Snak

Liverpool close in on £5m Guilherme Siqueira signing

Liverpool are close to completing the £5 million signing of Granada´s Brazilian left-back Guilherme Siqueira according to reports in England.

The Guardian and The Times both suggest that the Reds are set to seal the transfer in the coming days as competition for current first choice left-back Jose Enrique.

The Merseyside giants were also reportedly interested in Valencia´s underperforming French left-back Aly Cissokho but it appears that Brendan Rodgers has decided to go for Siqueira.

The 27-year-old has been a late bloomer, having made his professional debut for Udinese in 2006, going on to make 24 appearances in five years.

The Brazilian was then loaned out to Granada in 2011, excelling in for the La Liga side before signing permanently the following season.

The full-back has also made himself somewhat of a penalty expert, having netted 12 goals in two years for Granada with the majority of them from the spot.

frisparket mod Mexico er også en klassiker.

@Kayokay....

Ja det er altid en fornøjelse at se den slags mål blive scoret mod Mexico.


Opinion: Bernard joins the Brazilian boys club at Shakhtar Donetsk

James Nalton takes a look at Shakhtar Donetsk’s history with Brazilian players after the signing of Bernard from Atlético Mineiro...

Upon moving to the Ukraine, Bernard has become Shakhtar Donetsk’s fourth Brazilian signing of this transfer window, and one of 15 Brazilian players currently on their books.

The highly-rated forward cost Shakhtar £21.5m, as they fought off competition for his signature from Arsenal, Porto, Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund, and Liverpool.

He joins a long line of players from Brazil to join the club, and is one of the more expensive signings in the history of Shakhtar’s Brazilian project.

The first to arrive was centre-forward Brandão, who joined from the relatively unknown Paraná based team, Iraty Sport Club.

Brandão spent around seven years at the club, and is currently fourth on their all time top goalscorer list, behind Soviet icons Mykhaylo Sokolovsky, Vitaliy Starukhin, and former Ukraine international Andriy Vorobey in first.

Just behind Brandão on this list is another Brazilian Luiz Adriano, who arrived from Internacional in 2007 and still plays for the club. He has recently taken up Ukranian citizenship, and has mooted the possibility of playing for the national team should the opportunity arise.

"I love Ukraine very much. The whole world learned about me when I started playing here. I’m very grateful to this country, and I consider it to be my second home," said Adriano.

"I’m even ready to replace my passport if I’m called up to Ukraine’s national team. I think that I could strengthen the team."

The success of Shakhtar’s Brazilian players has led to numerous trophies for the club under the leadership of Romanian manager Mircea Lucescu, who has even taken up the Portuguese language in order to help these players feel at home.

Since Luscescu’s arrival in 2004, the club have only missed out on the Ukranian Premier League twice, and have become a regular force in Europe along the way. They won the UEFA Cup in 2009 thanks to goals from the aforementioned Luiz Adriano, as well as Brazilian attacking midfielder Jadson, who is now at São Paulo.

In the current transfer window Shakhtar sold one of their finest Brazilian imports, Fernandinho, to Manchester City for a princely sum of £30m. The midfielder joined Shakhtar for £7m from Altlético Paranaense back in 2005, and endeared himself to the team’s fans with his professionalism and consistent performances.

He learned to speak the local language while in Donetsk, and was so highly regarded that he was made vice-captain during his last few years. Fernandinho’s departure has led to a replenishment of the club’s Brazilian stock, and then some.

In addition to Bernard, the club have signed attacking midfielder Fred from Internacional, Wellington Nem from Flumnense, and recently-capped defensive midfielder Fernando from Grêmio. All four players are 21 or younger, and regular Seleção call-ups are predicted for each player in the future.

Taison, Alex Teixeira, Douglas Costa, Ismaily, Maicon, and Ilsinho make up the rest of the Brazilian contingent, with three other Brazilian players currently out on loan.

Shakhtar’s Brazilian project is an exciting success story which combines a stereotypical mixture of Brazilian flair and Ukranian steel. The Ukranian Premier League’s foreign player limits can be an obstacle for some clubs, but Shaktar’s billionaire owner Rinat Akhmetov seems to have found the perfect balance.

It is a system from which the club’s owner, manager, and players can all reap the benefits. But most importantly it’s one which football fans around the world can enjoy, as they marvel at the Brazilian surprises that Shakhtar have in store for the upcoming season.

International Friendly Preview: Germany v Paraguay

Bayern Munich duo Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Goetze are key omissions from Germany´s squad to face Paraguay on Wednesday.

The midfield pair have been hampered by injuries, with Schweinsteiger struggling with an ankle complaint, while Goetze steps-up his recovery after a groin problem.

And manager Joachim Loew has decided not to risk their fitness for the fixture at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion.

