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Liverpool legend Jan Molby hails "world class" Coutinho

Liverpool legend Jan Molby has hailed Philippe Coutinho´s impact at the club since joining from Serie A giants Inter in January.

The Dane praised Coutinho´s range of passing and his vision in the 6-0 rout of Newcastle United and claims the pass for Jordan Henderson´s goal was "world class".

"The words ‘world class’ are used far too often these days. But I saw something at Newcastle last week which deserved that description – the pass from Philippe Coutinho for Liverpool’s second goal," Molby said in his column in the Liverpool Echo.

"Some people will ask what was so special about that? But the vast majority of players in that position would have shifted the ball out to Jordan Henderson on the left.

"That was where Newcastle wanted him to play it. But instead he played it between the two defenders for Daniel Sturridge.

"The weight on the ball was outstanding and that created the space for Henderson to score. I’d pay to watch a pass like that."

hmmm..................men Cruzeiro er sgu om sig iøjeblikket...

Zico advises Real Madrid midfielder Kaká to join Flamengo

Former Brazilian international Zico has advised Kaká to join Flamengo, rather than returning to AC Milan or staying at Real Madrid.

Kaká is in a difficult situation at both Real Madrid and Brazil´s national team, as he rarely starts for the Spanish side and is seldom called up.

A move to a team where he could play more often is widely believed to ideal if he is to become his old self.

Zico talked about Kaká´s situation during his Zico na Rede show at Esporte Interativo, he said: "Kaká still wants to prove he can be more useful at Real Madrid than he currently is, despite all his difficulties there."

He added: "His best option would be joining a different red and black team, the one from Brazil and to be more specific, the one from Rio de Janeiro."

"I talked with him about it and he smiled, it would be very good for him and for the national team if he played the Brazilian national league. I´m not saying this as a Flamengo fan, I´m saying what I think, if Kaká wants to be a protagonist again."

Despite Zico´s advice, Flamengo have made no offer for Kaká, the midfielder has been linked to Cruzeiro but they have denied any interest too.

Det ligner mere og mere et mesterskab til NOB....

Guillermo espera por los lesionados

BUENOS AIRES -- El entrenador de Lanús, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, espera la evolución de los defensores Paolo Goltz y Carlos Izquierdoz y del mediocampista Diego González, los tres con diferentes molestias físicas, de cara al partido del próximo sábado.

Para dicho encuentro el entrenador no podrá contar con el defensor Carlos Araujo, quien sufrió un desgarro en el isquiotibial derecho y estará por lo menos tres semanas fuera de las canchas.

El plantel del "Granate" se entrenó esta mañana en el estadio y el "Mellizo" aguardará para armar el once titular, pese a que Izquierdoz y el "Pulpito" González trabajaron con normalidad, pero el más complicado es Goltz, quien se movió diferenciado.

Tanto Izquierdoz, autor del gol en el empate 1-1 ante Atlético Rafaela de la fecha pasada, y el mediocampista González, mostraron una excelente evolución de los sendos golpes que recibieron en la rodilla izqierda ante el equipo santafesino.

Por su parte, el ex defensor de Huracán, que en el partido ante los rafaelinos se resintió de un esguince en el tobillo derecho, sólo trotó liviano y se lo esperará hasta último momento para saber si podrá estar a disposición.

Lanús, que luego del empate ante Rafaela perdió la condición de puntero del Torneo Final, ahora marcha segundo con 23 puntos, y el sábado desde las 18.10 se medirá ante Argentinos (7), en La Paternal, con arbitraje de Diego Ceballos.

Gareca: "Tenemos que repuntar"

BUENOS AIRES -- El entrenador Ricardo Gareca reconoció que su preocupación "hoy en día es el campeonato local" y "no el partido frente a Newell´s", correspondiente a la vuelta por los octavos de final de Copa Libertadores.
"Tenemos que repuntar, nunca nos hemos visto ahí. Queremos vernos más arriba, siempre nos hemos visto mas arriba", se refirió al 17mo. lugar que ocupa Vélez actualmente en el torneo final.

"Esa es nuestra motivación", continuó, "ninguno de nosotros queremos vernos ahí, de acá a lo que resta del campeonato todo lo que podamos sumar y escalar posiciones va a ser fundamental".

