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Argentinas U-20 landshold vinder turnering i Spanien...

Argentina Sub 20 ganó la Copa del Atlántico ante España

LAS PALMAS -- El seleccionado argentino de futbol Sub 20 igualó el viernes 1-1 con su par de España y se clasificó campeón del certamen Copa del Atlántico, que se llevó a cabo en la ciudad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

El conjunto albiceleste, dirigido por Humberto Grondona, obtuvo el trofeo en juego, por diferencia de gol, tras haber ganado los dos encuentros anteriores al combinado de Islas Canarias (4-0) y los Estados Unidos (1-0).

El representativo español sacó ventaja a los 23m. del primer período por intermedio de Yelko Caride.

El combinado albiceleste estableció la igualdad a los 15m. de la segunda parte, a través de una conquista conseguida por el mediocampista Matías Sánchez, recientemente transferido por Chacarita a River, donde jugará en la división Reserva.

Argentina formó con José Devecci; Thiago Casasola, Germán Ferreyra y Nicolás Tripichio; Roberto Sánchez, Pablo Carreras, Lucio Compagnucci y Mariano Bareiro; Tomás Martínez; Juan Cruz Kaprof y Rodrigo Contreras.

Luego ingresaron Augusto Batalla, Maximiliano Rolón, Giovanni Simeone y Matías Sánchez.

La delegación argentina regresará a Buenos Aires el domingo, en horas de la mañana, en vuelo de la compañía Iberia.

Dudu linked with move to Grêmio as executive director praises Brazilian forward

Dynamo Kyiv forward Eduardo Pereira Rodrigues has been linked with a move to Grêmio according to UOL Esporte, who spoke with Imortal’s executive director.

Grêmio executive director, Rui Costa, spoke to the Brazilian newspaper but refusing to comment about negotiations with the Dynamo Kyiv forward, more commonly known as Dudu.

Rui Costa said: “I do not talk about negotiations, but we are open to this market.

“Not desperately though because we have a quality group, especially with the entry of the boys from the youth base that showed everything we expected.

“They have personality and quality.”

Despite the good impression of the younger players in the squad, the executive director admitted they are always looking for good players to become available.

He did admit financially it would have to be right before prasing the former Brazil youth team striker Dudu.

Rui Costa added: “We are in the market, I can say this.

“If a good opportunity arises and can be viable from a financial standpoint, we will try.

"I speak of (Dudu) as I could speak to another player.

“(Dudu is) young and has a good ability to adapt.”

Flamengo target Héctor Canteros says moving to Brazil would be a dream

Vélez Sársfield midfielder Héctor Canteros has spoken about the possibility of moving to Brazil and admitted it would be a dream.

The 24-year-old central midfielder has been with his parent club for the whole of his career, although he did have a loan spell with La Liga side Villarreal during the 2012/13 European season.

He has now been linked with a move to Brazil with Flamengo among the teams reported to be interested in securing the services of the Argentine.

Lance reported comments from the midfielder after he gave an interview to a radio station in Argentina called Radio America AM 1190 on Thursday evening.

Canteros said: “Let´s see what happens. Everything is being negotiated with my representative.

“If it is a chance to play in Brazil and that would be a dream.”

The Argentine, who has played for his national team before, is keen on a move to Brazil and we’ll have to wait and see if he ends up with Flamengo.

If he does transfer to the Rio de Janeiro club he’ll be the second Argentine to move there this season following Lucas Mugni transfer a few weeks ago.

Fear factor is affecting C.D. Guadalajara

GUADALAJARA -- Chivas have taken the lead in five of their eight games in league and cup in 2014, yet have won just twice. Defender Nestor Vidrio suggested on Thursday that the stat can partly be put down to fear.

"We´ve been wary of conceding a goal, of not risking too much upfront," Vidrio said in a news conference on Thursday. "When you attack [you take defensive risks] and it makes us scared to lose and not pick up points."

It was a refreshingly honest statement from Vidrio at a time when resentment is building over the team´s safety-first style. Instead of going for a second goal to kill the game, the side seems to have withdrawn into its shell.

There are those who believe Chivas should be fighting every season, hour and minute for the title, but 2013 highlighted that the Rebano Sagrado is a long way off from competing with the best in Mexico.

Last Saturday´s game against Cruz Azul, which finished 2-0 to La Maquina, was another indicator that while the team has at least appeared to have greater solidity this Clausura, there is much work to do for it to be fighting for titles, which Vidrio also conceded.

