Snak

Sydney dismiss Alessandro Del Piero to Flamengo rumours

A-League side Sydney FC have dismissed rumours linking Alessandro Del Piero with a move to Flamengo.

Recent reports suggested that Zico, who is now on the board at Flamengo, and new president Eduardo Bandeira de Mello had begun talks with the Italian’s brother and agent Stefano over a two-year deal.

However, Sydney CEO Tony Pignata has now confirmed that no talks took place and that the Australian club are close to extending Del Piero´s stay for another season.

He told The Daily Telegraph: "Stefano told me yesterday he hadn´t been to Rio, and has told me Alessandro is only in talks with us.

"He said it´s pure speculation [about Flamengo], and he´s coming here within the next week at which point I expect us to wrap everything up.

"We´ve said it several times, we want him to stay and he wants to stay. It´s only a few marketing issues we have to resolve."

The 38-year-old has scored 10 goals in 16 games since leaving Juventus last summer, where he made more than 500 appearances.

Corinthians coach Tite: This team has a soul of competition

Corinthians coach Tite believes his team has a real fighting spirit after the draw with São Caetano at the weekend and promises they will fight the same regardless of the competition.

Corinthians took the lead against São Caetano through Paulinho but fell behind to goals from former Barcelona star Rivaldo and Danielzinho, needing a Paolo Guerrero goal to claim a point from the game.

“This team wants to play whether its the Libertadores or the Paulistão. To play inside, outside, any round of classification. This team has a racing heart, soul, talent and is wanting to win. This team has a technical restless,” said Tite.

Corinthians open their Libertadores campaign this week against Bolivian side San Jose and Tite wanted to tell the fans that they are ready for what lies ahead.

“What I have to say to the fans of Corinthians is that teams build champions with time from competition.

“I have a team that was the world champion recently and must have discretion. As things are showing up on the field, competition is natural.”

Valencia coach Ernesto Valverde praises PSG star Lucas Moura

Valencia coach Ernesto Valverde has praised Paris Saint-Germain star Lucas Moura ahead of the two sides Champions League clash this week.

Valverde has been impressed by the start the former São Paulo forward has made to his career in Europe and believes his team will have to be aware of the Brazilian.

“He is a very fast player, very technical, which will cause us many problems,” he told reporters ahead of the clash in Spain on Tuesday.

“Despite his youth, he does not escape the responsibility and always appears in the matches. He is one of the best midfielders of Paris Saint-Germain.”

Carlo Ancelotti will be without Lucas Moura’s two fellow Brazilians Thiago Motta and Thiago Silva for the clash and Valverde believes this will give them an advantage.

They do not count on two players that are important, they are great players. Motta knows us well, as he comes from Spanish football.

“Thiago Silva is a great player. It is an advantage, could not be otherwise.”

Neymar denies conversations with Dante about Bayern Munich move

Santos star Neymar has has denied talking to Brazil team-mate Dante about playing for Bayern Munich.

The 21-year-old forward has been linked with a number of top European clubs over the past two years, including Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Neymar recently admitted that he could see himself at the Bundesliga side, where former Barca boss Pep Guardiola is due to take over in the summer.

Following Brazil’s 2-1 defeat to England, Dante claimed that his Seleção teammate had asked what life is like at the Bavarian side, which Neymar has now denied.

When asked about the claims by Kicker, Neymar responded: "No, no, we have not spoken."

Neymar has a contract with Santos until 2014 but is widely expected to leave the Peixe after the World Cup in Brazil next year.

Taison reveals he is adapting well to life at Shakhtar Donetsk

Shakhtar Donetsk attacker Taison says he is adapting well to life at the club, following his January transfer from Metalist Kharkiv.

The Brazilian was strongly linked with a move to European champions Chelsea but instead completed a £12million switch to Donetsk last month.

The 25-year-old has now revealed he is happy with his move to the Donbass Arena, but noted that South Americans have a hard time with the local weather.

Taison said: "I´m happy. It´s a new chance, a new challenge for me at a big club like Shakhtar, and I hope I will be able to help my team-mates.

"I´ve been in Ukraine for two-and-a-half years. The worst thing is the cold; it´s very cold, it gets down to -20, -18 sometimes and we boys from Brazil, where it doesn´t get so cold, really get to know what cold is.

"But I´ve adapted well, I´m calmer now, I´m more accustomed to everything. Now I have a new club, with new Brazilian team-mates who are helping me a lot."

The Ukranian Premier League club face Borussia Dortmund in the knockout stages of the Champions League on Wednesday, which Taison is going to treat like a final.