El sábado Vélez visitará a Racing Club desde las 20.15 y buscará reencausar el rumbo en el marco del campeonato local pese al muy buen momento que transita en la Libertadores habiendo ganado la ida de los octavos de final ante Newell´s y de visita.

"Vamos a tratar de ir con todo, antes de Newell´s tenemos tres partidos más, por lo menos en dos de esos tres el equipo tiene que jugar", remarcó, "después veremos a ver quien llega a Newell´s".

"Racing es un equipo que esta peleando los primeros puestos y quiere luchar el campeonato, así que va a ser un partido complicado" sostuvo el Tigre sobre el próximo rival.

"Es un equipo que tiene buenos jugadores en todas las líneas, tiene individualidades importantes y está tratando de afianzar una idea futbolística. Confiamos en hacer un buen partido", añadió.

Las lesiones de diferente índole fue uno de los grandes karmas que el Fortín sufrió durante este campeonato, "estamos siguiendo el tema de las lesiones, el que esta dado de alta es Tobio. Con el estuvimos hablando de que juegue algún partido en tercera. Le va a venir bien para agarrar ritmo y si es este fin de semana mejor".

Facundo Ferreyra y Fernando Gago son de los mas esperados y de los que menos minutos pudieron actuar a lo largo del semestre, al tener en cuenta sus dolencias.

"Anímicamente los veo bien", indicó Gareca sobre ellos en la conferencia de prensa, desarrollada luego de la práctica matutina en la Villa Olímpica, "hay que esperar, tener paciencia, y darles tiempo para que se puedan recuperar".

"Sería ideal que tengan minutos en cancha previo al partido con Newell´s para que uno pueda analizar que tengan alguna participación. Todavía queda tiempo y partidos par que puedan llegar de la mejor manera", destacó.

Para concluir, el Tigre analizó brevemente esta nueva fase de la Copa Libertadores en al que comenzó con un triunfo ante Newell`s por 1 a 0, en el estadio Marcelo Bielsa.

"Aquellos equipos que quizás uno piensa que no están bien resurgen. Ahora, vienen los partidos importantes, no se puede aventurar pronósticos, los partidos hay que jugarlos", cerró.

En el entrenamiento de este jueves se trabajó tácticamente y el equipo que iría ante Racing sería con Sebastián Sosa; Fabián Cubero, Juan Alberto Sabia, Sebastián Domínguez y Emiliano Papa; Agustín Allione, Juan Ignacio Sills, Franco Razzotti y Federico Insúa; Jonathan Copete y Lucas Pratto.

Suspenden 3 fechas a Diego Villar

BUENOS AIRES -- El mediocampista de Racing Club Diego Vilalr fue sancionado con tres fechas de suspensión, luego de ser expulsado el domingo último en el cotejo que su equipo cayó frente a Newell`s Old Boys de Rosario por 4 a 3, por la undécima fecha del Torneo Final.
La sanción de tres jornadas se fundamentó en que dos fechas se las aplicaron por acción brusca y una por ser reincidente.

En tanto, Emanuel Insúa, de Godoy Cruz de Mendoza, fue castigado con dos fechas de suspensión, al ser expulsado en el cotejo que el Tomba igualó 1 a 1 con San Lorenzo de Almagro.

Con una fecha de suspensión, por haber sido expulsado en la última jornada, fueron sancionados Denis Stracqualursi, de San Lorenzo; Milton Casco, de Newell`s; y Julio Barraza, de Argentinos Juniors.

Por su parte, Bruno Bianchi y Andrés Franzoia, ambos de Unión de Santa y quienes fueron expulsados con San Martín de San Juan, fueron suspendidos provisionalmente.

A su vez, el árbitro Diego Ceballos, quien fue el encargado de controlar el mencionado partido entre San Martín y Unión, está citado para el martes venidero a las 18.

Al tiempo que Ezequiel Maggiolo, de Tigre, fue sancionado con dos fechas, de las cuales no cumplió ninguna, debido a que fue expulsado hace dos jornadas en el cotejo frente a Argentinos Juniors y el conjunto de Victoria no jugó frente a Vélez Sarsfield el pasado fin de semana, porque el encuentro fue postergado.

En ese partido también fueron expulsados Aníbal Matellán y Matías Laba, ambos de Argentinos Juniors, y recibieron dos y una fecha de suspensión, respectivamente.

Laba ya cumplió y Matellán debe esperar una fecha para volver.

