Argentine football - Most popular for December 2007
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Yes, the Apertura's only just finished (well, if you're an Arsenal or Gimnasia fan, it hasn't even
finished yet), but already the fixtures for the 2008 Torneo Clausura have been released, so here
they are for your interest and enjoyment. The dates given for each weekend, as ever, are all
Sundays - fixtures will be [.
Two transfer stories have dominated the Argentine headlines more than any others today. Andrés
D'Alessandro, following four-and-a-half years in Europe for Wolfsburg, Portsmouth and Real
Zaragoza, may soon be on his way back to River Plate, whilst a young Argentine who's never played
professionally in his homeland is making a move from Chile to Chelsea.
The traditional start to Argentina's footballing year, the Torneo de Verano ('Summer Tournament')
celebrates its 40th year in 2008, and the AFA have announced the fixture list for the mini-league,
which features the 'Big Five', on Friday. The tournament will run from the 11th January to the 2nd
February and matches will take place in [.
Good news for Independiente fans: the club's first transfer target is on the verge of signing, and
the deal should go through at some point on Friday. Freddy Grisales, the Colombian international,
will move from Colón de Santa Fe to the Avellaneda side. River Plate's hopes of keeping Fernando
Belluschi, meanwhile, are still uncertain.
When a small club do well in Argentina, there's a pattern which is generally followed in terms of
what happens next to their players: they move to River or Boca, and from there, if they continue to
shine, on to Europe. This year though, Lanús have impressed so much that an exception may be
about to [.
The draw for the 2008 Copa Libertadores - with Santander taking over from Toyota as title sponsor
- took place in Asunción on Wednesday, and Argentina will have six representatives in the
tournament - River Plate, Boca Juniors, San Lorenzo and Estudiantes all qualify automatically from
the 2006-2007 season, whilst Lanús and Arsenal de Sarandí go [.
Surprising revelations in Colombia on Wednesday, as a close associate of the Cali drug cartel
revealed his organisation's apparent involvement in one of the most infamous football matches in
World Cup history - Argentina's 6-0 thrashing of Peru to reach the final of the 1978 event, which
they went on to win.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto is a very popular man in Argentina right now. Eight months ago, he left
Boca Juniors, where he'd become one of the most succesful players in the club's history, to move to
Columbus Crew of the MLS in the United States. On Tuesday it emerged that his boyhood club Gimnasia
La Plata [.
Several of River Plate's most notorious barra bravas have spent Christmas this year in jail, and
now they're to be joined for the new year by their boss, Alan Schlenker, after a senior judge
ordered the capo of Los Borrachos del Tablón to do time in a preventative institute for his
suspected 'intellectual' part in [.
It was a very nervy match in Racing's stadium, as Arsenal's players showed the pressure of playing
the biggest match in the history of their club - but they dug deep when it most mattered, and came
away with the trophy thanks to Martín Andrizzi's late strike. Despite a 2-1 loss in front of their
[.
A disappointing Apertura is almost behind them, but Arsenal de Sarandí have an opportunity to make
history on Wednesday night all the same. They carry a 3-2 aggregate lead into the second leg of the
Copa Sudamericana final against América de Mexico, after Friday night's astonishing win the
Azteca.
Following training on Tuesday, Miguel Russo announced his starting XI for Boca Juniors' Club World
Cup semi-final with the African champions, Tunisian side Etoile Sahel. Boca's eleven is more or
less as expected in the defence and attack, but Russo's raised a few eyebrows with his midfield
selection, which sees a bit of a change from [.
Diego Simeone's management career thus far has been marked by one particular trait: all his teams
have included one midfielder around whom the side's play is based, who operates from deep and pulls
the strings. At Estudiantes, it was Juan Sebastián Verón. At River Plate, if El Cholo gets his
wish, it could soon be [.
At 7:30 in the morning on Sunday (Argentine time), Boca Juniors will take on A.C. Milan of Italy in
Tokyo for the final of the Club World Cup 2007. The right to be crowned champions of the world will
once again be played out between the champions of Europe and South America, in the third [...]
South America's grip on the Club World Cup tournament was broken in the revamped competition's
third edition on Sunday, with European champions A.C. Milan running out 4-2 winners over Boca in
easily the most entertaining final since the tournament was re-launched in 2005.
Another Argentine is set to move to Europe - but for a change this won't affect the domestic game
unduly. César 'Chelito' Delgado, formerly of Rosario Central, has for the last four years been
impressive for Mexico's Cruz Azul, and now looks set for the move across the Atlantic, probably to
Benfica of Portugal.
