Snak

Darwin Quintero y Gilberto García los nuevos convocados por Pékerman


Bogotá, 15 de marzo de 2013.- Carlos Darwin Quintero, del mexicano Santos Laguna y Gilberto García, del Once Caldas, fueron convocados hoy por el seleccionador nacional de Colombia, el argentino José Pekerman, para los próximos partidos frente a Bolivia y Venezuela, de las eliminatorias Sudamericanas del Mundial de Brasil 2014.

Los cambios se deben a que el defensa Héctor Quiñones del Porto de Portugal y el mediocentro Elkin Soto del alemán Mainz 05, están lesionados.

La Federación Colombiana señaló a través de un comunicado que de "acuerdo a las comunicaciones establecidas con sus respectivos clubes y las posteriores evaluaciones del cuerpo técnico y médico de la Selección Colombia se procedió a tomar esta decisión".

García y Quintero, al igual que el resto de convocados, se unirán a la concentración nacional en Barranquilla entre el domingo 17 y el lunes 18 de marzo.

Quiñones se había convertido en la principal novedad dentro del grupo de 26 jugadores llamados por Pekerman para los juegos mundialistas.

Colombia recibirá a Bolivia el próximo 22 de marzo en el estadio Metropolitano de Barranquilla y visitará a Venezuela, el 26 del mismo mes en Puerto Ordaz, en la undécima y duodécima jornadas de la eliminatoria suramericana.

Así las cosas, la lista de convocados queda así:

Porteros: Camilo Vargas (Santa Fe-COL), Farid Mondragón (Deportivo Cali-COL) y David Ospina (Niza-FRA)

Defensas: Carlos Valdés (Santa Fe), Aquivaldo Mosquera (América-MEX), Amaranto Perea (Cruz Azul-MEX), Gilberto García (Once Caldas-COL), Pablo Armero y Camilo Zúñiga (Nápoles-ITA), Mario Yepes y Cristian Zapata (Milan-ITA)

Centrocampistas: Aldo Ramírez (Morelia-MEX), Edwin Valencia (Fluminense-BRA), Macnelly Torres (Atlético Nacional-COL), Abel Aguilar (La Coruña-ESP), Carlos Darwin Quintero (Santoa Laguna-MEX), James Rodríguez (Oporto-POR), Juan Fernando Quintero (Pescara-ITA), Freddy Guarín (Inter-ITA), Juan Guillermo Cuadrado (Fiorentina-ITA)

Delanteros: Luis Fernando Muriel (Udinese-ITA), Carlos Sánchez (Valenciennes-FRA), Radamel Falcao García (Atlético Madris-ESP), Jackson Martínez (Oporto-POR), Carlos Bacca (Brujas-BEL) Teófilo Gutiérrez (Cruz Azul-MEX). EFE

River player in attempted kidnapping

River Plate player Jonathan Bottinelli was last night rescued by police after his car was stopped by a gang in El Palomar and they attempted to kidnap and rob the player. Fortunately a member of the public witnessed the attack and called the police and they were able to intercept the group 40 blocks away. They had taken some money and other items from Bottinelli and when he had refused to go with them it is reported that he had been assualted.

skuffende men - peruanerne er glade for den nyhed...

Valdivia será otra baja para Chile

RIO DE JANEIRO -- El centrocampista chileno Jorge Valdivia, convocado la semana pasada por la selección de Chile para los partidos por las Eliminatorias Sudamericanas del Mundial de Brasil 2014 contra Perú y Uruguay, estará de baja al menos un mes debido a una lesión, informó el viernes el Palmeiras.
"La previsión de recuperación para Valdivia es de cerca de un mes, por lo que el centrocampista debe ser baja también de Chile en los partidos contra Perú y Uruguay de los días 22 y 26 de marzo", según un comunicado del club brasileño.

De acuerdo con la nota del Palmeiras, Valdivia pidió ser sustituido en el partido del jueves contra el Paulista al sentir algo que lo incomodaba en la pierna derecha y los exámenes a los que fue sometido el viernes constataron una lesión en un músculo a la altura del fémur.

Según el club, Valdivia ha sido el blanco del 14 por ciento de las faltas sufridas por el Palmeiras en lo que va del Campeonato Paulista de este año.

El Palmeiras alega que el jugador, víctima de 26 faltas, viene siendo perseguido en la cancha por los defensas contrarios.

