Snak

Caribbean Cup finals set for December 7

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Two-time defending champion Jamaica will begin its quest for a sixth overall Caribbean Cup title against French Guyana on December 8, a day after the tournament finals start with a doubleheader featuring Haiti vs. Trinidad, and host Antigua vs. the Dominican Republic.

The complete schedule for finals of the 17th biennial championship, to be played December 7-16, was released Tuesday by the Caribbean Football Union and features a match on the final day of group play between five-time champion Jamaica and Cuba, which has reached the semifinals in each of the last six tries.

Besides crowning the regional champion, the tournament decides the Caribbean´s four berths in next year´s CONCACAF Gold Cup.

This year´s finals includes all four teams that have won the Caribbean crown, eight-time champion Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, 1993 winner Martinique and 2007 champion Haiti.

Six of the eight participants have finished in the top four except the Dominican Republic and French Guyana, which is making its first appearance in the finals since 1995.

Antigua, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Trinidad will contest Group A at the Antigua Recreation Ground in St. John´s, while Group B with Cuba, French Guyana, Jamaica and Martinique will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound.

The top two teams in each group will advance to the semifinals and qualify for the Gold Cup.

Caribbean Cup Finals
(All times U.S. Eastern; local times in parentheses)

FIRST ROUND

Group A
At St. John´s, Antigua

Friday, December 7
Haiti vs. Trinidad & Togabo, 5 p.m. (6 p.m.)
Antigua & Barbuda vs. Dominican Republic, 7 p.m. (8 p.m.)

Sunday, December 9
Dominican Republic vs. Haiti, 4 p.m. (5 p.m.)
Antigua & Barbuda vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 6 p.m. (7 p.m.)

Tuesday, December 11
Trinidad & Tobago vs. Dominican Republic, 4 p.m. (5 p.m.)
Antigua & Barbuda vs. Haiti, 6 p.m. (7 p.m.)

Group B
At North Sound, Antigua

Saturday, December 8
Martinique vs. Cuba, 4 p.m. (5 p.m.)
Jamaica vs. French Guyana, 6 p.m. (7 p.m.)

Monday, December 10
Cuba vs. French Guyana, 4 p.m. (5 p.m.)
Jamaica vs. Martinique, 6 p.m. (7 p.m.)

Wednesday, December 11
French Guyana vs. Martinique, 4 p.m. (5 p.m.)
Jamaica vs. Cuba, 6 p.m. (7 p.m.)

SEMIFINALS*

At St. John´s, Antigua

Friday, December 14
Group A winner vs. Group B runner-up, 4 p.m. (5 p.m.)
Group B winner vs. Group A runner-up, 6 p.m. (7 p.m.)

FINALS

At North Sound, Antigua

Sunday, December 16

Third Place
Semifinal losers, 4 p.m. (5 p.m.)

Championship
Semifinal winners, 6 p.m. (7 p.m.)

Gode gamle Martin Palermo ser ud til at blive ny træner for Godoy Cruz.

Palermo podría dirigir a Godoy Cruz

BUENOS AIRES -- El exdelantero Martín Palermo es el principal candidato a dirigir al Godoy Cruz, de la Primera División del fútbol argentino, en sustitución de Omar Asad, quien renunció tras la derrota del equipo ante el Arsenal por 3-0 el domingo pasado.

Los dirigentes del club de la ciudad de Mendoza, en el oeste del país, tomaron contacto con Palermo esta semana y volverán hablar el jueves para acordar los términos el fichaje, informó este miércoles el periódico local Los Andes.

El rotativo indica que es posible que Palermo viaje el sábado a Mendoza para hacerse cargo del equipo, que dentro de tres semanas cerrará su participación en la última Liga de 2012 frente al Boca Juniors, equipo del cual el exdelantero es el máximo goleador de su historia.

Esta sería la primera experiencia de Palermo como entrenador, tras su retirada como futbolista activo en 2011. Hace dos semanas fue convocado por el Argentinos Juniors, pero este club finalmente se decidió por contratar a Gabriel Schurrer para entrenar al equipo.

Godoy Cruz, que logró el ascenso a la categoría de honor en 2008, ha sumado 19 puntos de 48 posibles en la actual competición, con cinco victorias, cuatro empates y siete derrotas, resultados que le han dejado cerca de la zona del descenso.

San Lorenzo look set to be finally going home – with the support of Hollywood star Viggo Mortensen

By Charles Reynolds
21 November 2012

They may have gone through financial ruin, a period of 14 years without a home ground and a move to one of Buenos Aires’ roughest neighbourhoods, not to mention relegation, but San Lorenzo look set to be finally going home.

Out of all of Argentina’s Big Five clubs, El Ciclón’s recent history stakes a strong claim for being the most troubled. Long before River Plate’s historic 2011 relegation, San Lorenzo became the first of the country’s illustrious quintet to take the ignominious drop into the B Nacional.

In 1979, two years earlier, crippling financial problems had forced them to sell off their stadium to the government – run by the last of the country’s military dictatorships. They received $900,000 for the site of their 75,000-seater ‘Gasómetro’ stadium, with the land set aside for new housing. However the land remained undeveloped for three years before being sold to French supermarket chain Carrefour for the heavily inflated price of $3,000,000.

