South American football

[LooneyToonArmy]

News from France - Falcao has suffered a suspected rupture to knee ligaments this evening in the French Cup win for over Chasseley. Early diagnosis suggests he may miss the World Cup. Fuller medical verdict expected late wednesday/ early thursday.

 

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Falcao-l-inquietude-grandit/434408

[Tooj]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25911054

 

Remember Josimar? The gangling Brazilian right-back who emerged from nowhere to score two amazing goals in the 1986 World Cup - and who, unable to cope with his sudden fame, soon disappeared back to obscurity?

 

Josimar was a last-minute call up, hurriedly brought into the squad after Leandro, the first choice right-back, pulled out in a row about curfews.

 

His replacement, Edson Boaro, picked up a knock in the second game, and an unexpected chance came Josimar's way. The rest is history.

 

The World Cup is full of such stories, of players who have grabbed last-minute opportunities and used them to achieve a kind of footballing immortality.

 

This year will surely throw up some more examples.

 

Colombia's strikers will be keeping an eye on the progress of Monaco's Radamel Falcao Garcia who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a French Cup game last week.

 

The doctor who operated on Falcao is optimistic that the striker will be fit for the World Cup, but there are no guarantees.

 

True, this is a department where coach Jose Pekerman can already count on an abundance of resources.

 

In addition to Teofilo Gutierrez, Falcao's usual strike partner, there is Jackson Martinez, the nearest like-for-like replacement.

 

Also in the squad are the rapidly developing Carlos Bacca and the burly, dynamic Luis Muriel.

 

And Victor Ibarbo slotted in superbly in November's friendlies, though in a wide attacking midfield role rather than that of an out-and-out striker.

 

One option to come in is Fredy Montero, full of goals this season with Sporting Lisbon of Portugal.

 

Montero has had a strange career. Talented, neat and clever, he was seen as a great hope when he made his breakthrough, first with Huila and then with Deportivo Cali in the 207-08 season.

 

Short of goals at the time, Colombia threw him into the senior side, where he came across as a little boy lost, and was quickly discarded.

 

He then spent four seasons in the United States with Seattle Sounders, before joining Sporting in the summer.

 

Immediately prior to Portugal, however, came his big chance to make an impression with his home public - a six-month spell with Bogota giants Millonarios.

 

He was specially brought in a year ago for the club's first Copa Libertadores campaign since 1997. Expectations were high - and Montero could hardly have been a bigger disappointment.

 

He managed not a single goal, and showed no penalty area presence whatsoever, as Millonarios (scoring twice in six games) failed to make it out of the group phase.

 

The South American audience are quite entitled to believe that goals scored in the Libertadores are worth more than those achieved in the Portuguese league - which means that, as the 2014 version of the continent's Champions League kicks off this week, opportunity is knocking for Wilder Medina, of Milllonarios' Bogota rivals, the Arsenal-shirted Independiente Santa Fe.

 

Even wilder than his Christian name might indicate, Medina has said that football saved him from a life of delinquency. And he takes some of that devil out onto the pitch; he is cunning, crafty and talented. No less a figure than Carlos Valderrama is a fan - "Medina can play anywhere in the world," he said last year.

 

He was off to a goalscoring start when the Colombian league kicked off last Friday, and, in top form when Santa Fe reached the semi finals of the 2012 Libertadores, he now has this year's version to push his World Cup claim.

 

As does his team-mate, veteran Ecuadorian midfielder Edison Mendez.

 

Now 34, Mendez is one of his country's all-time greats. A stocky figure who is a fine striker of the ball, he has more than 100 caps to his name, was a stalwart of the World Cup sides of 2002 and 2006, and in the former scored the goal against Croatia that gave Ecuador their first victory at that level.

 

Once of PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, his last few years have been blighted by injury, and his place in the Ecuador squad is no longer guaranteed.

 

But an opportunity has opened up - though in this case Mendez would dearly wish otherwise.

 

Ecuador need to replace Christian Benitez, who so tragically died last year.

 

It is a tribute to the excellence of the player that this is an extremely difficult task.

 

Ecuador play with two wingers, Antonio Valencia and Jefferson Montero, and a centre-forward, Felipe Caicedo. The presence of Benitez prevented an exaggeratedly open 4-2-4.

 

Quick enough to play off the shoulder of the last defender, Benitez could play up front while Caicedo dropped deeper. Or Caicedo could be the target man while Benitez withdrew behind the line of the ball.

 

Ecuador have no like-for-like replacement.

 

An obvious solution is to play Mendez in the space behind Caicedo.

 

He cannot offer the pace of Benitez running beyond the centre-forward, but he is a more natural midfield marker, his passing can bring the wingers into play and he is close enough to goal to unleash his shots.

 

Ecuador tried this in the two games following the death of Benitez - a friendly at home to Spain and the visit to Colombia in qualification.

 

It was looking good in the second game, with the team blocking well in midfield and launching their rapid counter-attacks. But a centre-back was sent off early, and Mendez was sacrificed at half time. Thereafter, fitness problems struck again.

