Snak

Dirigentes de Newell´s se comprometieron a saldar deuda

ROSARIO -- Un emisario de Futbolistas Argentinos Agremiados (FAA) estuvo el martes reunido con futbolistas de Newell´s para evaluar las deudas del club con el plantel y luego la dirigencia se comprometió a hacer los pagos en los próximos días.

Es que FAA, como suele hacer en las semanas previas al comienzo del torneo oficial suele exigir que los clubes paguen sus deudas a los planteles, con la advertencia de no empezar el campeoanto o inhabilitar los refuerzos si los jugadores no están al día con sus haberes.

Promediaba el entrenamiento en el predio del club en Bella Vista, en el oeste rosarino, cuando apareció Gerardo González, a cargo de la seccional local del gremio de futbolistas, con quien estuvo reunido.

Al encuentro en uno de los vestuarios se sumaron dirigentes del club, entre ellos el vicepresidente Jorge Ricobelli.

Según se supo, si bien existe un atraso en los salarios los directivos se comprometieron a abonar el dinero adeudado en los próximos días.

"La idea es poner a los clubes al día, en realidad mucho no hablamos, pero me parece bárbaro que se pueda hacer. Espero que los clubes estén a la altura de la situación, porque sería imposible terminar el torneo si se atrasa", sostuvo el volante y defensor Diego Mateo en la conferencia posterior.

Palermo le pagará a Huracán

CORDOBA -- El fallo del TAS (Tribunal Arbitral del Deporte) favoreció a Talleres de Córdoba, por lo que el Palermo de Italia deberá pagarle 320 mil euros en concepto de derechos de formación del mediocampista creativo Javier Pastore.

"Son 320.000 euros. Ahora, habrá un poco más de un mes para que el Palermo pueda apelar. Si no lo hace, Talleres podría estar cobrando en dos meses y la deuda del club quedaría en un millón de pesos. Con lo que el saneamiento y las elecciones podrían hacerse en tiempo y forma como piensa el juez Silvestre", precisó Daniel Ruffener, miembro del fideicomiso que conduce a la entidad cordobesa, en declaraciones difundidas por "La Voz del Interior" en su página de Internet.

Pastore es un talentoso futbolista cordobés de 24 años, que comenzó su campaña en Talleres y a mediados de 2007 llegó a Huracán, donde descolló en 2009, cuando integró el equipo exquisito de Angel Cappa que fue sucampeón del Torneo Clausura, resignando el título recién en la último fecha en un polémico partido ante Vélez Sarsfield.

Fue a raíz de su producción en la temporada 2009 que Pastore interesó a clubes europeos y el primero que lo incorporó fue el Palermo siciliano. Desde entonces Talleres inició su reclamo por los denominados derechos de formación y esta semana el TAS le dio la razón.

Pastore ya integró el seleccionado mayor de la AFA en el Mundial de Sudáfrica 2010 y desde 2011 milita en el poderoso París Saint Germain, líder de la liga francesa.

Roma cede a Leandro Paredes al Chievo Verona

ROMA -- El exmediocampista de Boca Juniors Leandro Paredes, incorporado a principios de año por Roma a préstamo por un año y medio, fue cedido el martes por el club de la capital italiana al Chievo Verona, donde jugará hasta junio próximo.

La noticia fue dada a conocer por la página Tutto Mercato Web , que comunicó que Roma se lo prestó al Chievo hasta el 30 de junio próximo y que luego regresará para jugar a préstamo hasta diciembre de 2015.

Roma pagó a Boca 1.400.000 dólares por el préstamo de Paredes con una opción de compra definitiva valuada en 8 millones de euros.

Paredes, de 19 años, es una de las grandes promesas de Boca, club en el que jugó 28 partidos y anotó cinco goles, el último en el campeonato pasado, en el partido ante Tigre que sirvió para el empate, que luego sería victoria por 2-1 con el tanto de Daniel Cata Díaz.