For just over 14 years, San Lorenzo were the nomads of Argentine football. Without their own stadium they were forced to move around the city, renting other clubs’ grounds, and even when they finally built and moved to the ‘Nuevo Gasómetro’ in 1993, the situation was far from ideal.

While their old ground had been amongst the leafy streets of Boedo, a neighbourhood best known for its tango and historic cafes, their new one was moved to wasteland facing one of the city’s slums – known as Villa 1-11-14, it is widely considered to be the largest and most dangerous in Buenos Aires.

Despite winning the title in 2007, the last few seasons have not been happy ones as the club has come perilously close to relegation once again. Now on to their eighth permanent manager since Ramon Diaz won the Clausura with two games to spare five years ago, San Lorenzo avoided the drop by the narrowest of margins last season, beating Instituto over a two-legged playoff.

Perhaps the strangest thing about the club is that they can count on the support of super-fan and Hollywood star Viggo Mortensen. The Lord of the Rings actor lived in Argentina during his childhood, where his love affair with the club began, and even has his own blog on the club’s website.

At the 2008 Oscars he posed for photographs with Cate Blanchett while draping a San Lorenzo flag over her prominent baby bump and he regularly travels to Buenos Aires to watch games, as well as donating the money for a chapel to be built near the club in 2010.

http://blogs.independent…2/11/u1.jpg
Viggo Mortensen alongside Cate Blanchett and a San Lorenzo flag

More recently, his enthusiastic support for the club even got him into trouble at Washington DC’s Dulles airport. In May this year, while watching San Lorenzo’s crucial late season clash with Newell’s Old Boys on his laptop, he began excitedly screaming and shouting when a last minute goal helped his side take the lead and complete an unlikely comeback from 2-0 down. Shortly afterwards he was grabbed by two policemen although eventually released without charge.

Now, presumably much to the delight of Mortensen as well as the rest of the club’s passionate fan base, the news that they have been awaiting for years has come. Their appeal to the Buenos Aires legislature, citing 2006’s Ley de Restitución Histórica, which is aimed at restoring land illegally or suspiciously appropriated during the military junta, was unanimously approved last Thursday. Carrefour now have six months to negotiate the sale of the land back to San Lorenzo before it is expropriated and handed to the club anyway.

So after 32 years it looks like San Lorenzo are finally going back to their spiritual home, with club president Matías Lammens announcing that the club hope to inaugurate their new stadium in 2016.

However with relegation in Argentina decided by an unusual system of average points over three years, San Lorenzo remain in real trouble of going down and face an ongoing struggle to ensure their survival.

So while they have finally won their battle in the courtroom, they must, as the old managerial cliché states, keep fighting on the pitch to avoid the dreaded plunge to ‘La B’. Boedo may begin with a B but San Lorenzo, and every single one of their fans, will be hoping that after all these years, their return there does not.

Gode gamle, Viggo.

FAS, du er velkommen til at give dit besyv i Primera-trådens debat. Det er nu, du har mulighed for at tage afstand fra det mainstream McDonald´s og fish n´ chips.

ay sorry Muchaco

Der gik lige lidt lovligt meget Fish n chips i jeres primera division tråd.

San Lorenzo look set to be finally going home

Ved du helt præcist hvad den nyhed kommer til at betyde Deportivo FAS?

Skal du sgu ikke beklage. Det er en tråd for alle.

Du fik skabt røre i vandene om moderne engelsk fodbold med din antiglobaliserings Bosman-strategi, men ja der skal jo være plads til folk med alle slags laster herinde.


Kan vi regne med dig til Argentina-Brasilien i nat?

Argentina-Brasilien er altid en klassiker. Den her gang dog en smule nedprioriteret, på grund af holdene ikke er i stærkeste opstilling. Jeg glæder mig dog til at se spillere som Leonel Vangioni, Ivan Bella, Walter Montillo, Hernan Barcos og Emanuel Gigliotti.

TR1986

Det er en lidt kringlet historie - men i slutning af 1970´erne/starten af 1980´erne var Argentina ledet af en Militærjunta, og de tvang San lorenzo til at sælge deres stadion til Supermarkedskæden Carrefour, som kluben så lejede Stadion af i en periode. Man flyttede så til et nyopført stadion i et andet distrikt, hvor man aldrig rigtigt har følt sig hjemme. Nu har man så vundet retsagen mod Carrefour omkring salg af jorden i sin tid, så handlen går retur. Det betyder at SAn lorenzo nu kan flytte hjem igen til klubbens eget distrikt -præsidenten har vist lovet at renovere det gamle stadion. Med Kalinsky i forsvaret, Stortalentet Alan Rúiz og Buffa på midtbanen - Romagnoli og piatti retur fra skader - Stracqua oppe foran til at scorer målene - Viggo på sidelinjen...så ser fremtiden lys ud.....:-)

FF17 Yeps jeg snupper gerne Argentina - Brasilien - det er en kamp hvor trupper med spillere fra de hjemmelige ligaer såmon ikke der er en juvel eller to...som TR1986 er inde på...

Tak Depor, det lyder godt:-)

Men er der så konkrete planer om hvordan det nye stadion kommer til at se ud og hvad stadionkapaciteten kommer til at være? Og hvad der kommer til at ske med San Lorenzos nuværende stadion?