Snak

Estudiantes se prepara para recibir a Racing

BUENOS AIRES -- Durante los entrenamientos del miércoles, Mauricio Pellegrino puso en práctica un once tentativo de cara al partido que Estudiantes disputará, el próximo domingo, ante Racing, en el marco de la undécima fecha del Torneo Inicial.

Ante la baja confirmada de Matías Aguirregaray por una rotura de ligamentos, decidió retroceder unos metros Leonardo Jara y colocarlo como lateral derecho, mientras que en el mediocampo ingresó Mariano González. Además, probó con Franco Jara, en lugar de Gastón Gil Romero, apostando con un esquema con tres jugadores en la delantera.

De esta forma, los once que recibirían a Racing serían: Gerónimo Rulli; Leonardo Jara, Santiago Vergini, Leandro Desábato, Jonathan Silva; Israel Damonte; Mariano González, Román Martínez; Franco Jara, Guido Carrillo, Patricio Rodríguez.

Mientras tanto, Juan Sebastián Verón continúa trabajando diferenciado por la lesión en la rodilla derecha sufrida en el clásico ante Gimnasia y, recién la semana próxima, hará trabajos con pelota, con el objetivo de llegar al partido frente a Argentinos Juniors.

Estudiantes tiene 13 puntos en el actual Torneo Inicial, producto de dos triunfos, siete empates y, tan sólo, una derrota. Ante Racing, intentará volver al triunfo tras seis fechas, ya que no gana desde el 25 de agosto, cuando venció a Boca, en el Estadio Único de La Plata.

Rematan propiedad a Comparada

BUENOS AIRES -- La justicia dictaminó el remate de una propiedad del ex residente de Independiente Julio Comparada por un préstamo que se le otorgó a la institución y para el cual se puso como garantía una propiedad del dirigente.

El juzgado comercial de primera instancia número 20, a cargo del juez Eduardo Malde, dictaminó el remate de la propiedad ubicada en Barrio Norte de la Capital Federal, tras la deuda contraída con una financiera, la cual embargó a Comparada por 300 mil dólares, más 90 mil de intereses.

La deuda se originó cuando en el año 2010 un grupo empresario estaba negociando la compra de porcentajes de varios jugadores del club, (Patricio Rodríguez, Sergio Vittor, Lucas Kruspzky y Fernando Godoy).

Ante esta inminente venta, la máxima autoridad de la institución sacó el préstamo para hacerse antes de los fondos que iba a recibir el club de esas futuras ventas.

Finalmente la transacción no sucedió y tampoco se hizo efectivo el pago del préstamo otorgado al club por la Financiera, por lo que ésta embargó a Comparada, y tras no concretarse el levantamiento del mismo, la justicia determinó el remate de la propiedad puesta en garantía.

Procesan a jefe de la barra de Newell´s

BUENOS AIRES -- La justicia rosarina lo procesó Panadero Ochoa como coautor de dos homicidios y una tentativa de homicidio en carácter de instigador, en una resolución que ahonda en detalles sobre "el submundo ilegal de las mal llamadas barras bravas".

Ochoa fue procesado por el juez de instrucción 9 de Rosario, Javier Beltramone, como instigador de los crímenes del ex jefe de la misma barra, Roberto "Pimpi" Camino, ocurrido en 2010, y el de Maximiliano "Quemadito" Rodríguez, otro integrante, asesinado de un balazo en la cabeza en febrero de este año.

Según la resolución de Beltramone, esos crímenes fueron "consumados por precio o promesa remuneratoria, ocurridos todos con alevosía y con el concurso premeditado de dos o más personas, y agravado por el uso de arma de fuego".

También procesó al `Panadero` Ochoa por el intento de asesinato de Matías Pera, un barra de Newell`s vinculado al "Quemadito" Rodríguez, y le trabó embargo por 250.000 pesos, señala la resolución.