El Mago fue la gran novedad en la lista de 19 jugadores ´foráneos´ convocados la semana pasada por el seleccionador chileno, Jorge Sampaoli, para los próximos partidos de las eliminatorias.

Sería el regreso de Valdivia a la selección chilena tras más de un año marginado por su participación en un polémico bautizo en noviembre de 2011 cuando estaba concentrado para un partido oficial de Chile.

.....tjah hvad skal man sige.....

http://www.youtube.com/w…r_embedded#!

Dibben - syntes ikke jeg hsar fundet noget i Liverpool-tråden om det her...???

HAVE LIVERPOOL SECURED THE MOST SIGNIFICANT MOVE IN WORLD FOOTBALL?


Inquests into Liverpool´s season began long ago, but for all the criticism that deals for Carroll, Henderson and Adam have attracted, a significant move may have been agreed on Kenny Dalglish´s watch.

Many deals were struck last summer. Clubs in England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia spent big money on numerous players as squads were built to reach the different expectations set for them this season. One such side was Liverpool, who, since the arrival of Kenny Dalglish have been one of the highest spenders on transfer fees (outgoing - we´re not taking into account the sales here) in world football. Nonetheless, the eighteen time English champions may well have made the most intelligent move of any club, anywhere in 2011!, as they chose to forge ties with Uruguayan outfit Nacional.

"We now have strong links with them because both Luis Suarez and Sebastian Coates have come from this club and been developed by their academy" stated Liverpool Director of Football, Damien Comolli, back in September. "We are talking about a partnership with them that we would like to create over the next three, four or five years, to see if there is more talent coming through. Maybe we can help them to develop their standards and in turn have the ability to bring those young players here.

It is from Nacional that Liverpool purchased £7.6m Sebastian Coates, the highly-rated defender, named Young Player of the Tournament at the 2011 Copa America, and for whom Luis Suarez, the current darling of the Kop and Player of the Tournament in the same competition, was a fan favourite, prior to his arrival at Anfield, via Groningen and Ajax. There are high-expectations for the 21-year-old defender on both sides of the Atlantic.

Founded in 1899, the product of a merger between Uruguay Athletic Club and Montevideo Futbol Club, Club Nacional de Football are perhaps not the most illustrious in Uruguay having won the league title on seven occasions since 2000, whilst their academy system is the envy of many of their continental rivals. The club has an extensive scouting network and deploys scouts across the length and breadth of the country keen to identify the most promising young players for its academy, which currently coaches more than 120 players aged between 13 and 20. It won´t have escaped the attentions of Liverpool, not to mention the other big names of European football, that of the 23 players taken by Uruguay to the 2011 Copa America, 14 had at some point played for or been developed by the Tricolores.

Prior to Uruguay´s success last summer, Nacional´s performance in the Uruguayan Championship - both in finishing second in the 2010/11 Apertura (Opening Championship) and in winning the Clausura - saw them take on Defensor Sporting in the Estadio Centenario in the Championship decider. A tight affair was settled by a single goal in the 19th minute from Tabare Viudez, his free-kick beating Martin Silva and earning Nacional their 32nd national title.

Nacional continued their good form in the 2011/12 Apertura, coached by the former Argentina, River Plate and Monaco playmaker Marcelo Gallardo, who, following his retirement, had taken the reins from Juan Carrasco. Playing with flair and attacking intent, Gallardo´s mix of promising youngsters, such as left-footed forward Gonzalo Bueno and pacy winger Viudez, teamed with intelligent, experienced stars, such as former Bayer Leverkusen full-back Diego Placente and the mercurial former Internazionale and Venezia trequarista Alvaro Recoba, went into the final match needing a win away at Liverpool (Uru) to take the opening championship. After a difficult 78 minutes, it was Recoba, in the twilight of what has been a glittering, if often frustrating career, who scored the winner to clinch the title.

In 2012, Nacional have set about juggling their national campaign in the Clausura with an attack on this year´s Copa Libertadores. In the national championship Gallardo´s squad have proved dominant in Montevideo winning each of their opening three home matches, but have struggled on their travels, taking just one point from their first three away games.

