Shakhtar Donetsk?!?

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one. $20.5M is a lot of money, so I can hardly blame Olympiacos for going ahead with it. But in the end, will Nery Castillo become a better soccer player playing in the Ukraine? I don't think so. If anything, I'd say he's taking a step backwards.

Sven, how did you lose out on this guy?

Nery Castillo Joins Shakhtar Donetsk In Big Money Move [Goal.com]

-ac

Sounds Like A Bargain

Greek side Olympiakos have reached an impasse in their contract talks with Mexican international Nery Castillo. The revelation of Mexico's summer swing through the U.S. and Venezuela, the $20M rated Castillo is rumored to be on his way to Manchester City. While it is far from being sealed, if Sven Goran Eriksson can make it happen, it could be the deal of the summer.

Castillo became Mexico's main weapon after Jared Borgetti's injury in the Gold Cup final. He's put away five goals in ten appearances for el Tri, and has won the Greek league championship every year he's been there except for one (2004). Playing in 25 games last season, the 23-year-old scored 12 times, not including the three goals he scored in last season's Champions League group stage.

The guy's a steal. Maybe City's luck is starting to turn around.

City in Castillo swoop [Daily Mail]

-ac

Move Over Becks

Not content with watching David Beckham corner the footballer-fragrance market, Rafael Marquez has launched his own cologne. It is called RM and has the tagline "the essence of victory."

I know, I can't wait to try it out either. Maybe I'll get a bottle when I'm at Casual Male picking out a suit for BL's nuptials.

The boys smell good (in Spanish) [Olé]

-ac

Is this the best Argentine side or just the prettiest?

AC usually handles the bulk of the action in South America, but I had to chime in today about Argentina's clinic last night in Venezuela against a previously dangerous Mexico side. Not only do I feel foolish for questioning Gabriel Heinze's drop in form since his horrific injury a year ago (the leftback toed in a Juan Roman Riquelme screwball of a free-kick past Mexican keeper Oswaldo Sanchez as the Mexicans went to sleep just before the half), but also foolish for dismissing Leo Messi as just another up-and-coming Argie.

Well, that's not entirely true; I'd have sold Theirry Henry several times over to get a guy like Messi at Arsenal. His touch, his movement, and the genius of him to chip the ball over Sanchez for the second goal of the match just shows you the maturity this kid has.

We all know Argentina are fielding the strongest side in the tournament, but there's an element of chemistry among the team that allowed them to dictate the match after their first goal. And, if you're a kid at home watching this match, or just one of those old geezers who like to harp on about "playing the game the right way", you have to give a lot of credit to Alfio Basile's side. Despite being mugged in the midfield for most of the match, the Argentines not only scored decisive goals in an eye-pleasing manner, but they effectively closed the game with 20 minutes remaining, just pinging it around like kids in an impromptu game on the street.

So we get the 10th final between the footballing powerhouses of Argentina and Brazil in 91 years of the South American championship. Despite Argentina's disappointments of the last two meetings, they've managed to win 8 of those 10 meetings. Now the Alibicelestes look poised to lift the trophy once again, and they've got Basile, the last guy to lead them to it. And, with the Selecao less than impressive, it should be Argentina's tournament.

Brazil face a battle to stop the elegant Argentines [Daily Mail]

-bl

Tevez To Start Against Mexico

Reports out of Argentina's camp in Venezuela are that Carlos Tevez will replace Diego Milito in the starting XI tomorrow night. This is big news if you consider Alfio Basile's stern insistence (supposedly up until now) that his teams play with a big, traditional No. 9. Basile has always been in favor of fielding a forward who can play with his back to goal, hold and lay off the ball to on-rushing teammates. The team's second-half (after Tevez's insertion) against Peru seems to have changed the gaffer's mind.

This news is all the more interesting when you take into account the likely absence of Nery Castillo. His inclusion in the Mexican side will be a game-time decision. Whatever team Hugo Sanchez decides to send out against Argentina, expect a classic, a match fit to be compared to the World Cup second-round game from last summer.

In tonight's semi-final, both Brazil and Uruguay have made no changes to the sides that played in the quarter-finals last Saturday.

Castillo Takes No Chances [Sportinglife]
Tevez Time (in Spanish) [Olé]

-ac

Huguistas v. Lavolpistas

According to reports out of Mexico and Venezuela, the real reason that defenders Ricardo Osorio and Carlos Salcido and midfielder Pavel Pardo failed to make the trip down south was because they are stern supporters of the previous regime. Brian Homewood has the background here.

