Luego del golpe que recibió el plantel al enterarse que Ariel Ortega no se concentraría (con los posteriores rumores de un posible retiro), llegó el bombazo de Velázquez para darle la victoria a Lanús y devolver a la realidad al River de Astrada que mostró signos de recuperación, pero sigue extrañando horrores un delantero de área. Click to continue reading...

Marseille Offside gives us a clip of the post-PSG-Marseille cancellation mayhem with someone being plowed by a car. Rafa's still not out of the doghouse. (Football 365) To love and hate Diego Maradona. (Futfanatico) The world's worst tournament kicks off. (La Liga Loca) Brazil should kick back to the old model. Click to continue reading...

The latest instalment of Buenos Aires' Superclasico did little to give fans of River Plate or Boca Juniors hope of an quick upturn in fortunes for either ofArgentina's traditional footballing superpowers.

The 1-1 draw was played out with the trademark tenacity and tempo the fixture demands but a point a piece does nobody any favours.

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So in the end, Alfio Basile's army weren't able to obtain a crucial away victory against Los Millionares (how dare you mistake them for Chamillionaire!) but at least they came away with a 1-1 draw. As expected, El Monumental had all the ingredients for an emotional game and things got heated when Ariel Ortega hit his arm on Boca's defender, Julio Caceres' neck.

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The scores and scorers of the weekend will be up in a few hours' time after the super, Tigre and Argentinos drew 1-1 in Victoria and Colón then took over the leadership of the table in the weekend's final match with a 2-1 win over fellow contenders San Lorenzo in El Cementerio. For now [...] Click to continue reading...

I'm a bit late due to a computer issue the match is already 8 minutes old but is still at 0-0 presently. Open this post, and refresh periodically for sort-of-live-ish text updates on a thoroughly middle-of-the-table superclásico. River Plate 0 0 Boca Juniors (8 mins) 8 mins: Shortly after Nico Domingo drags a shot just [. Click to continue reading...

There's a vital grudge match in England this afternoon as Liverpool host Manchester United in the Premier League, and also today Indian football hosts a less globally famous but no less passionate derby with Mohun Bagan taking on East Bengal. For a change, I'm not going to bill the superclásico as the world's biggest derby [. Click to continue reading...

No pasa por una cuestión presupuestaria: no son comparables las cotizaciones ni el juego de Marcelo Gallardo, Ariel Ortega, Matías Almeyda, Martín Palermo, Hugo Ibarra y Juan Riquelme con los de Cristiano Ronaldo o Lionel Messi. Sin embargo el superclásico argentino se cataloga entre los eventos deportivos más destacados del mundo, incluso por sobre los derbys Barcelona – Real Madrid, Inter – Milan o Glasgow – Celtic. Click to continue reading...

Disculpen por la falta de actualizaciones estos ultimos dias. Este es la parte del año donde mi trabajo se convierte en un caos total. Por mientras disfruten de este video de Ariel Ortega un tio tratando de comprarse una ronda mas.
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Disculpen por la falta de actualizaciones estos ultimos dias. Este es la parte del año donde mi trabajo se convierte en un caos total. Por mientras disfruten de este video de Ariel Ortega un tio tratando de comprarse una ronda mas.

Click to continue reading...

Because of a recent string of injuries Maradona has made changes to the latest call up list for the upcoming Ghana friendly and remaining WC qualifiers.

Martin Demichelis will be called up after all, he'll be replacing Fabricio Coloccini. A less than fit Demichelis is probably better than a 100% fit Coloccini anyhow.

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Here's Samuel Eto'o looking all prim and proper in a tux... must be Jose's influence. He is, after all, starting to shape Inter's squad this season. Even Esteban Cambiasso thinks so!

"I have always said that the strikers' goals are the logic of a team.

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Diego Maradona confirmed his list of players that will take part in the upcoming friendly match against Ghana in Córdoba on September 30th. The biggest surprise of the this list was the return of Ariel Ortega after a six-year absence. The River Plate captain has been out of the national team mix since 2002 after he was part of the disappointing Argentine side that was booted out in the group stages in Korea and Japan. Click to continue reading...

