Mexican captain gets straight red as Leon bows out of Libertadores
Rafael Marquez immediately apologized on his official Twitter account for the above recklessness against Bolivian international Juan Carlos Arce following its match in the Round of 16 stage of the Copa Libertadores.
With about 15 minutes left and the match leveled at 1-1, the Mexican captain made it difficult for his Club Leon side as he was directly sent off for the challenge. The former New York Red Bulls defender did not even protest the decision as he walked off the pitch.
The 3-3 aggregate allowed Bolivar to advance onto the quarterfinals, only the fourth time the Bolivian side has done so in its history but Leon had plenty of chances and kept up with the South Americans in the skies of La Paz.
Flamengo nets winner two minutes from time to take 2-1 decision
Everyone in the famed Maracana stadium, including Spanish tennis great Rafael Nadal, saw the ball cross the line, albeit at a rapid pace, but the assistant referee saw otherwise.
Brazilian sides through, Mexico's Morelia out, U de Chile has best goal
The first stage of South America's premier competition moved six sides into the 32-team group phase and produced some fantastic football, goals and glimpses into what's expected in Copa Libertadores' seven-month journey to crown this year's champion.
The legendary Clarence Seedorf gave Botafogo some moments of brilliance last year to help capture a spot in this year's Libertadores edition before moving on to take the reins at AC Milan. And now, 25-year-old Wallyson--after netting a hat trick in Botafogo's 4-1 win at home over Ecuador's Deportivo Quito this week--will hope to emulate his former teammate as he looks to recapture his form from 2011 when he had seven goals for Libertadores' Golden Boot that year when he was with Cruzeiro.
Meanwhile, Brazil's other team in the preliminaries, Atletico Paranaense, needed to off Peru's Sporting Cristal in agonizing fashion as the Brazilians squeaked by in penalty kicks. Cristal player Yoshimar Yotun said after the match that he would have preferred to lose 3-0.
But no other side could boast the tournament's top goal so far as Uruguayan forward Rodrigo Mora netted this beauty for Universidad de Chile in its first-leg win over Paraguay's Guarani before closing them out 2-3 in the away leg.
Elswhere, Guillermo Barros Schelotto's Lanus side knocked off Venezuela's Caracas, Colombia's Independiente Santa Fe bested Morelia and Uruguay's Nacional edged Bolivia's Oriente Petrolero.
Quietly and under the
radar, the 55th edition of the Copa Libertadores kicks off tonight as 38 clubs
fight to raise the continent's top trophy and succeed Brazil's Atletico Mineiro
as champions. The competition is as pure as it gets but the glitz and glamour
of Europe's Champions League is notably not as comparable in Libertadores. But
trying convincing the press and the participating teams' fervent supporters
that the Copa is not as relevant.
The preliminary phase,
which involves 12 teams paired up for a home-and-away series, will begin
tonight (6pm ET) in Bolivia as Oriente Petrolero hosts one of South
America's traditional giants in Uruguay's Nacional, which should have
been favorites to move on. Petrolero's fans, on the other hand, have reason to
be ignited with confidence instead: some of Nacional's first-team regulars will
be unable to partake in the competition as they were banned by Uruguay's civil
court after a massive brawl in a friendly derby last week against rivals
Penarol.
The Bolivians, which are
already a couple of rounds into their domestic season, just hired 39-year-old
Uruguayan Tabare Silva as their manager, and who better to tactically figure
out countrymen than he. Look for Bolivian veteran centerback Ronaldo Raldes to
guide his side as he returns to his country after a decade abroad.
In Mexico (8:15pm ET), Morelia
welcomes Colombia's Independiente Santa Fe. The Mexicans named a new
manager last night after kicking out their previous one via Twitter last week.
Morelia has a tight schedule over the next week, with the two-legged Copa
series and a league match against reigning Mexican champs Leon this weekend.
Will they survive? The Mexicans have a nice quartet of South Americans in their
books, including Ecuador national-team winger Jefferson Montero who will face
off against his compatriot Edison Mendez.
Mendez is part of a major overhaul in Sante Fe, who made it all the way to the
Copa semifinals last year. Fans are also happy that striker Jonathan Copete is
back in Colombia after seven years abroad along with veteran Wilder
Medina.
Keep checking back for
more updates and reviews for Copa Libertadores news.
