Stories in the Brazilian press at the start of the week had Corinthians, one of the country's biggest clubs and the current employers of Ronaldo, planning to sign Juan Román Riquelme from Boca Juniors in a bid to boost their Copa Libertadores campaign in 2010, their centenary year. I've written about it for Soccernet, and [. Click to continue reading...

There are many factors that have contributed to Argentina's poor form throughout World Cup qualification. Some may look to the exclusion of the old guard such as Javier Zanetti and Estaban Cambiasso or to the continued faith in Carlos Tevez; dismissed twice and only scoring one goal throughout qualification.

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Following Newell's Old Boys' victory over River Plate on Saturday, the other sides hoping to keep up in the race for the title had to win on Sunday, and two of them managed it. Banfield overcame San Lorenzo 1-0 in Boedo for their first win away to El Cuervo in 13 years, and Estudiantes brushed [...] Click to continue reading...

El entrenador y escritor, Angel Cappa, muestra a través de este libro diferentes puntos de vista, de distintos jugadores,� entrenadores y ex-profesionales.

La óptica de distintos profesionales convergen en un punto en especial: La falta de� amor por la pelota.

El exitismo, la falta de apoyo en cada proyecto,� el incremento físico de los jugadores,� hacen que las nuevas tendencias de juego, como el fútbol directo (básicamente, jugar en largo hacia un� delantero en ofensiva), lleven al fútbol a un espectáculo sin vértigo, predecible, sin sorpresa.

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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...

It was an intrigue-packed evening of football in Argentina on Thursday, in the eighth round of the 2009 Torneo Apertura. Colón went fourth with a performance full of golazos to beat Arsenal 4-1. Shortly afterwards champions Vélez Sársfield, who haven't lost a single match at home in 2009, ended Argentinos Juniors' unbeaten run with a [. Click to continue reading...

La pelea arriba en la Fecha 7 (OTRA VEZ PERDÓN POR POSTEAR HOY)
PICÓ AL LEÓN
ARGENTINOS 1 X 0 ESTUDIANTES
Matías Caruzzo
NO SE ANIMARON
COLÓN 0 X 0 BANFIELD
MARTÍN DE LEJOS
BOCA 3 X 2 VÉLEZ SARSFIELD
Sebastián Battaglia, Juan Román Riquelme, Martín Palermo; Leandro Caruso x 2
CHOLO SE FUE PIPO
SAN LORENZO 2 X 1 RIVER PLATE
Leandro Romagnoli -p-, Bernardo Romeo; Diego Buonanotte -p-
__________________________________________
El resto de la fecha


INDEPENDIENTE 2 X 1 TIGRE
HURACÁN 3 X 1 RACING
NEWELL'S 3 X 0 ATLÉTICO TUCUMÁN
GIMNASIA 2 X 0 CHACARITA
LANÚS 1 X 0 GODOY CRUZ
_________________________________
Lee además:


LÍNEA DE 5: NO SE METAN CON EL BICHO
LA PELOTA NO DOBLA: BICHI COLORADO
FÚTBOL RUSO: JORNADA DE LOCALES
TREMENDAMENTE MOTIVADOS - URBANO: NOS ROBARON
VALE CHUMBAR: PREMIOS VALE CHUMBAR
FUTEBOL PORTENHO: FENÔMENO É PALERMO
TRISTELME: WALLPAPER 27

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The goals from the seventh round of the 2009 Torneo Apertura are online now, and they include some crackers. Watch out in particular for Pablo Toranzo's screamer for Huracán against Racing, and Juan Román Riquelme's equaliser for Boca against Vélez which was a far better goal than the improbable 40-yard header Martín Palermo scored [. Click to continue reading...

I've been in Barcelona on holiday since Wednesday, hence the lack of action on HEGS during the past few days, but before I left I still kept myself busy off-blog by writing a piece for ESPN Soccernet on the managerial pressures at Argentina's two domestic giants, River Plate and Boca Juniors. If you'd like to [. Click to continue reading...

The third round of the Torneo Apertura 2009 has been written in zeros, ones and twos so far, with Boca Juniors getting a second home draw of the season, 1-1 against Newell's Old Boys, to add to the 0-0, 2-2 and 2-0 scorelines seen in the first five matches of the round. Lucas Viatri opened [...] Click to continue reading...

Day one - July 29th 2009, Manchester United vs Boca Juniors, 5.30 GMT, Allianz Stadium.

1. Nicknames: The Manure Handlers (Los Bosteros) and The King of Trophies (El Rey de Copas)
2. Stadium: Estadio Alberto J. Armando (La Bombonera), with a 49,000 capacity.
4.

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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 [. Click to continue reading...

On Wednesday, Diego Maradona marked Juan Román Riquelme's birthday by telling the country that Riquelme will still be welcome back in the national team if he wants to return, but might have to explain himself directly to his team-mates. No doubt Riquelme will be unhappy Maradona's not said that to his face. Click to continue reading...

Wednesday saw two birthdays in Argentine football: Juan Román Riquelme turned 31 (the fans turned out in strength at Boca's training ground to wish him well) and Lionel Messi reminded us how astonishing he is for his age by turning twenty-two. So it seems as good a time as any to remind our readers that [. Click to continue reading...

El tema del momento en todo el mundo futbolístico es el traspaso de Cristiano Ronaldo del Manchester United al Real Madrid.

Noventa y cuatro millones de euros tuvo que soltar el equipo "merengue" para por fin hacerse de los servicios del jugador lusitano.