Copa Libertadores Wrap: Oriente Petrolero, Morelia claim wins

Oriente Petrolero have stunned Nacional 1-0 in Bolivia to take a step towards the group stage of the Copa Libertadores.

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Gualberto Mojica gave Oriente victory in their first round first leg against Nacional with a scorching strike just after the half-hour.

The side from Santa Cruz in central Bolivia have not qualified for the group stage of South America´s premier club competition since 2011.

But a one-goal loss or better next week in Uruguay would see Oriente clinch a spot in a second-round group and dump Nacional from the Copa Libertadores.

Nacional have a strong history in the Copa Libertadores having won the competition three times and reaching the semi-finals as recently as 2009.

On Tuesday in Santa Cruz, the home side scored the only goal of the game in the 33rd minute when midfielder Mojica ran onto Juan Quero´s pass in the penalty area and thrashed the ball inside the far post.

In the other first-round first leg, Morelia defeated Santa Fe 2-1 in Mexico, with the Colombian club´s late away goal setting up an interesting second clash.

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Morelia took advantage of lax marking by their Colombian visitors to score either side of half-time with Hector Mancilla opening the scoring in the 27th minute.

Santa Fe left a huge gap on the left side of their defence and after Armando Zamorano burst into the space to receive the ball, he teed up Mancilla on the overlap.

Zamorano strolled past a couple of defenders to score the Mexican hosts´ second goal in the 66th minute but Santa Fe gave themselves hope ahead of next week´s second leg when Omar Perez converted a penalty with five minutes remaining.

Se suspendió River-San Lorenzo

BUENOS AIRES -- El clásico River Plate-San Lorenzo fue suspendido el martes debido al temporal que afecta a la capital salteña y se lo reprogramó para este miércoles, pero a las 20.

El árbitro Silvio Trucco ingresó al campo de juego del Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena para evaluar la situación, pero ante la persistencia de la lluvia tomó la decisión de postergar el cotejo, que debía empezar a las 22.10.

Como la precipitación era copiosa, el pronóstico meteorológico negativo, ya había sectores del campo de juego anegados, iba a tornarse muy difícil remarcar la cancha y, sobre todo, para evitar comprometer innecesariamente la salud de los futbolistas, aproximadamente a las 21.15 se resolvió postergar este partido amistoso que tanto entusiasmo generó entre el público norteño.

El acuerdo entre los organizadores y los clubes para postergar el juego se alcanzó rápido, pero luego se terminó de definir que este miércoles las acciones empiecen a las 20, para cumplir con una necesidad de la televisión.

"El motivo es lógico, coherente. Acá prevalece el sentido común, cuidar a los jugadores", sintetizó acerca de la postergación del compromiso el dirigente de San Lorenzo Daniel Fernández.

En la práctica de fútbol realizada el lunes en el predio de Ezeiza, el DT Ramón Díaz dispuso la siguiente formación de cara al juego: Leandro Chichizola; Víctor Cabrera, Germán Pezzella y Ramiro Funes Mori; Augusto Solari, Cristian Ledesma, Ariel Rojas y Osmar Ferreyra; Martín Fabbro; Cavenaghi y Daniel Villalva.

En tanto, el entrenador de San Lorenzo, Edgardo "Patón" Bauza, dispondrá el equipo principal, con el que piensa afrontar la nueva edición de la Copa Libertadores, el gran objetivo del semestre.

River llega fortalecido por el reciente triunfo frente a Boca (2-0) en Córdoba, primero del año tras las igualdades con Estudiantes y los "xeneizes", ambas por 1-1 en Mar del Plata.

San Lorenzo, último campeón del fútbol argentino, también llega a este encuentro de manera invicta, luego de los triunfos ante San Martín de San Juan (1-0) y Santamarina de Tandil (2-0).

