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Shakhtar Donetsk striker Dentinho joins Besiktas on year long loan

Shakhtar Donetsk striker Dentinho has joined Turkish giants Besiktas on loan for the next calendar year.

Dentinho, 24, is one of 11 Brazilians on the books of the Ukrainian champions, but has hardly featured this season and, with the arrival of Taison and Freda during the winter break, had found himself even further down the pecking order.

The Brazilian, who moved to Shakhtar in 2011 from Corinthians, took to social networking website Twitter to announce the news.

He said: “The road to Istanbul, Turkey. A very special day for me.”

The loan deal has cost Besiktas €1million until next January, but they have the option of extending the loan for another six months for €700,000.

Dentinho, who represented Brazil at Under 20 level but is yet to be called up to the senior side, joins Besiktas half way through the Turkish campaign with his new side sitting in second place in the league behind leaders Galatasaray.

Santos president Luis Álvaro: Neymar could remain in Brazil

Santos president Luis Álvaro has revealed that they have opened talks with Neymar over a new deal to keep the player in Brazil past the 2014 World Cup.

Neymar, 20, is the hottest prospect in world football and is wanted by a host of top European clubs, including Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City.

However, Álvaro believes the young star is happy playing in Brazil and hopes they can convince him to stay at Santos for the long-term.

"We are already talking about the chance of getting a new deal for him and it is a dream of mine to keep him here," Alvaro told reporters.

"I also think he is happy with his big salary here and he certainly deserves it."

The player himself refused to be drawn on his future, but did not deny he had been talking to the club.

"I have another year-and-a-half left in my contract, so I´ll keep quiet. But yes, there are talks," he said

Carlos Eduardo to make Flamengo debut in two weeks

Carlos Eduardo believes he will be fit to make his Flamengo debut in two weeks after recovering from tendinitis in his knee.

Eduardo, 25, signed for Flamengo on Wednesday from Russian side Rubin Kazan on a 18-month loan deal and cannot wait to start his career with the Rio de Janeiro giants having struggled during his time with Kazan.

“Everything is all right, but I did not understand much my coach out there. He used to play with three midfielders,” he told Lancenet!

“I have recovered well, but I have to improve my physical part. Despite doing two workouts a day, it is not the same when you do it at the club.

“I think in two weeks I will be back to my ideal weight. I´m only a little above.”

And Flamengo are delighted to have captured the talented former Grêmio star, especially with beating of competition from Santos, Fluminense and Internacional for his signature.

“I´m relieved,” said director of football Paulo Pelaipe.

“It was a difficult mission. Nobody knew, but I was conducting these negotiations since 20th December.

“It wasn’t a drama though, we brought a player who was hired for 24 million euros and at no cost to Flamengo. The great interest of other clubs shows the quality of this player. Muricy [Santos coach] even spoke to him. It was a great fight and a great victory for Flamengo.”

Nenê: I quit Paris Saint-Germain because of Leonardo

Al-Gharafa forward Nenê has revealed he quit Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month because of PSG’s director of football, and fellow Brazilian, Leonardo.

Nenê, 31, was PSG’s top scorer last season but fell out of favour with coach Carlo Ancelotti and, with just six months left on his contract, was hurt that he was not offered a new deal by Leonardo.

“I do not understand why Leonardo did not want me to continue after the season I had,” the winger told L’Equipe, referring to his 21 goals and 10 assists last season.

“Leonardo never said I was no longer part of the project. He did not say anything. I had to understand that I had to move on.”

The former Monaco winger was rumoured to be the one forcing his exit from the club by sulking on the bench, but he refutes those allegations.

“I would have liked to stay, but I have no regrets because I´m happy with what I did with PSG.”

And the player also revealed the reason for he turned down the offer from Santos was because it “was not that high” and hit back at the people who labelled him greedy by saying “I had to put away [money] for my family, my children and my mother”.

Gago med attitude problemer....

Gago agotó la paciencia

VALENCIA -- El mediocampista argentino del Valencia, Fernando Gago, se encuentra en problemas con la dirigencia del club debido a su "actitud indiferente y desafiante", por lo que se le buscaría un destino antes de que finalice el mercado de pases de enero, publicó la prensa local.

Gago, que hace poco fue pretendido por Boca Juniors, su ex club, mantiene diferencias con las autoridades de la entidad a raíz de su comportamiento, consignó el diario As en una nota titulada "Gago colma la paciencia del club y se le busca una salida.