A la vez, el magistrado amplió los procesamientos de Sergio Federico "Chuno" Acosta y Héctor David "Porteño" Rodríguez, dos presuntos sicarios utilizados por Ochoa para asesinar al "Quemadito" Rodríguez a cambio de dinero.

A ambos les imputó "homicidio triplemente calificado, por precio o promesa remuneratoria, con alevosía y con el concurso premeditado de dos o más personas, y agravado por el uso de arma de fuego, en calidad de coautores".

Beltramone agregó como agravantes para Acosta y Rodríguez el de haber cometido el crimen en "concurso real con portación ilegítima de arma de guerra en calidad de coautores" y los embargó por 50.000 pesos.

La resolución, de más de 200 páginas, reúne las declaraciones de varios integrantes de la barra brava de Newell`s Old Boys que dan cuenta con detalle de cómo se organiza el grupo de violentos, la venta de entradas protocolo, la organización de viajes, la distribución de tareas entre sectores armados y otros que utilizan "la fuerza de los músculos".

Según el juez, Ochoa sería el instigador del crimen de "Pimpi" Camino, jefe de la barrabrava de Newell`s durante las gestiones como presidente de la institución del Parque Independencia de Eduardo José López.

Camino fue asesinado de cinco tiros en la madrugada del 18 de marzo de 2010 en la puerta de un bar de Rosario, y por ese hecho fueron condenados dos jóvenes ligados al club.

En la investigación judicial también aparece el vínculo entre integrantes de la barra "Leprosa" y la organización delictiva conocida como "Los Monos", investigada por la Justicia rosarina por presuntos crímenes por encargo y tráfico de estupefacientes.

A la vez, Beltramone procesó a Marcelo Jesús Romano y Walter "Walo" Acosta como presuntos responsables en calidad de partícipe primario el primero y coautor el segundo, del crimen de Maximiliano Rodríguez.

Independiente espera jugar con gente

BUENOS AIRES -- El visto bueno del ministro de Seguridad bonaerense, Alejandro Granados, falta para saber si los hinchas de Independiente podrán asistir al partido pendiente ante Unión, que se jugará el jueves 24 de este mes.

Tanto el presidente del club, Javier Cantero, espera confirmar en las próximas horas de boca de Granados, los requisitos que van a tener que cumplir club y los socios para los partidos que se vienen de local.

La reunión que mantuvieron el miércoles Cantero, el secretario de Deportes provincial, Alejandro Rodríguez, el subsecretario Juan Manuel López Gómez, y el titular de la APREVIDE, Oscar Boccalandro, dejó la definición a un último encuentro con Granados.

Cantero dio por descontado que los hinchas de Independiente podrán entrar al Libertadores de América pues a la vista está la pelea que viene dando su gestión contra los barras.

"La idea es formar una mesa de trabajo con la policía, APREVIDE, el club, la Municipalidad para abordar el tema", dijo Cantero y dio por seguro que habrá "cacheos especiales y se van a extremar medidas" como revisación más detenidamente de los carnets de los socios.

Según dijo a DyN una fuente del gobierno provincial que participa de las reuniones, "una vez que se reúna Cantero con Granados, se volverán a reunir las partes y definir qué es lo que se hace".

No obstante la lucha que Cantero empezó con Pablo "Bebote" Alvarez, desde hace un tiempo se gestó una interna entre barras, pues el ex lugarteniente César "Loquillo" Rodríguez le diputa el liderazgo de las tribunas.

El viernes pasado horas antes del partido con Unión, 33 barras que respondían a Loquillo fueron detenidos al hallarse armas de fuego y varias facas y lanzas hechas con hierros de construcción puntillosamente afiladas. La policía sospecha que iban a enfrentar a la facción de Bebote.

Por ese hecho fue suspendido el partido y se reprogramó para el 24 a las 16 horas.

Cantero adelantó que "a todos se le pondrá derecho de admisión" y a los 15 que son socios se le iniciará un sumario interno.