Schalke´s 21-year-old midfielder Julian Draxler was in line to earn his seventh cap, but withdrew from the squad after injuring his Achilles tendon in the club´s 3-3 draw with Hamburg.

Loew has recalled nine players from Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund who were left out of the country´s two-match tour of the United States in June, after featuring in May´s UEFA Champions League final.

Among those brought back are Bayern defenders Jerome Boateng and Philipp Lahm, while Dortmund midfielders Sven Bender and Marco Reus are also named.

And Loew was pleased to welcome back some familiar faces as they warm up with Wednesday´s friendly ahead of vital FIFA World Cup qualifying fixtures in September and October.

"I am very pleased that for the first time in five months we have many of the players back who form the backbone of the team," he said.

"It is important to start well to start in a season which will end for us with the World Cup in Brazil."

Mario Gomez and Andre Schuerrle are both named in the squad, and Loew believes the pair will benefit from close-season moves to Fiorentina and Chelsea respectively.

"I´m sure both players will gain from their experiences abroad," he continued. "You can see that Schuerrle is in good hands with Jose Mourinho from the progress Mesut Oezil and Sami Khedira made under him."

An experimental Germany side lost their last fixture 4-3 against the United States in June.

But the three-time World Cup winners are in generally good shape, having gone on a nine-game unbeaten run previous to that defeat.

Paraguay manager Victor Genes has named a 21-man squad, including Barcelona´s 17-year-old striker Antonio Sanabria, who is a reported transfer target for Premier League side Arsenal.

Liga MX outfit Toluca are well represented, with Richard Ortiz, Pablo Velazquez and Edgar Benitez all included.

Paraguay lost their last two fixtures, both World Cup qualifiers, against Ecuador and Chile, and they sit bottom of the South American qualifying table with eight points from 12 games.

Den colombianske landsholdspiller Carlos Sánchez bliver Elches niende signing...

og en Canalero også.....

Nice move !!!!

Elche se adelanta al Sevilla y ficha a Carlos Sánchez por las próximas tres temporadas

El centrocampista colombiano Carlos Sánchez jugará finalmente en el Elche, con el que se ha comprometido para las tres próximas temporadas, según ha hecho oficial el club ilicitano.

El fichaje se cerró a primera hora de la madrugada de hoy, después de que la comisión deportiva ilicitana hiciera valer el acuerdo al que se había llegado con los representantes del jugador, después de que Carlos Sánchez estuviera a punto de dejar plantado al Elche y fichar por el Sevilla, tal y como apuntaron a Efe fuentes próximas al consejo de administración del club ilicitano.

Fran Escribá, entrenador del Elche, no podrá contar con el centrocampista colombiano hasta el próximo jueves, ya que mañana se incorpora a la selección de su país con la que se enfrentará a Serbia en Barcelona.

Carlos Alberto Sánchez, pese a que es colombiano, se formó en los equipos inferiores del Danubio uruguayo, de donde pasó al River Plate de Montevideo y luego al Valenciennes francés, del que llega libre al Elche.

El centrocampista, de 26 años, es el noveno refuerzo del Elche para la próxima temporada, después de que se hayan incorporado Toño Rodríguez (Granada), Cristian Sapunaru (Zaragoza), David Lombán (Barcelona B), Alberto Botía (Sevilla), Domingo Cisma (Atlético de Madrid), Miroslav Stevanovic (Sevilla), Rubén Pérez (Atlético de Madrid) y Manu del Moral (Sevilla).

El Elche sigue buscando dos delanteros y un jugador de banda derecha para cerrar la plantilla de la temporada 2013-14, aunque no se descarta la contratación de un cuarto defensa central.

Por otra parte, el Elche también ha hecho oficial la contratación, por una temporada, del centrocampista internacional panameño Jairo Jiménez, que procede del Chorrillo y que llega para reforzar el centro del campo del filial ilicitano, que milita en Segunda B.

Mac10 eller Quintero i den colombianske start opstilling.


La Polémica: Ante la partida de Macnelly a Arabia ¿Quintero debe ser titular en la selección?

Torres aceptó la oferta económica del Al-Shabab y se fue de Nacional.

Macnelly Torres es habitual en la selección Colombia, es uno de los hombres de confianza de José Pékerman en el mediocampo, pero la partida del creativo a la Liga de Arabia Saudí pone en duda su puesto en la titular de la selección Colombia.

El jugador dijo después del título que Nacional le ganó a Santa Fe, que tenía una jugosa oferta del fútbol árabe, y que si llegaba a aceptarla lo haría pensando exclusivamente en el bienestar de su familia.

