suficiente capacidad como para afrontar tanto el Clausura como la Copa Sudamericana.

"Tenemos que ser muy inteligentes al jugarlo y ver cómo tomar los torneos. El elenco es capaz de afrontar las dos cosas y capaz surjan imprevistos en la disputa, vamos a tener que intervenir y ver con quién reemplazarlo", expresó Arce, citado por medios locales.

Arce se mostró conforme con los trabajos previos y dijo que tiene buenas expectativas para el compromiso de este viernes ante el Guaraní.

El Nacional se estrena el viernes contra el Rubio Ñu con "un plantel unido, caracterizado por la humildad y sus ganas de seguir ganado cosas", según declaró el jugador Nicolás Martínez.

El plantel del campeón de la última edición del Apertura está renovando su plantilla, que sufrió la pérdida de siete jugadores, siendo el último en marchar el futbolista Marcos Rivero, quien jugará para el Atlético Junior colombiano.

Martínez destacó que los refuerzos contratados por el club "se acoplan de gran manera" y serán de gran ayuda para el equipo.

El Libertad, que quedó tercero en el torneo anterior, y el General Díaz, colista en el Apertura, se enfrentarán el sábado en casa del último.

La primera jornada del Clausura terminará el domingo con los encuentros entre el Sol de América con el Capiatá; el Cerro Porteño de Presidente Franco y el Luqueño.

Por último, el Olimpia, que regresó el viernes de Brasil tras ser derrotado en la final de la Copa Libertadores por el Altético Mineiro, se enfrentará al Carapeguá.

= PROGRAMA DE LA PRIMERA FECHA:

- Viernes 26 de julio: Cerro Porteño-Guaraní y Rubio Ñu-Nacional.

- Sábado 27 de julio: General Díaz-Libertad.

- Domingo 28 de julio: Sol de América-Capiatá, Presidente Franco-Luqueño y Olimpia-Carapeguá.

Champions crash out as Copa Chile enters elimination round

THURSDAY, 25 JULY 2013 16:29

Cup holder Universidad de Chile and reigning league champion Unión Española fail to advance as championship heads to round of 16.

Just two weeks ago Chile’s league and championship holders were battling it out for the Supercopa. Now both of last season’s big winners have been eliminated from the Copa Chile, as the championship heads to its knockout phase.

Universidad de Chile, current holder of the Copa, and Unión Española, who won last year’s League, are now both eliminated after the last round of the group stage.

Cup defender “La U” concluded an abysmal campaign with a 2-2 draw against Chillán-based Ñublense, to crash out at the bottom of the group. In a tougher group, which included cross town rival Universidad Católica, “Los Rojos” were also unable to secure enough points to progress to the round of 16, despite a convincing 3-0 win against Palestino on Tuesday.

After a tumultuous past few seasons, marred by off-field dysfunction, Chile’s largest and most historically successful club, Colo Colo has already qualified for the elimination round. It will have the chance to take top spot in its group when it plays third-placed Santiago Morning this Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

With three matches to play in the last round of the group stage, all but one of the 16 spots in the elimination round have been secured. Audax Italiano and Curicó Unido will vie for the last berth Thursday at 7:30 p.m. with the Primera B side, Curicó, needing a victory to leapfrog its Santiago-based opponent.

The side from the Maule Region will be looking to join fellow second division sides Deportes Temuco, Deportes Concepción, Coquimbo Unido, San Luis and Unión San Felipe in the round of 16.

Once the 16 sides are established, they will be paired by lottery for a home and away elimination round, to be played in September.

Tim V med lidt perspektiv på Cuca....

Atletico Mineiro triumph a reflection of Cuca´s genius

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil -- It may be a mere exercise in futurology, but who could be the next coach of Brazil?

The strong probability is that, whatever happens next year, Luiz Felipe Scolari will step down after the 2014 World Cup. If he leads Brazil to victory, he is likely to quit while he is ahead, just as he did in 2002. Any other result and his position will surely not be tenable.

The word is that the current Under-20 coach, Alexandre Gallo, is being groomed for the top job, but 2014 may be too soon for him. That would not be the case, though, for Tite, the impressively articulate coach of Corinthians, who has led the Sao Paulo giants to Brazilian, Copa Libertadores and Club World Cup titles.

And now, a new contender has emerged: Tite´s successor as the Copa Libertadores-winning coach -- Alexi Stival, known simply as Cuca, who on Wednesday night in dramatic fashion guided Atletico Mineiro to their first major title since 1971.

Since then, some truly great players have worn the black and white stripes of the Belo Horizonte club -- I´m writing on a plane on which Reinaldo, a magnificent centre forward from the ´70s and ´80s, is also traveling. His generation, which also included the wonderful midfielder Toninho Cerezo, came close, but it is Cuca who has finally carried the club over the line. The penalty-shootout win over Olimpia of Paraguay immortalises the coach in Atletico´s history.