En primera división recibieron también una fecha de sanción por acumular cinco tarjetas amarillas Pablo Magnín, Juan Pablo Avendaño y Lionel Altamirano, todos de Unión; Emanuel Más, de San Martín de San Juan; Cristian Díaz, de Newell`s, Esteban González, de Belgrano de Córdoba; Guillermo Sara, de Atlético Rafaela; Alejandro Capurro, de Argentinos Juniors; e Iván Borghello, de All Boys.

En la B Nacional, Renzo Vera, de Independiente Rivadavia de Mendoza, recibió una fecha de suspensión por ser expulsado en el cotejo que su equipo perdió frente Boca Unidos de Corrientes.

Miguel Nievas, de Crucero del Norte de Posados, fue suspendido por dos fechas por acumular diez tarjetas amarillas.

Finalmente, por haber acumulado cinco amonestaciones fueron sancionados con una jornada Pablo Caballero (Almirante Brown), Luis Rodríguez (Atlético Tucumán), Andrés Chávez (Banfield), Santiago Raymonda (Boca Unidos), Pablo De Miranda (Ferro Carril Oeste), Walter García (Independiente Rivadavia) y Luis Gutiérrez (Patronato de Paraná).

Lidt updates rundt omkring...

I Honduras spillede Platense og Olimpia 0-0 i deres første seifinalekamp.


i Peru afslutteds midtuge programmet med 2 kampe. José Galvez og Real garcilaso spillede 0-0, mens Cenciano slog Leon de Huanuco med 1.0 på mål af Josias Cardoso.

http://www.youtube.com/w…dzGEEQVgJzs

og endelig spillede Blooming og San José 1-1 i Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

http://www.youtube.com/w…2hqc94evm4A

Santos´ Sanchez named top CCL goalkeeper

MONTERREY, Mexico - Santos´ Oswaldo Sanchez was named the 2012/13 CONCACAF Champions League´s best goalkeeper following the second leg of the final on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old was outstanding throughout the competition, starting eight of the Guerreros´ 10 games, conceding only three goals prior to the title-deciding 4-2 loss to Monterrey at the Estadio Tecnologico.

Sanchez has enjoyed a long and illustrious career in CONCACAF competitions. He was named the 2003 Gold Cup´s best goalkeeper after helping lead Mexico to its fourth confederation title, defeating Brazil 1-0 in the final.

On the global stage, Sanchez has appeared in one World Cup finals (2006), three FIFA Confederations Cups (1997, 2001, 2005) and has played in 27 World Cup qualifiers.

Quintero, Muñoz share CCL Golden Boot

MONTERREY, Mexico - Santos´ Carlos Darwin Quintero and Nicolas Muñoz of Isidro Metapan shared the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) Golden Boot Award after each scored six in the 2012-13 edition of the tournament.

Quintero leveled with the Panamanian, scoring in the 38th minute of the CCL final, second leg on Wednesday night against Monterrey; a game that the Guerreros eventually lost 4-2.

Muñoz´s tallies were accumulated during four games in the Group Stage, where he accounted for all but one of Metapan´s seven goals. His three-goal performance against the Puerto Rico Islanders on August 1 in a 3-0 win was a tournament highlight.


CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Top Scorers by Year

2008/09: Javier Orozco, Cruz Azul (7 goals)
2009/10: Ulises Mendivil, Pachuca (9)
2010/11: Javier Orozco, Cruz Azul (11)
2011/12: Oribe Peralta, Santos & Humberto Suazo, Monterrey (7)
2012/13: Nicolas Muñoz, Isidro Metapan & Carlos Darwin Quintero, Santos (6)

De Nigris wins CCL Golden Ball

MONTERREY, Mexico - On the heels of a memorable two-goal performance in Monterrey´s 4-2 win over Santos on Wednesday in the second leg of the 2012/13 CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) final, Aldo De Nigris won the Golden Ball award, honoring him as the tournament´s best player.

De Nigris truly shined after the group phase, scoring five of Monterrey´s last 10 goals. He netted at least one goal in the quarterfinal, semifinal and final stages.

The 29-year-old forward, who has also scored twice in five FIFA Club World Cup games, now has 14 career tallies in three CCL campaigns, placing him fourth on the all-time list.

Santos´ Oribe Peralta was voted the Golden Ball´s recipient in 2012, the first time it had been awarded in the CCL´s brief history.