"La actitud indiferente y desafiante de Gago ha cansado ya a la cúpula valencianista y la gota que colmó el vaso fue su ausencia de Mestalla el miércoles pasado en el Valencia-Real Madrid", por los cuartos de final de la Copa del Rey, publicó el periódico.

En ese marco, añadió que el ex jugador del Real Madrid y la Roma de Italia "incumplió una de las normas básicas del código interno de la plantel que dice que los jugadores no convocados por decisión técnica o lesionados deberán acudir al estadio para ver al equipo por consideración y deferencia hacia sus compañeros".

Según lo publicado por el diario español As, el Valencia quiere imponerle un castigo deportivo y una multa económica, siempre dentro del código interno, aunque no se descarta que se le busque un destino en el mercado con el objetivo de recuperar los 3,5 millones de euros que se pagaron por su pase

CONCACAF Announces 2013 Gold Cup Host Cities and Venues

MIAMI -- CONCACAF announced Wednesday the 13 venues and host cities that will welcome the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup from July 7-28, 2013.

"We would like to thank all cities and venues in the United States for their interest in our Confederation´s Gold Cup and congratulate the ones that have been selected to host its 2013 edition." said CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb. "CONCACAF is looking forward to a successful tournament, working in close partnership with both stadium and local authorities, while expanding the reach of our competition to a larger number of fans in more locations throughout the United States."

The region´s premier National Team tournament will again expand its footprint by visiting eight new world-class venues in this year´s edition: Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA; M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD; Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, CO; Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT; BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, TX; Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL; JELD-WEN Field in Portland, OR and Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City, UT. Six new Gold Cup cities are featured in this group of newcomers, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Denver, Hartford, Portland and Salt Lake City. Houston and Miami return to host the tournament, for the 5th and 9th time consecutive time, respectively.

The event will also return to five venues from its previous editions including Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX (2009, 2011); Soldier Field in Chicago, IL (2007, 2009, 2011); Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA (1991, 2002, 2011); Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ (2011) and CenturyLink Field in Seattle, WA (2005, 2009). Years in parenthesis denote Gold Cups at each venue.

With a mix of historic venues and brand new state of the art soccer facilities that average 57,000 spectators, the 2013 edition of the Gold Cup promises to provide fans both in stadium and at home with unforgettable atmospheres in world class venues. In 2011, the tournament drew more than 600,000 fans throughout 13 match-days, including nine sell-outs.

To date, eleven of the twelve participating national teams have qualified for this year´s tournament. In alphabetical order: Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States. The final spot will be decided on Friday in the fifth-place match of the 2013 UNCAF Copa Centroamericana between Guatemala and Panama, which is being held in Costa Rica.

Taking place every two years, the Gold Cup has established itself as the region´s most popular national team tournament, routinely drawing capacity crowds and millions of viewers across the region. Featuring the best players from the confederation, the tournament includes the top 12-nations in the region.

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup Host City & Venue list
(In alphabetical order by host city)

HOST CITY - VENUE (Venue Location)

• Atlanta - Georgia Dome (Atlanta, GA)
• Baltimore - M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD)
• Chicago - Soldier Field (Chicago, IL)
• Dallas - Cowboys Stadium (Arlington, TX)
• Denver - Sports Authority Field at Mile High (Denver, CO)
• Hartford - Rentschler Field (East Hartford, CT)
• Houston - BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, TX)
• Los Angeles - Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA)
• Miami - Sun Life Stadium (Miami Gardens, FL)
• New York- Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ)
• Portland - JELD-WEN Field (Portland, OR)
• Salt Lake City - Rio Tinto Stadium (Sandy, UT)
• Seattle - CenturyLink Field (Seattle, WA)

Duo boosts El Salvador midfield and future

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - The recently ended World Cup qualifying campaign was too short for El Salvador and, without a doubt, a disappointment for a young team.

After a draw at Costa Rica on the opening date of CONCACAF semifinal qualifying, the Cuscatlecos found themselves in a promising position. But a tie at home against Guyana and an eventual narrow defeat in San Salvador at the hands of Costa Rica proved too much to overcome.

Nevertheless, the 2013 Copa Centroamericana has provided evidence that La Selecta´s future is more brilliant than its immediate past, since head coach Agustin Castillo has used the event to provide debuts for several promising young players.

The renewal in El Salvador´s ranks looks very bright indeed, taking into account the excellent play of forward Rafael Burgos, and a young midfield led by the duo of Darwin Ceren and Richard Menjivar.

