Snak

Ricardo Rodríguez: "No firmo el empate en La Bombonera"

BUENOS AIRES -- El debutante entrenador de All Boys, Ricardo Rodríguez, anticipó el jueves que no firma el empate en la visita del equipo de Floresta a Boca Juniors el próximo domingo y resaltó que irán "en busca de la hazaña" de ganar en la Bombonera.

"No firmo el empate en la Bombonera de antemano, porque la intención es ir a ganarle a Boca en su casa, aunque admito que lograrlo sería una hazaña", confesó Rodríguez en una entrevista con el programa radial "Deportivo Télam".

"Para lograr un buen resultado será necesario que no entren en juego (Juan Román) Riquelme y (Fernando) Gago. Y después, cuando tengamos la pelota, la idea será atacarlo a Boca", alertó.

Rodríguez se quedó sin trabajo en Atlético Tucumán después de que su ayudante de campo, a la sazón su hijo, Heraldo, reaccionara violentamente contra un grupos de plateístas que fustigaba a ambos en el partido que empataron 2 a 2, como locales, con Villa San Carlos, luego de ir ganando 2 a 0.

"Nos venían criticando desde hace rato, aunque siempre estuvimos a tiro de los puestos de ascenso. Los encontronazos con la prensa tucumana y los hinchas venía desde hace tiempo. Por eso nos fuimos. Pero le estoy agradecido a la gente de Atlético", expresó.

"De hecho, los jugadores del plantel de Atlético me llamaron en estos días pàra desearme suerte en All Boys. Nunca esperé pasar tan rápidamente de un lado a otro, pero estoy feliz de haber llegado al club que me formó como hombre y al que ya supe dirigir mentre 1997 y 1998 en la B Nacional", destacó.

El Negro tiene una amplia foja de servicios en el ascenso, donde fue entrenador, entre más, de Platense, Chacarita Juniors, Instituto de Córdoba, Talleres de Remedios de Escalada, Los Andes, El Porvenir y Defensa y Justicia, por lo que el domingo registrará su debut absoluto en primera división.

"Tener a un hijo como ayudante de campo es positivo si uno considera que sabe. Por ejemplo yo lo conozco a Emiliano Díaz y no tengo dudas que le resulta positivo su trabajo a Ramón en River. LO que pasa es que son jóvenes y a veces hay que contenerlos para que no reaccionen ante determinadas circunstancias", apreció.

"Distinto es tener a un hijo como jugador. Heraldo estuvo conmigo en Estudiantes de Buenos Aires durante la época en que estaba allí Ezequiel Lavezzi y, como es lógico, él no jugaba nunca. Pero no es bueno ser padre de un jugador de tu equipo, porque eso genera suspicacias por todos lados y mejor es evitarlas", admitió.

Finalmente Rodríguez volvió al futuro inmediato y analizó con su particular gracejo lo que le queda a All Boys desde ahora hasta la finalización del torneo Inicial.

"Ahora visitamos a Boca y después recibimos a Newell`s. Uno ya ganó muchos títulos y el otro viene de ser campeón, así que no les va a importar tanto si les ganamos. Después, la última fecha con Belgrano en Córdoba ya no sé como será", describió entre risas.

Assessing the State of the Selecao in 2013

It couldn´t get more symbolic than the fact that Brazil finished their 2013 schedule by beating Chile in Toronto. It wasn´t quite full circle -- the two sides last met in Belo Horizonte in April -- but an eternity seems to have passed since the 2-2 home draw that had the crowd up in arms against the Selecao, a packed-to-capacity Mineirao booing Neymar and calling him a bottler. Yet Tuesday´s 2-1 win over one of South America´s World Cup representatives capped a year of transformation for the Selecao.