"Taking on Cruz Azul was an important parameter and with a good side we were overcome," he said. "The coach and the players are conscious that we are lacking."

Chivas travel on Sunday to Puebla in what is a very winnable game. Queretaro at home comes after, followed by Toluca (away), Tigres (home) and Tijuana (away).

Turning draws into wins and leads into three points over that series of games will be key. Three wins or nine points should be the goal. If not, talk of making the playoffs will once again slide away, with Chivas´ end-of-season run-in difficult.

Injury update

Jorge "Chaton" Enriquez is due back in full training next Monday and should be available for the game against Queretaro.
Winger Carlos Fierro suffered a scare midweek when he strained his hamstring slightly, although Chivas´ medical department released a statement saying he should be able to play on Sunday.
Full-back Omar Esparza is nearing a comeback after a cruciate ligament injury and should be in contention for the Under-20s side in around two weeks.

¿Canta y no llores?

Jose Luis "Guero" Real´s relationship with a section of Chivas fans has been tainted in recent weeks with his proclamation that some supporters are "bandwagoners" for not going to the stadium in bad times and that the club’´s various barras bravas (porras in Mexican Spanish) shouldn´t be singing rude songs demanding players show more huevos when wearing the Chivas shirt.

Now the club´s president Juan Manuel Herrera has waded in.

"I had a meeting with the barras, I told them I would respect what they wanted to say, but that what we don’t like much is having chants from other countries, being the most Mexican and traditional team in the country, although they are free to do it," he told news outlet Cancha in quotes published on Thursday. "It isn’t xenophobia, it is simply that in our country we have had great chants."

It is an issue that is unlikely to go away and again smacks of the Chivas hierarchy aiming to create squeaky clean, no swearing, official merchandise-only, sanitized environment. The fans are unlikely to pay much attention.

Fan invasion

Wednesday´s training at a private school just outside of Guadalajara turned chaotic when over 1,000 kids descended on the Chivas squad, forcing them off the pitch –- bar two players. There were reports that it was dangerous and provoked by poor organization, but Enriquez seemed to love it.


Relegation

It is a question many within the club want to avoid, but relegation is very likely to be on the agenda for Chivas in 2015. Here´s how the Clausura 2015 relegation table is shaping up:

Atlante - 50 points (0.68 per game)
Pachuca – 56 points (0.76 per game)
Puebla – 57 points (0.78 per game)
Chivas – 57 points (0.78 per game)
Atlas – 58 points (0.79 per game)
Veracruz (1.14 points per game)

Recently-promoted Veracruz´s points-per-game ratio could rapidly drop with a run of bad results, but with Atlante very likely to go down at the end of this season, Chivas are just one point off last place at present.

Worrying times...

Friday: Torneo Final kicks off and Olimpo stun San Lorenzo plus 2 other matches

The Torneo Final got underway on Friday evening and judging by the three matches played it could be very similar to the Inicial. Olimpo continued their fine run from the end of last season with a 2-0 victory over champions, San Lorenzo, further improving their impressive record in Bahia Blanca and their standing in the relegation standings.

Estudiantes, another side with a strong home record, kept another clean sheet in the process of defeating Arsenal 1-0 in La Plata.

In Liniers, Velez drew 0-0 with Tigre, in a game which never really got going. Another season of home wins and dropped points for the Torneo favourites…all very familiar.


Estudiantes 1 – 0 Arsenal

Just 5 goals conceded in La Plata in their 11 home matches this season, it is easy to see why Estudiantes are tough to beat and why young keeper, Geronimo Rulli is so sought after.

The home side should have led earlier after Joaquín Correa managed to put the ball over the crossbar from yards out but they were not made to wait too long. Jonathan Silva’s weakly struck volley wasn’t going to pose much of a threat but a deflection off Diego Braghieri caused the ball to squeeze past Cristian Campestrini.

There was little reaction from Gustavo Alfaro’s, Arsenal after the break and it was Estudiantes who looked more dangerous.


http://www.youtube.com/w…GDeP43-VL60

Velez Sarsfield 0 – 0 Tigre

A fairly entertaining goalless draw inside an empty Estadio Jose Amalfitani could have been won by either side. Mauro Zárate posed the biggest threat for Velez and for the visitors, Matías Pérez García pulled the strings but neither could find a breakthrough.