Is Neymar really the cure for Barca´s ills?

Judging by countless reports over the past few months, the transfer of Neymar from Santos FC to FC Barcelona seems to have become a formality, with both parties allegedly having signed a pre-contract agreement and the player guaranteed a handsome 40 million euros ($52 million) as a welcome gift by the Catalan giants.

However, the supposed move is under scrutiny after Barcelona suffered a routing as emphatic as the one they administered to Santos in the 2011 World Cup Club final -- a game after which Neymar didn´t hide his admiration for the Blaugrana´s style.

An uncomfortable question should be ringing in Barca´s ears after the Champions League humiliation versus Bayern: Do they really need Neymar?

As harsh as it sounds, the question evokes the famous "want versus need" debate. At first scrutiny, the Catalans are dealing with a much bigger problem -- an alarming scarcity of centre-backs -- than firepower upfront.

This season, Barcelona has scored more than 140 goals in all competitions. Even though 44 of them were courtesy of Lionel Messi, one can hardly say there is an accuracy crisis at the Camp Nou. At the back, however, things have been flimsy, with the 65 goals conceded already far past the 2011-12 mark of 48.

It´s true that they have suffered crucial injuries. The loss of Carles Puyol and the already converted centre-back Javier Mascherano (a midfielder by birth) forced Tito Vilanova and understudy Jordi Roura to improvise left-back Adriano in the heart of defense. But shouldn´t this signal a stronger need to go shopping for a defender rather than a striker who has shone within the Brazilian borders only, regardless of what promise Neymar offers for the future?

Some might say the solution is simple: buy both. However, reality has bitten hard. In the last transfer window, Barcelona lost the financial tug-of-war for the club´s two main targets, Thiago Silva and Javi Martinez -- yes, they also detected the need to give Sergio Busquets help in defensive midfield -- to Paris St. Germain and FC Bayern Munich, respectively. They also apparently failed to lure David Luiz from Chelsea in 2011, even when the Brazilian seemed to be struggling with criticism from the English media.

While that might sound quite strange given the fanfare that marked the latest Deloitte "Money List" in which the Catalans pipped Manchester United for second place in the financial rankings, it should be reminded that the analysis does not take debts into account. Barcelona´s IOUs have been estimated at around 320 million euros ($419 million) in a report released by the club last year, and everybody knows that European clubs are being forced to deal with UEFA´s Financial Fair Play regulations as well as the continent´s broader economic reality.

Nevertheless, Neymar is a political card that FCB president Sandro Rosell is ready to play as he bids to secure a new mandate ahead of the 2016 elections. The Brazilian striker is undoubtedly a golden goose in terms of PR and marketing, having topped the latest "Most Marketable Athlete" rankings compiled by SportsPro magazine, and his arrival at Camp Nou would certainly be followed by a symphony of fresh revenue.

But the argument that Rosell might be too obsessed with this signing shouldn´t be dismissed. "Rosell must think twice before gambling on a player that has not proved himself yet in Europe in a moment where there is a blatant imbalance in the squad," a source linked to the Catalan club told me recently.

It´s also important to point out that Neymar is far from enjoying life at the moment. Although financially secured by the generous sponsorship package that allowed Santos to keep him in Brazil and fend off other clubs in the past, Neymar has faced fierce criticism from media and public; the striker was singled out for harassment by supporters during the Selecao´s home friendly against Chile.

One could argue that Barcelona has a need for a new striker given that Alexis Sanchez and David Villa have reportedly fallen out of favor after several poor displays; when Messi´s extraterrestrial skills are not taken into account, Cesc Fabregas has been the Blaugrana’s leading scorer this season, with 10.

But it was the defensive fragility that, no pun intended, was more striking in Barca´s demolition at the hands of Bayern. It was also worrying to see how an unfit Busquets didn´t have a proper understudy. The 19 million euros ($25 million) paid for Alex Song now seems ill-advised, which also brings interesting questions about Barca´s transfer strategies (for more, read this).

Though Barcelona represents an elegant ideal in modern football, its primordial need these days is muscle, not flair. Thus, when they do finally spring Neymar out of Brazil, they should seriously consider reserving a seat on the plane for a player like Atletico-MG´s Rever, Cruzeiro´s Dede or even Gremio´s Fernando as well.