There weren't too many high points in Sunday's super, truth be told, but what the match did have was two fine goals from two veterans of the Argentine football scene. You can see Martín Palermo's smart turn and thirty-yard rocket, and Marcelo Gallardo's twenty-five yard free kick (he changed his mind about which side of... Continue Reading →
Boca Juniors vs River Plate: live updates
Each team will make one major change to the starting XIs posted here on HEGS a few hours ago. Injury keeps Juan Román Riquelme out of the Boca Juniors lineup; his place will be taken by Osvaldo Gaitán. Radamel Falcao García, meanwhile, has been passed fit by River's medics, so Diego Buonanotte makes way and... Continue Reading →
Superclásico Clausura 2009: Expected starting lineups
Sunday, 19th April sees what might be an historic clash in La Bombonera between Boca Juniors and River Plate. If Julio Grondona gets his (and the only rule that's ever followed in Argentine football is that what Don Julio wants, Don Julio gets) this will be the last superclásico of the 'short tournament' era. Juan Román... Continue Reading →
Copa Libertadores 2009: catching up on the goals
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... Continue Reading →
Copa Libertadores 2009: Deportivo Táchira 0 – 1 Boca Juniors
Copa Libertadores favourites Boca Juniors looked like they were heading for a draw with Deportivo Táchira in an away encounter in Venezuela which was proving a little trickier than they'd expected. Three minutes from the end, though, Luciano Figueroa gave them the three points with a headed goal which you can see right here... Copa... Continue Reading →
Torneo Clausura 2009
At long last, after a summer of transfer bore-stories and ridiculous friendly matches which are only 70 or 80 minutes long, real league football returns to the Argentine Republic on Friday night. Following the most closely-fought championship in short tournament history, the defending champions are a familiar name, but that's no reason to assume it'll... Continue Reading →
Sudamericano goals, and some summer scores
It's been a busy few days for Sergio Batista's Under 20 team in Venezeula whilst I've been away. Two more group matches have yielded four points in spite of underwhelming performances - you can see highlights of both games here. In Mar del Plata on Saturday, Boca Juniors beat River Plate in the year's first... Continue Reading →
Boca’s kids beat Independiente
The latest Torneo de Verano match was up in Argentina's Andean northwest, and the Salta crowd saw a Boca reserve side take on an Independiente team still struggling to regain the cohesion of the 4-0 win over Racing in the summer's first match. Boca won 2-0. Carlos Ischia was keeping back Boca's first string for... Continue Reading →
Boca dominate, but can’t score
Argentine champions Boca Juniors sent out a mostly reserve side for their first match of 2009, but were still by far the better team against San Lorenzo in Mar del Plata. All the same they couldn't find a way past the Cuervo backline. Earlier on Saturday, in Sao Paulo, Estudiantes got battered 5-1 by Corinthians.... Continue Reading →
Consolidating to move forward
Boca Juniors, the newly-crowned champions of Argentina, have been doing bit of re-jigging, but the key man will be very familiar to them. Monday brought confirmation that title-winning coach Carlos Ischia will be staying for another year, after signing an extension to his contract. The long-awaited comeback of another manager who's had a teensy bit... Continue Reading →