Their foray into continental competition has also proved to be something of a mixed-bag. An exceptional opening day performance saw them win 2-1 in Brazil against Vasco De Gama, but that was backed up by a disappointing home defeat by Paraguay´s Libertad. Marcos Aguirre had given Nacional a half-time lead, only for two goals in six second half minutes to give the away side the spoils. A 1-0 away defeat and subsequent 1-0 home win in the return match against Peru´s Alianza Lima has left Nacional with six points from their opening four matches and third in the group, a point behind both Libertad and Vasco. With the top two sides advancing to the knockout rounds, Gallardo must do something about their inconsistency, or see their Libertadores campaign end in the second round for the second consecutive season.

Uruguay unquestionably has a rich heritage for producing talent. Whether it be ´El Gran Mariscal´ Jose Nasazzi, the first man to lift the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1930 or his team-mate, the great forward Hector Scarone. Obdulio Varela, the great captain of 1950 who led his country to a 2-1 victory over Brazil in front of 200,000 in the Maracana and a second World Cup success or the 1980´s poster-boy, ´El Principe´, Enzo Francescoli, even the explosive talent of Recoba, great players have always been nurtured and developed from within before being exported across the world, the vast majority to some degree of success.

In a nation as football-mad and with such a cherished sense of history as Uruguay, there is no reason for a slow-down in talent production. And recent history would suggest that the most likely source of future Uruguayan international footballers is Club Nacional de Football. As such, Liverpool´s partnership looks like an extremely shrewd move.

TINO ASPRILLA´S 26 GOALS IN SERIE A

Faustino Asprilla may have had one or two ´issues´ off the field, but he wasn´t bad with a football at his feet you know.

This is his 26 goals in Serie A in two spells with Parma, time periods sandwiched around his career in England with Newcastle United. There really is every type of goal here (including a couple that will require rewatching because they are *that* good) and we´ll allow you to tick off the 90s Italian football cameos throughout.

After leaving Parma in 1999 his career drifted and the legend began to overtake the fact. Take five minutes to watch Tino here if you can, as usual with YouTube compilations turn the volume down, and just enjoy a true one-off doing what he did best.

http://www.youtube.com/w…sGyfkZJGE9U

VENEZUELA´S FOOTBALL REVOLUTION

So, like, what´s the story?

In sporting terms, Venezuela is unlike any other South American country. On the continent where football is king, Venezuela’s affections lie more with the sport of baseball and the queens of its infamous beauty pageants. Indeed, after the United States, Venezuela has the highest number of ‘Miss Universe’ winners.

Venezuela’s somewhat unorthodox penchant for baseball stems from a heavy American presence in the oil-rich country during the early 20th Century. American oil workers brought with them not only their love of fastfood and shopping malls but significantly, the sport played on a diamond-shaped pitch. The popularity of baseball in Venezuela grew as the country’s national team won the Baseball World Cup three times in the 1940’s. It proudly proclaims itself as “El Pais de Béisbol” (The country of baseball) and proudly boasts of having had over 200 of its citizens having competed in America’s Major League Baseball.

Conversely, football, the main sport in every other country on the continent, has never had much of a following in Venezuela, playing second fiddle to baseball over the last century. As a result, the game – both domestically and nationally – has been extremely slow to develop. Despite being bordered by football stalwarts Brazil and Colombia, even nearby island neighbours Trinidad & Tobago (population:1.3m) have arguably more footballing pedigree, having appeared at the FIFA World Cup Finals once in 2006 - That’s one more appearance than Venezuela, the only South American side never to have made it to a World Cup. Granted, the qualification process is undeniably easier in CONCACAF than in its South American equivalent, CONMEBOL where two of the spots are practically reserved for Brazil and Argentina. It is the South American World Cup Qualifying campaign that has perhaps helped with the hindrance of the sport in Venezuela as much as their preference for other pastimes. Venezuela – affectionately known as ‘La Vinotinto’ (The Red Wine) due to their burgundy strip - have long been tarred as the continent’s whipping boys, or the Latin American equivalent of The Faroe Isles, if you will. That is, until recently.

South America’s Whipping Boys

From their first appearance in South America’s WCQ campaign for the 1966 World Cup in England, to their attempts to qualify for USA ‘94, Venezuela participated in seven qualifying campaigns (They withdrew from ’74), playing in a total of 36 games. Their woeful record read 2 wins, 3 draws and 31 losses, with a goal difference of -99. The use of small, seeded groups, however, meant that the majority of these games were played against far superior opposition. Changes to the qualifying process for the 1998 qualifying campaign saw the introduction of the now-familiar round-robin schedule that sees each of the ten CONMEBOL members play each other home and away. The new format introduced for the ’98 qualifiers should have helped Venezuela to gain more points by virtue of playing the continents other weak teams. It didn’t. Even with Brazil not having to qualify due to the now-defunct reigning champions automatic qualification rule, Venezuela actually fared worse than in the majority of their previous campaigns. La Vinotinto mustered a grand total of 3 points from 16 games – all from draws – with a final goal difference of -33. With results like this, it is no wonder that the popularity of the world’s favourite sport was extremely low in Venezuela.

