Snak

Fernando Tobio går direkte ind på holdet til søndagens kamp mod All Boys. efter sin skade...

Vélez: Tobio se recuperó y será titular

BUENOS AIRES -- El defensor Fernando Tobio integrará el equipo titular con el que Vélez Sarsfield visitará el próximo domingo a All Boys, tras superar una sobrecarga muscular que arrastraba desde hace un par de semanas.

Tras iniciar la semana haciendo un trabajo diferenciado, Tobio comenzó a entrenarse a la par de sus compañeros el miércoles, y ayer, tras practicársele algunos estudios, se comprobó que no tenía ningún tipo de lesión.

Esta situación llevó al entrenador Ricardo Gareca a sumarlo al equipo titular.

Si bien Gareca no confirmó el equipo y recién lo hará el sábado tras el entrenamiento en la Villa Olímpica, retornarán a la alineación titular Fabián Cubero y Sebastián Domínguez, quienes vienen de cumplir una suspensión, en lugar de Gino Peruzzi y Juan Ignacio Sills.

El equipo para jugar en Floresta estará integrado por Sebastián Sosa; Fabián Cubero, Fernando Tobio, Sebastián Domínguez, Emiliano Papa; Iván Bella, Francisco Cerro, Ariel Cabral, Federico Insúa; Lucas Pratto y Facundo Ferreyra.

Los jugadores realizarán la última práctica antes del partido contra All Boys mañana, a las 9, en la Villa Olímpica, y luego quedarán concentrados.

Chinese interest in Elkeson

Botafogo playmaker Elkeson is the subject of interest from China, according to his agent Antônio Gustavo.

Elkeson, 23, has been an important payer for the Alvinegro this season, often showing his versatility to fill-in as a central-striker when required.

Now, though, having seen a €4.5 mullion offer from Bologna rejected in the summer, the exciting forward is once more the subject of intense speculation.

"Since the middle of the year we have received offers," Gustavo told Lance! "Recently we have had some interest and one was from a club in China. I asked Elkeson if he would like to play there."

The agent went on to confirm that the player had interest in a possible move and that he had informed the club of the values required to sign the player.

The ball is now in the court of the Far Eastern side, if they wish to bring the 1-cap Brazil international to China after a season in which he has reached double figures for league goals in Série A.

Det kan jo betyde at Shaktat Donetsk påtænker at sende en Brasilianer eller to videre i systemet.

Bernard: I could leave in January

On Friday afternoon, Atlético Mineiro midfielder Bernard was named as the ´Revelation of the Brasileirão 2012´ by the CBF, giving the 20-year-old rightful recognition for his fine season.

However, with the campaign not yet finished, it already appears it could be the youngster´s last in Brazil for the time being, with European sides already circling.

Ukrainian powerhouse Shakhtar Donetsk have already been linked, whilst Lancenet report that Spartak Moscow will offer €15 million for the player in January.

Although Bernard has frequently paid lip-service to the fact that he would like to stay, the youngster once more indicated that the opportunity to head to Europe is on his mind.

"I was joking with my agent that I wanted to know a bit about the offers," Bernard told Lance. "He wouldn´t tell me and asked me to focus on my games. I think he´s right, but I am curious!

"My desire to stay is great, but I do not know what is going on. I am on the outside. When the league season ends, lets see what is best for both parties."

Earlier this week, Bernard made his first appearance for Brazil in the away-leg of the Superclassico das Americas victory over Argentina.

Apropos signingen af Diego Souza.

Santos coach Muricy Ramalho eyes Cruzeiro playmaker Walter Montillo

With Cruzeiro having announced the signing of Diego Souza on Friday, Santos have switched their attention to signing A Raposa´s Argentine No. 10 Walter Montillo.

Montillo, 28, has long been linked with a move away from Cruzeiro, but the Belo Horizonte side have previously held firm over selling the player.

Now, with Diego Souza secured ahead of 2013 and fellow Argentine Alejandro Martinuccio likely to extend, it is believed that the club would settle for a fee of around €10 million, or a lesser fee plus players.