Understanding the Panama challenge

A famous phrase from Sun Tzu´s "The Art of War" is: "Know your enemy." This advice is especially useful to Mexico as it faces a do-or-die match versus Panama to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.

Knowledge of an opponent is power, but Mexico has also had to contend with an obstacle that other CONCACAF nations usually never have to deal with: hubris that has blinded the team administration to the evolution of its own competition. Mexico´s new coach, Victor Manuel Vucetich, has no such interest in deluding himself. He has boldly ventured into the realm of reality.

"Without a doubt, Panama has grown in regards to football," Vucetich said recently. "They have players who play in different places. This helps them grow."

For so long, it´s been the accepted party line in Mexico that CONCACAF is just the same as it always was, while the reason that EL Tri has had trouble qualifying is that Mexico´s team has forgotten to play like it once did. That idea is simply a canard to pull attention away from the fact that the region has indeed changed. Mexico´s reluctance to accept that fact has handicapped its ability to perform well in the altered sporting landscape.

While Mexico grudgingly conceded some time ago that the U.S. has improved in the sport, the growth of the much smaller regional rivals has taken place under the radar. Central America has enjoyed both political stability and economic advancement, two important support elements for the maturation of the sport. The increased international market for players has also helped many in the region gain exposure and experience. New stadiums and improved league play have also translated into better local players.

For Panama, a historic opportunity to qualify for its first-ever World Cup has ensured that the team arrives to face Mexico brimming with motivation. Though the atmosphere in Azteca Stadium will certainly intimidate, Panama has two recent Gold Cup wins over Mexico to boost morale.

Young gun Gabriel Torres will likely pair alongside wily veteran Blas Perez in the Panamanian attack. Captain Felipe Baloy will marshal the defense to try and prevent Mexico scoring.

The fact that Vucetich does not downplay the threat posed by Panama raises the odds that Mexico will be prepared to deal with it. Respecting opponents, of course, doesn´t mean that belief in one´s own team is lacking.

"We have plenty of confidence to go out and get the win on Friday," Vucetich noted.

The latest reports from Mexico´s practices under Vucetich put Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez in as the starting forward, paired with Oribe Peralta. Christian "Chaco" Gimenez and Giovani Dos Santos are both expected to start in the midfield. Jesus Zavala and Carlos Pena are also likely. Lucas Lobos is tipped as a prime player option off the bench. In the defense, veteran Rafael Marquez and Hugo Ayala will hold the center, while Miguel Layun and Jorge Torres Nilo will man the wings. Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa has apparently regained the first-choice keeper position.

These players must turn around Mexico´s destiny. El Tri is winless at home this year. A loss to Panama would virtually eliminate Mexico from qualifying contention. Yet El Tri have qualified for more World Cups -- 14 -- than any other CONCACAF country.

Mexico has woken from the drowsy state of assuming that regional qualifying is easy. It has been rudely shaken out of the idea that the smaller Central American nations would never pose a credible threat. Vucetich has focused the giant´s attention on the annoyingly effective Jacks racing around the qualifying beanstalk. Now Mexico must display the resolve needed to win.

Alvarez Balanta could be the future for Barcelona

Reports coming out of Spain are that Barcelona Manager, Tata Martino is keen to recruit River Plate’s Colombian starlet, Eder Alvarez Balanta to bolster his defence and provide the long term replacement for Carlos Puyol. The Catalan legend, Puyol has been struggling with injuries over the past 2 seasons and at the age of 35 his playing days are numbered. For this reason, Barcelona seek a top class, younger version and it appears that 20-year-old, Balanta is top of that list.

In Tata Martino’s final season in charge of Newell’s Old Boys he will have been all too aware of the rise of Alvarez Balanta. Ramon Diaz brought him into the River defence in the middle of an injury crisis and his outstanding performances immediately led to him being a regular and even drew comparisons to Argentine legend, Daniel Passarella.

