Apertura - Most popular for 2007
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Having seen Tigre claim a stunning victory over Boca just before their own match against Gimnasia
got underway, Lanús's players knew they wouldn't be celebrating their club's first ever Argentine
championship on Wednesday whatever happened. But they also knew they could get a lot closer to it
with the right result.
Unbelievable. If you'd scripted this at the start of the championship, no-one in their right minds
would have published it. I heard a joke recently, after a striker in England's second tier
starred in Northern Ireland's recent Euro 2008 qualifying exploits. 'Roy of the Rovers reads David
Healy comics!
The penultimate round of the championship begins with a relegation clash on Friday night when
Central host San MartÃn, and ends on Sunday with Vélez's visit to Independiente. By the time that
match kicks off, Argentina could have a new champion football team. Tigre's visit to Argentinos
and Lanús's visit to La Bombonera will be played [.
Twelve short months ago, all was looking rosy in Argentina and South American competition for those
who like to see big clubs winning things. There was enough interest for the unexpected sides to
shake it up a bit – Pachuca were about to beat Colo Colo in the Copa Sudamericana final to become
the first [...]
After a two-week hiatus, Primera A football is back this weekend, with the title race entering its
endgame. Gimnasia will go into it a little disorientated, after manager Julio Falcioni announced he
won't be continuing in the post after the 2nd December, when the Apertura finishes. The big game is
the Avellaneda derby on Saturday, [.
It was all looking thoroughly buggered-up. Ninety minutes were up in Victoria, and somehow Tigre
had contrived to not win against, of all the sides in the league, Rosario Central. Rosario Central!
The hosts had let a half-time lead slip as José Vizcarra gave Central an equaliser just before the
hour, and the Apertura's worst [.
Another championship is over, and as the players (except Boca's) head off on their summer holidays,
it's time to reflect again on yet another thrilling short tournament. Unexpected champions was the
least of it - we've seen an avalanche of goals, players pushing themselves into the limelight and
yet more booing from the stands of the Monumental [.
In the end, it was a miracle too far for Tigre, who fell 1-0 away to Argentinos. At the same time,
in La Bombonera, Lanús were putting the seal on an astonishing Apertura by getting the result
they needed against Boca Juniors, away from home. José Sand's first-half goal was cancelled out by
MartÃn Palermo in the [.
The video of the weekend's goals in the Primera A is online now, and you can see all 21 of them
thanks to TN simply by clicking here. As ever, read on for the running order to this video, and,
for those too lazy to sit through all of it, my personal favourite goals of [...]
The good people at Footballing World have been kind enough to publish a piece by me on Lanús's
recent championship win, going back over what's been an unpredictable twelve months on the pitch in
Argentine football: 'The dream of a first-ever Argentine league title wasn't to be for Tigre. The
newly promoted side from the river [.
Things weren't expected to be like this in Victoria. When Tigre won promotion via the playoff
against Nueva Chicago last season, their triumph turned to tragedy when riots resulted in the
death of one of their fans. But on Friday night, they beat Arsenal de Sarandà 2-0, with goals from
man-of-the-match playmaker MartÃn Morel (pictured) and Sebastián Rusculleda, [.
Racing vs. Independiente passed off without any incident on Saturday afternoon, either in the
stands (fortunately) or on the pitch (less luckily). There were no goals, no sendings-off, and very
little chance for either. The best thing about the match was the fans, who didn't get the show
they deserved.
It's been a relatively low-scoring weekend so far in Primera A, with Newell's squeezing past
Banfield and the 0-0 in Avellaneda cancelling out Vélez's 3-1 win over Gimnasia in Pedro
Larraqui's first game in charge. And then came San MartÃn vs. Gimnasia de Jujuy, a match both
sides desperately needed to win.
Twenty-one goals from this weekend's ten matches, and none of them came in Avellaneda, where Racing
and Independiente stank the place out in the Apertura's final clásico. Sunday was a helter-skelter
ride, with Boca slipping up but Lanús failing to take full advantage last thing in the evening -
the failure of both to pick [.
No, don't worry, regular readers. You haven't missed out on a week of your lives without noticing.