Against regional powers with ample attacking options like Panama and Honduras - El Salvador´s Group B opponents - Castillo has elected to go with a dual-holding midfielder lineup. Ceren and Menjivar, however, have proven to be more than just ball winners in helping the Cuscatlecos to their somewhat unexpected qualification to the event´s semifinal round.

"We combine with Richard, one marks and the other one generates plays, and when the other marks the other one generates," explained Ceren. "We´re mixed players, we team up well and we´ve gotten the message of the coach."

An important part of Castillo´s strategy, the precise passing and offensive projection of the midfielders, has been crucial in creating opportunities for Burgos and the overall Salvadoran attack.

In that way, the pairing of Ceren and Menjivar in midfield has played a key role in the attractive, if pragmatic, football displayed by El Salvador - compact, but always with a hint of offensive projection. The good results to date are also due in part to the excellent understanding between the two, since the midfielders play very similar roles alongside each other, and must be in sync for the scheme to work.

"The truth is we have very similar roles," Ceren said. "The professor decides how to field us, and we´re appreciative of the opportunity."

Building on the base of that midfield industry, El Salvador managed to navigate the group stage undefeated, and - with a little help from the draw for second place with Panama - book a semifinal date with host Costa Rica.

Now, as the young team finds its rhythm, the future of La Selecta suddenly looks much more positive, promising Salvadoran fans good days to come. In fact, if the midfield continues to produce in the short term, those sunnier days could be on their way as soon as this weekend in San Jose.

Bengtson´s goals: score, work hard

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- As far as forwards are concerned, Honduras has produced some of the best in the CONCACAF region over the past few decades.

Carlos Pavon, Wilmer Velasquez, Milton Nuñez, Eduardo Bennett, David Suazo - the names ring out in the annals of the region´s history as some of the more fearsome strikers a CONCACAF team could come up against -- in either World Cup qualifying, Gold Cup, or regional club play.

In 2013, an ascending Honduran team on the road to the Hexagonal seems to have found yet another answer to the goal scoring question - Jerry Bengtson. In fact the regularity with which Bengtson has struck for Honduras is such that he´s scored goals in his past five international tournaments.

"Thank God we´ve been able to get those goals, but we have to keep working so the goals will keep coming," Bengtson said, after Honduras topped Group B at the UNCAF Copa Centroamericana with a draw against Panama on Tuesday night.

The international goal scoring streak began at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, when Bengtson scored three goals (2 v Grenada, 1 v Costa Rica), before putting away three more at the Olympic Games in 2012 (2 v Morocco, 1 v Spain).

In the meantime, the Honduran has scored five goals during the 2014 World Cup qualifying process (2 v Cuba, 3 v Canada), and already has one at the UNCAF event.

Nevertheless, the forward who came up through the youth ranks of CD Vida in La Ceiba, before moving to Motagua - where he added two more goals in the 2011/12 edition of the CONCACAF Champions League - says that impressive curriculum is not yet enough to merit comparisons to Honduras´ best all-time forwards.

"We´re still working little by little, but there´s a long road still to go, a lot of goals to score," he said. "The goals give you confidence, but we still haven´t achieved anything, we have to keep working."

For Bengtson and Honduras, the work continues at the Copa Centro, where the team has made it to the semifinals by winning Group B and leaving in its wake the likes of Panama, a strong rival for one of the region´s three direct passes to the FIFA 2014 World Cup.

Bengtson says that a second straight World Cup for Honduras is a reachable goal, since the generation coming up offers a lot of interesting traits, and the steps achieved thus far by Honduras are just a beginning.

"There are a lot of good young players coming up, who want to do things well, and that helps us," said the 25-year-old, who plays his club football with the USA´s New England Revolution.

The road for Bengtson and Honduras in the Copa Centroamericana continues on Friday at the Estadio Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica, where the Catrachos take on the tournament´s surprise package, Belize, at 5:30 p.m. local time.

Kommer vi nogensinde til at se Jerry Bengtsson i Europa? Jeg foretrækker at se ham i Europa fremfor at skulle holde øje med "gringo-land".

Carlos Costly ser for alvor ud til at være ved at bide sig fast på førsteholdet i Veria. Han spillede i hvert fald hele kampen i deres 1-2 nederlag til Levadiakos i mandags.

yeps...Dibben kan du ikke huske Brøndbyforsøgte at få fingrene i Jerry da han var i Motagua.....:-D

God med Costly glæder mig til Hexagonal der starter op små 14 dage.....-)