He added: "The [Champions League] clubs are stronger.

"We have an important match against Dortmund, who are a great team. And we are working hard to play that match as if it were a final. So we hope to take them on and come away with a victory."

Praguay...

Apertura 2013 Week 1 Wrap: No wins for Cerro, Olimpia or Libertad as Sol shine

The headline from this weekend is of course Sol de América’s fantastic 4-1 win over Cerro Porteño, something of a shock considering the strong line up put out by Jorge Fossati but it proves yet again the ability Ricardo Dabrowski has as a coach, he has outwitted his more illustrious opponent in their previous three matches.

The first three goals all came down the Cerro right-hand-side with Alfredo Mazacotte profiting from a good move for his first goal and a defensive error for his second. Victor Hugo Mareco’s own goal was turned in after another cross from the Sol de América left, not a great day for Carlos Bonet. By the time Diego Vázquez turned in his now customary goal against Cerro (he now has 4 in the previous 3) the game was well beyond doubt and for the third match running it was Sol who would be celebrating.

http://www.youtube.com/w…er_embedded

The highlight for El Ciclón was their consolation goal from young Angel Romero, the striker who joined his twin brother on the field of play for the second half scored a cracking volley to round off 11 minutes of madness when four of the game’s five goals were recorded.

Later on Saturday evening I was at Dos Bocas for Guaraní’s match against the reigning champions Libertad, the home side got off to a lighting quick start – so fast was Luis De La Cruz’s goal that I must admit I was still walking up the road to the stadium as I heard the cheer! The midfielder slapped home the rebound after Palau’s shot had been well saved.

Despite the early lead the aurinegro offered very little for the rest of the half, Libertad looked extremely comfortable in possession and Pablo Guiñazú proved he hasn’t lost an ounce of skill, the midfielder sat deep received passes with a perfect first touch and always got Libertad going forward. At one point I caught him rollicking striker Pablo Velazquez, he wanted the striker to come deep to receive the ball and bring in the wide players – that kind of move would lead to the equaliser. A ball was received from Guiñazú, played out wide to Jorge Moreira and the full back stood up a cross to the back post where Velázqez met it with a guided downward header.

The second half saw Guaraní improve, especially when Diego Alonso brought on Dario Ocampo who had the ability of unsettling the Guma backline and ensuring Moreira couldn’t charge forward too often. Any chances of a winner for the home side was dispelled after 75 minutes however with the second yellow for Edgar Aranda meaning it was a case of clinging on in the final quarter of an hour. In fact the best chance of the second half went to José Ariel Nuñez who beat the keeper but was denied by the post.

Sunday’s game was a goalless draw full of action between Sportivo Luqueño and Olimpia, in the endgoalkeeper Martin Silva was given man of the match which was a fair reflection of the chances Luque created. The Uruguayan made at least three stunning saves to deny the auriazul with Francisco Garcia having a top game, he is a promising player for the future.

RESULTS: Sol 4-1 Cerro; Nacional 4-3 Carapeguá; Guaraní 1-1 Libertad; Rubio Ñu 1-0 Cerro de Franco; Gral. Díaz 2-1 Capiatá; Luque 0-0 Olimpia

ALL THE GOALS

http://www.teledeportes.…ra-comenzar

Player of the week: Alfredo Mazacotte’s two goals against Cerro Porteño earns him the award – must say I was very impressed with Pablo Guiñazú, he lives up to the old adage ‘class is permanent etc.’

Argentina....


Lanús end opening weekend with a goal glut, thrashing Colón 4-0 (video)


The first round of the Torneo Final came to an end on Monday night with the most impressive team performance of the weekend, as Lanús hosted Colón. Guillermo Barros Schelotto’s side kept up their brilliant form from the second half of the Inicial, running out 4-0 winners with goals from Víctor Ayala, Silvio Romero, new signing Ismael Blanco and Mario Regueiro. Colón had little or nothing in reply, especially after a spirited start to the second half was killed off by Blanco finishing a counter-attack to put Lanús 3-0 up. You can see the goals right here – they’re all lovely.


http://www.youtube.com/w…er_embedded


River Plate finally win against Belgrano; both Avellaneda giants get tonked

Sunday saw the first round of the 2013 Torneo Final continue with three matches.

In Córdoba, the biggest game – or at least the biggest grudge match – of the day saw River Plate visit Belgrano, the side who relegated them in the playoffs in 2011. Having drawn one and lost one of those, before losing at home at the start of the Torneo Inicial last year on their return to the Primera, River finally won against Belgrano courtesy of goals from newly-signed defender Leonel Vangioni and forward Carlos Luna. It wasn’t a good day for the two Avellaneda giants; Racing were beaten 3-0 away to Atlético Rafaela, who scored two penalties, and Independiente lost 3-1 at home to Newell’s Old Boys.

