Snak

hmm, det kan være man skal prøve lidt Boliviansk fodbold senere.

Brazil confirm Australia friendly

World Cup hosts Brazil will face Australia in a friendly on September 7, the nations confirmed on Thursday.

The game was understood to have already been pencilled in for some time, with FIFA displaying the fixture on their website since July.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) have now announced that the match will take place as expected, publishing a story on their website confirming Australia will tackle the 2013 Confederations Cup winners at Estadio Mane Garrincha in the capital Brasilia on September 7, Brazil´s national independence day.

The match is likely to prove a stern test for Holger Osieck´s team, with Brazil on a high after dispatching reigning world and European champions Spain 3-0 in the Confederations Cup final on June 30.

The FFA rubber stamped the CBF´s announcement later on Tuesday (AEST), with Osieck saying it was a huge opportunity for his side.

"With less than 12 months to go to the World Cup this match is a great opportunity for us to get an impression of the environment we will face," Osieck said.

"Brazil is one of the top teams in the world and a great challenge for us as we prepare ourselves for the World Cup.

"This match will be a valuable learning experience for us both on and off the field."

Damiao rejects Southampton

Highly rated Internacional forward Leandro Damiao has turned down a move to English Premier League side Southampton.

The Tottenham and Napoli target, 24, has been hopeful of a move to Europe throughout the off-season, with his value set at £22million.

Southampton were reportedly ready to smash the club´s transfer record and offer £21m, but Damiao wants to join a bigger club.

"At the moment, things have quietened down in Brazil, but we are still waiting for that important call from the Old Continent," Damiao´s agent Vinicius Prates said.

"Southampton have made an approach, but we have decided to wait for a more ambitious club."

Several Premier League clubs are believed to be interested in Damiao, whose most likely destination appears to be Tottenham.

Napoli were in negotiations to bring Damiao to the Serie A, but they were unable to reach an agreement.

CONCACAF Champions League Wrap: Montreal edge San Jose


Montreal Impact punished MLS counterparts San Jose Earthquakes with a tight 1-0 win in the CONCACAF Champions League at Stade Saputo.

The Earthquakes had a golden chance to take an 11th-minute lead when Ramiro Corrales´ free-kick into the box was handled by Collen Warner and the referee pointed to the spot.

But striker Alan Gordon´s weak spot-kick was easily saved by Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush, with usual penalty taker Chris Wondolowski among the substitutes.

Four minutes later, the Impact made San Jose pay as Hassoun Camara shrugged off Gordon´s loose marking to direct Hernan Bernardello´s cross into the net.

Even with the late introduction of Earthquakes top scorer Wondolowski, an equaliser could not be found with Montreal getting their continental campaign off to the perfect start.

http://www.youtube.com/w…fL8_y9npFpY


Another MLS side, Sporting Kansas City, also started their campaign positively with a comfortable 2-0 victory at Nicaragua´s Real Esteli.

Strikes in either half from Ike Opara and Dominic Dwyer were enough to secure the points as Sporting dominated with five shots on target to Esteli´s one solitary effort.

http://www.youtube.com/w…zdrhfIIg3L8

Christian Bermudez scored the game´s only goal as Mexico´s Club America won at Panama´s Sporting San Miguelito.

The Mexican midfielder directed Andres Andrade´s assist past San Miguelito keeper Alex Rodriguez in the 24th minute to collect all three points.
http://www.youtube.com/w…sYPaFmxuG1w

Sporting Kansas City downs Real Esteli in CCL debut

Action from the August 7, 2013, CONCACAF Champions League match between the Sporting Kansas City (blue) and host Real Esteli. (Photo: Pinolerosports)

ESTELI, Nicaragua – Ike Opara and Dom Dwyer scored in each half to lift Sporting Kansas City to a 2-0 victory over Real Esteli in the Group 2 opener of the CONCACAF Champions League at the Estadio Independencia on Wednesday.

Opara ensured the Major League Soccer squad’s first-ever Champions League match would be a successful one, scoring what proved to be the winner in the 31st minute.

The defender latched on to a curling free kick by Benny Feilhaber and beat Real Esteli goalkeeper Justo Lorente with a looping header inside the far post from the edge of the six-yard box.

Just days after scoring his first Major League Soccer goal, Dwyer gave Sporting a much-needed insurance goal in the 76th minute. The English forward won the ball in the midfield, turned a Real Esteli defender, raced into the box and put a left-footed shot into the side netting from 14 meters.

Jacob Peterson threatened to give the visitors a second goal in the 38th minute, but his low cross across the face of the goal was corralled by Lorente after brief bobble.