Torres aceptó y jugará en el Al-Shabab de Arabia Saudí, el club de la capital –Riad-- y actual campeón de la Liga Árabe de Fútbol. Torneo en el cual participan 16 equipos, y que tendrá su inicio el próximo 26 de agosto cuando el nuevo equipo de ‘Mac’ enfrente al Al Ittihad. El Al-Shabab también jugará la Liga de Campeones de Asia, torneo en el cual enfrentará al Kashiwa Reysol de Japón.

No tendrá mucha actividad futbolística en Arabia Macnelly Torres, pero el punto, es que la liga de ese país asiático no es muy competitiva, además de que no tiene visibilidad ante los medios de comunicación colombianos.

Además, la Pro League de Árabia es un torneo de un año, con tan sólo 26 jornadas. Mientras que acá, Nacional y Santa Fe jugaron en la Liga Postobón 2013-I --torneo que se juega en un semestre-- esos mismos 26 partidos. La carga de partidos para el colombiano bajaría a más de la mitad de los que hubiera disputado con Nacional, si hubiera jugado Copa Sudamericana este año y Copa Libertadores en el primer semestre del 2014.

En el Al-Shabab, Torres tendrá como entrenador al mundialista belga, Michel Preud’homme, quien desde el 2011 dirige al club de Riad. En las filas de este equipo ya jugó un colombiano, el atacante Leider Preciado, quien estuvo allí en el año 2005.

Es una incógnita si José Pékerman seguirá convocando a Macnelly, lo más seguro es que lo siga haciendo, pero el nivel con el que llegue el colombiano es una duda que le abre la puerta a otros jugadores en esa posición.

Por otra parte, después del gran mundial Sub-20 que realizó en Turquía, no sería muy descabellado que Juan Fernando Quintero fuera el reemplazo natural de Torres en el mediocampo de Colombia. El zurdo demostró en Turquía que viene en crecimiento, y dejó ver las calidades y la visión futbolística que posee.

Quintero es el clásico 10, además tiene gol, pegada de media distancia, tiro libre, y tiene gran visión para lanzar pases o pelotazos a espaldas de las espaldas contrarias.

Sería un muy buen complemento para James Rodríguez, a quien Pékerman ubica como volante por la izquierda. Quintero incluso le daría un plus a la selección, un crecimiento en ese puesto de volante creativo. El jugador del Porto tiene más proyección, y más condiciones que Macnelly.

Juan Fernando ya ha estado en algunas de las convocatorias de José Pékerman, incluso en el amistoso que Colombia le ganó a Camerún el pasado 16 de octubre, el zurdo fue titular y debutó con la selección de mayores.

En el amistoso del próximo 14 de agosto frente a Serbia, sería bueno que Pékerman le diera minutos, para que Quintero siga demostrando, que se merece un lugar en el once titular de la selección Colombia.

International Friendly Preview: Dominican Republic v Costa Rica

Costa Rica will be hoping to atone for their blip at the CONCACAF Gold Cup when they face the Dominican Republic in a friendly on Wednesday.

Jorge Luis Pinto´s side had enjoyed an excellent 2013 before bowing out of the Gold Cup at the quarter-final stage against Honduras.

Prior to that though, Costa Rica were in stunning form, winning 10 of their first 14 matches of the calendar year, and they will be confident of continuing that form on the road in Sabana Larga in this fixture.

They sit second in the fourth and final round of the CONCACAF federation’s FIFA World Cup qualifying – sandwiched in between the USA and Mexico – and are well placed to reach the 2014 event in Brazil as a result.

And although they dropped three places in the last edition of the FIFA rankings to 42nd, they started the year in 66th, indicating just how rapid their improvement has been.

Key to Costa Rica´s form has been a spread of goalscorers, with 11 different players netting for them this year, while Columbus Crew striker Jairo Arrieta has been a constant threat.

In Fulham´s Bryan Ruiz and AIK´s Celso Borges, Costa Rica have genuine match-winners in their team and Pinto has spoken about how happy he was with his team´s development.

Of Costa Rica´s year, Pinto said: "It´s very pleasing.

"There´s no doubt about it. We´re delighted that we´ve fulfilled the criteria of the people who do the ranking and that we´ve climbed our way up.

"I hope we get that chance to go to the World Cup. I´m convinced we´re on the right track and we´ll keep on battling."

Costa Rica will host the USA in a crucial World Cup qualifier in September before travelling to Jamaica for a match just four days later.

The Dominican Republic have played just once in 2013 with their attempt to qualify for the World Cup ending in 2011’s second round.

That fixture was a 3-1 friendly win over Haiti in March, in which Kerbi Rodriguez, Jonathan Fana and Mariano Diaz all scored.

The island nation, ranked 86th in the world have never played Costa Rica before in an international fixture.

International Friendly Preview: Colombia v Serbia

Colombia will begin their preparations for a crucial FIFA World Cup qualifier against Ecuador with a friendly against Serbia on Wednesday.