Never mind that it was just a friendly, or that Chile was fairly jet-lagged having flown from London after last Friday´s impressive 2-0 defeat of England at Wembley. Ultimately, Brazil will finish 2013 walking tall. The side that began the year immersed in a crisis of confidence, after poor displays against top sides and a damaging slump in the FIFA rankings, is now perceived to be back in contention for a sixth title, their second shot at a domestic World Cup victory.

That last part explains Luiz Felipe Scolari´s expression at a pitch-side press conference in Toronto on Monday after a training session. The former Portugal and Chelsea manager looked like the cat who had licked the cream. "I didn´t really expect us to be feeling so comfortable as we are now. It´s a shame the World Cup is not happening now. I think we all might have to wait for Santa a bit longer," he joked.

Clearly, it was more of a tirade to entertain the press corps than his genuine belief. Scolari knows there is work to be done and that seven months is a heck of a long time in football. Nonetheless, he can be forgiven for feeling upbeat. His second coming with the Selecao is now a year old. Despite popular support, his appointment still raised eyebrows given his misfortunes at Chelsea and even Palmeiras, where a Brazilian Cup trophy didn´t make it up for their relegation at the end of 2012 (although the manager had left months before). Yet it´s clear that Big Phil has overseen a scrubbing and polishing of the Brazilian squad. That shine could well be seen come June.

So here are some reasons to cheer -- and worry about -- Brazil as they currently stand.

Neymar comes of age

As mentioned before, even Brazil fans weren´t in love with the Santos man in the first half of the year. Jaded, irritated and distracted by the whole Barcelona-transfer saga, Neymar looked more like a liability than an asset for Brazil, racking up a less-than-impressive 800-minute goal drought for club and country. Then came a left-footed missile strike two minutes into Brazil´s first competitive match since 2011, the Confederations Cup opener versus Japan, and he never looked back. While it´s true that he still needs to evolve in terms of handling more elaborate tactical traps -- and perhaps stay on his feet a bit more -- his rampaging display against Spain in June showed his maturation.

... but there´s still a crisis upfront

Brazil´s No. 9 woes seemed over in June after Fred finished the Confederations Cup as joint top scorer and Jo, his understudy, netted twice for good measure. A couple of months later, however, and Scolari faces a bit of a problem upfront. Fred´s been injured since September (as a result, his Fluminense side might be playing second division football next year), while Jo didn´t really set the Brasileiro on fire, either, scoring a meager seven goals so far. To make matters worse, Alexandre Pato has so far failed to revive his career after the record-breaking move from AC Milan to Corinthians earlier this season, all of which might explain Scolari´s tantrums regarding Diego Costa´s "defection" to Spain.

Robinho reborn

Just before he was abruptly sacked by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) in November 2012, then-Selecao manager Mano Menezes had been toying with a 4-6-0 formation that borrowed a leaf from Pep Guardiola´s book -- the interplay and rotation between Oscar, Neymar, Kaka and Hulk excited the local media. When Scolari took over, he immediately declared the experiment over, intending to use a more classic approach. It seemed to have paid off after Fred netted goal after goal, but the combination of injuries, disappointment and unavailability forced Scolari to use Robinho -- who had been cast aside since the Menezes days -- in that "false nine" role. And guess who scored the winning goal against Chile with a textbook header?

Julio Cesar and David Luiz are gathering dust

Big Phil doesn´t really mind if his players are not starting every single game for their clubs -- Exhibit A being Luiz Gustavo´s Confederations Cup call-up came after a season as Javi Martinez´s understudy at Bayern Munich. But he does worry if they are sitting out for extended periods of time, which seems to be the current predicament for two of his main players. While the news that Harry Redknapp will facilitate Cesar´s departure from QPR will come as relief for a goalie who hasn´t played once since the summer, the Chelsea defender´s situation is far from clear -- cue Scolari jibe at Mourinho´s underuse of Luiz in a recent interview. If Dante and Marquinhos can help the back four, the alternatives to Cesar -- Jefferson, Diego Cavalieri -- have failed to convince.