Since then, Alvarez Balanta has become the corner stone of the River defence and River President, Passarella has looked to cash in. This transfer window, Passarella was in Europe speaking to a number of top clubs regarding his asset and big money deals were discussed.

None of these moves came to fruition but it is reported that River sold 70% of the players rights to an Investment Group. Passarella has denied this since, so there is some uncertainty over this but one thing is certain, Alvarez Balanta will move to Europe for a substantial fee in the near future.

Monaco and Benfica remain interested but now it is reported that Barcelona have jumped to the front of the queue. Depending on Puyol’s recovery and form on his return to the first team, a source at the club suggested this could happen sooner rather than later.

Barcelona Linked With River Plate Defensive Star Álvarez Balanta

As you might have heard, F.C. Barcelona, the self-styled biggest football club in the world, have one or two Argentine links at present. Most obviously, there’s Lionel Messi, the man to whom so few analogies actually do justice that I’m just going to start calling him ‘the Lionel Messi of football,’ and have done with it. Then there’s new manager Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino, who led Newell’s Old Boys to the Argentine championship a few months ago before making Barça into the second largest Argentine-lead church in the world. Oh, and there’s Javier Mascherano, but although he’s one of the best in the world at what he does as well, he plays in a boring position, so he’s way more forgettable.

Anyway, the new manager has already had a big influence on how Barcelona have gone about their game lately—they’re a little more direct and a little less concerned with always dominating possession (though they normally do that anyway), and Martino’s idea is that over time, they become a bit more versatile. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is that they still look short of real quality in defence. And this is where the other big change comes, because with an Argentine boss, Barça are being linked more than ever with players from the Argentine league. The most recent name is that of Eder Álvarez Balanta.

Colombian starlet Álvarez Balanta was one of the men I picked out as a potential key player in last Sunday’s superclásico, and so it proved. He’s been a rock in River Plate’s defence since he made his first team debut a mere six months or so ago, and has already been linked (by the Argentine media) with moves to big European clubs, but this most recent report of interest from arguably the biggest club of the lot at present has come not from the Argentine press, but from Sport of Spain. Sport, in fact, of Catalonia; the sports daily with the closest ties of all to the club.

The idea is that if club legend and captain Carles Puyol doesn’t recover sufficiently from what’s becoming an increasingly injury-laden twilight of his career, Balanta could be brought in in the (European) winter transfer window. With his intelligent positioning and assured manner when carrying the ball out of defence—he’s said in interviews that when he first moved down from Colombia to join River’s youth ranks, he was a number 10, a playmaker—he’d certainly fit right in at Barcelona, and Martino of course knows what he’s capable of, with River having finished second to Martino’s Newell’s side in this year’s Torneo Final.

River president Daniel Passarella has previously spoken of his desire to sell Balanta’s registration to an investment group to allow him to stay at River a little longer, but that deal was never in fact closed on (although it was reported as confirmed at the time by the press here). As is standard with River youth players, Balanta’s family have 20% of his economic rights (effectively, the player’s value in the transfer market), whilst the other 80% is still owned, for now, by River. The club are unlikely to settle for less than €5.5million at the very least for their share, whilst they might in fact fancy a similar amount for a 70% share of his registration, allowing them to keep a 10% share of the player and cash in on any future transfers, should Balanta move on from Barcelona.

The transfer wouldn’t be great news for River on the pitch, where they’d lose their most important outfield defender, but could make a difference economically, especially if Passarella or the club’s next president (River have elections coming up shortly) is able to bargain the price upwards. And for Barcelona? Well, Balanta certainly wouldn’t be any less effective than Puyol is proving for them at the moment. He’d be on the pitch, at least…

From Quito With Love

There comes a point in a Uruguayan father-son relationship where the son looks at his father and asks that question no Uruguayan father wants to hear, “Dad will we ever qualify to a World Cup?” – The father who just bought an overpriced sky-blue jersey doesn’t know how to respond to that question, slightly embarrassed, not only because he’s filled his son’s head with stories of Uruguay’s golden era, of players he never even saw with his own eyes, but embarrassed because he can’t remember for sure the last time Uruguay qualified directly to a World Cup. It’s a touching moment, the father pats his son’s mop-top head, and offers a white-flag instead, “Son, this year, we will!”