Is there really strife in the Mexican camp, or is this just a story invented by the press to make it look like everything is not all shits and giggles in Hugo-town? Either way, an angry Ecuador will be no push over on Sunday.

Goodbye to the ‘Lavolpistas’? [Reuters Soccer Blog]

-ac

Only In Latin America

Brian Homewood has pointed out the obvious, again, about the administrative end of soccer in Latin America. Money quote:

It is hard to imagine a World Cup or European Championship semi-final venue being changed at a fortnight’s notice, yet when the South American Football Confederation (CSF) switched the Copa America semi-final from Caracas to Maracaibo on Monday, two weeks before it is due to be played, nobody batted an eye-lid.

The CSF appear to pride themselves on being masters of improvisation. In 1997, when the competition was held in Bolivia, there was a fantastic rule that the final would be played in La Paz at 3,600 metres above sea level if Bolivia qualified and at low-lying Santa Cruz if they did not.

In 2001, the tournament, due to be held in Colombia, was postponed and relocated because of security fears. Then, under pressure from sponsors and the Colombian government, it went ahead as scheduled at eight days’ notice. Argentina, who had already told their players to go on holiday, pulled out and Honduras took their place.

In the light of this, a mere semi-final venue switch, officially for security reasons, raises few eyebrows.

Those few eyebrows must belong to the people who already had tickets and accommodations set up in Caracas. While Homewood notes that semi-final tickets will be honored in Maracaibo, that still leaves two rather big obstacles: the 466 miles between the two cities and the lack of available hotel rooms in Maracaibo.

For a Homewood blast from the past, take a look at how the Mexican 1st division is run.

Masters of improvisation strike again [Reuters Soccer Blog]
Mexican soccer joy for travel agents and pop stars [Guardian]

-ac

Club America Find Blanco's Replacement

Former Boca Juniors playmaker Federico Insua arrived in Mexico yesterday to complete his move from relegated German club Borussia Monchengladbach to Mexican side Club America. He is expected to be the like-for-like replacement for Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who is moving on to the Chicago Fire.

The five-time German champions signed 27-year-old Insua from Boca for a club record fee of $5.36M at the beginning of last season on a four-year contract. But the attacking midfielder never settled and scored just twice in 32 games. Today, he put pen to paper and will be officially introduced as an America player at a press conference tomorrow afternoon. He's signed up through June of 2011.

Argentine arrives to join America (in Spanish) [El Financiero]

-ac

Thanks To Carmona, Pachuca Waltz Into Mexican Final

In one of the most bizarre incidents I've ever come across, Cruz Azul were disqualified from the Mexican league playoff semi-finals after fielding an ineligible player. That player, Salvador Carmona, had tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol in June of 2005, and was subsequently banned for a year by the Mexican FA. Despite a second positive test by Carmona for the same substance on January 31st of last year, the FA disciplinary committee decided to nullify the second result last summer because it mistakenly believed the B sample was destroyed.

The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland for a lifetime ban, and won. CAS rejected Carmona's formal protest because it said the former international didn't attempt to make any excuse which would have allowed CAS to consider a less severe sanction.

For some reason, Cruz Azul decided to let Carmona play, even after the Mexican FA informed both the player and the club of Carmona's ban the day before the first-leg semi-final against Pachuca. Pachuca went on to win that match and were then given a free passage into the final. Cruz Azul was assessed a one match sanction, which seems like a slap on the wrist when league guidelines state that teams could be expelled from the top-flight for fielding ineligible players.

Thus, Pachuca will now face America in the two-legged final this week. America edged past Chivas after a pair of 1-0 wins in the other semi-final. Immediately after the match, America boarded a flight to Sao Paulo for Wednesday's Copa Libertadores quarter-final second-leg against Santos. The tie's first-leg ended in a goalless draw at the Azteca. The schedule for the Mexican final will be revealed this afternoon.

Mexican defender Carmona gets life ban [Reuters]
America tops Chivas, to face Pachuca in the Mexican final [International Herald Tribune]

-ac

Sorry, You'll Have To Play Somewhere Else

That's what Mexican club Necaxa was told last Sunday as they were preparing for tonight's Copa Libertadores match against Uruguayan side Nacional (which they lost). I'm guessing that picking a pop star over a mid-week match was a money decision, but regardless, it doesn't bode well for state soccer south of the border. Money quote:

Their [Necaxa's] stadium in Aguascalientes was hosting a concert by Shakira the following evening -- with more than 24 hours needed to get the arena ready for the Colombian singer, who provided the pre-match entertainment at last year's World Cup final.