Vélez confirmó la salida de Federico Insúa

BUENOS AIRES -- Finalmente, en la mañana del miércoles, quedó sellada la salida de Federico Insúa de Vélez Sarsfield ya que el mediocampista zurdo visitó la Villa Olímpica de Parque Leloir y se despidió de sus compañeros y del cuerpo técnico.

Así lo confirmó la cuenta de Twitter oficial de la institución de Liniers, que aceptó rescindir seis meses antes de lo pactado el vínculo del volante que formó parte del plantel en los últimos dos años, con una destacada labor de 69 partidos disputados y 14 goles convertidos.

Todo indica que en las próximas horas Insúa firmará su contrato con Independiente y será presentado ante la prensa como el primer refuerzo de cara a la segunda ronda del Torneo de la B Nacional 2013/2014.

De esta forma, el "Pocho" regresa a la institución donde anteriormente tuvo dos ciclos. Cabe recordar que surgió en Argentinos Juniors y que también pasó por Boca Junios, Málaga de España, Borussia Mönchengladbach de Alemania, América y Necaxa de México y Bursaspor de Turquía.

The 2014 Libertadores shines its light on the cities of Quito and Lima...

Sporting Cristal, one of the big clubs in Peru under the leadership of Argentine Daniel Ahmed, and Brazilian club Atlético Paranaense face-off Wednesday in Lima in the first leg of the first stage of the 2014 Copa Libertadores.

Ahmed´s mission is to overcome the string of bad results for his club in the local tournament . In 2013 the team failed to reach the group stage after being eliminated early.

Sporting arrive at this encounter without playmaker Renzo Sheput who is injured.

Sheput has not recovered from his knee injury and was not considered in the official list of 25 players (which includes three Argentinians and a Uruguayan) presented by the club to CONMEBOL.

Sporting with 13 appearances is the Peruvian institution that has qualified the most times for the Copa Libertadores. Their best tournament was in 1997 when they reached the final and lost to Cruzeiro of Brazil.

Meanwhile, Atletico Paranaense, led by Spaniard Miguel Angel Portugal, arrived Monday night and despite some players out injured they think they can win away and then qualify to the group stage back in Brazil.

"We come with the hope of doing things right. Although we are not a whole team...we are going for the win," Portugal said to the press.

Atletico features striker Ederson, Marcelo, Manoel and Lucas Olaza.

"I hope to score and get a good result in Lima. We know that Cristal is a strong team, but we come prepared to have a good game," said Ederson.

This is the fourth appearance of Atletico Paranaense in the Libertadores. In their last appearance, in 2005, they lost in the final against Sao Paulo.

Details:

Stadium: Nacional in Lima

Time: 19H00 locale (00H00 GMT Thursday)

Referee: Enrique Osses (Chile),

Referee assistants: Carlos Astroza and Sergio Román.

The second leg will be played on February 5 in Brazil and the winner will be inserted in Group 1 with Peruvian champion Universitario, Argentina´s Velez Sarsfield and Bolivian club The Strongest.

Possible starting lineups:

Sporting Cristal: Diego Penny - Marcos Delgado, Adán Balbín, Marcos Ortiz, Yoshimar Yotún, Carlos Lobatón, Jorge Cazulo, Horacio Calcaterra, Alexis Cossio, Leandro Leguizamón and Irven Ávila. COACH: Daniel Ahmed.

Atlético Paranaense: Weverton - Sueliton, Dráusio, Cleberson, Nathanael, Deivid, João Paulo, Zezinho, Fran Mérida, Marcelo and Ederson. COACH: Miguel Ángel Portugal.



Deportivo Quito and Botafogo face off in the altitude

Deportivo Quito will host favorite Botafogo of Brazil on Wednesday in the first leg which takes place at the altitude of the Ecuadorian capital (2,850 m).

"We have everything to have a good game," said Botafogo coach Eduardo Hungaro, who will not have in his squad Clarence Seedorf, who resigned two weeks ago to take over the coaching position of Italian giants AC Milan.