 

Now he moves to Colombia to join Santa Fe in the hope of using the Libertadores as a platform to win a recall. But the problem facing him, and Wilder Medina, is that they may only have two games to press their case.

 

Over the next two weeks Santa Fe first have to negotiate a tricky qualifying round against Morelia of Mexico. Part of the difficulty here is that the Mexican clubs are sufficiently rich to buy up good South American players.

 

Morelia, for example, have Jefferson Montero of Ecuador , Uruguay's first choice striker Egidio Arevalo Rios and Aldo Leao Ramirez, an all-round midfielder certain to be in the Colombia squad.

 

They also have another Colombian, big striker Duvier Riascos, who enjoyed a good Libertadores campaign last year with Tijuana.

 

He, too, will hope to catch the eye in this year's competition, win a last-minute call up and become the Josimar of the 2014 World Cup.

[Incognito]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25911054

 

Remember Josimar? The gangling Brazilian right-back who emerged from nowhere to score two amazing goals in the 1986 World Cup - and who, unable to cope with his sudden fame, soon disappeared back to obscurity?

 

Josimar was a last-minute call up, hurriedly brought into the squad after Leandro, the first choice right-back, pulled out in a row about curfews.

 

His replacement, Edson Boaro, picked up a knock in the second game, and an unexpected chance came Josimar's way. The rest is history.

 

The World Cup is full of such stories, of players who have grabbed last-minute opportunities and used them to achieve a kind of footballing immortality.

 

This year will surely throw up some more examples.

 

Colombia's strikers will be keeping an eye on the progress of Monaco's Radamel Falcao Garcia who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a French Cup game last week.

 

The doctor who operated on Falcao is optimistic that the striker will be fit for the World Cup, but there are no guarantees.

 

True, this is a department where coach Jose Pekerman can already count on an abundance of resources.

 

In addition to Teofilo Gutierrez, Falcao's usual strike partner, there is Jackson Martinez, the nearest like-for-like replacement.

 

Also in the squad are the rapidly developing Carlos Bacca and the burly, dynamic Luis Muriel.

 

And Victor Ibarbo slotted in superbly in November's friendlies, though in a wide attacking midfield role rather than that of an out-and-out striker.

 

One option to come in is Fredy Montero, full of goals this season with Sporting Lisbon of Portugal.

 

Montero has had a strange career. Talented, neat and clever, he was seen as a great hope when he made his breakthrough, first with Huila and then with Deportivo Cali in the 207-08 season.

 

Short of goals at the time, Colombia threw him into the senior side, where he came across as a little boy lost, and was quickly discarded.

 

He then spent four seasons in the United States with Seattle Sounders, before joining Sporting in the summer.

 

Immediately prior to Portugal, however, came his big chance to make an impression with his home public - a six-month spell with Bogota giants Millonarios.

 

He was specially brought in a year ago for the club's first Copa Libertadores campaign since 1997. Expectations were high - and Montero could hardly have been a bigger disappointment.

 

He managed not a single goal, and showed no penalty area presence whatsoever, as Millonarios (scoring twice in six games) failed to make it out of the group phase.

 

The South American audience are quite entitled to believe that goals scored in the Libertadores are worth more than those achieved in the Portuguese league - which means that, as the 2014 version of the continent's Champions League kicks off this week, opportunity is knocking for Wilder Medina, of Milllonarios' Bogota rivals, the Arsenal-shirted Independiente Santa Fe.

 

Even wilder than his Christian name might indicate, Medina has said that football saved him from a life of delinquency. And he takes some of that devil out onto the pitch; he is cunning, crafty and talented. No less a figure than Carlos Valderrama is a fan - "Medina can play anywhere in the world," he said last year.

 

He was off to a goalscoring start when the Colombian league kicked off last Friday, and, in top form when Santa Fe reached the semi finals of the 2012 Libertadores, he now has this year's version to push his World Cup claim.

 

As does his team-mate, veteran Ecuadorian midfielder Edison Mendez.

 

Now 34, Mendez is one of his country's all-time greats. A stocky figure who is a fine striker of the ball, he has more than 100 caps to his name, was a stalwart of the World Cup sides of 2002 and 2006, and in the former scored the goal against Croatia that gave Ecuador their first victory at that level.

 

Once of PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, his last few years have been blighted by injury, and his place in the Ecuador squad is no longer guaranteed.

 

But an opportunity has opened up - though in this case Mendez would dearly wish otherwise.

 

Ecuador need to replace Christian Benitez, who so tragically died last year.

 

It is a tribute to the excellence of the player that this is an extremely difficult task.

 

Ecuador play with two wingers, Antonio Valencia and Jefferson Montero, and a centre-forward, Felipe Caicedo. The presence of Benitez prevented an exaggeratedly open 4-2-4.

 

Quick enough to play off the shoulder of the last defender, Benitez could play up front while Caicedo dropped deeper. Or Caicedo could be the target man while Benitez withdrew behind the line of the ball.

 

Ecuador have no like-for-like replacement.

 

An obvious solution is to play Mendez in the space behind Caicedo.

 

He cannot offer the pace of Benitez running beyond the centre-forward, but he is a more natural midfield marker, his passing can bring the wingers into play and he is close enough to goal to unleash his shots.