The Richard Páez Revolution

Following on from the dismal France ’98 qualifiers, Venezuela’s footballing stock couldn’t fall much further. The Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) appointed former Venezuelan footballer Richard Páez as La Vinotinto’s new head coach. Páez took over half way through the 2002 qualifying campaign with The Red Wine languishing at the foot of the table. Following a typically poor performance at the 2001 Copa América, he guided the team to four successive wins in the latter stages of the qualifiers and a respectable 16 points. The team even avoided picking up the continent’s wooden spoon for the first time in their history in the process. This was just the start of the Venezuelan football revolution. Buoyed by the relative success of the 2002 campaign, attentions turned to the 2006 qualifiers. Páez not only benefitted from an increasing pool of talent including the likes of Giancarlo Maldonado, free-kick specialist José Manuel Rey and Venezuelan football’s Golden Boy, Juan Arango, but he also helped to alter the mentality of the national team. In a 2004 interview with Reuters he stated, “In the old days, we knew we were going to lose and the target was to avoid a thrashing. Now we try to play with balance, to attack as well as defend.” The improved mentality combined with a fresh group of players plying their trade in Europe’s elite leagues enabled the team to improve upon the 2002 campaign. The team picked up 18 points, including 3 from a famous 3-0 victory away to Uruguay.

Expectations rise after hosting the Copa

With interest in football within Venezuela increasing due to La Vinotinto’s improved performances since the turn of the century, the 2007 Copa América arrived at a good time. Venezuela hosted the tournament that saw new, football specific stadia built around the country, bankrolled by Hugo Chavez’s generous government. The tournament was a huge success, with Venezuela not only performing on the pitch – where they picked up only their second Copa win in their history – but also off it. The Venezuelan public rose to the occasion, attending matches in their droves as football became, albeit briefly, the nation’s favourite sport. Venezuela went unbeaten to top their group before being humbled 4-1 by Uruguay in the Quarterfinals. The tournament gave football fresh impetus in Venezuela and it wasn’t long until the expectations of the fans rose to previously unfeasible levels. Despite winning away ain Ecuador and beating Bolivia 5-3 in an enthralling match in which they trailed three times, coach Richard Páez resigned just four games into the 2010 WCQ campaign, citing criticism from the fans as his reason for leaving. César Farías, a 34 year-old who had previously coached Deportivo Táchira, one of Venezuela’s largest domestic teams, replaced him shortly after.

The Red Wine Matures With Age

Farías continued where Páez had left off, guiding the team to an impressive 22-point haul that included a commendable 0-0 draw in Brazil. However, perhaps the most intriguing result that Venezuela achieved in the 2010 qualifiers was the one they mustered in the notoriously difficult high-altitude of Bolivia’s capital La Paz in June 2009. Two months earlier, Diego Maradona’s Argentina side had been thrashed by 6 goals to 1, with the squad having arrived in Bolivia only hours before the match - the Albiceleste visibly struggled with the conditions at almost 12,000ft above sea-level. Venezuela opted for a different strategy when visiting Bolivia however. La Vinotinto assembled a secondary squad, consisting only two foreign based players, which arrived in Bolivia a full two weeks before the match was due to take place. The players acclimatised to the altitude and duly won the match 1-0, taking three points in the process where the continent’s superpowers couldn’t. Far from being the continent’s whipping boys, Venezuela are now being taken seriously and at one stage the last qualifying place looked a distinct possibility. In the end, they finished just 2 points behind eventual 5th placed Uruguay, who went on to finish 4th at the World Cup in South Africa the following year.

