SoccerBlogs

Photo by guille rusconi on the HEGS Flickr pool It's a bit late this year, but with the pre-seasons well and truly underway it's about time HEGS explained the teams who will be changing divisions this year. We've got the Copa Sudamericana participants, and every promotion and relegation through the Argentine league, down to and including [.

There's been some transfer or other in Manchester (I'll let Seba fill you in on that), but of more immediate concern to the domestic scene, Miguel Angel Russo has resigned as manager of Rosario Central, the day after guiding them safely through the relegation playoff against Belgrano de Córdoba. Russo actually enjoyed a winning spell at [.

The goals from Sunday's two Promoción second leg matches, which resulted in both Gimnasia La Plata and Rosario Central keeping their places in the Primera A, are now online and you can watch them right here. Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata 3 0 Atlético Rafaela (3-3 agg., Gimnasia stay up due to 'sporting advantage') Rosario Central [.

In the remaining second leg of this year's Promoción in Primera A, Rosario Central eased to a 1-1 draw at home to Belgrano de Córdoba which confirms their participation in Primera A next season thanks to a 2-1 aggregate win. In a match that was considerably less dramatic than the ridiculous Gimnasia comeback against Rafaela which [.

Needing a three-goal win against a team they'd never previously beaten in three encounters the most recent of which was just three days ago Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata left it oh so late but, in the last twenty minutes, they struck three times the last two goals coming with only nine [...]

What with the Copa Libertadores final first leg as well as those of the Promociones during the week, I didn't have time to post this link. Those who paid attention to HEGS last week will remember my debut appearance in a podcast over on Seba's wonderful Mundo Albiceleste, and on Tuesday night, in the face [.

In the second Promoción between Primera A and B Nacional, Atlético Rafaela hosted Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata on Thursday afternoon in the first leg. The result was the heaviest win for a B Nacional side over a Primera A team since the Promoción was introduced, courtesy of a hat trick from striker Aldo Visconti.

The first leg of the first Promoción (playoff) for a place in the Primera División next season in Córdoba, and top flight incumbents Rosario Central had goalkeeper Jorge Broun to thank for a clean sheet against hosts Belgrano which allowed Jesús Méndez to settle a very tight match with a tremendous drive from outside the [.

The goals from the final round of the 2009 Torneo Clausura are online now, and you can watch them on the TN Sport blog by clicking here. As usual, if you want to know which teams are wearing which shirts to tell the games apart, just read on and I'll give you the running order [...]

After the finalísima comes the rather more mundane business of recording the scores from the final round of the 2009 Torneo Clausura. Vélez took the title and Gimnasia de Jujuy and San Martín de Tucumán both go down, as we already know, but elsewhere there were wins for Boca and San Lorenzo, one last humiliation [.

In circumstances about as controversial as they come, and after thirteen minutes of second half stoppage time, Vélez Sársfield beat Huracán by a single late goal from Maxi Moralez who was sent off for his celebration to climb above them in the table and claim the Torneo Clausura 2009 title. Huracán had a [.

The big finale of the 2009 Torneo Clausura has seen its first act played out with a late winner for visitors Lanús in Tucumán and a victory for the hosts in La Plata which see Gimnasia La Plata secure a relegation playoff spot ahead of San Martín de Tucumán, who go straight down to B [...]

The Torneo Clausura now has just three matches remaining the final relegation clashes and the title decider, a preview of which you can hear, if you've not already, over on the Mundo Albiceleste podcast from earlier in the week. Argentina's representatives for the Copa Sudamericana are all confirmed after Saturday's matches, and for once [.

Racing and Newell's Old Boys completed their seasons on Friday night in El Cilindro, with Ricardo Caruso Lombardi's boys completing a stunning campaign largely under their new manager to climb to fifth place prior to the rest of the weekend's games. After an appalling start which saw Alexis Machuca give Newell's the lead only [.

The final weekend of the 2009 Torneo Clausura is upon us at last, and it's going to be a dramatic one. Racing and Newell's celebrate having nothing to play for to kick things off on Friday night, whilst Saturday sees Central take on Godoy Cruz in a match that could be vital to next season's [...]

If you were wondering why I've not written much here on HEGS about the upcoming final weekend of the 2009 Torneo Clausura season, including the 'finalísimo' between Vélez Sársfield and Huracán and the relegation battles on Sunday, it's because I've been talking about them. Frequent HEGS comment-botherer, journalist, and fellow webmaster over at Mundo Albiceleste [.