FROM QUITO WITH LOVE POSTER

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Premieres October 11th.

So if that touching moment didn’t bring tears to your eyes, know this, direct qualification is once again being paraded around our dinner table. Dinner table? So the metaphor changes – sue me, but lets go with it… now we’re at a swanky restaurant, with table cloths, silverware no less (nothing plastic) people are being served ahead of us but that’s OK, Why? The waiter is carrying a fresh plate of direct qualification. Now wouldn’t that be something to gnaw on?

In my lifetime, it’s happened what? 2 times? The last time Uruguay qualified directly to a World Cup, Mel Gibson was bouncing around with Danny Glover in his wind-tunnel tested mullet shooting at druggies and refraining from making anti-Semitic remarks, but against a backdrop which included the Tiananmen Square massacre, the collapse of the Soviet Empire, Uruguay qualified to the 1990 World Cup.



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So are we... seriously 1990 was a long time ago!

The man who orchestrated that rare achievement was the same man who almost achieved that same very feat in 2009, yes the man we affectionally call “El Maestro.” Of course back then, 1989 to be precise, CONMEBOL employed the group format, Uruguay defeated Perú 2-0 in Lima, and despite losing to Bolivia in La Paz, went on to take care of Bolivia and Perú at home without giving up a goal. CONMEBOL’s qualification format underwent dramatic changes in the 90′s, the group format would be eradicated in favor of a marathon home and away format where every nation plays each other. The playing field was leveled so to speak and even though Tabárez was brought back in 2006, Uruguay could still only finish 5th, a significant improvement over the 7th place finish in the 1998 qualifiers.

2009 went down to the wire, Uruguay despite the lopsided loss to Brazil, and stinker of a loss to Perú still had a chance to get in directly, they had to defeat Argentina at home. It didn’t happen, instead Maradona got his “suck on this” moment. Uruguay got the playoffs, the third straight time this would happen in the 21st Century.

Direct qualification is a rare possibility – or that’s what we’ve been told for the last 20 odd years – but a possibility nonetheless. To get there Uruguay has to get a positive result in Quito, a win will do nicely, a draw, perfectly acceptable, but a positive result is needed and then go for broke against the Messi-less Argentina at home.

So apparently Tabárez is going for a draw, as per Tenfield, he’ll go with a defensive 5-3-2, no question-mark players, that means no Forlán, no Lodeiro, no Ramírez, no Álvaro González. Will it work? It might. Fucile and Mono will press forward, Cebolla who has looked better this year than in previous years gets the rare start over Forlán and Ecuador’s defense gets to worry about Suárez and Cavani.

A win in Quito however is difficult. It’s not easy going there, and from what I’ve read, the last team to do so was Uruguay in 2009. Ecuador however will be plugged in, they need the win because they get to face Chile in Santiago on the 15th, winning there is not an easy proposition, just ask Uruguay who ate 2 goals there early this year. So this is probably the game where everything will be on the line. While the playoffs continue to function as some type of safety-net, dangling like a carrot in front of this stubborn Uruguay, this squad of Uruguay players need to overcome this last final hurdle. Direct qualification is too high a prize to ignore and we all know what they can do with that carrot.

Nacho González hizo dos cambios

BUENOS AIRES -- El director técnico interino de Racing Club, Ignacio González, dispuso hoy la primera práctica de fútbol formal en la que probó dos cambios con respecto al equipo que cayó 1-0 ante Atlético Rafaela, el último domingo, en un resultado que derivó en la renuncia de Carlos Ischia como DT.

