Snak

U-17 Sudamericano: Argentina and Brazil draw and are both close to qualifying


With this tie and two more games yet to play, Argentina and Brazil have five points and are escorting surprise leaders Venezuela (7), while Uruguay´s still with 4, Paraguay with 3 and Peru without points.

Argentina ended the match with only ten players owing to the sending off of Rodrigo Moreira in the 86th minute for an unusual foul on a Brazilian attacker in the middle of the pitch.

Despite all the Albiceleste team managed to create several dangerous situations owing to Brazilian mistakes in defense and great individual play by Sebastián Driussi and Emanuel Mammana.

However both teams used too much of the long-ball and fouled too much in a lackluster and disorganized match that was witnessed by thousands who filled the Juan Gilberto Funes stadium in the city of La Punta, in the province of San Luis, 800 kilometers west of Buenos Aires.

In the next round of games on Wednesday Argentina will face Paraguay, who earlier lost to Uruguay 3-1, and Brazil will go up against Peru who has lost three straight matches.

Quilmes win eases relegation fears and All Boys and San Martin share spoils

Quilmes took advantage of playing the most out of form team in the Primera at home yesterday, chalking up a invaluable 1 – 0 win over Estudiantes. With the three points they remain just one place above Independiente in the relegation table but they now heap further pressure on their rivals. Later, in Floresta, All Boys drew with San Martin amid some controversy. A contentious penalty gave All Boys the lead, which lasted a minute, until San Martin equalised. The draw does little to help San Martin who are as good as gone.


ALL BOYS 1 – 1 SAN MARTIN

http://www.youtube.com/w…0AbsxS3ciYE


Fresh from last week’s thrashing of Boca Juniors, San Martin would have gone into this game with a bit more confidence than usual. Unfortunately, this didn’t really transpire on the pitch as both sides failed to really take hold of a game which lacked quality. The talking point occurred after 57 minutes when the referee pointed to the spot to award All Boys a penalty after the slightest tug of a shirt. San Martin were up in arms over the decision and soon found themselves one down, after Angel Vildozo converted with ease. However, they were not behind for long. A minute later, a corner from the left was headed in by Lucas Landa to give each team a point.


QUILMES 1 – 0 ESTUDIANTES

http://www.youtube.com/w…MpA-PM7PmKY


Quilmes were four without a win going into this but would have seen this as a winnable game due to Estudiantes woeful form. They left it late but eventually in the 87th minute, Martin Cauteruccio fired home the winner. The most important result of this is that the gap between Quilmes and Estudiantes grew even further, making Independiente’s escape all the more unlikely.

Brasileirão named fifth best league in the world by World Soccer

The Brasileirão has been named the fifth best league in the world according to a survey carried out by World Soccer.

The magazine placed the league ahead of the likes of Netherlands´ Eredivisie and France´s Ligue 1 in the survey´s overall rankings in their latest issue.

The winners of the survey was Germany´s Bundesliga with the Premier League following closely in second.

Spain´s La Liga claimed third place while Italy´s Serie A came in fourth. Argentina also featured in the rankings at tenth.

The survey scored each league in individual rankings such as attendances, finances, goals scored, competitiveness, managers, players, and stadiums. All scores were then totted up for an overall score and ranking.

The Brasileirão performed particular poorly in attendances, with their average of 13,004 falling well short of the Bundesliga´s 45,116.

But they scored much better in finances, which ranked leagues based on total income, in which they came sixth with a total of €650m, but still dwarfed by the Premier League´s €2.5bn.

Another low ranking came in goals scored as they finished 15th due to their goals per game average of 2.47, compared to the Eredivisie´s 3.27.

Brazil also impressed in the competitiveness rankings, coming in at sixth with six different league winners in the past ten years.

In managers, ranking leagues based on major titles won by coaches, the Brasileirão came in second with three, behind the Premier League´s five, thanks to Copa Libertadores winners Abel Braga, Muricy Ramalho and Tite.

Brazil also scored highly in stadiums, coming in at third behind leaders USA and second placed Germany, based on how many modern stadiums were built since 2000.

But it was back to basics as Brazil scored very low on the number of star players plying their trade in the Brasileirão with 13, based on 2010 World Cup squads, as England led the way with 76 players featuring in South Africa.

Finally, leagues were scored on their success, based on how many clubs competed in the semi-final or final of their continent´s biggest prizes in the past ten years.