It is likely, though, that a deal will be struck which will see Cruzeiro retain a percentage of the player´s economic rights with a view to a future sale, whilst Santos will seek the help of sponsor Banco BMG, who already own 20% of the player´s rights, in the negotiation.

"It is not impossible. He is in Brazil but has a contract with Cruzeiro," Santos manager Muricy Ramalho told a press conference.

"He is a great player, but it´s not impossible given what we see in the market."

Santos are also believed to be close to securing Ponte Preta box-to-box midfielder Renê Junior on a one-year loan from parent club Tombense-MG.

Naturligvis, iøvrigt interessant han vælger Scolari (da Felipão såvidt jeg husker så bort fra ham isin tid) ...interessant perspektiv med Rai som assisent.

Romario calls for celebration of Menezes exit

Brazilian footballing idol Romario has quickly moved to have his say on the dismissal of Mano Menezes as Brazil coach, calling for a day of fireworks and celebration.

Romario, now in politics, has been a vocal critic of Mano Menezes´ spell as coach of the Seleção for some time, previously calling for his sacking on several occasions and labelling the coach an "idiot and an imbecile".

Following the news of the coach´s sacking on Friday afternoon, Romario took to Twitter to celebrate and pat himself on the back for calling for the sacking long ago:

"Guys, today is a historic day on which Brazil should release fireworks and party. At last these incompetent guys on the board of the CBF have done something good for Brazilian football.

"I was sure that it would happen, it took a while, but he is gone. Regarding Mano, good riddance."

Not content to stop there, Romario also gave his opinion on who should lead the country into the 2014 World Cup, opting for Luis Felipe Scolari - the coach who denied him a call to the 2002 tournament against a tide of public opinion.

"In my opinion, the coach should be Felipão and the team director, if Andrés Sanches goes, would ideally be Raí," he concluded.

Selvfølgelig ville han det - han ved jo selv der ikke er at det er det ultimative job i international fodbold.

Lance - Guardiola would manage Brazil tomorrow

Brazilian newspaper Lance has published details of a conversation between their editor and a contact close to Pep Guardiola, with the contact insisting that the former-Barcelona coach would "take the job tomorrow" if offered.

The unusual step taken by the newspaper shows enormous faith in the reliability of their contact, which the article itself acknowledges would cause a big reaction from the CBF and Brazilian media.

Lance report their contact as saying: "The only team in the world that he would start coaching tomorrow is the Seleção. And he would be World Champion with Brazil."

When asked to confirm exactly what he was saying, the contact added: "If Pep trained the squad, he would be World Champion - you can tell that to the president of the CBF."

While it is always difficult to believe articles with nameless quotes, the fact that such a respected paper, using their Editor´s name in the by-line, has chosen to run the story suggests that they are confident of the reliability.

Lance have staked their editor´s reputation on releasing this article and, with their final paragraph, throw the ball to CBF president José Maria Marin to act on the information.

@ FAS
Intet nyt fra Dedé-fronten i forhold til evt. klubskifte. Vores lange ven har været skadesramt siden den 24. oktober. Vasco kunne godt bruge pengene, det er helt sikkert.
De sidste 2 oprykkere til Serie A findes i dag. Goiás og Criciúma er oppe, mens Atlético-PR, Vitória og São Caetano kæmper om de sidste 2 pladser. Krydser fingrene for Atlético og Vitória. Det ville stort et Ba-Vi-derby til næste år på det nye stadion i Salvador. Det kræver lige, at Bahia redder måsen i den bedste række. Coritiba mod Atlético-PR er også et lokalopgør, som vil klæde Serie A.

@ Samba..

Intet nyt fra Dedé-fronten i forhold til evt. klubskifte. Vores lange ven har været skadesramt siden den 24. oktober. Vasco kunne godt bruge pengene, det er helt sikkert.

Så du regner med Flamengo sejr i aften ? - hvad er dit syn på Pep som mulig landsholdstræner for drengene ?