In the 58th minute, forward Soony Saad dribbled along the top of the 18-yard box, looking for space to shoot. The U.S.-born Lebanon international, though, put his attempt over the crossbar.

Moments after Real Esteli leading scorer Rudel Calero replaced Juan Barrera, the Nicaraguan striker nearly equalized. His deflected 61st minute header from eight meters went out of bounds.

Five minutes later, Sporting Kansas City had a pair of quality chances. A Feilhaber shot in space sailed over the bar and Saad’s effort from 22 meters was parried over the bar by Lorente for a corner kick.

Dwyer sealed the encounter with 14 minutes left in regulation, securing three road points for Sporting Kansas City, which booked its first berth in the Champions League after winning the 2012 U.S. Open Cup.

Sporting will head to Tegucigalpa to take on Honduran powerhouse Olimpia in its next match on August 27, while Real Esteli -- winless in nine all-time Champions League outings – will host Olimpia in its next Group Stage match on August 21.

After five-year absence, Montreal back to CCL winning ways

MONTREAL, Canada – A first-half goal by Hassoun Camara lifted the Impact de Montreal to a 1-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes in the opening match of Group 5 in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday at Stade Saputo.

Camara separated from Alan Gordon and the French defender flicked in a header from eight meters following a free kick by Argentine midfielder Hernan Bernardello in the 16th minute in the all-Major League Soccer matchup.

Even before Camara’s goal, San Jose had the first chance to go ahead, when Puerto Rican referee Javier Santos ruled Collen Warner, who was standing on the edge of Montreal’s five-man wall, handled Ramiro Corrales’ free kick inside the box.

Gordon stepped to the spot, but American goalkeeper Evan Bush dived to his right and saved the 11th minute attempt.

Marco Di Vaio nearly doubled the Impact’s lead in the 28th minute on another set piece. The Italian forward’s free kick from 27 meters, however, deflected off the San Jose wall for a corner kick.

San Jose interim coach Mark Watson was forced to make his first change just before halftime as Sam Garza replaced injured Honduran midfielder Marvin Chavez.

Five minutes after the interval, the Earthquakes’ Adam Jahn found Garza with a perfect cross from the left. The 23-year-old’s open header inside the six-yard box went back across the goal and wide of the far post.

Two minutes later, San Jose midfielder Jaime Alas, on loan from Rosenborg BK in Norway, put his 28-yard free kick off the crossbar.

After doing well to absorb the pressure in its defensive third, the Impact’s Italian defender Marco Ferrari nearly added a second goal in the 65th minute. His header from Justin Mapp’s service hit off the crossbar from eight meters.

Montreal, which is making its first CONCACAF Champions League appearance since reaching the 2008-09 quarterfinals, will head to Estadio Cementos Progreso to take on Heredia in its second group stage match on August 21.

On week later, San Jose will travel to Guatemala City to face the Jaguares in its next encounter.

NOTES: Montreal has four wins and two draws in six all-time Champions League games at home…Montreal has conceded one goal or less in each of its six all-time Champions League home games.

Copa Sudamericana

Emelec, Universidad Católica, Itagui, Nacional (Paraguay), Colo Colo og colombianske La Equidad er videre til anden runde.

Emelec, with convincing forcefulness leaves no doubt



Emelec progressed smoothly to the next round of the Sudamericana with a 4-0 thrashing of Peruvian club Sport Huancayo (7-1 aggregate) in the second leg on Wednesday.

Midfielder Enner Valencia was the man of the match by scoring three goals in minutes 43, 51 and 71. The fourth was scored by Angel Mena in the 62nd minute.

The team led by Argentinian Gustavo Quinteros, who won the first leg 3-1, will play Universidad Católica of Chile in the next round.

The home side dominated the match that was played at the George Capwell stadium in Guayaquil.

The game was even until right before the half when Emelec was able to punch through and get the floodgates open. Emelec had prior chances before the first goal but continually came up short which only prolonged Huancayo´s agony.


http://www.youtube.com/w…sfalRMSLnlY



Universidad Católica get what they need to go on to the next stage


Universidad Católica of Chile qualified to the second round of the Copa Sudamericana after beating Cerro Porteño of Paraguay 1-0 in a match played before 25,000 spectators in Paraguay.

The only goal was scored in the 58th minute by striker Ismael Sosa who headed in the goal off a perfect pass from defender and captain Cristian Alvarez.

The lone goal came courtesy of a counterattack that was led by midfielder Fernando Meneses who combined with Alvarez, who later made ​​a perfect cross for Sosa to send home.

