Argie Bargy : Velez

Estudiantes and Vélez battle for the title as 'big five' whittled down to two

Joel Richards — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 14:59:00 GMT

Both lost twice in the season, and only the two points dropped in a draw keeps Vélez behind Estudiantes.

They have the same goal difference, with the Students scoring one less, and conceding one less too.

And while it has become standard bar-talk to say that one is defensive and one is attacking, this is hardly Chapter 1,482 of the Bilardo vs. Menotti debate.

Estudiantes may be where Dr. Bilardo developed his palate for a more raw style, but Vélez are far from claiming to be – historically – the cradle of beautiful football. It is true that Vélez have looked like a stronger attacking side this season - in Santiago Silva and Juan Manuel Martinez they have two of the top scorers in the league with 11 and nine goals respectively. Throw in Maxi Moralez for added flair, or the late entrance of Jonathan Cristaldo, and The Fort have overwhelmed several sides going forward.

But Estudiantes have scored just one less this term. They lost Mauro Boselli and José Sosa in pre-season, and then lost Hernán López – Boselli’s replacement – to injury. Gastón ‘La Gata’ Fernández is far from a target man and chipped in with six goals as the Pincha’s top scorer.

But even without captain Juan Sebastián Verón and the dynamic Enzo Pérez, Estudiantes still thrashed River Plate in midweek. That 4-0 result speaks volumes of the dire state River are in, but also how strong Estudiantes are, despite missing two key midfielders.

Fernández has lead the way, goal-wise, for Estudiantes

So the title race goes down to the final day. Vélez are away to Racing with the Academy currently in mourning after losing the chance of qualifying for the Libertadores to their local (100 metres away) rivals Independiente, who won the Sudamericana and snapped up that final place.

Estudiantes are home (if playing in Quilmes while their new stadium is finished can be called playing at home) to third placed Arsenal. The title is there for Estudiantes to lose.

Yet in all this, this season has grabbed the attention. Not necessarily for the quality of football, because as everyone here admits this has been far from a vintage season. But there has been no surprise package. Over the past few years the Argentine league had become characterised by one-off seasons from the football middle classes who challenged for the title. Argentinos Juniors, Banfield and Lanús went all the way and won.

There are eight points separating second-placed Vélez and third-placed Arsenal. The gap between the front pack hasn’t been so large in years. It was to be expected that Vélez and Estudiantes would challenge, but for nobody else to even come close has be a surprise.

Are they settling in to their role as the Big Two? Are the traditional Big Five of Boca, River, Independiente, Racing and San Lorenzo beyond redemption? A few more seasons will need to pass before we can answer that question, but in the meantime, for the drama queens out there, lets hope for a grand finale – Estudiantes draw and Vélez win, setting up a tasty one-off winner-takes-all playoff.

FIXTURES Saturday All Boys v Godoy Cruz Sunday Racing v Vélez, Estudiantes v Arsenal, San Lorenzo v Banfield, Colón v Newell’s Monday Huracán v Independiente, Lanús v River, Boca v Gimnasia, Olimpo v Quilmes, Tigre v Argentinos

Estudiantes win comes at a cost as Veron suspended for title showdown

Joel Richards — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:05:00 GMT

There are just two rounds to go in the Apertura 2010 - by next Monday it’ll all be over. The title might be decided midweek, if Vélez fail to beat Huracán and Estudiantes beat River on Wednesday. In the meantime, round 17 looked roughly like this…

Olimpo 1-1 Arsenal

Latino pop guru Luis Miguel had been due to ‘sing’ at Olimpo’s stadium, so the fixture was pushed forward. Luis then decided that he’d ‘sing’ at Vélez instead, by which time the game had already been moved. Soon the most un-noticed fixture of the season had been and gone.

All Boys 2-1 Banfield

All Boys' home form has been as good as league title challengers Vélez and Estudiantes, with seven wins from nine games. For a newly-promoted side it is a remarkable achievement, which couple with the way they have been playing, has been applauded by all. The same cannot go for their midfielder Hugo Barrientos, however, who opened up Rubén Ramírez’ face with his elbow.

Racing 2-0 Gimnasia

Guiding Racing out of the depths of mediocrity this season has been the Crouch/Riquelme/Guti-esque genius of the Colombian, Gio Moreno. For once, however, it was Gabriel ‘The Demon’ Hauche who stole the headlines with a quite brilliant finish for his 6th goal of the season and keep the Academy in the hunt for Libertadores qualification.