The clásico grondonino in Sarandí ended all square on Friday afternoon, so Arsenal and Independiente go off on their winter holidays relieved, no doubt, that the Clausura is finally over for them. Arsenal will finish bottom of the Clausura table if Argentinos Juniors beat San Lorenzo in the Nuevo Gasómetro next weekend, whilst Independiente haven't [.

The final round of matches in the Torneo Clausura 2009 gets underway on Friday, prior to the elections which will paralyse Argentina sufficiently over the rest of the weekend for most of the matches to be played next week. AFA President Julio Grondona's two favourite clubs play today, and will then go off on their [.

For those who aren't already aware, the 2011 Copa América will be played in Argentina, and on Tuesday AFA President Julio Grondona met with Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to start thrashing out the details. It's been agreed that the main venue for the tournament will be La Plata's Estadio Municipal (currently home to [.

Estudiantes (yeah, you see?) start their Copa Libertadores semi-final on Thursday night, and they've got some frantic last minute preparations for the big exam still to come. After left back Marco Angeleri and centre half Cristian Cellay were both ruled out with injury, Estudiantes have got dispensation from CONMEBOL to sign an emergency defender to [.

The goals from the eighteenth round of the 2009 Torneo Clausura are online now, from San Lorenzo's win over Independiente to San Martín's victory in Rosario and the results for Vélez and Huracán which take the title race to the last day. Click here to watch them and read on for the running order. Running order [.

The title race is going down to the last weekend in two weeks' time and will be decided when the top two, Huracán and Vélez, play each other in Liniers, after the latter drew with Lanús to leave the Granate out of the race. San Martín kept their slim chances alive, as did [...]

A little later on today, Racing Club de Avellaneda will play Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy away from home. A win will be enough for them to confirm safety from relegation they won't even have a threat of a playoff hanging over them if they claim three points against their already-relegated hosts with [.

With their backs to the wall, San Martín de Tucumán won on Friday night. Any other result would have relegated them, but as they worked their way to a 1-0 victory away to Newell's Old Boys, El Coloso Del Parque reverberated to fireworks. This result, you see, makes things a little more difficult for Newell's [.

The penultimate round of Torneo Clausura matches is played this weekend, after which we've got a fortnight's gap due to next week's Argentine elections. Vélez Sársfield would win the league on Sunday if they beat Lanús and Huracán lose against Arsenal (two matches which will be played simultaneously).

That's not much of a news story, I know, but Carlos Ischia has now dotted the 'i's and crossed the 't's on the paperwork that sees his reign as Boca Juniors manager come to an end. He'll say goodbye to the players on Wednesday. Boca's weekend conquerors, meanwhile, got some nice presents on Tuesday from [.

The goals from the seventeenth round of the 2009 Torneo Clausura are online now, and you can watch them on the TN Sportblog simply by clicking here (and then clicking play). If you don't know which teams wear which shirts, or are confused over the identities of the teams playing in La Bombonera (due to [.

Sunday's two clásicos saw two unheralded winners, although given recent form they weren't, perhaps, huge surprises. Huracán won away to San Lorenzo (in La Bombonera) for the first time in seven years to maintain the pressure at the top thanks to absolutely useless marking at a corner from Diego Simeone's supposedly solid defence.

At the start of play this weekend, Arsenal de Sarandí were bottom of the Torneo Clausura, and Lanús were top. In most leagues it would have been a foregone conclusion but this is Argentina. Bottom beat top 4-1, and after Colón khad ept up what little heat they could add to the title race with [.

Back to the league after the thrills and spills of the international break. Three matches remain, and this weekend the endgame gets going with two clásicos on Sunday one in La Bombonera, where San Lorenzo will be the 'home' side, and one in Avellaneda between Racing and Boca. The clash between River and Tigre [.

Don't worry Racing fans, that's not Ricardo Caruso Lombardi in the headline. Godoy Cruz striker Leandro Caruso is off to Italy, where he'll play next season for Udinese after passing a medical. At Huracán, president Carlos Babington wants to keep Javier Pastore at least until the end of the year, so has signed an agreement [.

The goals from the sixteenth round of the Torneo Clausura 2009 are online now, and you can watch all of them on the TN Sportblog by clicking here. If you need to watch along with a running order of the teams as they appear on the video, just read on. Running order for TN Show de [...]