The Brazilian leads his Atletico Mineiro side vs Raja Casablanca
Europeans may not care for the World Club Cup. South Americans don't salivate over it either but it's a rare occasion when they're in the spotlight when they make a final in this cash-cow tourney, currently being played in Morocco. Therefore, it's a chance to expand its brand and make some noise in the global football world.
Ronaldinho will look to add to his medals if his side can best the Moroccan hosts for a berth in Saturday's final against Bayern Munich. At 33, the buck-toothed one is still hoping his slim chances to join the national team for the World Cup next year increases with a top display and eventual move to another side in the new year.
Meanwhile, the Germans, sleptwalked their way past Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande and didn't even know Ronaldinho was involved in the tourney, according to Dante!
Pedro Arganaraz--who reportedly was only officiating his fourth top-flight match in Argentina--was timid throughout the match, missed some penalty calls and lost control of the proceedings before the brawl that ensued at the final whistle continued into the locker rooms. Arganaraz was left off next week's round of matches in Argentina.
Buenos Aires is taken hostage by Sunday's Superclasico
The silence was defeaning.
Visiting Boca Juniors had just dispatched its archrivals River Plate in the 2004 Copa Libertadores semifinals in penalty kicks but the only cheers heard were on the pitch among the Boca brethren. Violence had condemned both sides to ban its respective away supporters for the two-legged tie. Almost 10 years later, following a government ban on visiting fans because of several deaths towards the end of last season, this weekend's Argentine Superclasico again will only have home fans, with Estadio Monumental boasting the red-and-white colors as River fans will take full advantage of its home field advantage.
That won't stop from close to 1,000 officers from being deployed for this fixture Sunday as Boca supporters will surely be out in full numbers to accompany the team bus to the stadium.
On the pitch, River manager Ramon Diaz--who just inked a two-year extension--will see his Colombian forward Teofilo Gutierrez get his first taste of this derby. Midfielder Cristian Ledesma will help orchestrate his side's battles against Juan Roman Riquelme and Fernando Gago, both of whom played for the first time together in a Boca kit in last week's win over Quilmes.
We've already mentioned how cool and collected Manchester City boss Manuel Pelligrini was ahead of his first derby against Manchester United when he pointed out that the Boca-River clash was much more intense. The Chilean master also had alluded that the Real Madrid-Barcelona was cake compared with Argentine pressure. But don't take his word for it. Have a look Sunday.
Boca and River both side in fourth and fifth, four and six points out of leaders and defending champions Newell's Old Boys.
A Raposa is top of the table and seeks a seventh win in a row
Willian--no, not the one that was just picked up by The Special One over in London, the other one with Cruzeiro--had a brace against Goias Wednesday to give the current leaders (43 points) a sixth consecutive victory, entering the 21st round of the Brazilian championship.
The club hosts fourth-placed Atletico Paranaense (35) tomorrow and are riding an 18-match win streak at home in the Mineirao stadium.
Meanwhile, down south from Belo Horizonte near the coast, living geezer legend Clarence Seedorf and his second-placed side Botafogo side (39) will be away to Santos (28), a difficult but not impossible task to snatch three points.
If all goes well for Cruzeiro and Botafogo this weekend, then it should be a cracker of a match between these two on Wednesday at the Mineirao.
The soccer gods aren't all against you, they just don't care
The Geezer supports England and West Ham United; yours truly follows Peru, Alianza Lima and the New York Red Bulls; Nick the American obviously roots for the U.S. but, by all accounts, is making a serious attempt to sew his loyalties to the Philadelphia Union.
What's missing here are the glamour teams. So, yes, we're used to losing. A lot. Suffice to say, the mediocrity of our sides builds our football character. Or so we'd like to think. But at least we're realists.
Come Friday, realists will be outnumbered by the delusional.
As World Cup qualifying winds down to the final matches by year's end, nationalistic pride will take over the lot of us. The conspiracy theorists will no doubt keep us abreast of their thinkings with pure muppetries disguised as analysis:
*the sub-human match officials were bought out, obviously by the opposing team's mafia connections;
*the pitch is in dire condition because of the rain, snow, hail, locusts plague, purposely produced by the host side and its relationship with Mother Nature;
*your beloved team was cursed by witch doctors (happens all the time in South America!);
*the manager is a clueless sap; how dare federation administrators hire him without your input;
*all of the above merits conspiracy thoughts because your side is just too good for the rest of us minnows.