Estudiantes 3-1 Argentinos

Estudiantes have managed to make it to the final stage of the season at the top of the table with no out and out ‘No.9.’ Injuries left them without a target man. Had Martín Palermo scored Gata Fernández’ header on Saturday, however, it would have been labelled a classic No.9’s goal. We would have spoken about the dying species that is the born goalscorer.

Instead The Pincha got on with things and back from a goal down to stay top, but there was bad news. Verón picked up his fifth yellow card (judging by TV replays, for breathing) and will miss the trip to River and the crunch-down with Matías Almeyda.

Colón 1-2 River

Almeyda had been rested for the visit from Estudiantes, we were told, but for the first time this season River played well without their warrior in midfield. Erik Lamela scored a golazo - for his part it was a decent finish, but it was the build up which made it. A series of intricate one-twos…. you can tell its Cappa’s team. What? Oh, he was sacked.

Mariano Pavone scored the 93rd minute winner to take River even further from relegation trouble.

San Lorenzo 0-0 Newell’s

There are presidential elections at San Lorenzo next week, making the atmosphere somewhat tense. ‘Whoever wins will have to put a team together quickly,’ warned coach Ramón Díaz, who added that ‘we all want to be challenging for silverware.’ Unless we see Messi, Drogba, Sneijder and Xabi strutting their stuff in Boedo in the near future, Ramón will be gone.

Tigre 3-1 Huracán

Allegations of Tigre coach demanding money from his players in order to play had dominated the headlines last week, but the Tiger’s players went out to prove their support for the man in the dugout, albeit against a very poor Huracán. Foreign commentator’s nightmare, Denis Stracqualursi grabbed a brace, and now has nine goals to his name.

Godoy Cruz 0-4 Vélez

Godoy Cruz coach Omar Asad played in the Vélez shirt last week when he turned out for his former club against Milan in a re-run of the Fortress’ 1994 Intercontinental win.

There were no suspicions of his side rolling over to help Vélez challenge for the title, however, not when the steamroller Santiago Silva is playing as he is. The Uruguayan centre forward added a two more to his tally, making him the season’s top scorer with 11 while Vélez kept within touching distance of the title.

Boca 1-0 Quilmes

Within four minutes we’d had two bookings and Boca had hit the bar. We were in for a classic. Sadly, it didn’t materialise. The one-goal margin flattered Quilmes enormously, but also spoke volumes about how far off Boca are from finding their stride.

Lanús 0-0 Independiente

The final match of the weekend was a somewhat Spanish affair, kicking off at gone 10 in the evening and not letting those at the game return home before 1am, if they were lucky. Independiente put out a reserve side as they prepare for Wednesday’s Sudamericana Final second leg, so expecting them and us to focus on this match was asking a bit much.

You can catch all the goals, right here

Power of the Jonas Brothers stretches Argentina's weekend

Joel Richards — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:25:00 GMT

In the world of Fútbol Para Todos, where all first division games are broadcast live on national TV, we are used to ‘weekends’ stretching into the working week in order to fit in all the games.

Kicking off on Friday night and finishing on Monday has, so far, been the longest ‘weekend’ of football. But this weekend, we enter new territory.

Round 14 will start on Friday night, and end late on Tuesday.

It should be the superclásico weekend, but there was a hitch. First of all, the president’s husband, and former president Néstor Kirchner passed away. Given the relationship with AFA, as looked at in this blog, plus the reaction within Argentina to Kirchner’s death, it was probably the correct move to cancel football.

In fact, next season will be called the Néstor Kirchner Clausura, in tribute to the ex-president. In the meantime, the fixtures were all pushed back a week.

This is where the hitch occured. In recent weeks, Núñez has been over run with leather, as Bon Jovi were in town. Then just this week, Sir Paul McCartney has delighted the locals with his 60s repertoire. The very presence of SPM has produced an outbreak of highly gratuitous references to Beatles’ classics in the press, but clearly computers here don’t have an English-language spell check. ‘Help. A need somebody’ is the worst offender so far.

Anyway, joining the Bon Jovi/SPM roll call to play the River Plate stadium this weekend are the Jonas Brothers.

But, it’s also River v Boca.