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� Thursday night was supposed to see Boca Juniors' first team back out on the Bombonera pitch and coasting to the inevitable home win which would take them through to an all-Argentine quarter-final with Estudiantes in the 2009 Copa Libertadores. Someone, though, forgot to tell Defensor Sporting. The Uruguayan club won by the bare minimum after [. Click to continue reading...

El empate del Boca Juniors en su visita al uruguayo Defensor Sporting (2-2) es tomado como positivo en la ida de los octavos de final de la Copa Libertadores, pero el rendimiento del equipo auriazul mantiene las dudas de la prensa argentina.

"Lo único para rescatar del empate ante el Defensor es la diferencia conseguida para el desquite del jueves que viene", afirma el matutino La Nación respecto la importancia de los goles marcados fuera de casa, pero asegura que el equipo que dirige Carlos Ischia "sigue en deuda" porque no juega bien.

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A poor Copa Libertadores for Argentine clubs didn't get an awful lot better on Thursday night. Boca Juniors claimed two away goals and were ahead for most of the second half thanks to their Palacio & Palermo strikeforce. Missing Juan Román Riquelme through injury though, they failed to finish their hosts off in the second [. Click to continue reading...

After the frustration of River's 0-0 draw on Tuesday, and the disappointment of San Lorenzo's elimination, the week got rather better for Argentina's Copa Libertadores representatives. Both Estudiantes and Boca Juniors enjoyed impressive home wins, over Cruzeiro and Guaraní respectively. Estudiantes' was especially sweet - having been battered a few weeks ago 4-0 in Belo [. Click to continue reading...

If the news on its own that Juan Román Riquelme has quit the selección for a second time isn't enough for you, then perhaps you'd like to read a bit more depth about the circumstances it occured in and who his likely replacements might be (hint: HEGS readers will be better placed than most Anglophones [. Click to continue reading...

Those who feel the selección rely a little too much on Juan Román Riquelme can rejoice on Wednesday morning: they won't be able to look to him any more. For the second time in his career, Riquelme has announced he's retiring from international football, due to differences of opinion with the manager, Diego Armando Maradona. Click to continue reading...

Diego Maradona's not pleased with the AFA, after revealing that the reason for his not calling up Juan Román Riquelme and Sebastián Battaglia was that the governing body insisted Boca Juniors play on Sunday rather than Saturday, even though the date of the France friendly has been fixed for months. Click to continue reading...

Tuesday saw Diego Maradona name his second Argentina squad, in preparation for the friendly against France in Marseilles on the 11th of February. For the first time Lionel Messi was called up by El Diego - as was my mate Carlos Tevez - who, clearly motivated by my words of encouragement on Saturday night, scored for Manchester [. Click to continue reading...

I've looked at 2008 as far as the action between the touch- and goal lines is concerned already - if you're struggling to remember, the Clausura review is here, and the Apertura one is here. It's time, though, to take a look at how each of the clubs lived up to the suggestions I put forward for new year's [. Click to continue reading...

Juan Sebastián Verón was named on the 1st January as the 2008 South American Footballer Of The Year by Uruguayan newspaper El País, in a bit of a surprise for many critics because in spite of not winning any titles during 2008, he beat of competition from the likes of Juan Román Riquelme and other [. Click to continue reading...

The AFA's incompetence in organising a playoff system that might have either rendered the final match meaningless, or ensured that one team would go into it without any motivation to win, has been papered over by Boca Juniors, who on Saturday evening beat San Lorenzo de Almagro 3-1 in Racing's stadium. Click to continue reading...

Boca Juniors, San Lorenzo and - who'd have thunk it? - Tigre will have to play a three-team playoff to decide the 2008 Primera A Torneo Apertura title, after all three won their last matches of the campaign on Sunday to finish on 39 points. Lanús, who beat San Martín de Tucumán, are out of [...] Click to continue reading...

When the Argentine domestic season ends after this weekend, Diego Maradona will concentrate players from several clubs at the AFA's training facilities in Ezeiza, where there'll be a friendly match and some time for the players El Diez considers the most important in the domestic game to get to know each other better. Click to continue reading...

Player Info:
Name: Román Riquelme - Juan Román Riquelme
Birthdate: 24.06.1978
Origin: Argentina
Position: Midfield
Team: Club Atlético Boca Juniors
Video Info:
17.11.2007 - FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers
Argentina - Bolivia 3:0
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Having fallen slightly behind over the weekend, it's worth mentioning briefly here now that discussions were going on on Sunday between José María Aguilar and Ramón Díaz to solve River's current crisis by bringing back the most successful manager in the club's history. His contractual situation with América de México is the sticking point at [. Click to continue reading...

Two matches now remaining, and Boca Juniors are keeping their noses just in front in the championship race. On Sunday they completed their clásico against Racing in La Bombonera - unlike Huracán against San Lorenzo in the same stadium the day before - and the result gave them another three points to once more overtake [. Click to continue reading...

With three matches remaining, Boca Juniors have taken the summit of the Torneo Apertura 2008 thanks to a 2-1 win in spite of Juan Román Riquelme having a penalty saved away to San Martín de Tucumán. Combined with Tigre's 3-1 loss to Estudiantes in La Plata, the result was enough to send Boca top - but just [. Click to continue reading...

What will Diego Maradona's appointment as manager of Argentina mean for the fans and players of the national team? You can find out on Soccernet, where I've written a terrible first paragraph and an otherwise pretty good (I hope) article on the new technical team for the selección. You can read it here. Click to continue reading...