The Golden Generation

César Farías has done far more than just stabilise the current national team however. The young coach was worked closely with the country’s youth teams, concentrating on guiding a promising group of young Venezuelan’s through the ranks and into the full squad. Indeed, whilst coach of the full Venezuela squad, Farías took control of the country’s Under-20 squad at the U-20 World Cup in Egypt in 2009, guiding the team to the last 16 with notable victories over Nigeria and Tahiti (8-0). The main star of the team was the powerful striker Salomón Rondón, who bagged 4 goals in as many games to match the feat of teammate Yonathan Del Valle. At the time, Rondón was playing in Spain’s Liga Segunda for Las Palmas, where his performances earned him a move to Primera Liga side Malaga in 2010. Rondón scored an impressive 14 league goals to help Malaga to safety and has become one of Europe’s most coveted young strikers in the process. Malaga’s new-found Arabian wealth should help to keep Rondón in the south of Spain for the meantime but if his burgeoning reputation continues to rise, it won’t be long before the young Venezuelan finds himself scoring goals for one of Europe’s elite teams. Rondón possesses pace, power and a lethal finishing ability that should ensure he soon succeeds Juan Arango as Venezuelan football’s Golden Boy. Rondón, along with Del Valle and the skilful young Wolfsburg midfielder Yohandry Orozco, ensure that the future is beginning to look bright for Venezuela’s second sport.

Nice informative piece on Xolos, klubpræsien osv - før debuten i Liga MX

TEQUILA, SEX AND TOP CLASS FOOTBALL

Is Mexican football´s top flight ready for Club Tijuana to live up to the town´s bawdy reputation?

When people in San Diego talk about heading south of the border, there are a few common reactions. Some will express horror of the lawless land down there where the drug gangs are running wild. Others will turn misty-eyed and tell you about the bawdy fun to be had in TJ. Others still will tell you it is not so bad and they don´t know what all the fuss is about, pointing out the great food and vibrant artistic scene. Many opinions, many fears, many rumours. One thing is for sure though, and I´m never one to miss an opportunity to quote Ian Rush, it´s like being in a different country.

Heading down to Tijuana from San Diego, most of the traffic at the border is heading north. There is almost always a queue to get back to el norte, going south though there often isn´t even a guard on duty, you walk through the gate and you´re in Mexico.

Soon though there will be another reason, aside from the lyrics of the Manu Chao song, for the traffic heading south to increase. In a little over two weeks Club Tijuana, or Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente to give them their full name, will play their first game in the Mexican Primera División. On the 24th July the Xolos, to give them their short name, will host Monarcas Morelia as they make their debut in the Clausura of the Mexican league´s top tier competition. Tijuana´s latest team were only founded in 2007 and rose rapidly through the divisions, gaining promotion to the Primera División with a 2-1 win over Irapuato in May 2011.

The Xolos (named for a type of hairless dog common to the area) are packed with talent and the management are showing no signs of being overawed by the step up to the next level. Shortly after claiming promotion Club Tijuana began to plan for the coming season, signing Colombian Dayro Moreno from Once Caldas from under the noses of Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon, Leandro Augusto from Pumas and Fernando Arce from Santos Laguna, Argentinian striker José Sand who spent the last 6 months on loan at Deportivo La Coruña in Spain, Egidío Arévalo Rios from Peñarol in Uruguay and goalkeeper Cirilio Saucedo from Tigres amongst others. They have been one of the busiest Mexican sides in the transfer market so far and the message is the team from Tijuana are in the Primera División to stay, and compete.

On the pitch everything is going well, yet trouble is never far away from Tijuana. The controversy is primarily linked to the ownership of the team. Officially the club is run by 24 year-old president Jorge Alberto Hank, the son of Jorge Hank Rhon, himself the son of Carlos Hank Gonzalez. Grupo Hank is one of the most powerful, most wealthy and most dubious families in Mexico, and have been called a ´threat to the US´. The grandfather Carlos Hank died in 2001 but during his lifetime he went from being a candy-selling primary school teacher to become one of the wealthiest men in Mexico, creating a billion dollar business empire encompassing banking and transportation companies, and an airline. He is even rumoured to have hand-picked former President of Mexico Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

His son Jorge Hank is the source of even more controversy. He is the former mayor of Tijuana and owner of Grupo Caliente, whose interests include Mexico´s largest gambling company. He is reportedly under constant surveillance when he or his private jets enter the US. One of the cables released by Wikileaks, written by the former US Consul General in Tijuana, included the line that Jorge Hank´s Agua Caliente racetrack was ´a haven for organised crime on the border´. Recently two guns found in a raid on his house were determined to have been used in armed assaults in Baja California. He was arrested during the raid but was quickly freed, and has yet to face any further action. He has also been linked to the assassination of a journalist for the crusading Mexican newspaper Zeta in 1988. Two security guards who worked for Jorge Hank were found guilty and given 25 years in prison. They had no connection with the victim, but their employer had been criticised in a series of articles by the journalist prior to his death.