So it is that the superclásico, after much toing and froing which amounted to a contest between the two supergrandes proving who has the grandest one, will be played on Tuesday night.

This is what the Jonas Brothers look like, if you wondered/cared/own a gun

The pitch needs time to recover after all those thousands of teenyboppers, you see.

In the meantime, the rest of the sides will get on with business.

First up is Huracán – Colón, where the home fans will be split over how to receive Joaquin Larrivey. Should they a) cheer his every touch after he scored around 40 goals in the second division, helping the side win promotion to top flight. Or should they b), throw the most vile and heinous abuse at the striker whose foul on keeper Monzón went unpunished in the title play-off a year ago between Huracán and Vélez, and from which Vélez scored the winner and logically, won the title. We all know which it will be.

The other game to watch for is Quilmes against Godoy Cruz, although you’ll have to do so on TV. The game is being played at Banfield’s ground and behind closed doors.

Quilmes, 13 games without a win, were subjected to attack by their own ‘fans’ last week after another defeat. The team bus was stoned, while players had their windscreens smashed and scratched as they tried to leave the ground.

Quilmes vice-president, Aníbal Fernández, who also happens to be the government cabinet chief, admitted this week that he knows who the aggressors are. ‘They are two idiots and I hope they are put away for 70 years, and I know one of them very well, he’s a neighbour.’ That what we want to hear! Justice!

Criminals put behind bars! No such luck. Fernández continued: ‘the issue is that nobody will report them to the police.’ Despite his role at the club, despite his role with the government and despite admitting he knows who they are, Fernández himself will not act. Perhaps the large banner held by the Quilmes barra brava which carries the name of his political group has something to do with this. Perhaps not.

Politics aside, Quilmes are in freefall. Godoy Cruz are one of the best sides in the country. There’ll either be a goal-fest, or a historic win for the Brewers.
Fixtures

FIXTURES Friday 12th Nov Huracán v Colón, Banfield v Gimnasia Saturday 13th Nov Arsenal v All Boys, Tigre v Estudiantes Sunday 14th Nov Argentinos v San Lorenzo, Quilmes v Godoy Cruz, Independiente v Olimpo, Vélez v Lanús, Newell’s v Racing Tuesday 16th Nov River v Boca.

Little Arsenal making big waves

Joel Richards — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 10:45:00 GMT

The specialised press dedicated 21 pages to other matters before finally getting there.

The Big Five all had their story – with Independiente winning in the Sudamericana (despite the opposition keeper having blood pouring from his head after being hit by a rock thrown by fans). Boca are arguing about where they’ll spend the preseason, River have to bring in a new holding midfielder to the starting XI, San Lorenzo have the clásico against Huracán and Racing star Gio Moreno took up the centre spread.

Then came Vélez and Estudiantes, the top two, who play on Friday in a match that could decide the championship.

Only then, 22 pages in, did Arsenal get a mention. All 164 words of a mention.

Usually, the club from Sarandí only really deserve a small column hidden away in the deeper depths of the press because they are wallowing in a mid- to low-table mediocrity, with no real stars, not playing particularly well, and just getting by.

But this year it is different. This year’s league title race is a three-way between Estudiantes, top of the table on 26 points, Vélez, on 23, and Arsenal. Although they only get 164 words, Arsenal are also on 23 points.

The *rse, as they are affectionately known, are an extremely modest club. The club’s history is limited, along with its resources. The ground has a capacity of 16,000 but has a distinctly non-league feel to it. The club’s record top scorer in the first division has scored a mere 33.

In 1957, Julio, his brother and a group of friends decided to set up a club. Legend has it that it was the friend with a stutter who suggested they should name the new club after the Londoners, Ar-Ar-Ar-Arsenal.

The group of amigos looked no further than their local rivals, giants Independiente and Racing, for inspiration over what Arsenal de Sarandí’s club colours must be – hence the sky-blue shirt with the red stripe.

Julio later moved on to the presidency of Independiente, and in 1979 made the move into the role he holds to this day – president of AFA. But it wasn’t just Grondona who moved onwards and upwards, so too did the club that he founded 53 years ago.

After wallowing in the lower divisions, then gradually working their way up, Arsenal gained promotion to the top flight in 2002. Jorge Burruchaga, the clubs most successful youth team product who returned to coach the side and take them to the first division, said he shouted more when the *rse won promotion than when he won the World Cup with Argentina.