Hungaro described as "strong" Deportivo Quito, which comes to this contest off a 2-0 loss to Independiente on Saturday at the start of the 2014 Ecuadorian season.

Other new reinforcements for the team is Brazilian Wallyson, top scorer of the 2011 Libertadores, and Argentine striker Juan Carlos Ferreyra, who could make his debut in Quito.

Deportivo, under coach Juan Carlos Garay, face the challenge of the Libertadores with a team that had to start over owing to an economic crisis. The team had to let go key players such as Argentine Federico Nieto, top scorer of the 2013 local tournament with 29 goals.

Since 2011 Garay coached the lower divisions of Deportivo Quito. He was a midfielder who starred on Ecuadorian clubs like El Nacional, Liga de Quito and Técnico Universitario.

This year, the leadership brought in Argentine Fernando Bonjour (central defense, ex-Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada) and Jonathan Hansen (striker, ex-Deportivo Suchitepequez, Guatemala).

Details:

Stadium: Olímpico Atahualpa in Quito

Time: 19H00 local (00H00 GMT Thursday).

Referees: Wilmar Roldán (Colombia).

Referee assistants: Humberto Clavijo and Eduardo Díaz.

The rematch will be held on February 5 in Rio de Janeiro, and the winner will be put in Group 2 with Chilean club Unión Española, San Lorenzo of Argentina and Independiente of Ecuador.

Possible starting lineups:

Deportivo Quito: Rolando Ramírez - Miguel Bravo, Víctor Chinga, Gregory González, Luis Romero - Omar Andrade, Edder Fuertes, Christian Lara, Edison Vega - Víctor Estupiñán and Jonathan Hansen. COACH: Juan Carlos Garay.

Botafogo: Jefferson - Edílson, Bolívar, Dória and Julio Cesar - Rodrigo Souto, Marcelo Mattos, Gabriel, Jorge Wagner and Lodeiro - Ferreyra. COACH: Eduardo Hungaro.

New Chilean club soccer shirt ‘damages Jewish-Palestine relations’

Jewish community outraged as ‘extremist’ club Palestino counter soccer federation ban with golden map of pre-1947 Palestine emblazoned on redesigned jerseys.

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Initially, Palestino President Fernando Aguad appeared to accept the decision of Chile’s National Soccer Federation (ANFP) to ban a pre-1947 map of Palestine appearing on club jerseys with good grace.

Shortly after the ban was imposed, Aguad confirmed Palestino agreed to ditch the controversial kit — which received orders from as far afield as Germany and the Middle East and increased jersey sales by 300 percent. The club also agreed to pay the US$1,300 fine and design a new jersey without appeal.

The ANFP court ruling decided Jan. 21 that the map of Palestine breached both their own and International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) regulations relating to political, racial and social discrimination. The hearing also found that the map detail broke Article 36 of the ANFP competition rules, which states digits used on shirts must be 9.8 inches in height.

The decision followed a complaint by Patrick Kiblisky Fried, the Jewish president of Primera División club Ñublense.

However, the Jewish community who objected so strongly to the initial design of the map — claiming it implied all Israeli territory belonged to Palestine — were only afforded the briefest of windows to revel in victory.

“There are no rules against using the ancient map of Palestine on sportswear,” Aguad added soon afterwards. “We are going to design a new shirt with complete liberty to include the territory of, and any symbols relating to, Palestine.”

Act of defiance

As Palestino players emerged from the tunnel Friday to take on Universidad Concepción it was clear Aguad is a man of his word.

The boldest of statements loomed large on the front of the player’s shirts — a golden map of Palestine. Not only this but a smaller map, in black, was incorporated into each number on the back of the shirts.

“Palestino’s decision to keep the Palestinian map of Israel on the shirts demonstrates the club does not recognize any form of coexistence policy and disregards any potential peace dialogue,” Maximiliano Grass, director of the Chile Israel Council, told The Santiago Times.