Jorge Hank also has other vices, particularly animals. He is a collector (some say trafficker) of rare and endangered species. He has been stopped at Mexico City´s airport with a dozen cases filled with ivory tusks and ocelot skins. His car was searched at the Tijuana border crossing on the way back from San Diego and was found to contain a four-week old white tiger cub with the approximate value of $45,000. He also set up the Reino Aventura wildlife park that acquired an illegally captured orca whale named Keiko. The whale went on to become the star of the Free Willy movies before it was returned to the wild in the waters off Iceland, where he was first captured. Hank though says his favourite animal is women (seriously), indeed his wikipedia page states he has fathered 19 different children with several women.

There also questions about potential conflicts of interest given that Grupo Caliente is involved in organised gambling, and has close ties to Club Tijuana, and whether this should exclude them from involvement in the football club. Club Tijuana have sought to distance themselves from the activities of Jorge Hank and his Grupo Caliente, recently re-affirming that the team´s president is his son Jorge Alberto, and he has full control over the team and its affairs. The questions remain though. Given that Tijuana play home games at the Caliente stadium, part of the Agua Caliente racetrack complex, owned by Grupo Caliente, the distinction between Club Tijuana and the affairs of Jorge Hank Rhon will be difficult to maintain.

The grand ambitions of Club Tijuana include expanding into Southern California, to take advantage of the large Latino population and the gap in the soccer market in the San Diego area. The nearest Major League Soccer teams are in Los Angeles, yet San Diego continues to attract foreign sides for friendly games, for example Real Madrid will play one of their three games on their US tour at Qualcomm Stadium (the others are in LA and Philadelphia). The soccer market in San Diego is there but it is unlikely that the city will gain an MLS franchise any time soon. If people want to see top class soccer the best option for some time to come will be to make the short journey across the border to Tijuana.

People will travel to watch a game for the novelty, but they will continue to come if the team plays well. It is clear that the investment in the playing staff and the stadium is being made, and looks set to continue, regardless of where the funds are coming from. The coach, former Mexico international Joaquin del Olmo, has a big job to bring some order to this team and get them ready to compete in the tough Primera División. With the financial backing from the management, plus strong local support in Tijuana, combined with the potential of mobilising a large fanbase in Southern California, the prospects look good though.

If the short history of the Xolos is anything to go by it will be an interesting ride. Mexican soccer was already packed with incident and action, and it is about to get a whole lot more eventful. Welcome to Tijuana.

Political Footballers XI: Right-back Javier Zanetti

Going in at right-back in the Political Footballers XI is Internazionale defender Javier Zanetti. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1973, Zanetti began his football career at Talleres de Remedios de Escalada. He played in the second division for one season before being sold to Banfield.

He was recommended to Inter by scout and legendary former Inter player Juan Valentin Angelillo and in 1995 he moved to Italy. He became Internazionale owner Massimo Moratti’s first purchase for the club.

He made his debut in a home game against Vicenza, and has been at the club ever since, playing over 600 games. He quickly became a fan favourite and was made club captain due to his tenacious tackling, cool defending and consistent performances. He has played on both sides of the back four, and even spent some time playing in midfield.

Zanetti is well-known for his interest in and support for social issues in Latin America. He is a FIFA ambassador, and created the Fundacion PUPI with his wife to aid the social integration of poor children in Argentina.

His ‘credentials’ as a political footballer though are based on his involvement with the Zapatista Movement in Mexico. Emiliano Zapata was an agrarian reformer and leader of the ‘Ejercito Libertador del Sur’ and hero of the Mexican Revolution. He was killed in an ambush in 1919. The Zapatista Movement that exists in his name consists of Mexican peasants, farmers and workers. They seek to change the system of government in Mexico, primarily through nonviolent means. They reject the consequences of globalisation and neoliberal economics in Mexico. The preservation of indigenous ways of life and autonomous decision-making are their primary goals.