The crowning moment in Arsenal’s history came in 2007, when the side beat Club America in the final of the Copa Sudamericana to win on away goals.

But just three points off the top, Arsenal are now in with the chance of becoming the latest ‘surprise package’ in Argentina.

In recent years, Argentinos Juniors – current holders, Banfield, Lanús, are just a few examples of ‘modest’ clubs to have won the league title. Tigre, Huracán and Godoy Cruz have all come close.

And should Estudiantes and Vélez cancel each other out on Friday, Arsenal could go joint-top of the table this weekend.

Gustavo Alfaro, who won the Sudamericana with the club in 2007, returned as coach this year and looked to build up a team that hid it's defects. “This is down to everyone,’ he said this week speaking about the side's position in the league, ‘from the players, the coaching staff and the board to the kit men.’ But Alfaro is playing the classic underdog card in the title race. ‘It is up to Vélez and Estudiantes, who have the responsibility here. We are just onlookers.’

At one stage in the season, Arsenal seemed content to do just that – look on and let things happen. Against River at the Monumental a few weeks ago, Arsenal started to kill time with less than 10 minutes on the clock. There would be no initiative. A point would do, and if we can grab one on the counter then great, seemed to be the plan.

But last weekend they showed that they could take games to their opposition too. They may have only been playing Gimnasia, deep in the relegation battle, but twice Arsenal found themselves behind, twice they pulled it back and when it counted, right at the death, they took the lead and all three points.

Working against Arsenal is the fact that with Estudiantes and Vélez out of the Sudamericana, both are now focusing solely on the league. Arsenal might push the two of them to the death, just don’t expect to hear too much about it.

River turn tables on Boca - sort of...

Joel Richards — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:30:00 GMT

A little over a year and a half ago, Boca brushed off the challenge of San Lorenzo and Tigre to win the Apertura 2008.

The title win was historic for two reasons: first, because they won a historic three-way playoff to win the championship, and second, because down at the other end of the table were River Plate. For the first time ever, Boca were first, while River were 20th.

After matchday three of the Apertura ’10, the tables have turned.

Pedants will choose to point out that River are not actually top of the table, and Boca are not actually bottom, but the point remains. River are second to Vélez having conceded one more goal, while Boca are joint second-bottom. Unlike Tigre, they have one point.

Neither league position tells the whole story, but in the case of Boca, the excrement is well within touching distance of the fan. And rather than pesky foreign bloggers, or even the excitable local journalists suggesting the coach should get the sack, it was the coach himself who, on Sunday, declared that next weekend’s match is make or break.

Claudio Borghi - feeling the pressure...

‘The game against Vélez will determine it,’ said Claudio Borghi about whether he will stay on, after seeing his side lose to All Boys.
Just four matches in, Boca could be looking for a new coach.

It’s true that at the weekend they lost to a newly promoted team who, on paper, had home advantage but in fact were not even playing at their own ground. It’s also true that Boca showed little, or no sign whatsoever of turning around the two-goal deficit that All Boys took into the break. It was also the second consecutive defeat. And the three-at-the-back doesn’t seem to be working too well yet. But it is still far too early to walk out.

All the same, Borghi says he’ll leave if the side does not win next weekend. As opponents go, facing Vélez right now is as hard a game as you can get in Argentina. It is certainly not the game to place your future employment on if you want to keep your job.

The board insist they are not looking for replacements, ‘but we are worried because we spent a lot on signings,’ said Boca’s vice president, José Beraldi.

Borghi spent $10 million on new signings – a fortune for broke Argentine clubs, even Boca – yet all of those players brought in looked like good signings. And Borghi joined Boca over the close-season as the title-winning coach, having lead Argentinos Juniors to win the Clausura. There are promising youngsters ready for a taste of top flight football. Boca were not meant to have taken one point from nine.

Riquelme said he hopes Borghi is still in charge when he returns to action. Palermo also backed Borghi, but admitted that Boca ‘have lost the respect of other teams.’
If Borghi does decide to walk next weekend, he will be the shortest-serving coach at Boca in 30 years.

Old mates Palermo and Riquelme have both backed Borghi

Across town, Angel Cappa has managed something that no man has managed since the current president, Daniel Passarella, last managed the team. River have won three consecutive matches.

Those nine points don’t mean that River are out of trouble, because as things stand the millionaires are still primed to fight out the relegation playoff. But the three wins have calmed nerves, and while some are getting carried away talking about winning the title, the club should avoid the drop.

