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Bridgestone Libertadores: Sporting - R. Garcilaso, Bolívar - León and O´Higgins - Cali are the matches today

Bolívar vs. León

Bolivian club Bolivar, who is coming off a 2-1 loss to Emelec of Ecuador, welcomes Mexico´s León to their fortress in La Paz that sits at 3,600 meters above sea-level. This match corresponds with Group 7 in the tournament.

León of Guanajuato temporarily leads the standings together with Emelec, both on 3 points, while Brazilian club Flamengo and Bolívar bring up the rear with zero points.

The match will be played at the Hernando Siles stadium at 8:45 pm local time (00h45 Thursday). The referee will be Peruvian Manuel Garay, supported on the sides by his compatriots Jorge Yupanqui and Raúl López Cruz.

Probable starting teams:

Bolívar: Romel Quiñonez - Gerardo Yecerotte, Edemir Rodríguez, Nelson Cabrera, Luis Gutiérrez - Juan Miguel Callejón, Walter Flores, Damir Miranda, Rudy Cardozo - Ricardo Pedriel (Juan Carlos Arce) and William Ferreira. COACH: Vladimir Soria.

León: William Yarbrough - Jhonny Magallón, Rafael Márquez, Juan Ignacio González, Edwin Hernández - Luis Montes, José Juan Vázquez, Eisner Loboa, Carlos Peña - Mauro Boselli and Matías Britos. COACH: Gustavo Matosas.


O´Higgins vs. Deportivo Cali

Chilean champion O´Higgins will be looking for its first win at the 2014 Copa Libertadores on Wednesday against Colombia´s Deportivo Cali.

O´Higgins, a team that returned to the Copa Libertadores after 30 years, debuted last week with a 0-0 draw against Lanús of Argentina.

Meanwhile, Deportivo Cali had a positive debut beating Paraguay´s Cerro Porteno 1-0 and is sole leader of Group 3.

The match will start at 9:45 pm local time (00h45 GMT Thursday). The referee will be Brazilian Ricardo Marques, assisted by his compatriots Alesandro Rocha and Fabio Pereira.

Probable teams:

O´Higgins: Paulo Garcés - Yerson Opazo, Benjamín Vidal, Albert Acevedo, Alejandro López - Luis Figueroa, César Fuentes, Braulio Leal and Pablo Hernández - Pablo Calandria and Gonzalo Barriga. COACH: Eduardo Berizzo.

Deportivo Cali: Faryd Mondragón - Luis Payares, Fainer Torijano, Víctor Giraldo, Mauricio Casierra - Andrés Pérez, Gustavo Cuéllar, Gustavo Bolívar, Cristián Marrugo, Carlos Lizarazo - Robin Ramírez. COACH: Leonel Álvarez.


Defensor vs. Garcilaso

Defensor Sporting of Uruguay will welcome to Montevideo on Wednesday Peruvian club Real Garcilaso in second round play Group 5. The hosts need to get their first points in the group led by their opponent and Universidad de Chile.

The match will be played in the Luis Franzini Stadium starting at 8:30 pm (22H30 GMT). A decimated Defensor, with several players out injured, face a motivated opponent that comes to this match after a home victory against the mighty Cruzeiro of Brazil (2-1).

The visitors arrive determined to try to assert themselves and defeat the Uruguayans and move on to the next phase. The match will be refereed by Ecuadorian Roddy Zambrano, while his assistants are his compatriots Carlos Herrera and Edwin Bravo.

Probable teams:

Defensor Sporting: Martín Campaña - Pablo Pintos, Nicolás Correa, Matías Malvino, Robert Herrera - Federico Gino, Andrés Fleurquin, Leonardo Pais, Mario Regueiro or Georgian De Arrascarreta, - Nicolás Olivera and Matías Alonso. COACH: Fernando Curutchet.

Real Garcilaso: Juan Pretel - Joel Herrera, Gonzalo Maulella, Jaime Huerta, Cristian García - Carlos Flores, César Ortiz, Edwin Retamoso, Alfredo Ramúa, Ramón Rodríguez and Víctor Ferreira. COACH: Fredy García.

Ansaldi havde jeg nok også udtaget, selvom jeg ikke følger voldsomt meget med i hvordan det går Zenit.


Heller ikke her, men umiddelbart virker det til han gør det fint. Argentina´s defensive problemer er vel ret bset ikke enstående Chile og Colombias er også ret tyndt besat i det defensive - det er vel kun Brasilien ironisk nok som har styrken der selv nå der tages forbehod for David Luiz og Avenida Brasil faktoren.

http://www.telegraph.co.…n-side.html

Helt enig. Brasilien har et væld af fremragende midterforsvarere i disse år, ligesom man har rigeligt med dygtige midtbanespillere der både kan beskytte forsvaret og spille fodbold. Ironisk nok, så er Brasilien til gengæld mindre godt kørende hvad gælder deciderede angribere. Ikke at de ikke har dygtige spillere til offensiven, men man mangler en centerforward, en 9´er, der holder rigtig international topklasse.

ja, man burde overtale Abreu til at skifte statsborgerskab. Han har stadig 5 gode år i sig endnu.