Prodigal sons and new returns spike the punch

As influential as Neymar is for this team, the creative burden cannot only rest on his recently beefed-up shoulders. Oscar is the deputy, but his role in Scolari´s tactics can be overwhelming. One solution could revolve around more freedom for Paulinho to roam, which is part of the rationale for Ramires´ return. After missing the Confederations Cup for what Big Phil deemed a lack of commitment to the national team, the Chelsea midfielder is back in the fold. So too is no-nonsense midfield enforcer Lucas Leiva, absent since 2012. In the recent games in North America versus Honduras in Miami, and Chile in Toronto, Chelsea´s Willian showed that his ability to play in the middle and on the wings could be useful. Never forget that Scolari loves those jack-of-all-trades players.

Age worries on the right side
In terms of performance, Dani Alves and Maicon have pretty much closed the door for any players hoping to replace them. They are set to be Brazil´s right-backs at the World Cup. Yet both men are no spring chickens (30 and 32 years old, respectively) and have missed Selecao appointments this year because of injury. It´s another position where young guns have failed to impress, even though the complete absence of Manchester United´s Rafael still surprises quite a lot of people.

Some veterans can be a good thing

Robinho´s return was not solely an attempt to address matters on the pitch. With 102 caps for Brazil, two World Cup tournaments and games in three major European leagues on his resume, the Milan man brings some experience to a group still lacking proper mileage in international competitions. Big Phil had made that blending one of his priorities since day one, trying Ronaldinho and Kaka in the roles of seasoned teammates, only to dislike the result. The 2007 World Player of the Year is an important leadership figure for many Brazilian players -- especially given his ability to win over both the critical media and the demanding public -- and still has a faint hope of making the squad, but it will take something quite special to grant him a call. As for Ronaldinho, Scolari´s patience seems over.

The captain´s health

Thiago Silva´s recent injuries have worried Brazil. As a result, the PSG defender has yet to hit his stride for club and country this season. Thiago is working hard and even brought his trusted Brazilian physio to Paris in order to address the issue. The next few months will be tense for Big Phil and his associates. If the armband is not already a huge issue, given the fact the Selecao has strong leadership figures in Cesar, Luiz, Alves and even Robinho, replacing Thiago´s class on the ball and his lethal headers on set pieces would be a much tougher mission for Scolari. The PSG defender is also one of the most experienced players in the squad.

Barraza, descartado en Argentinos

BUENOS AIRES -- El capitán de Argentinos Juniors, Julio Barraza, quedó fuera de la lista de concentrados para el partido del sábado ante Quilmes, por la 17ma. fecha del Torneo Inicial, a raíz del golpe que sufrió la semana pasada.
El lateral derecho trabajó toda la semana de manera diferenciada con la intención de estar ante Quilmes, pero por indicación del cuerpo médico el DT Ricardo Caruso Lombardi no lo incluyó en la lista de 20 futbolistas citados que entregó tras la práctica matutina.

De esta manera, con el ingreso de Pablo Barzola (no juega desde el inicio desde la fecha 10ma.) por Barraza, la formación del Bicho será con Pablo Migliore; Barzola, Sergio Vittor, Leonardo Sánchez y José Luis Palomino; Rodrigo Gómez, Walter Serrano, Juan Ramírez y Lucas Rodríguez; Daniel Villalva y Hernán Boyero.

Completan la nómina e integrarán el banco de suplentes (dos quedarán afuera): Luis Ojeda; Franco Flores y Diego Barisone; Nicolás Olmedo, Santiago Nagüel y Cristian Maidana; Enrique Triverio, Raúl Becerra y Osvaldo Miranda.

Por otro lado, el delantero Ciro Rius (59 partidos y 6 goles en el club) pasó a despedirse ya que seguirá su carrera en Aldosivi de Mar de Plata, a préstamo hasta junio de 2014.