Both the Libertadores and Shakira's tour were planned months ago, yet the authorities were still caught out.

Shakira won the day and Necaxa will have to play at Mexico City's Azteca stadium, around 600 kilometres away. Any fans dedicated enough to see the match will be back in line at the travel agents looking for plane or bus tickets.

For more doozies, read the rest of Brian Homewood's Reuters piece.

Mexican soccer joy for travel agents and pop stars [Guardian]

-ac

Something To Celebrate Tomorrow

With three rounds left to play in Germany, VfB Stuttgart find themselves on the verge of completing the first league and cup double in the club's history. After finishing in 9th place last year, Stuttgart are currently one point back of leaders Schalke 04, with Werder Bremen a point further back. They will face Nurnberg in the German Cup final on May 26th.

Most of the credit for the successful run this season has been heaped on coach Armin Veh. Rightly so, he's turned around a club that went into the toilet in Giovanni Trapattoni's last couple of months in charge.

On the occasion of Cinco de Mayo, let's also give some credit to Stuttgart's two Mexican internationals, Pavel Pardo and Ricardo Osorio. They are the first Mexicans to have ever played in the Bundesliga. While other mexicanos have experienced success in Europe, Pardo and Osorio are marking a new path in Germany that will hopefully nudge more of their compatriots to make the leap to Europe as well. It's the only way Mexico will ever come close to winning a World Cup.

As you light some coals tomorrow for your Cinco de Mayo BBQ, raise a glass in honor of Pardo and Osorio.

Veh has Stuttgart soaring [UEFA official site]

-ac

Some Now, Some Later

For some reason, Conmebol has released half of this summer's Copa America schedule. Why they've decided to not do it all at once is a mystery to me. Nonetheless, this is what we know until later today:

Group A: Venezuela and Bolivia; will play against each other in the opening match of the tournament on June 26th
Group B: Brazil and Mexico; will play one another on the first day, after Venezuela v. Bolivia
Group C: Argentina and the United States; will open group play against each other on June 28th

Other issues that have been decided:

• The next Copa America will be hosted by either Argentina or Mexico.
• The next Copa America will take place in 2011; from here on, the tournament will be played every four years.
• The 2010 World Cup qualifiers will be played in a round robin format, home and away.

South American confederation pre-empts Copa America draw [Guardian Unlimited]

-ac

When A Redondo Look-A-Like Speaks, We Listen

The big move finally goes through for just under $27M, and the new kid couldn't be happier:

"I always dreamed of wearing this shirt some day and now my dream is reality. I'm [sic] come to work hard with the First Team. The coach will decide who plays and who doesn't. I still haven't had the chance to speak to him, but I hope to earn his trust as soon as possible."

Hey, if this fat dude thinks he'll succeed at Real, why shouldn't we? [Real Madrid official site]

In other Argentina news:

• As BL noted yesterday (see below), the coaching carousel in Tango-land spins in mysterious ways. Ricardo La Volpe had this to say about his new job: "I want to get to 44 points and be champion. Of course a little luck along the way helps." [Reuters]
• Ex-River Plate great Ramon Diaz replaces Oscar Ruggeri as coach of San Lorenzo. [Ole]
• In a move that will disappoint our friend Linda, Barcelona have had their bid on Boca Junoirs forward Rodrigo Palacio rejected. [Eurosport]
• Ex-Toluca and possible Houston Dynamo reinforcement Bruno Marioni seems to have decided on Boca. Reports are that he'll put pen to paper on Tuesday. [La Prensa]
• Claudio Lopez could be on his way out at Mexican giants Club America. [Ansa Latina]
• Paraguayan midfielder Roberto Acuna has signed a loan agreement to play for Rosario Central. He is currently on the books at Spanish club Deportivo La Coruna. [Ole]
• Estudiantes de La Plata have turned down a $4M offer from Italian Serie B side Genoa for striker Mariano Pavone. After scoring the winner against Boca to win the Apertura championship, the club have received a number of offers from overseas. It seems that La Liga's Real Sociedad are the current front runners. [Diaro Panorama]
• Juan Roman Riquelme sets the record straight and says that he's staying put: "I'm very happy at Villarreal. I have two and a half years left on my contract and, most likely, I'm going to be there until 2009." [ESPN Deportes]
• The excellent Marcela Mora y Araujo sums up the past Apertura season. Don't worry, it's in English. [The Guardian SportBlog]

-ac

Where Do You Hang Something Like That?