Jose Pekerman´s side take on the European nation in Spain, with the match to be held at Barcelona´s second stadium.

Colombia, who have won three of their five matches in 2013, will use the fixture as a tune-up for a match in September that could seal their place at next year´s World Cup in Brazil.

The South American nation sit third in the FIFA rankings after an excellent qualifying campaign in which they have gained 23 points from 12 matches.

Only Argentina (26 points) sit above them in the final stage of qualification in South America, although third-placed Ecuador (21 points) are snapping at their heels.

But with Colombia seven points ahead of fifth-placed Uruguay, with just four games to play, qualification could be confirmed next month.

And for that reason Pekerman has selected a full-strength squad for the fixture against Serbia, headlined by Monaco striker Radamel Falcao.

Falcao scored on his Ligue 1 debut on Saturday, helping Monaco to a 2-0 victory at Bordeaux.

The 27-year-old – who joined Monaco for a reported transfer fee of €60million – has scored six goals in Colombia´s last 10 fixtures.

Other big names included in Colombia´s squad are Porto´s Jackson Martinez and Inter´s Fredy Guarin, while young stars Juan Fernando Quintero and Luis Muriel are also involved.

There is no place for Teofilo Gutierrez, though, despite the striker scoring five goals in Colombia´s last 10 matches.

Serbia coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has also selected a strong squad for the match, while he has given striker Marko Scepovic one last chance to impress him.

The 22-year-old, who plays his club football for Partizan Belgrade, was dropped on Saturday after falling foul of the club´s supporters.

Scepovic had the captain´s armband ripped off him by a supporter during a UEFA Champions League qualifying defeat last Tuesday and Mihajlovic has warned him to improve his attitude.

"I still believe in Scepovic because I know he has potential but we can´t help him if he doesn´t want to help himself and this will be the last game he plays for Serbia if he doesn´t change his attitude," Mihajlovic said.

"I don´t care if Scepovic scores against the Colombians or not. What I want is 100 per cent effort from him and it´s now up to him which way his career goes."

Serbia, who are ranked 41st in the world, have almost no chance of making the World Cup, having lost four of their last five matches in Group A of European qualification.

They trail leaders Belgium by 12 points with three matches to play, while Balkan rivals Croatia are nine ahead of them.

Den colombianske landsholdspiller Carlos Sánchez bliver Elches niende signing...

og en Canalero også.....

Nice move !!!!

Ja, var også meget overrasket, da jeg læste det i går.

Vi har jo at gøre med selveste Carlos "La Roca" Sánchez, som igennem længe har været ombejlet i både Sevilla (Pitbull-afløser) og Premier League især sidste sommer.
- Han er om nogen den "anonyme helt" på det lovende Colombia-hold.

Og så et lejemål fra en Panama-klub? Ja, hvorfor ikke! Gold Cup-sensationen har virkelig åbnet La Ligas øjne for den store talentmasse derovre.
- Chen, Jiméne - hvem kan blive den næste unge mand i rækken?

Det begynder i øvrigt at se fornuftigt ud for vores Franjiverdes. Skulle du oprette en klubtråd, må jeg anbefale, at det som ferierende ilicitano må blive Elche CF. Fantastiske lejemål, som nok skal sikre de grønhvide overlevelse.

EDIT
Alternativt holder jeg selvfølgelig liv og glade dage i bloggen...

Ja ham "La Roca" og Aguilar (Hercules CF (sjovt nok)) er vel de to mest anonyme på det Colombiahold, men det skyldes vel snarere den star quality holdkammeraterne har.


ja det falder sammen med at Sevilla snuppede Cristoforo fra Uruguays U-20 hold istedet for, hvilket er et superkøb som erstatning for Pittbull. Lorenzo Reyes strøg jo til Betis istedet for Sevilla.

Panama har fået skudt et par spillere af til La Liga nu , Chen, Jimenez - målmand Jaime Penedo og Gabriel Torres til MLS, "El Negrito" Quintero til mexicansk fodbold.

Anibal Godoy den defensive midtbanemand har tidligere spillet i argentinsk fodbold - og er kun 23, Armando Cooper spiller stadigvæk i Godoy Cruz - eller kunne det være den unge målmand i Fenix (Uruguay) Luis Mejia, eller angriberen samme sted Cecilio Waterman begge i starten af 20´erne, ligesom angriberen Rolando Blackburn er, han har været udlånt til en europæisk klub før. - ellers er der Marcos Sanchez - midtbanespiller eller forsvarspillerne Harold Cummings der nu er tilbage i Panama efter et års tid i argentinske River Plate, så er der forsvarskollegaen Carlos Rodriguez også - begge 21...det ser lovende ud for Panama.

Det kunne da være man skulle lave en klubtråd ved lejlighed :-)