It's been a mixed pre-Christmas weekend for Argentine footballers in Europe. On the good side, we
had Gabriel Heinze and Fernando Gago included in the Real Madrid side who beat Barcelona 1-0 in the
Camp Nou, and the irony of two ex-River Plate players, Julio Cruz and Esteban Cambiasso, scoring to
down the side who [.
In the last hour or so, it's been confirmed that Miguel Angel Russo has parted company with Boca
Juniors, leaving the club's managerial post vacant. Earlier in the day, the Boca board had taken
the decision to sack Russo's two assistants, Marcelo Trobbiani and Guillermo Cinquetti (assistant
coach and physical trainer, respectively), as a condition [.
For those who missed them last night, or want to enjoy them again, the goals from Arsenal's
astonishing away victory in the Azteca over Club América for the first leg of the Copa
Sudamericana final are now online, and thanks to our friends at GolesTV, you can see them right
here - just read on.
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 [.
The selección will play a friendly against Egypt, in Cairo, on the 26th March, and the AFA are
also in talks with the FMF about a friendly against Mexico in February, to be played in Dubai.
Domestically, the end of the championship - and the imminent re-opening of the European transfer
windows - mean it's [.
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
Martín Palermo in the [.
It's a new era at Boca Juniors, where on Tuesday Pedro Pompilio, the man who played a major part in
Juan Román Riquelme's return last week to his boyhood club, was named the club's new president
after Mauricio Macri passed on the mandate to him. Elsewhere, River Plate are in trouble again and
Diego Simeone's [.
More bad news for fans of La Academia. Racing fans' favourite Claudio 'Piojo' López spoke to
Miguel Rosello, director of football at Blanquiceleste, the enterprise which controls the club, and
told him that he wants to rescind his contract. It's another blow for Blanquiceleste's hold on the
club following Thursday's protest from the fans.
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 [.
With the top three tiers in Argentine football having broken up for the summer (speaking of which
the lower division results service will make a belated return tomorrow for Primeras C and D), the
main focus for Argentine fans this weekend was on their Europe-based players. In England, Carlos
Tevez and Javier Mascherano found themselves [.
A couple of days after Estudiantes, Gimnasia and Huracán appointed their new bosses, Boca have
decided to get in on the act, and will be announcing Carlos Ischia as their new boss at 8pm on
Wednesday. It's an unusual situation, not only because the majority of Boca's fans would probably
rather not have Ischia, but [.
Former Argentina and Independiente forward Raúl Emilio Bernao died of a hepatitis-related illness
on Wednesday, aged 66. Bernao was born in Sarandí on the 4th November 1941, and played in nearby
Avellaneda for Independiente from 1961 to 1970, scoring 41 goals from his position on the right
wing.
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.
Somehow the announcement of a new River manager always seems to be met with slightly more fanfare
than at other clubs. Perhaps because River's fans have a reputation for being Argentina's most
difficult to please, perhaps because the board are amongst the least competent so there's an always
an element of who'll last longer, them [.
River Plate are doing a bit of restructuring following Diego Simeone's entrance as manager, and
that started in earnest today with one of the players the new manager had reportedly requested
before signing his contract - Uruguayan striker Sebastián Abreu. Meanwhile, if the Copa
Libertadores squad list of Brazilian giants Fluminense is anything to go by, [.
River Plate have already got themselves a new manager in time for Christmas since the Apertura
ended, and on Friday, both La Plata clubs did the same, along with Huracán, whilst Boca were
closing in on the man to replace Miguel Russo. If they get their man by Christmas, one-quarter of
the Primera A clubs will [.
José Gastón Mendoza, a member of Colón's barra brava, has been sentenced to six years
imprisonment for attempting, in February 2006, to murder a fellow fan during a match against River
Plate. The Santa Fe courts handed down the sentence on Friday, and hope it will act as a warning to
other barras in both [.
On Wednesday, Miguel Russo's twelve-month tenure at the helm of Boca Juniors was laid once and for
all to rest as Carlos Ischia was officially announced as the club's new manager. In an appointment
which has little to do with what Boca's fans, members, or even club legends like Diego Maradona had
to say 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.
The Club World Cup has its first finalist, after Boca Juniors saw off African champions Etoile
Sahel with a performance that was more convinving than the 1-0 final score suggested. Etoile looked
like cause for concern before the match, having unexpectedly dumped North American champs, Mexican
club Pachuca, out in the previous round, but Neri [.
It's been a mixed twelve months for Gastón Fernández. First he returned from Mexico to River
Plate, where he won the Torneo de Verano in January and was expected to be key to River's title
challenge in the Clausura. Then, for reasons best known to themselves, River's board authorised his
sale to San Lorenzo - [.