Cerro Porteno, who had become accustomed to monopolize the ball almost from the start of the game, forgot to take care of their rear, which was unguarded when Universidad scored their goal.

The first leg had ended in a 1-1 draw.

http://www.youtube.com/w…GUdRepKspts



An heroic tie qualifies Nacional of Paraguay

Nacional went to La Paz in hopes of qualifying that had been greatly complicated by not having won the first leg in Asunción. Nil-nil was the result of that game.

Silvio Torales scored at the 4 minute mark to make it 1-0 and give Nacional some breathing room. But slowly The Strongest started to take control of the game and have most of the possession. Controversy came in the 24th minute when The Strongest´s Pablo Escobar scored from free kick but the play was nullified by an offside call.

It didn´t take long for The Strongest to score in the beginning of the second period when Jair Reinoso scored at the 4 minute mark. From that point on however the field started to tilt Nacional´s way. The Strongest tried their best to get the next goal which would have put them through to the next stage but Nacional withstood their attacks and were able to qualify thanks to the visiting goal.

At the end of the match there were incidents between players and team attendants protesting what they thought was a bad performance by Argentine referee Saul Laverni.

http://www.youtube.com/w…xgIMI5CWv9o


Itagüí, get a much awaited 3-2 win

Colombian club Itagüí qualified for the second stage of the Copa Sudamericana after defeating Juan Aurich 3-2 on Wednesday at the Francisco Mendoza stadium in the city of Olmos.

Itagüí got goals from García in the second minute, Restrepo in the 12th and Cortes in the 85th. Juan Aurich got their two from Ovelar in the 22nd and Viza in the 79th.

The ´Golden Eagles´ were better on the day with collective and aggressive play from the first minutes of the match played in the city of Olmos before a small number of spectators.

Juan Aurich played poorly and failed to overcome their 3-0 loss in the first leg.

Itagüí will next go up against River Plate who eliminated Blooming of Bolivia 4-0 on Tuesday in Montevideo.

http://www.youtube.com/w…HWsKKKGbQS0


Colo Colo festejó bajo intensa lluvia el pase a la siguiente fase

Colo Colo de Chile avanzó a segunda fase de la Copa Sudamericana 2013, tras ganarle 2-0 a El Tanque Sisley de Uruguay, en partido de revancha jugado este miércoles en el estadio Monumental de Santiago.

El cuadro chileno, que había ganado 1-0 en el duelo de ida, logró su clasificación gracias a los goles del volante paraguayo Fabián Benítez a los 12 minutos, y del delantero argentino Javier Toledo (15), y eliminó a El Tanque, debutante en la Copa Sudamericana.

Colo Colo tuvo momentos de buen fútbol que le permitieron anotar los dos goles de la clasificación, pero tuvo grandes dificultades de ser el protagonista del juego, debido a la falta de conexión de sus jugadores por una fuerte lluvia que evitó el buen juego en ambos equipos.

En tanto, El Tanque Sisley dominó en gran parte del partido, e incluso tuvo clarísimas ocasiones para haber hecho historia en esta su primera participación internacional, pero nunca pudo concretar sus opciones, con lo que acabó su sueño en la Sudamericana.

Colo Colo enfrentará en segunda fase de la Copa Sudamericana al colombiano Deportivo Pasto que eliminó al peruano Melgar.

http://www.youtube.com/w…S3suFLG7rs0

Midtuge runde i Argentina....

Boca scrape victory in Cordoba; Argentinos and Estudiantes also win

Boca Juniors kicked off their season with a rather fortunate victory in Cordoba, aided by some generous officiating. Belgrano led early through Sebastian Carrera but were quickly pegged back by Juan Riquelme’s penalty. The home side then had 2 goals chalked out for offside both very marginal, the second probably incorrectly, and then with minutes left on the clock, Boca defender, Daniel Diaz rose to head home the winner.

Earlier, Argentinos Juniors got their first win of the season, winning 2-0 against Colon.

In the late kick off, Estudiantes edged a narrow 1-0 win over All Boys in La Plata. In Juan Veron’s first competitive game back in the Estadio Unico, Gil Romero’s first half strike was enough for victory.

ARGENTINOS JUNIORS 2 – 0 COLON

http://www.youtube.com/w…muzLcOAiFM4

BELGRANO 1 – 2 BOCA JUNIORS

http://www.youtube.com/w…Ck5HS3mgihM

ESTUDIANTES 1 – 0 ALL BOYS

http://www.youtube.com/w…Qc6j8z0oKsY

Romagnoli: "S. Lorenzo es candidato"

BUENOS AIRES -- Leandro Romagnoli, uno de los referentes del equipo de Juan Pizzi, se mostró muy contento por la victoria del conjunto de Boedo en el debut y reconoció que "en este club siempre hay que pelear el título por su grandeza".