Brazil came in second with eight clubs in the Copa Libertadores, behind only Spain with ten clubs in European competitions.

Source: World Soccer

Overall Rankings

1 - Germany (60)

2 - England (55)

3 - Spain (46)

4 - Italy (37)

5 - Brazil (36)

6 - Mexico (30)

7 - USA (28)

8 - Netherlands (26)

9 - France (22)

10 - Argentina (20)

Vasco squad need to be improved, admits Paulo Autuori

Vasco´s manager Paulo Autuori admits that the squad need to be improved if Vasco are to live glory days again.

The team finished the Rio de Janeiro State League in a disappointing way as they were beaten 0-1 by Madureira, highlighting the need to improve the team for the Brazilian national league.

Paulo Autuori told reports after the game: "In my opinion it´s clear the board have to work [to improve the squad]. Vasco currently don´t have a team that corresponds to the club´s history. This is of course something we can´t hide."

"Vasco need to pull themselves together off the pitch so that they can have a competitive squad on the pitch."

The manager added that Vasco are already working to bring new players, he said: "We are looking for players. Some are more risky, others more established ones."

"Of course it´s not easy due to our investment capacity and the difficulty of signing players from other clubs, but I am confident we´ll sign experienced players too."

"Our priority is to bring new players, there might be news this week, but I can´t give a deadline for that."

Vasco interested in Porto goalkeeper Hélton

Vasco are interested in repatriating experienced goalkeeper Hélton, who currently plays for Portuguese team Porto.

The Rio de Janeiro-based club have expressed their interest for Hélton before, but the need for a reliable goalkeeper increased since Fernando Prass left the club to join Palmeiras.

Hélton started his career at Vasco in 1998, and despite his youth, he was the team´s goalkeeper during the Club World Cup tournament in 2000. His team were however beaten on penalties by Corinthians in the final.

He joined União de Leiria in 2002 and moved to Porto three years later, he has remained at the club since then.

Vasco´s executive director René Simões admits interest in bringing the goalkeeper back to the club, he told Globo Esporte: "I don´t like to name names when things aren´t certain. Hélton is of course an excellent goalkeeper, very cultured and is a musician too. All of which makes him an interesting player."

Valdívia not released by Palmeiras for Brazil-Chile friendly

Palmeiras have not accepted to release Jorge Valdívia for Wednesday´s friendly between Brazil and Chile.

This decision has been made due to the physical condition of Valdívia, as Palmeiras plan to field him in the São Paulo State League quarter-finals and in the Copa Libertadores round of 16 against Mexican team Tijuana.

Valdivia understood the decision, he told Palmeiras´ official site: "It´s always an honor to defend my country. Palmeiras, before Chile announced the list, tried to have me in good condition as the Libertadores game was postponed."

"But I accept the decision and I will follow the recommendations to return as soon as possible."

Palmeiras´ doctor Rubens Sampaio explained the decision, he said: "We tested Valdívia during the week, and we think it would be a risk for him to return this Sunday. He needs more days of muscle strengthening activities."

The club´s president Paulo Nobre also talked about Valdivia´s situation, he said: "We did our best to ensure all our players represent their countries, but Valdívia is a key player in our squad."

"He unfortunately won´t be released as a matter of prudence, and since the game won´t be played on a FIFA date, I hope the Chilean FA will understand and that won´t harm his chances in the future."

Real Madrid to hijack Neymar move to Barça with €100 million bid - report

Catalan newspaper Sport report that Real Madrid have not given up on the possibility of signing Santos forward Neymar, with the issue a matter of “personal pride” for president Florentino Perez.

The newspaper, who ran with the headline “Florentino wants to steal Neymar”, suggest that the Madrid giants would be willing to pay up to €100 million for his services this summer.

Barcelona are said to have a deal worth €45 million agreed for the Brazilian superstar, according to previous reports by Catalan media, but have since been informed of their rivals intentions.

If it were confirmed, the transfer would make Neymar the most expensive transfer in the history of world football—eclipsing the €94 million transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to the Bernabeu in 2009.

Sport previously reported that the Blaugrana club would be due €80 million in compensation should their agreed deal fall through.

To date, though, both player and his Brazilian owners have denied the existence of any agreement with Barcelona, while the player´s father has spoken of Santos hoping to extend Neymar´s contract until 2016.

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det er da altid noget at Frank Leboeuf ikke er i Chelsea længere :-)

God humor - ham havde jeg sgu helt glemt Le beef