Mexican side Pachuca became the first Mexican team to ever win a South American cup last night when they defeated Chile's Colo Colo in the Copa Sudamericana. Pachuca's Damian Alvares took home the most valuable player honors, which include not only the nice trophy you see above, but also a brand new Nissan. Mexico's oldest club came back from being a goal down at a frenzied estadio Nacional in Santiago to take the second-leg 2-1 and the tie 3-2 on aggregate.

The only blight for Mexican soccer in the last couple of days came in Japan early this morning. Mexico City's Club America got their asses handed to them by European champions Barcelona. The FIFA Club World Cup semifinal was over 11 minutes into the game as the Catalan giants cruised to victory and booked their ticket to the final where they'll face Internacional of Brazil.


Seat-filler Ronaldinho will face off against a team from his home town, Porto Alegre. Though he never played for Internacional, he did suit up 110 times for their Gre-Nal rivals Gremio from 1998 to 2001.

Pachuca stun Colo Colo to win Sudamericana [Yahoo!]
Ronaldinho directs Barca to final [CNN]

-ac

Rebaño Sagrado Win Their 11th

In an era when Mexican clubs increasingly rely on foreign talent, a side with only Mexican-born players took home it's first championship in almost ten years. Chivas of Guadalajara won it's 11th league title after coming back from a goal down to win the final 3-2 on aggregate.

In the 100th anniversary year of Chivas, the club has delighted it's fans both within and outside of Mexico. Jose de la Torre's side didn't do it the easy way either. The club finished the regular season 7-5-5 and needed to win a two-leg series with Veracruz just to qualify for the eight-team playoffs.

Chivas played its best soccer in November and December, beating Cruz Azul in the quarterfinals, America in the semis, and Toluca in the final. In all three series, the club had to play the decisive second leg on the road.

Title number eleven broke a tie with America, Chivas' most bitter rival, for the most since the league's "professional" inception in 1944. It was the club's second championship since Mexico went to a split season in 1996, and the first since businessman and film producer Jorge Vergara bought the club in 2002.

Mexico raises a toast to soccer champ Chivas [Houston Chronicle]

-ac

All To Play For On Sunday

Well it seems like we've got a Mexican Graham Poll in our midst. In the same way that the Englishman enjoys pointing to the spot when there's doubt and waving play-on when it's clear cut, referee Gabriel Gomez missed an obvious take down of Chivas forward Omar Bravo. But in the end, only Chivas were to blame for not putting away the chances afforded to them and then falling asleep at the wheel with just 15 minutes left in the game.

The second-leg of the Mexican final takes places on Sunday afternoon in Toluca. As opposed to the way it's played in Europe, if the aggregate scoreline is even after the 90 minutes this weekend, there is no away-goals rule. The teams go straight to two 15 minute extra time periods, and then to penalties if necessary.

Follow the build-up to the second-leg match at Soccer y Futbol, Joe and Bernardo have got it covered.

Chivas, Toluca play to tie in first leg of Mexican soccer finals [The Houston Chronicle]

-ac

Careful What You Wish For

"I'd rather be relegated than change the Basque-only policy."

Athletic Bilbao fan in the November issue of FourFourTwo
before a match against Real Sociedad

While the news from the Bernabeu yesterday was of Real Madrid's comeback and climb to within a point of Barcelona, there was another story just below the surface. As Sid Lowe tells us, the Real fans knew what it was as they serenaded their traveling counterparts with a passionately sung "A Segunda, oe! A Segunda, oe!".

One of the most famous clubs in the world, Athletic Bilbao, is under threat of going down to the Spanish Segunda for the first time in club history. After the weekend's matches, Athletic find themselves in 18th place with eight points from thirteen games. Five draws and only one win (bottom club Gimnastic de Tarragona) has left the Basque side reeling. According to Lowe, getting out og the drop zone will be anything but easy.

New coach Jose Manuel Esnal is tasked with doing a job that could ultimately prove fruitless. To make matters worse, news from the club today confirms that one of the team's best players, Spanish international Pablo Orbaiz, will miss the rest of the season after injuring his right knee.

In the end, it's quite a shame that the "Basque-only" team from Bilbao just might be going down this season. Along with Chivas of Guadalajara, Athletic are one of the last bastions of pure provincialism at the top level. While Chivas has enjoyed a spectacular run to the Mexican league final, Esnal inherits a team that has given up an astonishing 24 goals in 13 games.