Independiente 1 – 3 Newell’s


Last season’s top scorer Ignacio Scocco started as he left off with two goals here – he opened the scoring after 16 minutes and, after Independiente had equalised with a Cristian Tula header right on half time, put the visitors back into the lead with twelve minutes to play, leaving Pablo Pérez to wrap things up.

http://www.youtube.com/w…er_embedded

Rafaela 3 – 0 Racing


Racing gave away two first half penalties to give Rafaela a half time lead that turned out to be unassailable. Lucas Bovaglio scored the first and Sebastián Grazzini the second, before Jonathan López made it 3-0 shortly after half time.

http://www.youtube.com/w…er_embedded

Belgrano 1 – 2 River



Leonel Vangioni’s long range stunner was the difference at the break, but Leonardo Ponzio was sent off to reduce River to ten men shortly after half time. All the same, Carlos Luna confirmed the win with a goal in the 87th minute – which was for the best, since Belgrano pulled one back a couple of minutes later through Guillermo Farré (with some help from Marcelo Barovero in the River goal).

http://www.youtube.com/w…er_embedded

Corinthians set to open first US football school


Corinthians are set to open their first football school outside Brazil, with California´s Fontana facility close to opening for business.

The reigning Club World Cup champions have established a presence in the United States and have already enrolled 105 pupils looking to polish their skills.

The facility will host the pupils for classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with teams competing in the local weekend leagues representing Corinthians Soccer Academy.

Corinthians say that the California site is only the beginning of their plan to expand their academies worldwide with sites in Lima, Peru and Lisbon, Portugal also underway.

“The Corinthians Soccer Academy has acquired a plot of four acres in the city of Fontana for the construction of a facility featuring three soccer fields, locker rooms and a snack bar with complete infrastructure for soccer practice,” said Josias Baptista, owner of the school.

Corinthians official Roberto Toledo added: “With the professional work being done, I’m sure that our first international school will have a very large growth and support the growth of the sport in the US.”

Napoli eye former Tottenham target Leandro Damião

Napoli have targeted Internacional striker Leandro Damião as a possible replacement for Edinson Cavani who looks set to leave the Serie A giants in the summer.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Napoli will make a move to start negotiations ahead of the summer transfer window as insurance against Cavani´s departure.

This will come as an unpleasant surprise to Tottenham fans as the club have unsuccessfully chased the Seleção starlet for two seasons with a €20m bid rejected in January.

But Andre Villas-Boas admitted defeat after the window slammed shut without a deal being struck and claimed that it was unlikely that the club would go back for the striker.

Damião has long attracted interest from Europe´s top clubs after shooting to fame in the London 2012 Olympics, scoring six goals in six games on the way to the final.

The Internacional hitman also netted seven goals in 19 appearances in last season´s Brasileirão.

De Leon with Honduras´ Real Sociedad

SANTA ROSA DE COPAN, Honduras -- In the 2013 Honduran Clausura, Real Sociedad of Tocoa has surprised just about everyone, but not only due to its good performance on the field.

The Colon side recently pulled off a signing coup by coming to an agreement with Julio Cesar de Leon - also known as Rambo -- a historic figure in Honduran soccer, who has spent much of the last decade plying his trade overseas.

"He´s already at work in Tocoa," coach Jairo Rios told CONCACAF.com after his team´s Saturday night match at Deportes Savio. "We´re headed back there and we´ll arrive in the early morning to join up with him."

The Colombian coach said he was unsure if he could use de Leon immediately, but that he would evaluate the progress of the former Italian Serie A player upon return to Tocoa, with the idea of debuting him in Wednesday afternoon´s midweek clash with table-topping Victoria.

"We´ll see how he evolves and see if he´s available for Wednesday," Rios said. "We´ll see if we can count on him."

As far as the role the 33-year-old native of Puerto Cortes may assume in the team, Rios hopes that the veteran of 84 games with the Honduran national team takes on a leadership role in a squad comprised almost exclusively of young players.

"He can help us a lot," the Colombian said of de Leon. "We have a young team and he´s a very experienced, very refined player in whom these young players can deposit their belief, to take us forward."

After beginning the season unbeaten in four matches, Real Sociedad fell in its Saturday night trip to Deportes Savio. The coastal club now sits third in the table, two points behind its next opponent, Victoria.