Por la fecha 17ma. del torneo Inicial, Argentinos Juniors, que suma tres encuentros sin perder (dos triunfos y un empate) pero que sigue en zona de descenso, recibirá a Quilmes el sábado desde las 17 en el estadio Diego Armando Maradona, con arbitraje de Fernando Echenique.

All Boys: Mauro Matos mejoró y jugará ante Boca

BUENOS AIRES -- El delantero Mauro Matos, uno de los goleadores del torneo Inicial, mejoró de una molestia en uno de sus aductores y está en condiciones de ser titular este domingo ante Boca Juniors, en partido correspondiente a la 17ma. fecha.

El atacante, máximo anotador del campeonato junto a César Pereyra, de Belgrano, ambos con 8 conquistas, lució recuperado de una contractura en el aductor derecho, que le había privado de trabajar con normalidad en el entrenamiento del miércoles.

Matos, autor de 40 goles para la entidad de Floresta en Primera División, fue incluido hoy por el técnico Ricardo Rodríguez, en el ensayo táctico celebrado en el predio de Ciudad Evita.

El goleador se movió como única referencia de área, en reemplazo de Javier Cámpora, ya que el flamante DT albo apostó, nuevamente, a un dibujo táctico 4-2-3-1.

La alineación elegida por el Negro Rodríguez comprendió a Nicolás Cambiasso; Hernán Grana, Carlos Casteglione, Jonathan Ferrari y Marcelo Bustamante; Gonzalo Espinoza y Fernando Sánchez; Nicolás Cabrera, Maximiliano Núñez y Nicolás Colazo; Matos.

De este modo, y con relación al equipo que ensayó en la mañana del miércoles, el ex Boca Colazo sustituyó a Agustín Torassa.

El plantel albo volverá a entrenarse el viernes, desde las 16.30, pero en el estadio Islas Malvinas. Luego se concentrará en un hotel de Vicente López.

El mediocampista Oscar Ahumada, quien continúa recuperándose de una obstrucción discal, no estará en la lista de concentrados este fin de semana, pues fue convocado por el DT de la Reserva, Cristian Lovrincevich, para integrar el conjunto que enfrentaba a Arsenal, en un partido pendiente.

Burrachaga probó dos cambios en Rafaela para jugar con San Lorenzo

Matías Fissore jugó en el lugar del suspendido Adrián Bastía y Juan Eluchans reemplazó a Rodrigo Depetris en la práctica de fútbol, respecto del último partido ante Godoy Cruz (3-1), por la fecha 15.

La novedad pasa por la salida de Depetris, quien en el duelo suspendido ante Colón de Santa Fe, iba a estar desde el inicio como mediocampista por derecha. Con la entrada de Eluchans, el que pasó a ese sector fue Cristian Canuhé.

Por consiguiente, la formación que se perfila es la siguiente: Esteban Conde; Andrés Rodales, Ariel Garcé, Rodrigo Erramuspe y Francisco Martínez; Canuhé, Fissore, Diego Ferreira y Eluchans; Diego Vera y Lucas Albertengo.

Atlético Rafaela, que suma seis partidos sin caer en casa, recibirá el sábado desde las 20.20 al líder San Lorenzo en el estadio Nuevo Monumental por la 17ma fecha del torneo Inicial con arbitraje de Germán Delfino.

Central: debutaría el juvenil Gómez; Donatti, descartado

ROSARIO -- El entrenador de Rosario Central, Miguel Angel Russo, planea el debut del juvenil Elías Gómez en el lateral izquierdo, mientras que descartó por lesión al zaguero Alejandro Donatti para visitar el sábado a Olimpo de Bahía Blanca por la 17ma fecha del torneo Inicial.
En el ensayo táctico realizado en la mañana del jueves, el DT puso a Goméz, de 19 años, en el lateral izquierdo en lugar de Lucas Lazo y Paulo Ferrari volvió al sector derecho ya que Rafael Delgado no se recuperó de la lesión en el isquiotibial derecho.