Romagnoli, titular en el debut de San Lorenzo, manifestó su confianza por el equipo y reconoció que "San Lorenzo siempre es candidato por ser un club tan grande". Además resaltó el buen trabajo de Martín Cauteruccio, autor de los goles para los de Boedo.

"Con Olimpo se nos complicó pero pudimos ganar", reconoció el Pipi en declaraciones a AM950.

El mediocampista ofensivo consideró que las grandes dimensiones del estadio del Bajo Flores complican a un equipo como el de Boedo, al momento de mantener un resultado.

Por otro lado, Romagnoli realzó la labor de sus compañeros, aunque "el buen pie no alcanza".

Por último, el Pipi destacó el trabajo de Cauteruccio y remarcó que "siempre está bien ubicado". "Es un jugador muy interesante", concluyó.

Respecto a su posición en la cancha, Romagnoli dijo que está preparado para enfrentar a Racing Club la próxima fecha del campeonato local: "Juan (Pizzi) es el que decide, pero uno tiene estar mentalizado para jugar".

"El puesto que más me gusta es de enganche y con dos puntas, pero es cierto que a veces la edad no te lo permite", agregó.

LA PRÁCTICA DEL MIÉRCOLES

Por otra parte, el entrenador Pizzi llevó a cabo una práctica de fútbol en la cancha auxiliar del Nuevo Gasómetro donde realizó cuatro variantes en la formación que el viernes visitará a Racing Club.

Pizzi dispuso los ingresos de Matías Catalán, Santiago Gentiletti, Néstor Ortigoza e Ignacio Piatti por Gonzalo Prósperi, Pablo Alvarado, Julio Buffarini y Gonzalo Verón, respectivamente.

El equipo formó con: Cristian Álvarez; Catalán, Mauro Cetto, Gentiletti y Emmanuel Más; Juan Mercier y Ortigoza; Piatti, Ángel Correa y Romagnoli; y Cauteruccio.

El plantel de San Lorenzo retornará el jueves a los entrenamientos con vistas al partido del viernes, a las 19.10, ante Racing Club, por la segunda fecha del torneo Inicial 2013.

Russo: "Respetamos a River"

ROSARIO -- El entrenador de Rosario Central, Miguel Angel Russo, afirmó que River, rival del viernes por segunda fecha de torneo Inicial, tiene "lo suyo", pero rescató que pueden ir "convencidos" al estadio Monumental para obtener un buen resultado.

"River es River, tampoco voy a hablar mucho. Ellos también tienen lo suyo, pero tenemos el material para ir convencidos", manifestó Russo en rueda de prensa una vez finalizado el entrenamiento en el predio de Arroyo Seco.

"Respetamos al rival por todo lo que representa, y sabemos que tiene jugadores de jerarquía, pero confiando en nosotros. Siempre pensamos en mejorar y nos estamos acomodando, tanto los que estamos de antes, como la gente que ha llegado", indicó el ex DT de Estudiantes LP, Lanús, Vélez y Boca Juniors.

En cuanto a la formación del equipo, Russo confirmó que el defensor Rafael Delgado ingresá por Jonatan Schulze y significará la única modificación del equipo, con respecto al que superó 2-0 a Quilmes, en el debut al torneo Inicial y que marcó el regreso del club rosarino a la máxima categoría del fútbol argentino.

"Está la vuelta del Chelo (Delgado). La idea primordial es mantener a los mismos, pero no quita que podamos usar otra alternativa", manifestó Russo.

En consecuencia, Rosario Central formará con Mauricio Caranta; Paulo Ferrari, Alejandro Donatti, Franco Peppino y Delgado; Hernán Encina, Federico Carrizo, Nery Domínguez y Diego Lagos; Antonio Medina y Carlos Luna.

El exvolante de Estudiantes La Plata también se refirió a la tragedia que ocurrió el martes en Rosario en el edificio de la calle Oroño, donde explotó una caldera y dejó como saldo varios muertos y heridos: "Lo deportivo es una cosa que queda en segundo plano, estamos muy impresionados desde ayer (martes)".

Y agregó: "Al darnos cuenta de la magnitud de lo ocurrido, quedamos muy apenados. Si bien nos toca hablar de Central, una cosa no quita a la otra".

Rosario Central visitará el viernes a River Plate desde las 21.15, en partido válido por la segunda fecha del torneo Inicial 2013, que se desarrollará en el estadio Antonio V. Liberti, con el arbitraje de Silvio Trucco.