At Zanetti’s instigation Inter sent €5000 to the Zapatistas following a paramilitary attack on a village near the Mexico/Guatemala border, as well as paying for an ambulance and sending football clothing and equipment. The money was raised through fining Inter’s players for being late or using mobile phones at the wrong time. In a letter to the Zapatistas (in Arie & Tuckman), Zanetti wrote:

‘We believe in a better world, in an unglobalised world, enriched by the cultural differences and customs of all the people. This is why we want to support you in this struggle to maintain your roots and fight for your ideals.’

Following this the leader of the rebel group, one Subcomandante Marcos, wrote a slightly surreal letter to Massimo Moratti. The Subcomandante invited Inter to play a game, or a series of games, against a Zapatista XI. Diego Maradona would referee, Jorge Valdano and Javier Aguirre would be the assistants. Brazil midfielder Socrates would be the fourth referee. Eduardo Galeano and Mario Benedetti would do the play-by-play for the ‘Zapatista System of Intergalactic Television, the only tv to be read not watched.’ The pre-match entertainment would be provided by lesbians and gays, particularly transsexuals and transvestites, in order to differentiate these games from the objectification of women.

In Zanetti’s autobiography he writes that he decided to encourage Inter to support the Zapatistas because ‘solidarity knows no colour, no religion and no political side. These communities fight to make their culture recognized as well as a different way of economical and political organization, of surviving and of identity.’ He believes that the Subcomandate is ‘fighting to give back life and dignity to the pre-Colombian populations of Mexico; he’s the soldier of the losers of the Earth, of the forgotten, of the non-recognized ones though they learned to never give up, under no condition.’

The games were never played but Zanetti writes that he would be pleased to go and play in Chiapas, that it wouldn’t be a problem for him.

The majority of supporters of Internazionale were traditionally from the political right-wing, with some ‘long-suffering left-wing’ sympathisers (Foot, 2007). And although the supporters of rival club Milan were traditionally left-wing, the team is now owned by President of Italy, media-mogul and former cruise ship crooner, Silvio Berlusconi. Zanetti’s support for a Mexican revolutionary group and the alter-mundialista forces of anti-globalisation would have surprised many fans on both sides of San Siro, and no doubt a few teammates too. With his support for social initiatives in poor countries and a strong aversion to the harm being done by the forces of globalisation, Javier Zanetti gets a place in the Political Footballers XI.

and RIP

Political Footballers XI: Midfield Sócrates

When the news broke last week that Sócrates, the legendary Brazilian midfielder, had been rushed to hospital for an emergency operation, I feared the worst. O Doutor has been a committed fan of alcohol and cigarettes for many years, I assumed his illness was related to his lifestyle choices. But he has been released from hospital and by all accounts is doing well, and promising never to drink again.

While planning this Political Footballers XI Sócrates was always going to get a place in midfield. He was a marvellous footballer and always politically engaged, something he has continued since retiring. With the news of his illness I was even more inspired to write about him.

He was a stylish midfield general, directing play for Corinthians and the Seleção in his prime. He captained Brazil at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups.

He began his career at Botafogo, and was transferred to Corinthians in 1978. Otherwise known as the ‘Timão’, or the big team, Corinthians are the largest club in São Paulo, Brazil’s most heavily populated city and the industrial and financial engine of the Brazilian economy (Bellos, 2003).

Corinthians were also Brazil’s first ‘working class’ club, founded by a group of workers in the Bom Retiro neighbourhood in 1910. Until then Brazil’s other teams had been established by expat workers or local elites. The name was taken from the English Corinthians Football Club who had toured Brazil earlier that year.

Sócrates came of age as a footballer during a period when Brazil was ruled by an autocratic military regime. Their rule lasted from 1965 to 1984, and the regime was to have far-reaching effects on Brazilian life and culture. The first presidential elections were only held in 1989 (Bellos, 2002).

Following Brazil’s World Cup win in 1970 the regime tried to manipulate the national euphoria, exploiting the victory as much as possible for political gain. As well as using football, the regime wanted to change it to reflect military values. They used their influence to exert pressure on the national team manager Claudio Coutinho to change the style of play into one that reflected the militaristic vision of Brazil. Instead of individual expression, art and received wisdom, the new, modern Brazil should instead focus on discipline, obedience, physical strength and imported technical jargon (Shirts, 1989).