 

Ecuador tried this in the two games following the death of Benitez - a friendly at home to Spain and the visit to Colombia in qualification.

 

It was looking good in the second game, with the team blocking well in midfield and launching their rapid counter-attacks. But a centre-back was sent off early, and Mendez was sacrificed at half time. Thereafter, fitness problems struck again.

 

Now he moves to Colombia to join Santa Fe in the hope of using the Libertadores as a platform to win a recall. But the problem facing him, and Wilder Medina, is that they may only have two games to press their case.

 

Over the next two weeks Santa Fe first have to negotiate a tricky qualifying round against Morelia of Mexico. Part of the difficulty here is that the Mexican clubs are sufficiently rich to buy up good South American players.

 

Morelia, for example, have Jefferson Montero of Ecuador , Uruguay's first choice striker Egidio Arevalo Rios and Aldo Leao Ramirez, an all-round midfielder certain to be in the Colombia squad.

 

They also have another Colombian, big striker Duvier Riascos, who enjoyed a good Libertadores campaign last year with Tijuana.

 

He, too, will hope to catch the eye in this year's competition, win a last-minute call up and become the Josimar of the 2014 World Cup.

 

The goal he put past Pat Jennings beggared belief.

[LooneyToonArmy]

Ever "webcam" Banega has signed for NOB on loan from Valencia.

[Disco]

Argentine league back

 

The best type of low scoring, low quality games.

[LooneyToonArmy]

Maicon of shakthar donestk killed in  a car crash in donetsk RIP

[Flip]

Maicon of shakthar donestk killed in  a car crash in donetsk RIP

 

Only 25 years old as well.

[Flip]

Fernandinho and Rafinha gets called up for the last friendly before the World Cup. Hernanes and Maicon left behind.

[Flip]

Also for whoever has missed it. Pato and Jadson switching clubs. Pato has been a huge disappointment and now moving to Sao Paulo. Jadson already signed for Corinthians.

[Disco]

A dog shat on the pitch during the Rosario Central - River game earlier. Glad to have Argieball back.

[Flip]

[Neil]

Argentine league back

 

The best type of low scoring, low quality games.

 

This sums up the majority of Argie games I've watched in the past year or 2.

 

A dog shat on the pitch during the Rosario Central - River game earlier. Glad to have Argieball back.

 

And in many ways, this does too.

[Flip]

Rivaldo retired yesterday, say what you want about him in terms of what he's done but he was one of the best players I'll ever see. In the last 15 years I can only think of Messi having a better left-foot. Unbelievable in his prime and was miles ahead of anyone in the 2002 World Cup and should've won best player of the competition. The amount of players Barcelona have had in their prime man... Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta. Fucking hell.

[BrettNUFC]

Rivaldo retired yesterday, say what you want about him in terms of what he's done but he was one of the best players I'll ever see. In the last 15 years I can only think of Messi having a better left-foot. Unbelievable in his prime and was miles ahead of anyone in the 2002 World Cup and should've won best player of the competition. The amount of players Barcelona have had in their prime man... Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta. f***ing hell.

 

Thought he retired about 3 year ago!

[Tooj]

Been playing for the same team as his son hasn't he?

 

He certainly was a great player from about 97-02.

[Flip]

Rivaldo retired yesterday, say what you want about him in terms of what he's done but he was one of the best players I'll ever see. In the last 15 years I can only think of Messi having a better left-foot. Unbelievable in his prime and was miles ahead of anyone in the 2002 World Cup and should've won best player of the competition. The amount of players Barcelona have had in their prime man... Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta. f***ing hell.

 

Thought he retired about 3 year ago!

 

Been scoring goals and playing at a decent level until last year. Even if that is the Angolan league He's been the president of Mogi Mirim for couple of months or so now. Played a game like Tooj said with his son. I'd rather have Rivaldo ten years from now than Shola today

[BrettNUFC]

Honestly thought he hung it up years ago. Was he not in Greece/Turkey somewhere like that? Thought he was done after that. Didn't think he was still popping them in the back of the net over in Angola

[Disco]

Aye he was at Olympiakos for a fair while, there is a good YouTube vid of his time there n all. Then went all over raking it in, then back to Brazil.

[Shayno]

Pretty lucky. Have been able to see Romario and Rivaldo play here in Adelaide, Australia

[Flip]

Bellini Brazils captain of the '58 side passed away yesterday. Suffered from alzheimer for the past 10 years and died of complication from it. First Brazilian player to lift a World Cup trophy, and was part of the team in '62 as well.

[Flip]

Might be giggs, but to recognize and honour the Down Syndrome International day Corinthians did this:

 

 

Let Caio train with the team, entered the field and ''take'' the kick-off in the game against Atletico Sorocaba.

[Disco]

Tis the Superclasico this Sunday evening for those who are that way inclined.

[Flip]

Anelka negotiating with Atletico MG to possibly playing in the Libertadores 2nd part from June on. Anelka & Ronaldinho

[Disco]

Cracking Roasrino derby on currently. Arguably the most passionate in Argieball. Unreal atmosphere.

[Disco]

0-1 Central