New Velez Manager, Jose Flores has already overseen a SuperCopa victory but will need to rally his side ahead of a long season competing for the Torneo Final and Copa Libertadores.

http://www.youtube.com/w…oFOQOXn3lVU

Olimpo 2 – 0 San Lorenzo

An away trip to Bahia Blanca was not the easiest opening for new San Lorenzo Manager, Edgardo Bauza and so it proved as his side slumped to a 2-0 defeat.
Olimpo won the final 4 matches of the Torneo Inicial and have a good record at home and so despite San Lorenzo being one of the favourites for the title the result is not a huge shock.

Ezequiel Miralles took advantage of some poor defending to give Olimpo the lead after 68 minutes and moments later the lead was doubled. A set piece from the left was met powerfully by Ivan Furios and his header crashed into the net.

It got worse for San Lorenzo when Santiago Gentiletti was sent off but the match was over. With a game against Botafogo in the Maracana on Tuesday there is little time for San Lorenzo to dwell on this result.

http://www.youtube.com/w…O4D_inBstZ0

Walter Perazzo: "Miralles es un refuerzo de jerarquía"

BAHIA BLANCA -- El entrenador de Olimpo, Walter Perazzo, elogió al goleador Ezequiel Miralles, a quien valoró "como un refuerzo de jerarquía" y de quien resaltó que la maniobra que abrió el camino hacia la victoria ante San Lorenzo de Almagro "la inventó él solo".

"Es un refuerzo de jerarquía, es un delantero de excelente nivel. La jugada del gol la inventó él solo", destacó Perazzo, al referirse a Miralles, el atacante argentino, de 30 años, que arribó a Bahía Blanca procedente del Atlante mexicano.

Perazzo habló así tras el triunfo por 2-0 ante el campeón vigente de la Argentina, San Lorenzo, la que se concretó en el Estadio Roberto Natalio Carminatti, por la primera fecha del Torneo Final.

La alusión a la escena clave se debe a que, a los 22 minutos del segundo tiempo, Miralles, de espalda al arco del Ciclón, bajó la pelota de cabeza entre dos adversarios e inmediatamente a continuación le ganó la posición a Pablo Alvarado para establecer el 1-0.

Más allá de la alegría por el éxito y la imagen cada vez más saludable que ofrece su equipo, Perazzo siguió con su cautela y moderación habitual y reiteró que el objetivo del grupo "es llegar a los cuarenta y seis puntos" para mantenerse en la categoría. "En la previa San Lorenzo era la vedete y Olimpo la Cenicienta del partido, pero en la cancha Olimpo pudo cambiarlo en base a lo que hizo", definió Perazzo, pero sin perder la compostura.

El mediocampista de Olimpo Leonardo Gil consideró que lo mejor de la victoria de anoche ante San Lorenzo (2-0), último campeón del fútbol argentino, fue "comenzar con el pie derecho" en el torneo Final.

"El equipo está muy bien, hemos hecho una buena pretemporada y esto recién empieza" consideró el volante, asistente en el segundo gol anotado de cabeza por el defensor Iván Furios.

"Nosotros hemos cambiado la actitud y tenemos que lograr que los equipos que vienen a jugar acá, se sientan incómodos", apuntó en referencia a la localía en el reducido campo del estadio "Roberto Carminatti".

Por su parte, el defensor suizo Dylan Gissi valoró el presente de Olimpo, que suma cinco victorias seguidas en el ámbito local. "Se vienen haciendo bien las cosas, realizamos una buena pretemporada y hay una excelente convivencia en el grupo", subrayó.

"Olimpo tiene que jugar a no perder, a lo suyo, hacer que en nuestra cancha se le complique a los equipos grandes", consideró el futbolista nacido en Ginebra y procedente de Estudiantes de La Plata.

Olimpo, con 1,300 puntos de promedio y fuera de la zona de descenso, será rival de Tigre, en Victoria, por la segunda fecha del torneo Final.

Bauza lamentó los errores de San Lorenzo ante Olimpo

BAHÍA BLANCA -- El flamante entrenador de San Lorenzo de Almagro, Edgardo Bauza, quien debutó el viernes de manera oficial con una derrota 0-2 ante Olimpo en Bahía Blanca, aseguró que se planteó el juego para "no cometer errores" y que de todos modos "ocurrieron".