To accomodate Boca Juniors' upcoming Club World Championship campaign, which starts in Japan just
ten days after they had been due to play the final match of the season, the two 19th round
matches involving the three championship challengers are [.
And so it arrives. In a few hours' time, either Lanús will be the champions of Argentina, or the
title race will be heading towards a playoff between them and Tigre. For that to happen, Boca -
with nothing but pride to play for - must beat Lanús in La Bombonera, and Tigre have to [...]
The most important score of the weekend, of course, was Lanús's 1-1 draw against Boca in La
Bombonera, which means they can break out the Queen CD in the dressing room for the first time in
their history. Elsewhere, though, Central also won a game, River took a pasting, and Independiente
and Vélez served up [.
The Apertura is over, then, and immediately the game of managerial musical chairs has started.
Diego Simeone leaving Estudiantes was probably the least surprising development, whilst elsewhere
Ossie Ardiles has walked out on Huracán. Gustavo Costas, recently relieved of his responsibilities
at Racing, is set to take on a foreign posting.
With the World Cup qualifiers out of the way, the focus returns this weekend to Argentine domestic
action, and one fixture stands out above the title-chasers' clashes - because this weekend sees the
'second derby' of Buenos Aires, the clásico de Avellaneda. Racing will host Independiente on
Saturday and will be eager, of course, to [.
The goals from last night's 19th round matches are online now, and thanks to our friends over at
GolesTV, you can see all of them right here. Just read on...
The goals from the latest round of Apertura matches, including the one which gave Lanús their
historic title win, are online now, and can be seen through the TN website by clicking here. If you
read on you'll find the running order for this clip, as well as my personal favourite goals from
the weekend, [.
The final weekend of the 2007 Torneo Apertura is upon us in Primera A, and whilst the
championship's already been decided after two matches last Wednesday, there are some juicy ties to
send us off. Central, fresh from last week's win, host Argentinos, who are gunning for their
best-ever short tournament finish.
Around midday today Judge Luis RodrÃguez, in an effort to avoid further confrontation, decided to
suspend the match between River Plate and Newell's Old Boys to take place at El Monumental.
This is on the heels of the bloody week outside the pitch for Los Millonarios. One of the main
members of the team's barrabrava Los Borrachos del Tablón (The Balcony Drunks) was shot and killed
earlier this week as a result of the power struggle going on within that group.
¨Lavolpe... Hijo de Puta...¨
Lavolpe... you son of a bitch.
That was the chant that cascaded down from all sectors of La Bombonera from two groups of fans that
generally hate each other joined in unison and commiserated in their true despise for one man.
His crashing and burning at Vélez could mark the end of him as a coach in Argentina, but there is
talk that Rosario Central might look at him as their savior from Relegation.
The title race swung decidedly back in the direction of Lanús on Sunday afternoon, as Boca Juniors
lost in El Viaducto to an Arsenal side who should have been distracted by the thought of an
impending Copa Sudamericana final. Lanús, should they get a win over Argentinos, will have the
title within their grasp.
Sao Paulo, River Plate, Santos, Internacional and any other sides with designs on a big party
following the 2008 Copa Libertadores final may as well cancel those plans right now. On Monday, it
was all-but confirmed that Juan Román Riquelme will be a Boca Juniors player again by the end of
this year - and [.
A very deep breath, and please if for some reason you're reading the internet standing up, try and
find a seat before I go any further. Now take a deep breath. Ready? Then here we go: Rosario
Central have won a football match. To think that all they needed all along was to appoint a new
[...]
Some people love Mondays, and others hate them. Oh, alright, so everyone hates them. But this
wasn't just any Monday for Ramón Cabrero, the 'father' of a young Lanús team who've swept all
before them in winning a thrilling Apertura to finally give the club's cleaning lady a reason to
take a duster to that [.
First place Lanús forced Boca to win on Sunday in order to stay within striking distance of the
title. The people in teh South of Buenos Aires are in a controlled hysteria as they methodically
dismantled a hapless Rosario Central side 4-1.
Incidents that occured in the Central stands did not stop the Granate from achieving their ultimate
goals.