A midfielder in his playing days, Cuca has established himself over the course of his 10-year coaching career as someone who consistently produces attractive, attacking sides, fluid and pleasing to the eye. He has had impressive spells with a number of club sides, most notably Goias, Sao Paulo, Botafogo and Cruzeiro.

But, rather like Atletico Mineiro in recent years, he acquired a reputation for being a nearly man. When the serious silverware was being handed out, Cuca did not appear in the photograph.

Some attributed this to his own personality. Cuca has a kind of Don Quixote quality. He is a romantic with an air of melancholy, the attacking coach of the sorrowful countenance.

But he was looking far happier in the postmatch news conference, though he was clearly emotionally drained by the experience. And he was soon sopping wet. He was interrupted in mid-answer when a group of his players sneaked into the room and doused him with water. After a brief pause to dry off, he started speaking again, only to be showered with champagne. He carried on until a third invasion soaked him once more with water, and he rushed off to gain revenge on his unruly bunch of players.

It was the affectionate exuberance of victory. As they enjoyed their hijinks, the players were telling the press that they could no longer describe Cuca as the permanently unlucky man of Brazilian football.

Clearly, Atletico have been lucky to have had him as coach. When he took over some two years ago, the club were battling relegation. He steadied the ship, rebuilt the side, and a year later they came in second in the Brazilian championship -- a prelude to landing the continental title. Along the way, Ronaldinho has recaptured some of the joy that once made him the best, and certainly the most watchable, player in the world game. He is not the force he was at his 2004-05 peak, but under Cuca he has recaptured some of his former glory.

And centre forward Jo has reminded everyone why he was once such an exciting prospect. After an interesting start with Corinthians, and in Russia with CSKA Moscow, Jo went off the rails for a while. During his time in England (with Manchester City and Everton) and back in Brazil with Internacional, he gave the impression that football had ceased to be the priority in his life. When Atletico teamed him up with Ronaldinho, most people feared the worst. It was thought that the pair would attract more headlines for their off-the-field adventures than for anything they did on the pitch.

However, Cuca has gotten the best out of them. Ronaldinho gets most of the headlines -- especially as he has now joined a select band of players who have won both the Champions League and the Copa Libertadores -- but Jo was clearly the more effective of the two in the final. He made a strong case for being considered man of the match in Wednesday´s decisive second leg, and he finished the Libertadores as the tournament´s top scorer.

Cuca´s capacity to work well with such wayward talent would certainly be an asset if the Brazil job were to come his way. And now that he´s proved he´s not a jinx, that possibility can no longer be dismissed.

HBO´s Real Sports sheds light on Chivas USA allegations

The HBO program Real Sports´ feature on Chivas USA, shown Tuesday night in the United States, won´t have made for easy viewing for Chivas owners Jorge Vergara, Angelica Fuentes or anyone else within the institution.

Real Sports investigated the ongoing case of two former youth coaches at Chivas USA -- Daniel Calichman and Theothoros Chronopoulos -- who allege that they lost their employment because they are not Mexican or of Mexican heritage.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the club expressed disappointment at the allegations before adding: "We absolutely reject any form of discrimination and racism."

There were alarming questions that need answering and the repercussions will be fascinating to follow, especially if the club is found guilty of discrimination in a court of law.

But while the piece dug into the swift change toward the "re-Mexicanization" that occurred since Vergara and Fuentes took full control of Chivas USA last summer, there were a few points relating to the Mexico link that perhaps should´ve been brought more to the fore.

The first is that the "Mexicanization" of Chivas USA is done very much with CD Guadalajara as the central focus, despite it being in a different country and 1,500 miles away. Chivas -- as Guadalajara is commonly known -- only play with Mexican players, but Americans with Mexican parents are also considered, so the handing out of questionnaires to youth players to find out their background -- however crass it may seem -- has to be understood with that in mind.

That´s not saying it is necessarily right but it does provide some background, especially if you consider Chivas have won just two titles in 26 years and are desperate to get the best young "Mexican" talent, whether that should be found in Mexico or the United States.

The other distinction that needs to be emphasized is the nationalistic sentiment that has always driven the club south of the border and its fans. The institution may have its quirks and the owners run things in a sometimes perplexing way, but any person with Mexican ties can play for the club regardless of race or background.

It´s hard to believe that an MLS franchise that did the same by using players from either the U.S. or Canada -- relying largely on producing its own players -- wouldn´t be very popular and widely acclaimed in its home country.

The thing that strikes when thinking about Chivas USA and the Real Sports feature is what exactly the club brings to Vergara and Fuentes.

Considered an abject failure in the U.S., with a discrimination lawsuit pending and a wave a bad feeling in general toward the franchise, it makes you wonder at what point the owners will think it just isn´t worth the effort.

The first time is the sweetest

Victor threw his arms wide and raced towards his team-mates, as the Mineirão exploded. Ronaldinho, smiling broadly, was amongst the black-and-white-striped group heading to embrace him. The former Barcelona star missed the opportunity to take the final penalty to hand the competition to his team, but no-one cared; Matias Giménez´s penalty miss moments earlier had handed Atlético Mineiro their first Copa Libertadores.