All the more remarkable about the weekend’s 3-2 win over Independiente was that none of River’s attacking players were above the age of 22. Diego Buonanotte was the veteran. 17-year-old Manuel Lanzini replaced the suspended Ariel Ortega confidently, while 19 year old Gabriel Funes Mori grabbed his second, and third goal of the season. Sure, the second one came of his shin and then onto his foot, plus he was offside, but nobody at River is complaining.

By the same token, nobody is kidding themselves. The relegation table is still ominously looming over them. River, much like against Huracán last week, didn’t play a convincing full 90 minutes against the Rojo – but they did manage to capitalise when they were in control, and became the Argentine side this season to score three goals in one game.

River did it in 16 minutes. Cappa still needs to get River performing for a full 90 minutes to start talking about winning the title, but if they need an extra motivation, a quick look down the table might help.

Results

Banfield 0-0 Estudiantes
Newell’s 2-0 Tigre
Quilmes 1-1 Lanús
Vélez 2-0 Argentinos
Godoy Cruz 1-0 Olimpo
Racing 1-2 San Lorenzo
Gimnasia 0-0 Colón
River 3-2 Independiente
Arsenal 2-0 Huracán
All Boys 2-0 Boca

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The Tiger, the circus and the referees

Joel Richards — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:05:00 GMT

'El que no llora no mama’ – ‘don’t ask, don’t get’

Vélez coach Ricardo ‘el Tigre’ Gareca had a moment this week that verged on the ‘I’m not a racist, but…’ Now, there may have been no Big Ron-isms from The Tiger, but he did say one thing, only to backtrack right after the comma.

“I have great respect for Argentine referees,” said Gareca, adding that everyone makes mistakes and he has nothing personal against the men in black, nicely setting himself up for the big BUT…

“…but Vélez is mixed up in a strange situation.”

According to Gareca, the situation is this - Vélez are being victimised for winning the league title a year ago.

The provocation for this outburst came just a few days back. Vélez were beating Racing 1-0, before their youngster Ricky Álvarez was sent off for dissent in the 68th minute.

Seven minutes later Racing equalised. Two minutes after that the Academy took the lead. And five minutes after taking the lead, they extended that lead to 3-1.

The game was total chaos. Rubber bullets were unleashed on the rioting fans up in the stands, while several fans not throwing seats at each other were finding missiles to launch at Vélez players.

Gareca was convinced everything was going against his side. It was only when he saw the blood pouring down Matías Cahais’ face that he accepted that Racing weren’t just time-wasting.

After being sent of by Javier Collado for dissent, Gareca took little time to suggest that there is an anti-Vélez campaign under way and his side are being punished.

Technically speaking, it is Gabriel Brazenas who is being punished. He has not taken charge of a game in nine months, or, to be precise, since the game in which Vélez were crowned league champions.

Brazenas was the referee who didn’t award Huracán a free-kick for a blatant full-studded foul on their keeper, and while their stopper laid sprawled out on the pitch, Vélez grabbed the winner, and the title.

For many, Huracán were robbed of the league title, but Gareca is having none of it. ‘We won the title legitimately, we were the best side with the best record,’ he argued this week, before returning to the theme of his criticism. ‘There are rules that need to be followed, or else this will turn into a Roman Circus.’

Gareca is not alone in thinking something is up with the referees. Lanús may have grabbed a point against Cólon at the weekend, but the club are far from happy with the ref from that game either.

“Why do you want my opinion, if you all saw what happened out there?” asked Luis Zubeldía after the game, before giving his opinion anyway. “The last three times Faraoni has refereed Colón he’s given them four penalties,” he shrugged.

Cólon’s penalty was a clear dive from Esteben Fuertes, while Lanús were denied a spot kick themselves.

Zubeldía’s boss, Lanús president Nicolás Russo, was furious afterwards. “You all saw the penalty they were given, and the one we were not given. It’s a disgrace.”

Also harrumphing after the weekend were River and Boca, both denied stonewall penalties.

It should come as some comfort, then, that all four clubs have some semblance of justice. Boca, River and Lanús’s subjects of complaint have all been ‘not designated’ by AFA this weekend.

Vélez’ object of ire has just been relegated, and takes charge of a second division game this weekend.

El que no llora…

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