A su vez, Lisandro Magallán se ubicó como zaguero central en reemplazo de Alejandro Donatti (sobrecarga muscular en el aductor izquierdo), quien fue descartado por el propio DT en rueda de prensa.

"Lo dejamos aparte porque necesitamos que los que jueguen estén al ciento por ciento físicamente", remarcó.

Entonces, la probable formación tendrá a Mauricio Caranta; Ferrari, Franco Peppino, Magallán y Gómez; Hernán Encina, Nery Domínguez y Diego Lagos; Antonio Medina, Carlos Luna y Federico Carrizo.

Rosario Central, que ante Vélez Sarsfield (2-3) cortó una racha de ocho partidos invicto, visitará a Olimpo de Bahía Blanca el sábado desde las 19.10 bajo el arbitraje de Mauro Vigliano.

Football: Who’s Going to Win the Title? I Haven’t a Bloody Clue, But it’ll Be Fun Finding Out

We’ve got a dramatic few weeks coming up in the world of Argentine football. Partly because of the shenanigans at Colón, which you can read about elsewhere on this site, but also because we’ve got a right old ding-dong developing at the top of the championship table.

Newell’s Old Boys lost away to Tigre on Monday night, meaning they dropped off the top of the table for the first time in about two months, and there are now just three points separating the top five or six teams, all of whom still have to play at least one of the others in the remaining three matches (that’s nine points left to play for, for those new to football).

In short, it’s rather a close title race this year. San Lorenzo have the advantage—a thrilling 4-2 win over Belgrano last weekend took them top, and they have the easiest looking run-in—but won’t have it all their own way, because this weekend, they’ve got to visit Asociación Mutual Social y Deportiva Atlético de Rafaela—or Rafaela, as they’ll henceforth be called here, because I’ve only got so much time to spend typing this out—who probably won’t win the title themselves, but will have a huge say in who does.

Rafaela are the dark horses of the race, and the reason I wrote ‘five or six’ in that opening paragraph. At present, they’re down in eighth place of the Torneo Inicial standings, and twenty-four points means they’re fully six adrift of San Lorenzo. But look closer; they’ve only played fifteen matches, to everyone else’s sixteen! The cancellation of their match with Colón on Monday afternoon has made them wildcards here.

According to the AFA’s regulations, the points for that Colón no-show should be awarded to Rafaela (who would have the match recorded as a 1-0 win), and Colón should also be hit with a points deduction. If that happens, Rafaela will move up to twenty-seven points, just three behind San Lorenzo. But this is Argentina, and, eager not to upset Colón any more than they already are (they had six points deducted a few weeks ago for an unpaid transfer fee dating back to 2007), the AFA seem likely to insist the game gets rescheduled, flying in the face of their own rules.

Colón’s outgoing president, Germán Lerche (who stood down immediately after Monday’s events), is a good friend and the right hand man of AFA president Julio Grondona, in case you were wondering just why the AFA might want to give Colón more support than they’d perhaps afford to some other clubs in similar situations.

The truth is that Colón are so crap, Rafaela will probably win that game anyway. So if they manage to beat San Lorenzo at the weekend, they’ll have to be talked about as title candidates, which would be incredible—by most measures, they’re surely either the smallest or the second-smallest club in the Primera (Bahía Blanca-based Olimpo might run them close for that ‘honor’). And, ‘if they beat San Lorenzo,’ isn’t an empty hypothesis, in spite of San Lorenzo’s good form; Rafaela have claimed sixteen of the last eighteen points they’ve played for in their own stadium. The only match of those six that they’ve failed to win was a 0-0 draw against River Plate, and River’s attack might be rubbish, but their defense, when at full strength, is very strong.

Rafaela v San Lorenzo isn’t the only big title clash this weekend, though. That game’s played on Saturday evening, and on Sunday afternoon Newell’s will host Arsenal de Sarandí. Both have gone off form a little lately—Newell’s haven’t won in five matches, whilst Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Boca last weekend was their first after a run of four games without victory—but either, if San Lorenzo slip up against Rafaela, would go top with a win.