They didn´t make it easy for themselves. They were thoroughly outplayed in Asunción by Olimpia. The Paraguayans fully deserved their 2-0 first leg lead - even though their second goal came with the very last touch of the match, a brilliant free-kick from Wilson Pittoni - and their dreams of a fourth Copa in their seventh final were very much alive as they arrived in Belo Horizonte.

Olimpia´s plan in the second leg was similar to that of the semi-final second leg away to Independiente Santa Fe; attack early on, knowing that a third goal would severely complicate things for Atlético (although it wouldn´t be an away goal; away goals aren´t used in the final). They didn´t go gung-ho, but a direct, counter-attacking strategy caused a lacklustre Atlético real problems during the first half. Olimpia had fewer chances before the break, but theirs were the better ones - both sides had two shots on target in the first half; whilst Atlético´s were both from outside the box, Olimpia´s were both inside it.

In the second half, everything changed. Atlético manager Cuca sent Rosinei on for Pierre and the response was instant; inside a minute, Jô had put them 1-0 up on the night, cutting Olimpia´s aggregate lead to one. That set the tone for the second half, with the former Manchester City man leading the line and Ronaldino and Arsenal target Bernard causing no end of trouble as Atlético piled forward in search of an aggregate equaliser. It came when Leonardo Silva sent a looping header in with four minutes left.

By then, Olimpia had been reduced to ten men after Julio César Manzur was shown a second yellow, so the visitors struggled through the extra half hour - yes, as well as not counting away goals in the final, the rules also differ from earlier rounds so that there is extra time, rather than going straight to penalties - with ten men. By the end, both sides had spurned further chances to win, and Bernard was almost immobile with cramp. At the end of an epic final came a shootout that will go down in the history of belorizontino football.

If all that didn´t make Atlético´s win seem hard enough, remember that this was the second tie in a row in which they had to resort to penalties, following the shootout elimination of Newell´s Old Boys in the semis. Remember, too, that Tijuana´s Duvier Riascos had a penalty saved in the second minute of stoppage time of the quarter-final second leg; had he scored, it would have sent Tijuana, rather than Atlético, into the semis. Instead, Atlético advanced on away goals.

Those Atlético ties constituted three of the seven knockout stage ties which had to be decided on either away goals or penalties. But their home form has been phenomenal (in all competitions, they hadn´t lost in Independência for 53 games prior to the final), and they were the top scorers of the group stage.

That home record proved crucial. The last time a side lost the first leg of the final and won the Copa was Olimpia´s own win in 2002; the last time anyone came back from a 2-0 first leg deficit was Atlético Nacional in 1989, who funnily enough beat Olimpia. It also emphasises Brazil´s dominance of the competition; the last time a country´s sides managed four Copa wins in a row was when Independiente of Argentina got four straight between 1972 and ´75. To top it all, they managed to beat the ´curse´ of having finished the group stage with the best record. No Copa-winning side has managed to do it from that position since River Plate in 1996.

The second leg was played at the Mineirão due to CONMEBOL´s insistence that venues for the final have a capacity of at least 40,000. This was in spite of Olimpia playing their own home match in the Defensores de Chaco, a stadium which holds only 36,000 (though CONMEBOL, who are based in Paraguay, sent a letter to Atlético insisting it was forty-and-a-bit-thousand) - but happens to be the largest stadium in Paraguay.

One thing Atlético weren´t complaining about was the ticket sales which came from playing in a larger stadium. Takings of US$6.24 million, given the announced attendance of 56,557, means a mean average ticket price of about US$110. With the cheapest tickets costing US$45, it´s clear that the recent well-publicised complaints about ticket prices in Brazil shouldn´t be (and, indeed, aren´t) confined just to Rio and São Paulo; this match saw the biggest ever gate receipts for a club match on Brazilian soil.

Ronaldinho wrote his name into the record books again with another career title.

Afterwards, the continental broadcasters inevitably made a beeline for Ronaldinho, and I´m sure it wasn´t just because having grown up in the south of Brazil, relatively close to Argentina and Uruguay, he speaks excellent Spanish. He´d just become only the fourth player ever to win Europe´s Champions League, the World Cup and the Copa Libertadores, and was overjoyed. Unfortunately, he was being interviewed by an Argentine, so most of the questions were about his friendship with Lionel Messi.

I´ll extend a note of sympathy for Olimpia, not least for their Uruguayan goalkeeper Martin Silva. Silva hadn´t been great on crosses, but had - as throughout the tournament - made some brilliant saves to keep his side in the game, not least very late on from a Ronaldinho shot that took a wicked, almost 90 degree deflection just yards in front of him.

The fireworks have died down on a memorable Copa Libertadores, and we have a new champion of South America. And as ever, it´s been an awful lot of fun.