This autocratic system of rule for football was also prevalent in the nation’s club sides. It particularly found expression in the idea of ‘concentracão’ or ‘bringing together the troops’. This word describes the preference of the club’s managers for shutting up footballers in training camps and hotels for a few days before a match, regulating what and when they ate and drank, when they slept and expressly forbidding visits from wives and girlfriends.

The implication was that players weren’t responsible enough to behave properly if left unsupervised. Alex Bellos provides a telling quote from former national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, ‘Footballers are not mature enough to behave themselves before games without anyone supervising them. It’s been proved that sex before a game isn’t bad for you. But, for our players, they don’t do things by halves. At home they behave more normally. Away from home, with their other sexual partners, they want to prove that they are the best lovers in the world. So they go carousing and tire themselves more, to the point that their performance on the pitch is affected.’ (Bellos, 2002:366)

This, and other issues, typified the system of autocratic rule that Sócrates found when he first moved to Corinthians. Initially he went along with it. After a few years though it had begun to trouble him, and catching the wave of political expression building in Brazil outside of football, he co-founded a movement labelled the ‘Corinthians Democracy’. By the early 1980s the military regime was losing power and influence, and grassroots political movements were gaining strength. The popular uprising wanted ‘abertura‘ or political liberalisation and a change from the restrictive, dictatorial regime that was so at odds with Brazilian culture.

If you were going to vote in the 1982 presidential elections for Corinthians football club, you would have seen two names on the ballot, ‘Order and Truth’ and the ‘Corinthians Democracy’.

Sócrates, along with fellow players, Wladimir and Walter Casagrande, was behind the Corinthians Democracy. This system for running the football club was a ‘utopian socialist cell’ that sought radical change for Corinthians. They proposed that every decision should be made by consensus, right down to simple daily tasks like what and when to eat, when to go to bed and when you were allowed to have sex with your wife. Everything would be voted on. The Democracy was in harmony with the wider political changes being sought in Brazilian society. The new system:

‘Heartily embraced the style of the popular Brazilian soccer tradition, emphasising the playful aspect of the game as well as the players’ right to control their own lives.’ (Shirts, 1989)

The other option on the ticket represented the old system of hierarchical control, with decision-making taken away from the players. The power would remain concentrated in the hands of a few administrators and the club owners, known as cartolas, or top-hats.

Sócrates said he would retire from football if the old, oligarchical system triumphed in the election. It didn’t though and the Corinthians Democracy began to alter the culture at the club. Now instead of just reflecting the general mood of the country, the Democracy became figureheads for the wider abertura movement.

They wore shirts emblazoned with ‘Democracia’ and ‘Vote on the 15th’, in an attempt to encourage people to vote in the May 1982 elections for federal deputies, senators, mayors and governors, a step on the road towards the end of the military dictatorship. The team would also carry “Democracia’ banners on the pitch in Såo Paulo.

Brazilian society was beginning to realise that political change was possible. Sócrates:

‘The idea of talking about democracy was something unimaginable for the greater part of the Brazilian population.’ (Zobei, 2003).

And again in 1983:

‘I’m struggling for freedom, for respect, for ample and unrestricted discussions, for a professional democratisation… and all this from a soccer player, preserving the lucid and pleasurable nature of this activity’ (Shirts, 1989).

The idea of football, and indeed Brazilian culture in general, that Sócrates is referring to was something far removed from the paternalistic vision imposed upon the players and the rest of the country by the military regime. As Alex Bellos says, the Brazil team of 1982 looked they played for enjoyment (Bellos, 2002:358). The Corinthians Democracy was an important step on the road to Brazil rediscovering itself, politically and culturally. As with so many nations football is at the heart of the Brazilian culture, it is fitting that the sport should have played a role in the liberation.

It is also fitting that Sócrates should find a place in midfield in the Political Footballers XI.

Bibliography

Bellos, Alex (2002) ‘Brazil needs to lose for it’s own sake’ in the Guardian, June 28, 2002, p16.

Bellos, Alex (2003) ‘The president win the midfield battle’ in The New Statesman http://www.newstatesman.com/200311030019

Bellos Alex (2002) ‘Futebol:The Brazilian Way of Life’ Bloomsbury, UK.

Shirts, Matthew (1989) ‘Playing Soccer in Brazil: Sócrates, Corinthians and Democracy’ in The Wilson Quarterly Vol. 13, No. 2, Spring.

Zobei, Gibby (2003) ‘Postcard from Brazil: The beautiful game in South America’ at http://www.urban75.org/f…brazil.html