With 76% of Athletic fans in favor of the club's homegrown policy (1990 El Mundo newspaper survey), it makes you wonder if never having been sent down to the second division has made the club's supporters immune to the thought that it could actually happen. After all this time, this might be the year we find out.

Brazilian boys save Real Madrid [Eurosport]
Are Bilbao about to bow out? [Guardian SportBlog]
Orbaiz blow for Athletic [UEFA official site]

-ac

Soccer Culture: Prawn Sandwiches At Old Trafford?

While on a small vacation recently, the missus and I were driving through the beautiful state of Oregon. I picked up the local paper last week and saw this nugget in the sports section. I guess Green Street Hooligans is a popular rental at the local Blockbuster these days. Why else are high school administrators in the Portland suburbs referencing "soccer culture"?

It seems that there have been a couple incidents at the high school level that have the community at large scratching their collective heads. As of October 31st, three referees had been attacked or threatened. Instead of assigning blame where it belongs (overbearing parents and the offspring they incite), hey, let's take a closer look a those silly soccer fans in foreign countries. They like beating on people, right? [The Oregonian]

In other eye-numbing news:
Our buddy Daryl has got this juicy bit of info. It is yet to be confirmed, but folks in the Phoenix area could very well have a reason to plunk down some of their hard-earned coin. I went down to San Diego a couple of years back to catch a game between these two, and let me tell you, there's just as much action in the stands as there is on the field. If this match does take place, look for it to get picked up live by either ESPN or FSC and/or delayed on Telemundo a couple of days later. [The Soccer Weblog]

If you like it Brazilian, but don't get enough of it, it's your lucky day. Start boning up on your Portuguese because you've got over 300 matches to watch. [Live Soccer TV]

Bayern Munich jumps onto the copyright violations bandwagon. [FOX Sports]

----------

These are the games of note on TV through Sunday:

Wednesday
Gimnasia de La Plata v. Boca Juniors
3:00pm ET, LIVE
TyC Sports USA
Martin Palermo is back from injury to face Gimnasia. This will be the last 45 minutes of the match that was suspended at halftime on September 10th. The game will be divided in two, a 23 minute first half followed by a 22 minute second half. Boca will extend their lead at the top of the table to four points if they can turn around the 1-0 deficit.

Barcelona v. Badalona
4:00pm ET, LIVE
GolTV
Tune in to see if Frank can get his team back on the winning track. A tough patch has seen them lose to Real Madrid and take only one point from two matches against Chelsea. Barca's third division neighbors, Badalona, could be in for a world of hurt in this second-leg round of sixteen Copa del Rey match.

Saturday
Everton v. Aston Villa
10:00am ET, LIVE
FOX Soccer Channel
How many times will the word scrappy be used to describe this fixture in the coming days? Either way, this could be a good one.

Blackburn v. Manchester United
12:00pm ET, LIVE
FOX Soccer Channel / FOX Sports en Espanol
Mark Hughes' team has secured only one point from their last five EPL matches. Not a great record, but I get the feeling that they'll play tough against Man U and come away with at least a point.

Middlesbrough v. West Ham United
12:30pm ET, Same Day Delay
Setanta Sports USA
The Hammers will be sky high coming into this one. I have a question though, what happened to those two guys from Argentina?

AC Milan v. Roma
2:30pm ET, LIVE
RAI International
Milan have to start picking up some points in Serie A and find some support for Kaka.

Monterrey v. Toluca
6:00pm ET, LIVE
Galavision
The best matchup of the week from Mexico. There's some good soccer played in Mexico's top flight, take a look and see for yourself.

Sunday
Ajax v. PSV
6:00am ET, LIVE
Setanta Sports USA
Expect a lively match with only two points separating the two teams at the top of the Dutch Eredivisie.

Arsenal v. Liverpool
11:00am ET, LIVE
FOX Soccer Channel
How will the EPL's grumpy bunch take it if they can't beat the Reds at home? What are the odds of Rafa celebrating a goal on the touchline?

Houston v. New England
3:30pm ET, LIVE
ABC
The only MLS match I'll watch all season. It will likely be Clint Dempsey's last game before he $hip$ out to Europe.

Estudiantes La Plata v. River Plate
4:15pm ET, LIVE
TyC Sports USA
The weekend's big match in Argentina, played in the shiny new Ciudad de La Plata stadium. Both teams come into the match tied for second, one point behind Boca pending the result of Wednesday's game.

As always, check your local listings for dates and times in your area.

-ac