So while the national team manager is on vacation in Italy doing whatever it is that he is doing, Carlos Bilardo is taking charge of the call up list and in reality, the national team, for the upcoming friendly against Ghana.

The players called up will be from the domestic league only.

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Y si algo le faltaba a este zoológico llamado River Plate es a Cristian Fabbiani en la tapa de la revista "Caras". No solo mostrando sus dotes de sex symbol, sino incitando a la gente de su club a putearlo si no mete 2 goles por partido.
Parece ser que lo que le pidió Ariel Ortega a Fabbiani el Ogro lo cumplió. Click to continue reading...

River Plate 4 - Chacarita 3
En un partido lleno de goles, emociones y errores, River venció 4 a 3 a Chacarita, en el Monumental. La figura del encuentro fue Ariel Ortega quien marcó el tanto de la victoria a minutos del final; Pipo apostó por los pibes (Villalva y Díaz) quienes le cambiaron la cara al ataque del equipo. Click to continue reading...

via GettyImages

All the attention is on River Plate this weekend, but of course the best photos were from Los Xeneizes' camp. Martin Palermo and Gabriel Paletta are muy feliz and rightly so, after Boca were able to escape with a 2-1 win over Lanus without the services of Riquelme.

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It was the Argentine league sponsored by AARP. The stars of the weekend happened to be three of the elder statesmen of the league.
Ariel Ortega played a putrid 70-plus minutes until he assisted on the equalizer and scored the game-winner on a brilliant chip shot to put a moribund River Plate over Chacarita Juniors at the Monumental with what might be the goal of the week. Click to continue reading...

Sunday's four matches saw a ridiculous sixteen goals all on their own, and you can read about them here on The Enganche, as well as this write-up on the Saturday matches. As well as being involved in a good match for a change, River saw two old heroes return, and Matías Almeyda and in [...] Click to continue reading...

Last weekend's start to the Torneo Apertura in Argentina gave fútbol fans the opportunity to move on from weeks of drama that had suspended the start of the season, but while ratings for River and Boca matches reflected public excitement for the season's start (if not the AFA's new government sponsored television deal), the story of the tournament's first weekend was the new era of Argentine football. Click to continue reading...

Comenzaremos a vivir a partir de este fin de semana un nuevo campeonato de Primera División. Un torneo marcado por la crisis económica en muchos clubes, que hizo postergar el inicio y que degeneró en un conflicto entre la AFA-Estado Argentino y TSC, dueña hasta comienzos de Agosto de los derechos de televisión. Click to continue reading...

The second Copa Sudamericana preliminary round in El Monumental on Wednesday night was Ariel Ortega's fourth debut for the club, and things seemed to be going swimmingly when Cristian Fabbiani scored a cracker just before the hour. That was all overshadowed, though, when Eduardo Salvio popped up with ten minutes to spare to equalise [. Click to continue reading...

Ariel Ortega, ídolo indiscutido, volvió a ponerse la camiseta que mejor le queda luego de un paso fugaz por la segunda categoría del fútbol argentino. El hincha se ilusiona porque sabe que cuenta con un jugador capaz de ponerse el equipo al hombro en los momentos calientes.
Fue campeón del Clausura 08, pero se terminó yendo envuelto en una escena escandalosa que terminó manchando todo lo bueno que hizo dentro de la cancha. Click to continue reading...

In an interview with Radio Mitre, Maradona said that he will call up Ariel Ortega for the September friendly that will be played against either Mexico or New Zealand.

Maradona also said that Martin Palermo remains in his plans for a call up.

Ortega & Palermo to the national team?

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Reuters

Former Argentina skipper Sorin to retire

Former Argentina captain Juan Pablo Sorin announced his retirement from soccer at the age of 33 on Tuesday.

The left back, who led Argentina to the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, had been plagued by injuries during his third spell with Brazilian side Cruzeiro, playing only six matches in the last seven months.

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No, it's not back regular yet, but I felt like scrapping one together for you all today. I was trying to wait to see an MLS Goal of the Week clip go up...Spartak Moscow's Alex with a nasty free kick. I love the finicky ref on this one.We have an Ariel Ortega sighting! Here, the River Plate attacker snake charms Everton. Click to continue reading...