Racing Clubs Manager Zubeldía med lidt lir op til Clasico´en mod Boca imorgen.

Racings forventede star opstillin markeret med fed.

Zubeldía: "Cuál es el nivel de Boca"

BUENOS AIRES -- Luis Zubeldía, entrenador de Racing Club, aseguró que no sabe "cuál es el verdadero nivel de Boca", su rival del próximo domingo en La Bombonera, por la 17ma. fecha del torneo Inicial de fútbol.

"No sé cuál es el verdadero nivel de Boca. Nosotros estamos en un buen momento y ojalá lo podamos sostener. Boca no viene jugando bien, pero es relativo porque haciéndolo mal superó a los de arriba.

Sin dudas, es un rival fuerte", reconoció Zubeldía, que confirmó el mismo equipo que llega de golear a Quilmes (4-0).

Racing, con 29 puntos al igual que Newell´s Old Boys de Rosario, es uno de los escoltas de los punteros Vélez y Lanús (32). Boca se ubica quinto con 27.

Para Zubeldía, el clásico del domingo se trata de "un partido muy importante" por la instancia del torneo y aseguró que en caso de ganarlo su equipo "quedaría por encima del objetivo planteado para ir en busca de logro mayor (el título)".

La formación titular en La Bombonera será con Sebastián Saja; Iván Pillud, Fernando Ortiz, Matías Cahais y Claudio Corvalán; Agustín Pelletieri, Bruno Zuculini, Diego Villar y Ricardo Centurión; Luis Fariña y Luciano Vietto.

"(José) Sand y (Mauro) Camoranesi jugaban en algún momento del torneo, como en el clásico ante Independiente. Hoy juegan los chicos, pero son tan importantes aquellos puntos como éstos. De los 18 jugadores que estarán en cancha de Boca, muchos estuvieron de una y otra manera, hemos ganado y hemos perdido", explicó Zubeldía.

"Es otra experiencia y me parece que la desfachatez de ellos va a hacer que no tenga influencia el entorno y una cancha difícil como la de Boca", añadió el pampeano.

Para el entrenador, sería "irrespetuoso decir en estas últimas fechas se encontró el equipo".

"Uno va poniendo jugadores y armando una idea, una identidad y la tenés que sostener en el tiempo para poder decir -en un mediano plazo- que el equipo está", explicó.

Zubeldía justificó sus elecciones: "Uno opta por los que juegan bien y son buena gente. Hasta ahí llegamos nosotros. Los que demuestran día a día que no nos equivocamos son ellos".

Con respecto al juego, el exjugador y técnico de Lanús recordó: "Racing ha salido a ganar siempre, que otorgues la pelota en la salida no quiere decir que no salgas a ganar, es parte de la estrategia".

"Estamos en una situación en la que no hay mucho por perder, tenemos un buen colchón de puntos. Si hacemos los méritos para sumar de a tres, es probable ganemos. En general, me parece que tenemos los puntos que nos merecemos, no cuenta el lamento. Ganamos puntos sin merecerlos y perdimos puntos sin merecerlo", asumió.

El técnico más joven de la categoría (tiene 31 años) fue elogiado por Alejandro Sabella. "El tiene que ser nuestro referente. A Sabella le prestamos atención en la etapa de Estudiantes y ha demostrado muchas virtudes en el seleccionado. Es un referente y le agradezco que me haya nombrado, es un honor", devolvió.

"Me siento identificado con Sabella porque cuando tiene que armar una línea de 5, la arma, o cuando tienen que convivir los tres delanteros, lo hace. Me siento identificado con esa flexibilidad que tiene", cerró.

Central American Weekend Preview

Title races heat up in Central American domestic play this weekend, as the playoffs continue in Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras, while regular seasons come to a close in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.

GUATEMALA

Going into the last round of the regular season on Sunday, seven of the eight playoff spots are written in ink, but there´s still plenty to play for headed into the weekend.