Grass also explained that he believes the soccer club’s actions are radical and that relationships between Jewish and Palestinian communities may have been damaged beyond repair.

“Palestino is promoting extremist ideologies based on the denial of Israel — for this reason it will be difficult for the Jewish community to restore the good relations that once existed between the two communities,” he said.

On the other hand, Mauricio Abu-Ghosh, president of Chile’s Palestinian Federation, told The Santiago Times that he did not believe the shirt design was offensive, and that it only refers to a “romantic” notion of Palestine, pre-1947.

“I do not see how the matter is controversial. We use the map that belongs to us — the map that represents the old Palestine. This is the map that existed when our ancestors first came to Chile,” he said.

“I do not view the map as a political statement, it is a romantic notion, relating to the old Palestine. We are not at the mercy of what the Jewish community like or dislike — the reason why Palestino used the map is clear.”

Palestino was founded on Aug. 20, 1920, by a group of Palestinian immigrants. The team plays in the colors of the Palestinian flag — red, black, white and green — and has twice been crowned champions of Chile’s Primera División, in 1955 and 1978.

Increased sales

Since first being worn by players Jan. 4 the club has sold over 7,000 jerseys — equating to a 300 percent increase in sales. While the ANFP ban only restricts Palestino players from wearing the shirt while playing, the public are still at liberty to purchase and sport the design. Abusada believes that it is not only football fans buying the shirt, but people wanting to show support for Palestine.

“We have received orders from several countries including Morocco, Turkey, United States, Portugal, Germany, Spain and the Middle East, of course,” Roberto Felipe Abusada, head of sales at Palestino, said. “[The principal buyers are] Chileans who are following the situation, football fans, followers of Palestino and generally people supporting the cause of Palestine who want to feel part of this in some way.”

According to Abusada, the decision to release a pre-1947 map of Palestine on the club’s jerseys was spontaneous — the club did not anticipate it would cause such a reaction. This counteracts Grass’ previous comments in an interview with The Santiago Times, that Palestino officials premeditated the release of the shirt to provoke the Jewish community.

“The players give more when they wear the shirt, which represents the largest Palestinian community outside Palestine,” Abusada said.

Aguad also moved to defend the new design of the shirt — insinuating that the jersey and Palestino’s fine early season form may correlate to some extent. The team currently sits level on points with Colo Colo at the top of the table.

“This season we were unbeaten in the first three matches, including a rare win away to Universidad de Chile — as a result the new shirt will be remembered in history,” he said.

High stakes in El Tri´s friendly against South Korea

It´s getting real now for Miguel Herrera, not only because on Wednesday´s match versus South Korea is his first official game in charge of Mexico’s national team on a permanent, rather than interim, basis. It’s also the point where he tests his influence on a wider range of players from diverse backgrounds and coaching approaches than ever before.

Herrera spent a lot of 2013 courting the El Tri job, which was a delicate dance of officially supporting then-coach Jose "Chepo" de la Torre, while still insinuating that he, Herrera, could do a better job and would be happy to do so if asked.

Now the rubber meets the road on that promise.

It wasn´t much of a test before, given that the competition Herrera faced before consisted of a disinterested Finnish squad and a depleted New Zealand team. Back then, Herrera also leaned on basically a modified version of his club team to take on opponents. Now, he has to impose his system on players in a shorter amount of time and against a motivated South Korean squad. The Taeguek Warriors, led by former defender Hong Myung-Bo, are a lively, yet disciplined group of players who are fellow World Cup participants.

Hong´s team has already defeated one top CONCACAF squad recently, winning 1-0 versus Costa Rica on Saturday, even though a number of young, rather inexperienced Korean players took part in the match. All were in their twenties, with the average age less than 26. Though this Korea team does not feature the country´s finest players, expect a more veteran squad against Mexico. Like all the players in this friendly, they will be pushing to prove themselves worthy of a World Cup roster spot.