González, quien ayer asumió su nuevo rol de entrenador luego de haber recibido el apoyo de todo el plantel `académico´, ordenó la inclusión del defensor Claudio Corvalán y el atacante Gabriel Hauche en lugar de Alejandro García y Mario Regueiro, respectivamente, ambos de bajo rendimiento en la última presentación del equipo.

Así, el flamante DT paró el siguiente equipo que podría salir desde el inicio ante Estudiantes de La Plata el domingo: Sebastián Saja; José Luis Gómez, Fernando Ortiz, Matías Cahais y Claudio Corvalán; Mauro Camoranesi, Bruno Zuculini y Agustín Pelletieri; Rodrigo De Paul; Gabriel Hauche y Luciano Vietto.

Del otro lado, alistó a Nelson Ibáñez; Mauro Bazán, Esteban Saveljich, Rodrigo Espíndola y Luis Ibañez; Ezequiel Melillo, Lucas Bareiro y Rodrigo Battaglia; Luciano Aued, Lucas Oroz y Roger Martínez.

De esta manera, el DT interino, que hoy dirigió su segunda práctica, se tomará el día de mañana para terminar de definir el elenco titular que buscará revertir el presente negativo de su equipo, que se encuentra en el fondo de la tabla con 2 unidades, producto de 2 empates y 8 derrotas en el actual torneo.

Por otro lado, el delantero Valentín Viola se volvió a entrenar de manera diferenciada por encontrarse en plena recuperación de un desgarro en el aductor derecho.

Viola, surgido de la cantera `albiceleste´, realizó trabajos con pelota en un costado del campo de juego, mientras que el defensor Martín Migliónico, quien sufre una entorsis en el tobillo derecho, trotó alrededor de la cancha.

Además, el volante ofensivo Mario Regueiro, quien padece una lumbalgia, realizó tareas de kinesiología y trabajos en el gimnasio.

El plantel de Racing volverá a los entrenamientos mañana, desde las 9.30, en la cancha auxiliar del `Cilindro´ y será a puertas abiertas para la prensa.

Racing (2) visitará el próximo domingo, desde las 16, a Estudiantes de La Plata (13), en el estadio `Centenario´, del Club Quilmes, con arbitraje de Darío Herrera, en un partido correspondiente a la undécima jornada del Torneo Inicial 2013.

Independiente no tendrá a Facundo Parra

BUENOS AIRES -- Finalmente, a pesar de haberse entrenado con normalidad durante la mañana del jueves, Facundo Parra no será arriesgado y no jugará el próximo sábado, en el partido que Independiente disputará ante Almirante Brown.

"Pisano puede estar, pero a Parra lo vamos a cuidar. Entre Menéndez y Penco estará el reemplazante", confirmó Omar De Felippe en la conferencia de prensa posterior a los ejercicios físicos y de fútbol informal que el plantel realizó en el predio de Villa Domínico.

En cuanto al rival, De Felippe anticipa: "Imagino un partido duro. Tienen a Rivoira, un gran técnico. Tenemos que cuidarnos de la pelota parada".

De esta manera, los once para visitar Isidro Casanova serían: Diego Rodríguez; Christian Núñez, Cristian Tula o Samuel Cáceres, Claudio Morel Rodríguez, Federico Mancuello; Martín Zapata, Franco Razzotti; Matías Pisano, Daniel Montenegro, Juan Manuel Trejo; Cristian Menéndez o Sebastián Penco.

Por otro lado, durante la tarde del jueves, Javier Cantero se reunirá con el Ministro de Seguridad de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Alejandro Granados, para continuar las conversaciones en cuanto a los operativos policiales y la presencia o no de público, en los próximos partidos.

Independiente jugará ante Almirante Brown, en el marco de la duodécima fecha del Torneo del Nacional B. Cabe recordar que adeuda el partido ante Unión de la semana pasada y que el mismo se jugará el jueves 24 de octubre, por la tarde.