Marquense took a huge step towards the post-season during the week, defeating Malacateco 2-0 in a make-up match that had been postponed due to the earthquake that shook the Western part of the country two weeks ago. The victory, Marquense´s first in eleven matches, moved the San Marcos club into the eighth and final playoff position, two ahead of Petapa and three up on Universidad with just one match to play.

The Marquense win also eliminated Deportivo Mictlan and Juventud Escuintla, leaving just three teams in the chase for the eighth spot. Universidad visits second-place Municipal this weekend, while Petapa hosts Halcones.

Heredia will travel to Marquense on Sunday, but first the Jaguars will drop in on Xelaju on Friday to make up a Round 20 match, also delayed by the earthquake. Xelaju then hosts overall leader Comunicaciones on a quick Sunday turnaround.

Elsewhere, Mictlan welcomes Malacateco to close out its season, while Suchitepequez looks to hold firm to the seventh spot when already-eliminated Escuintla comes to town.


PANAMA

Chepo takes a two-goal advantage over Rio Abajo into Friday night´s return leg of the Panamanian semifinals, to be played at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez at 9:00 PM local time. Bernardo Palma and Romario Piggott scored for Los Tigrillos in their victory Monday night over Rio Abajo, which finished the Panamanian regular season in first place.

A win or a loss by less than two goals would assure Chepo of a second-straight appearance in the final, after the Orange dropped the Clausura final earlier this year to Tauro. Rio Abajo is looking for a first-ever finals appearance in its first season in the top flight Liga Panamena.

At the other end of the Panama Canal, host Arabe Unido will look to maintain its advantage after topping Plaza Amador on the road last weekend, 3-1. The Colon side hopes to continue a streak of never having lost to Plaza Amador in LFP play, a record that dates back to 2009. That match is set to kick off at 3:00 PM on Saturday at Armando Dely Valdes Stadium.


HONDURAS

After a pair of thrilling play-in finales on Wednesday night, the Honduran semifinals kick-off Sunday afternoon.

Surprise package Atletico Choloma, which secured a 2-2 tie at Marathon on Wednesday to advance on away goals, will host regular-season runaway leader Olimpia at the Estadio Ruben Deras.

In the capital an hour earlier, Motagua, which beat Real España Wednesday night, 3-2, to take a 7-3 aggregate win in that series, will face visiting Victoria in the first of two matches for the right to a finals spot.


NICARAGUA

Defending champion Real Esteli could come out of the weekend with a finals place assured, while either Walter Ferretti or Managua FC could also find itself on the inside track to the finals of the Nicaraguan Apertura.

The Tren del Norte hosts Juventus, which has yet to secure a point from four matches in the semifinal round, in Esteli. A win for the defending champion, along with a winner from the other match of the day -- Walter Ferretti versus Managua FC in Managua -- would mean another finals berth for the northern team.

Neither team can clinch a place in the final from the other match, but the Blue Lions, with a complicated date at Real Esteli to close the round set for next week, are the more pressured of the two capital sides.


COSTA RICA

Alajuelense´s midweek win over Perez Zeledon, in a match that had been postponed during La Liga´s participation in the 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions League group stage, left the semifinalist spots defined headed into the last day of the regular season in Costa Rica.

La Liga, Saprissa, Herediano and Limon will be the four semifinalists, since fourth place Limon is four points ahead of fifth-place Santos. But positioning is still up in the air, as either Alajuelense, which travels to Cartagines, or Saprissa, which hosts Limon, could still finish atop the table.

In the other match involving a playoff-bound team, third place Herediano hosts San Carlos.


EL SALAVDOR

The semifinalists are also set in El Salvador with one match to play. Leader Isidro Metapan, along with Aguila, Alianza and FAS, is through to the playoff round, though seeding is yet to be decided with all four teams within three points of each other.

Fourth place FAS could move up with a home win against Santa Tecla, as Alianza, tied for second with Aguila, must go on the road to close at Atletico Marte. For its part, Aguila has a tricky home showdown on tap against none other than Metapan in San Miguel.