Ideally, Herrera would like to see his Mexico players move the ball dynamically, yet with control through the middle of the field, varying the attack at times with effective wing play. El Tri´s defense will need to be stout against the quick and persistent offensive game of Korea. While Herrera made El Tri play in his preferred 5-3-2 formation in their early ´Tri-America´ games, he may yet switch to a 4-4-2 classic setup for this match. With fewer Club America players on the roster, an unfamiliar formation may be too much to ask of so many.

Herrera will probably install Jesus Corona in goal, since he is the most experienced goalkeeper on the squad at this point. Corona has proven himself capable of incredible stops with only a few mental lapses at times.

Young Diego Reyes should start as a central defender, as it’s unlikely that he was brought in all the way from Europe by Herrera to not get a solid opportunity to show what his skills are. Rafael Marquez may be in Herrera’s plans as World Cup captain, but the coach will still want to see how the veteran works with Reyes. Herrera stalwarts Miguel Layun and Paul Aguilar will man the defensive wings.

The middle of the field will be the domain of Luis Montes, Carlos Pena, Juan Carlos Medina and perhaps a new wildcard element, like Isaac Brizuela or Jesus Zavala.

Up top may see a surprise. As hot as Oribe Peralta was in 2013 for both club and country, he has been stone-cold in Liga MX action this season thus far. He hasn´t scored a single goal in league play. Still, unless Herrera sees something in practice that justifies the slump, Oribe will get the start and the other forwards will vie to be his complement. Aldo de Nigris has the most experience, but Alan Pulido is the youngster on the rise.

Because the match is a friendly, there may well be a number of changes in the second half that give Herrera a chance to observe more players. Expect Alfredo Talavera, Miguel Angel Ponce, Rodolfo Pizarro, Francisco Rodriguez and perhaps others to see action. Herrera may even switch formations from one half to another to test if players are more effective under a different system.

Most of all, this friendly will start to show the effectiveness of Herrera’s coaching with a real national team, rather than an extension of his club players. Especially after the dispiriting 2013 Mexico had, it won’t be easy. Writer Oscar Wilde maintained that the gods punished people by answering their prayers. Herrera has obviously long wished for the job he now has. It is up to him now to make the dream of a spirited and powerful Mexico squad come true.

Vélez no tendrá a Cerro en la Supercopa

BUENOS AIRES -- En la mañana en la cual Federico Insúa estuvo en la Villa Olímpica de Parque Leloir y se despidió de sus compañeros, el plantel de Vélez se entrenó con miras a la Supercopa Argentina que se estará disputando el próximo viernes en el estadio Juan Gilberto Funes, de San Luis.

Luego de suspenderse el ensayo de fútbol formal del día martes por las fuertes lluvias caídas en Buenos Aires, José "Turu" Flores designo una práctica en la cual probó al once que saldrá desde el inicio en el partido ante Arsenal.

El mismo, estará compuesto por: Sebastián Sosa; Fabián Cubero, Sebastián Domínguez, Fernando Tobio, Emiliano Papa; Agustín Allione, Lucas Romero, Alejandro Cabral, Héctor Canteros; Mauro Zárate y Lucas Pratto.

La gran sorpresa de la delegación que viajará a San Luis pasa por la ausencia de Francisco Cerro. El mediocampista no disputará la Supercopa Argentina ya que se encuentra abierta la negociación para pasar a Racing. Además, también se ausentará Juan Sabia quien padece un fuerte dolor en la zona lumbar.

Vélez disputará la Supercopa Argentina ante Arsenal, el último campeón de la Copa Argentina, luego de adjudicarse la Superfinal, en la cual superó a Newell´s, en el partido que enfrentó al campeón del Torneo Inicial 2012 y al campeón del Torneo Final 2013. Cabe recordar que es la segunda edición de la Supercopa Argentina, ya que en la anterior se consagró Arsenal, al vencer a Boca.