"Planteamos el juego para no cometer errores y ocurrieron. Defensivamente no teníamos problemas, el segundo tiempo parecía controlado. Pero vamos a seguir trabajando para que el equipo no cometa errores" señaló el DT reemplazante de Juan Antonio Pizzi.

Sobre el desarrollo del juego, el ex DT de la Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito dijo: "El primer tiempo estuvo mal jugado. En el segundo tuvimos más tenencia de pelota y conseguimos algunas cosas, pero ellos marcaron el gol y terminaron el partido".

Además, el entrenador campeón de la Copa Libertadores 2008 con el equipo ecuatoriano, manifestó la dificultad que implica jugar en el estadio Roberto Carminatti: "En esta cancha no se puede jugar cómodo", aseguró.

Y Bauza concluyó: "Fue un partido difícil en una cancha en la que sabíamos que no íbamos a poder jugar bien, sabíamos que iba a haber mucha frición".

Para Flores, Vélez-Tigre "fue parejo"

BUENOS AIRES -- El entrenador de Vélez Sarsfield, José Turu Flores, consideró "parejo" el empate sin goles ante Tigre, de local, por la primera fecha del torneo Final y aclaró que ambos equipos tuvieron "chances" para llevarse el triunfo.

"El partido fue parejo y los dos equipos tuvieron chances de quedarse con el triunfo. De todas formas, felicito a Tigre porque nos jugó de igual a igual", dijo Flores tras el encuentro.

"El clima está muy pesado y haber jugado la final de la Supercopa ante Arsenal el viernes pasado influyó en el rendimiento, de todas maneras con el correr de los partidos vamos a ir logrando el mejor el funcionamiento del equipo", indicó el DT.

Sobre su debut como entrenador jugando como local en Liniers, el ex goleador sostuvo: "Me dio un poco de tristeza ver el estadio sin público, incluso los jugadores sintieron la falta de la hinchada. Ojalá esto se pueda revertir y contra All Boys podamos jugar con nuestra gente".

El partido se jugó sin público, ya que Vélez fue sancionado y no puede contar con parcialidad local durante las 1ra, 3ra. y 5ta. fecha por varias irregularidades advertidas en la previa del partido correspondiente a la última fecha del Inicial 2013, frente a San Lorenzo.

El equipo velezano practicará este sábado y viajará el lunes por la mañana rumbo a Lima, Perú, para enfrentar el martes, a las 21.30, a Universitario por la primera fecha del Grupo 1 de la Copa Libertadores de América.

Fabián Alegre: "Nos faltó un poco de fortuna en la definición"

BUENOS AIRES -- El entrenador de Tigre, Fabián Alegre, consideró que a su equipo le "faltó un poco de fortuna" en la definición en el empate sin goles ante Vélez Sarsfield, de visitante, por la primera fecha del torneo Final 2014 de fútbol.

"Tuvimos mejores chances, nos faltó un poco de fortuna en la definición pero jugamos con un rival difícil, de jerarquía que viene de ser campeón de la Supercopa (Argentina)", señaló Alegre.

"Vélez quizá tuvo mayor tenencia de pelota, pero hicimos nuestro juego, presionamos en el medio y nos faltó un poco en la definición", agregó el DT.

Sobre el resultado, el entrenador indicó: "No perder para nosotros era fundamental porque dentro de lo parejo que es el fútbol argentino, Vélez es siempre candidato", precisó.

FRIDAY: TIJUANA COME FROM BEHIND TO BEAT MONTERREY

Monterrey were once again made to pay for their lack of firepower as they allowed Tijuana to stage a late comeback and win 2-1 in the Estadio Caliente. Following a series of missed opportunities, Cesar Delgado finally put Monterrey in front with a wonderful solo effort. The Argentine striker cut inside onto his left foot and unleashed a venomous shot past Cirilo Saucedo. However, there was an immediate response from Los Xolos and 10 minutes later another Argentine was on the scoresheet. A Tijuana corner from the right was flicked on Elio Castro and Dario Benedetto was on hand to smash in the equaliser from close range. With minutes remaining Los Xolos led as Benedetto turned provider. His deep cross was headed back across goal by Juan Hernandez and Cristian Pellerano was in space to nod in the winner. Tijuana’s fine home form continues as they push on but for Monterrey it’s now three without a win.

http://www.youtube.com/w…CD222GMSK3Y