Diego Simeone is one of the favourites to take charge of River Plate at the end of the current
campaign, and his words today didn't stop those rumours for a second. El Cholo has given the
Estudiantes directors an ultimatum: give me the squad I want, or I'm off.
River Plate hadn't won against any of the newly-promoted sides in the Apertura, and had one last
chance to get it right on Saturday, when they played the one remaining - Olimpo - in BahÃa Blanca.
But managerless River, who've not won in eight matches in all competitions since the 21st October,
succumbed in spectacular [.
It's been a long few days since the last post here, and I apologise for that - internet access
proved even harder to get than expected over the weekend. At least the title was already decided,
eh? There were an impressive 21 goals in the eight matches played at the weekend, and you can see
[...]
Argentinos needed a win in Liniers to keep up their hopes of continuing in the championship race,
but Vélez, preparing for life after Ricardo La Volpe (who will leave at the end of the Apertura)
put paid to those ambitions, running out 3-0 winners on Monday night. Elsewhere the four clásicos
included two draws, and [...]
Coming into this match at the Diego Maradona, Daniel Passarella showed his intentions as far as
what he thought about the remainder of the Apertura tournament. He decided to save all his big guns
for the huge midweek clash at home against Arsenal for a chance to go to the Copa Sudamericana
finals.
Huracán's players showed their intentions yesterday as they did not decide to go into isolation
due to salaries and prize moneys that have not been paid to players by the club.
Standings
Team Pts.
1. Lanús = 33
2. Boca Juniors = 30
3. Tigre = 28
4. **Independiente = 26
5. **Argentinos Juniors = 26
6. **Banfield = 26
7. *River Plate = 23
8. *Estudiantes (LP) = 23
9. *San Lorenzo = 23
10. *Velez Sarsfield = 23
11. *Huracán = 23
12. *Racing Club = 21
13.
According to sources and various message boards, fed up Racing fans look to have Ricardo Lavolpe as
their coach next year. Yesterday, Gustavo Costas stepped down as coach, and Miguel Angel Micó took
over for him. Micó will coach the final match of the season against Colón.
According to sources Lavolpe leads all of these mock polls over individuals like Osvaldo Ardiles,
Antonio Mohamed, Claudio Borghi, Juan Ramón Carrasco, and Angel Cappa.
According to sources and various message boards, fed up Racing fans look to have Ricardo Lavolpe as
their coach next year. Yesterday, Gustavo Costas stepped down as coach, and Miguel Angel Micó took
over for him. Micó will coach the final match of the season against Colón.
November 28
Tigre 2-1 Boca Juniors
Lanús 4-0 Gimnasia LP
Friday
Rosario Central 1-1 Argentinos Jrs.
Estudiantes 2-0 Olimpo
Saturday
River Plate 0-2 Banfield
Racing Club 1-0 Colón
San MartÃn (SJ) 0-1 Newell's Old Boys
Sunday
Arsenal - Independiente
San Lorenzo - Gimnasia (J)
Vélez Sarsfield - Huracán
Standings as of 12/8/07
Lanús 38*
Tigre 34
Banfield 32
Boca Juniors 31
Argentinos Juniors 31
Independiente 28
Vélez Sarsfield 27
Huracán 27
Newell's Old Boys 27
San Lorenzo 26
Racing Club 25
River Plate 23
Colón 22
Olimpo 22
Arsenal 22
Gimnasia (J) 20
San MartÃn (SJ) 18
Gimnasia (LP) 18
Rosario Central 14
*- Won title and clinched spot for 2009 Copa Libertadores
Relegation Average
14- Racing Club 1.
The thrillingly close title race lost two possible contenders on Sunday, as River Plate and
Independiente appeared to rule themselves out, managing only a draw at the Monumental, a result
which serves neither of them especially well for dreams of title-chasing.
Appearing at the end of the tunnel? A draw or a Tigre win in Sunday evening's game would have made
the championship race insanely close given some of the other results we've had this weekend. But
after one hour of play in El Sur, MatÃas Fritzler scored the goal which won the game for Lanús,
[...]