San Lorenzo have the edge in terms of consistency and the ease of their last two fixtures, as after this weekend they’ll host Estudiantes de La Plata before ending the season away to Vélez Sarsfield. Neither are easy opponents, but neither are involved at the top end of the table. Even then, though, Vélez v San Lorenzo has become, in recent years, an extremely heated rivalry. Lanús are the side to look out for in terms of form. They’ve won their last five league matches in a row, scoring 14 goals in the process, and that run includes victories over San Lorenzo and Arsenal. Their last two matches? At home against Boca, then away to Newell’s.

Boca have two very winnable home games left, but also that trip to Lanús; Arsenal have two very loseable away matches… and all of this is taking place in one of the least predictable leagues in the world. So, rather than write any more, here’s a breakdown of what matches everyone has left. And a reminder that you can check the current standings here (once the weekend’s football starts on Friday evening with Vélez v Godoy Cruz, that table will get updated after each match).

If two sides finish level on points at the top, they’ll play a one-off match in a neutral venue to decide the championship. If three or more sides finish level on points at the top, the AFA will use a miniature league table of results only in matches between those teams to decide the title. Listing all the matches that have already been played between the sides would get very confusing at this stage, so if this looks like a possibility ahead of the final weekend, I’ll mention it in a new piece.

Not including Colón v Rafaela, here are the remaining matches (title-chasing teams in bold):

This weekend (round 17): Atlético de Rafaela v San Lorenzo; Lanús v Gimnasia; Newell’s v Arsenal; Boca v All Boys

Round 18: Tigre v Rafaela; San Lorenzo v Estudiantes; Lanús v Boca; Newell’s v All Boys; Arsenal v Belgrano

Round 19: Rafaela v Arsenal; Vélez v San Lorenzo; Lanús v Newell’s; Boca v Gimnasia

Boccaaaa ;)

San Lorenzo...!!! eller som Goi ville have skrevet Racing Racing !!!

Regueiro acordó su salida de Racing y suena el regreso de Diego Milito

BUENOS AIRES -- El jugador uruguayo Mario Regueiro acordó su salida contractual de Racing, según anunció su representante, en tanto crecen las posibilidades de que el delantero Diego Milito regrese al club de Avellaneda en julio próximo.

Ricardo Canals, representante de Regueiro, quien hace meses que no juega de titular por problemas personales, aseguró que el ex jugador de Lanús acordó de manera económica su salida de Racing y que "el miércoles o jueves próximo se firmará su desvinculación" de la Academia.

Canals agregó que "la idea es no perjudicar a nadie. Mario quiere estar en Montevideo junto a su madre", luego del fallecimiento de su hermana en un accidente automovilístico.

Regueiro, de 35 años, jugó también en Cerro y Danubio, de Uruguay; Racing de Santander, Valencia y Murcia, de España; y Aris Salónica, de Grecia.

Por otra parte, el diario italiano La Gazzetta dello Sport publicó el viernes que el delantero Diego Milito, de 33 años, campeón con Racing en 2001, podría regresar a la entidad de Avellaneda "en julio del 2014".

"Fuentes oficiosas indicaron que entre Racing y el Príncipe habría un acuerdo" si es que el delantero no resuelve su renovación con el Inter de Milán, agregó el diario italiano.

Milito se rompió los ligamentos cruzados de la rodilla derecha el 14 de febrero pasado, en un partido frente al Cluj de Rumania, por la UEFA Champions League, y reapareció siete meses después en un partido ante el Sassuolo, por la liga italiana.

Después, el argentino, exjugador también de Zaragoza de España y Genoa de Italia, tuvo pocas oportunidades de ser titular en el equipo neroazzurro y el 9 de octubre, durante un entrenamiento, sufrió una distensión en el recto anterior de la pierna izquierda.