Boca Juniors' squad took off for Europe on Sunday in readiness to take part in the Audi Cup in Munich (their first match is on Wednesday against Manchester United), but over the weekend there have already been some Argentine clubs and players in pre-season action. River Plate beat Everton thanks to a great Ariel Ortega [. Click to continue reading...

River Plate's ever-sensitive former Argentina forward Ariel Ortega, who has been under treatment for drinking, was hurt more by the media attention than the accident when he crashed his car on Wednesday.
Having pranged his car in Argentina yesterday, he just knew it was too good an opportunity for those Argentine hacks to miss. Click to continue reading...

By SEAN RUBIO

With a few days to catch up, Recommeded Reading comes to you chock full of stories, including entries related to Argentina, Mexico, the former Soviet republics, Greece, and more:

The Special One's "special" goal and celebration [The Beautiful Game]
Mexican player suspended for coughing at another player [New York Post]
Football Manager 2010 Wish List [Soccerlens]
Kansas City Wizards fan immortalized on Special1TV [Hillcrest Road]
Roundup of soccer leagues in the former Soviet republics [FourFourtwo]

Video highlights from a wild contest in the Greek Cup Final [Objectivo]

Brazilian cup celebration goes up in flames [Reuters] [Video]

An interview with Peppe Pinton - the current owner of the Cosmos brand [This Is American Soccer]

Ariel Ortega: The Anti-Messi [Mad About Futbol]

A look at youth soccer coaches and in-match communication techniques [Evansville Courier & Press]

Blind EPL fans find solace in commentating geared towards them [OleOle]

Why U.

Click to continue reading...

By SEAN RUBIO

With a few days to catch up, Recommeded Reading comes to you chock full of stories, including entries related to Argentina, Mexico, the former Soviet republics, Greece, and more:

The Special One's "special" goal and celebration [The Beautiful Game]
Mexican player suspended for coughing at another player [New York Post]
Football Manager 2010 Wish List [Soccerlens]
Kansas City Wizards fan immortalized on Special1TV [Hillcrest Road]
Roundup of soccer leagues in the former Soviet republics [FourFourtwo]

Video highlights from a wild contest in the Greek Cup Final [Objectivo]

Brazilian cup celebration goes up in flames [Reuters] [Video]

An interview with Peppe Pinton - the current owner of the Cosmos brand [This Is American Soccer]

Ariel Ortega: The Anti-Messi [Mad About Futbol]

A look at youth soccer coaches and in-match communication techniques [Evansville Courier & Press]

Blind EPL fans find solace in commentating geared towards them [OleOle]

Why U.

Click to continue reading...

At least not yet. After a summer transfer break full of 'yes he will... no he won't... yes he will...' style changing of minds, Ariel Ortega will not be returning to River Plate for the Clausura. At least not as of 9:30pm Argentine time on the 5th February. This will probably have changed at least [. Click to continue reading...

La actividad no cesa en las oficinas del Monumental en estos días. Primero, el presidente de River Plate, José María Aguilar, anunció la contratación de Néstor 'Pipo' Gorosito como entrenador de la entidad bonaerense a partir del mes de enero. Ahora, es Domingo Díaz, vicepresidente del club, el que asegura que la gerencia del 'Millonario' [. Click to continue reading...

Received by email, do with it what you will.
HELLO FROM ARGENTINA
I just want you to know, a good friend of mine is very good friends with Ariel Ortega's agent and he says it is maybe 80% chance that he will be in MLS next year.
It should be noted that FC Dallas has been in negotiations with the veteran Argentine so Pizza Hut Park would be the most likely destination. Click to continue reading...

What is funny about this story is we wrote a very similar back in January. Only it involved Ariel Ortega, Martin Palermo and Claudio Lopez.
According to French site, Foot Mercato the three Argentine legends may be coming to MLS as soon as next season.
Here is a probably poorly translated excerpt:
When Guillermo Barros Schelotto arrived at the Columbus Crew in 2007, the American football fans did not know much about him, explains CNN. Click to continue reading...

Courtesy of Truth and Rumors...
If you haven't been following along he's been linked to a move to MLS many times before on this site. Most notably to FC Dallas. Click to continue reading...