Tror det handler en del om en type spillende centrale forsvarspillere, lidt det samme med den defensive/centrale midtbanespiller han skal også kunne lidt med bolden - altså fysik og teknik, fløjene derimod små og hurtigere, Lucas, Bernard - Neymar er vel heller ikke ligefrem et fysisk pragteksemplar, de har dog teknik og hurtighed. Angrebet tja der er vel ingen brasilianere med de helt rigtige egenskaber...hvad er der af mulighed så´en traditionel forward i Fred, Jo , Leandro Damião, Walter som tank centerforward - heldigvis er der mane som kan lave mål - det vil aflaste angriberne en del ..........tænk hvis vi blot behøvede et mål for at vinde kampene, det er der reel mulighed for nu.

Vedrørende Colombia, Cuadrado, James, Falcao og frem for alt ansættelse af Pekerman gjorde vel tricket - Forsvarsmæssigt er de på niveau med argentinerne, midtbanen bedre og angrebet et niveau under - tilgengæld har de en bedre træner i Pekerman.

Chile er vel noget det samme, lidt det samme forsvarsmæssigt, bedre midtbane, dårligere angrebet - men bedre træner i Sampaoli - og virker mere velfungerende også udviklingsmæssigt

Uruguay et fantastisk angreb, ringere midtbane og forsvar.

Ecuador har kollektivet at falde tilbage på ......


For mig at se mangler der stadigvæk den rette balance på Argentinas hold, og Sabella er ligeså langt fra at finde den som Diego var i 2010. Har mere fidus til Colombia og Chile umiddelbart, da de virker mere homogene hold primært qua deres bedre trænerkapaciteter.

Racing: Merlo tendría dos bajas con Arsenal

BUENOS AIRES -- Tras la derrota sufrida en la noche del martes ante Tigre, el plantel de Racing se entrenó bajo las órdenes de Reinaldo Merlo durante la mañana del miércoles en la Cancha Auxiliar, ya con las miras puestas en el partido de la cuarta fecha ante Arsenal.

El gran inconveniente de la jornada estuvo en que José Luis Gómez se retiró antes del entrenamiento ya que se sometió a una serie de estudios que arrojaron que padece una contractura en la cara posterior del muslo derecho. Lo más probable es que se pierda el partido del próximo sábado.

Además, otro que tampoco estará en Sarandí es Fernando Ortiz, quien durante el segundo tiempo del partido ante Tigre se fue expulsado por una falta a Gabriel Peñalba.

De esta manera, Reinaldo Merlo deberá rearmar la defensa ya que perderá a dos de los cuatro titulares.

Para el puesto de lateral derecho están las variantes de Ismael Quílez, de poco rodaje en su primer semestre en el club, o Francisco Cerro, quien ante Tigre jugó en su puesto natural de volante central.

Mientras tanto para ocupar la zaga hay varias alternativas. La más viable sería que Gastón Campi tenga su oportunidad en su puesto, aunque no se descarta el ingreso del juvenil Yonathan Cabral o apostar por Matías Cahais y que el ingresante sea en el lateral izquierdo (Claudio Corvalán o Luis Ibáñez).

Dichas dudas seguramente comenzarán a despejarse durante el entrenamiento a puertas cerradas que Reinaldo Merlo programó para la mañana del jueves. En la misma, comenzaría a delinear los probables once titulares.

Racing y Arsenal se entrenarán el próximo sábado desde las 20:30 hs. con el arbitraje de Darío Herrera. Cabe recordar que el conjunto de Gustavo Alfaro venció a la "Academia" en los dos enfrentamientos entre ambos en 2013 (1-0 en Sarandí y 2-0 en Avellaneda).

ja, man burde overtale Abreu til at skifte statsborgerskab. Han har stadig 5 gode år i sig endnu.


Mon ikke Tabarez har ham med i truppen til sommer ;-)....han er jo en vårhare sammenlignet med de italienske Serie A spillere...Buffon kunne jo eksempelvis være hans fader ;-)

Mexico U20s open camp

MEXICO CITY -- The Mexico under-20 national team opened its second training camp of the year on Monday, as head coach Sergio Almaguer called in 22 players to the Mexican Football Federation’s High Performance Center.

The side will be put through double sessions during its first two days together and will end with single sessions on Wednesday and Thursday.