Hyperbole aside, there indeed have been examples of match-fixing, incompetence and unfair play throughout this game's history, we'll give you that. But, then again, what sport hasn't? And it's doubtful that it happens every time your side is down. However, this doesn't matter to the deluded fan because logic and practicability have no part in its quest to be champions of the universe.
The ineptitude in tactics used by your nation's gaffer can be questioned; the lack of dignified work by your nation's players on the field can be criticized; hell, even the two same, boring songs that your supporters belt out throughout the match deserve some scrutiny.
But any external factors that affect your role as a fan should not be outweighed by the silliness and hypothetical reasonings you find that justifies your team's ineffectiveness. Because at the end of the day, your team is crap, my team is crap, our teams are crap.
And unless your bloodlines consists of the Spanish, Brazilian, Italian or French regions, then reality should set in as quickly as possible. Or at least before that first drink on Friday!
"I'm asking you all to string three passes, three!! Not 28 like Barcelona!" --the furious geezer in the video says in Spanish, aside from some other choice words. At least he blames his own players.
In Argentina's lone Primera league match today, two names that most footy fans may be familiar with--Maxi Rodriguez and Gabriel Heinze--made their marks for Newell's Old Boys against Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata with a 3-0 romp to bring them to top of the table.
Oh, and Newell's third goal by Peruvian Rinaldo Cruzado was assisted by some French bloke named David Trezeguet.
Not a bad squad that current Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino left behind.
Beset by injuries, the elegant playmaker elects to retire
The Brazilian-born-turned-Portuguese citizen Deco announced his retirement from football today after suffering through some oft-injured seasons while plying his trade with Fluminense in Brazil.
The left-footed midfielder, 36, showed his brilliance to the world under the guidance of one Jose Mourinho when Porto lifted the Champions League in 2004, which eventually sealed his move to Barcelona where he played in a three-man formation in the middle of the park alongside Ronaldinho. Later, he made the trek to Chelsea, which, at the time, was managed by 'Big Phil' Scolari.
But injuries took a toll on Deco when he decided to make the return home to Brazil, restricting him to limited appearances though he still was able to contribute to Flu's domestic titles twice in the past three years.
A year after retiring, Juan Sebastian Veron returns to the pitch for one last shot
Will donate salary to youth divisions
'La Brujita' hung up his boots last June after six years playing for Estudiantes de la Plata, his boyhood club, and became a club director. But it now appears he'd rather rock a kit than a suit.
Veron, 38, recently began training with the team ahead of Argentina's domestic season, which kicks off in a couple of weeks. Today, he made it official, signing with Estudiantes and agreeing to give a good chunk of his checks to the club's youth teams.
Veron played for Sampdoria, Lazio, Parma and Inter Milan in Italy and Manchester United and Chelsea in England before returning to Argentina about six years ago.
Olimpia host Atletico Mineiro in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores final
Tio Pelotas gives his take on the South American showpiece
The Copa Libertadores
final kicks off its first leg tonight in Paraguay where three-time champions Olimpia
will host Ronaldinho and Atletico Mineiro, a side founded 105 years ago with no
international titles (unless you count their two Conmebol Cups, a defunct
competition).
Both teams took similar
routes to the final, have highly-touted offensive weapons and dispatched
opponents with dynamic and technical attacks.
Atletico Mineiro and
Olimpia scored 27 and 23 goals, respectively, in the competition so far. The
games will be interesting if both continue with their assaults on goal. Between
them, they boast seven players with four goals or more in 12 matches.
However, the Paraguayans
and its history with the competition have the psychological advantage. They've
reached the final on seven occasions now, participated 38 times in the
competition and lifted the trophy three times. The Brazilians have only
partaken in Libertadores six times. But this is football. Psychology or not,
the better team will take home South America's coveted trophy.
And there there's Ronaldinho. He's reborn and is looking to add to his World
Cup 2002, two Spanish league, Serie A and Champions League medals. Even if his
side take home the trophy, will we see him add to his 97 caps with the national
team after 'Big' Phil Scolari all but said 'dinho was not in his plans for next
year's World Cup?