Mexico has won the last two CONCACAF Under-20 Championships, defeating Costa Rica (3-1) and the United States (3-1) in the 2011 and 2013 finals, respectively.

MEXICO UNDER-20 NATIONAL TEAM

(Training Camp: February 17-20, 2014)

GOALKEEPERS: Jose Manuel Gonzalez Galindo (Pachuca), Edson Alan Resendez Sanchez (Monterrey)

DEFENDERS: Francisco Jesus Calderón Flores (Pumas), Marco Cesar Jaime (Toluca), Edgar Portilla Magaña (Club America), Jose Carlos Robles Mejia (Pumas), Oscar Eduardo Suarez Parra (Leon), Salomon Wbias Nava (Pachuca)

MIDFIELDERS: David Israel Avalos Toro (Guadalajara), Diego Bollella Urtusastegui (Pumas), Omar Nicolas Govea Garcia (Club America), Kevin Rusel Gutierrez Gonzalez (Queretaro), Ulises Rivas Gilio (Santos), Sergio Alfonso Rodriguez Aguilera (Atlas), Sergio Rodriguez Pulido (Club America), Daniel Vazquez Sosa (Club America)

FORWARDS: Alejandro Diaz Liceaga (Club America), Diego Alberto Gama Garcia (Toluca), Marco Antonio Granados Villegas (Guadalajara), Guillermo Martinez Ayala (Pachuca), Diego Ivan Pineda Juarez (Club America), Daniel Armando Rios Calderon (Guadalajara)

Kardec and Tardelli watched by Felipão

Tardelli has enjoyed being part of Atlético´s recent success - Action Images
The Palmeiras and Atlético-MG strikers are on the radar of the national team boss for the friendly against South Africa on March 5.

Palmeiras’ Alan Kardec may not necessarily be the new name in Brazil’s squad for the friendly in Johannesburg as Atlético-MG striker Diego Tardelli is also thought to be being monitored.

The squad will be announced on Monday.

The two are likely to compete for just one place with the other two srikers’ postitions likely to be filled by Fred and Jô who have been regulars in Scolari’s squads since the Confederations Cup last year.

Kardec is thought to have had an informal conversation with Scolari about a call-up in recent weeks whilst Tardelli has risen to prominence since his team’s success in the Copa Libertadores in July.

Barcelona face Neymar ´tax fraud´ case

The Spanish tax authorities have launched a case against FC Barcelona for a tax ‘fraud’ of 9.1 million euros related to the transfer of Neymar last summer, according to reports in Spain.

Madrid-based judge Pablo Ruz is currently conducting an investigation into the complicated 86.2 million-euro deal, and has asked Barcelona, Neymar’s father and FIFA for all documentation relating to the transfer amid reported suspicions of the existence of different versions of the paperwork.

A public prosecutor presented a new petition to Spain’s High Court on Wednesday outlining the reasons for wanting to take a tax case against the Catalan club. “There is a whole series of contracts that show signs of simulation, as well as financial engineering operations,” the writ reads according to El Pais.

The prosecutor, Jose Perals, claims that Barca paid a total 37.9 million euros in a signing on fee (10 million euros in 2011 and 27.9 million euros in 2013) to join the club -- money which he maintains income tax of 9.1 million euros must be paid on.

Barca have previously maintained that this figure was paid as a "penalty clause" which was triggered when the Catalan club signed the player 12 months earlier than had been previously agreed. This money was -- according to the club’s own website -- paid to a company controlled by Neymar’s father.

Barca have admitted that they paid out a total of 86.2 million euros when signing the Brazilian player last summer, with different amounts being paid to his former club Santos and an agency controlled by his father. Some of these payments are claimed to relate to services not directly related to the transfer, including marketing, scouting and development work in Sao Paulo.

Santos and "third-party investors" who previously held a share of Neymar’s "playing rights" are also unhappy with how the 86.2 million euros was divided up, with the Brazilian club having a request that FIFA hand over all its documentation relating to the case rejected by a court in Sao Paulo.

Catalan newspaper El Periodico printed a copy of a petition from Spain’s Fiscalia de la Audiencia Nacional which speaks of the different payments made and the issues which the authorities have with Barca’s version of events.

Sandro Rosell, who stepped down as Barcelona president in January as the controversy over the transfer intensified, new Barca chief Josep Maria Bartomeu and Neymar Sr could all be called to testify as investigations in the Spanish capital continue.

All of the individuals involved continue to maintain that the deal was all legally above board. In January, prior to Rosell´s resignation, the Catalan club released a statement saying that the transfer was complex but not illegal.

“The complexity of the contract, which the prosecutor calls ´contract simulation´, has never been in itself illegal and we believe that the prosecutor is mistaken to believe that it is,” that statement said.