Clausura '09 (Arg league)

[Golden_Boy™]

Huracán 38 pts
Velez 37 pts
Lanús 35 pts
Colón 34 pts

Huracan vs Velez next week ;D

I agree with you about Pastore, Sam. He's been a revelation, wonder where he will be come next season though, as he is only on loan.

Zuculini has joined Hoffenheim if you didn't know btw!

[Golden_Boy™]

No - Pastore mate

"He is still registered as a Talleres player but his contract with the club runs out in June and he will be a free agent."

I've heard he is owned by three parties but not 100% sure on that. If true that sure could be interesting!

[Golden_Boy™]

Jun 22, 2009 16:42:22 GMT -1 IWEDFM said:

Jun 22, 2009 16:32:22 GMT -1 Golden_Boy™ said:

No - Pastore mate

"He is still registered as a Talleres player but his contract with the club runs out in June and he will be a free agent."

I've heard he is owned by three parties but not 100% sure on that. If true that sure could be interesting!

Ah you might be right then ;D

It's quite common here for players to be owned by more than one club

Course I'm right

Yeah, it is. But not to be owned by three parties!

[Golden_Boy™]

Surprise team Huracan beat Arsenal 3-0 at home on Sunday to set up an Argentine Clausura championship decider against Velez Sarsfield next weekend.

Big guns River Plate and Boca Juniors both lost, Boca 2-1 at home to Gimnasia-La Plata under reserves coach Abel Alves before the expected return next week of Alfio Basile following the sacking of Carlos Ischia. Huracan snatched the lead in the standings by one point from Velez, who were held 1-1 at Lanus, the other team who began the day with a chance of lifting the title but have dropped out of the picture.

Arsenal were a man short for more than an hour after midfielder Cristian Pellerano was sent off for a second booking and striker Mario Bolatti headed Huracan in front shortly before half-time. Two goals in the final nine minutes sealed the win. Patricio Toranzo shot into the roof of the net from Javier Pastore's low left cross and less than two minutes later Matias Defederico, who recently won his first Argentina cap, raced between two defenders to steer home the third.

A draw at Velez will be enough for the title to go to Huracan, a modest club who have had little to cheer about since Cesar Luis Menotti steered them to their only championship in 1973 before taking charge of Argentina and leading them to FIFA World Cup™ victory in 1978.

Velez, looking for their sixth league title and first since 2005, have the credentials to spoil Huracan's ambitions with the best defence and only one defeat in 18 matches. They fell behind at Lanus to a goal by Jose Sand and had midfielder Fabian Cubero sent off in the 48th minute but equalised with a 69th-minute penalty by Uruguayan striker Rodrigo Lopez.

Inspirational team
Huracan, who have suffered relegation since their glory days but can boast the great Alfredo di Stefano among their former players, are coached by Angel Cappa, a Spain-based Argentine who espouses the same attacking ideals as Menotti. His young team have reduced older fans to tears with their spontaneous style and goals that have made them the most prolific team of the championship.

At Boca's Bombonera stadium, Gimnasia took a surprise lead after only three minutes with a headed goal by Uruguayan forward Diego Alonso. Boca equalised with a penalty by veteran striker Martin Palermo close to half-time but Gimnasia snatched victory with defender Ariel Aguero's header in the 54th minute.

Boca, defending champions having won the Apertura tournament in December, have 19 points, half the number of Huracan. Sixth-placed River's 1-0 loss at Godoy Cruz to a ninth-minute goal by Ivan Borghello helped the home side stay clear of the relegation positions.

[Golden_Boy™]

Two Dead As Huracan Barrabravas Clash

A violent confrontation between fans from the same club ended in two deaths...

[/b]

Two fans were killed and another four were injured, as two different sectors of the Huracan barrabrava fought for leadership of the club's fans.

The incident took place after the Argentine league game between Huracan and Arsenal de Sarandi on Sunday. Huracan won 3-0 at the Parque de los Patricios and are one win away from the Argentine Clausura championship.

The fans from Huracan - "La Zabaleta" and the "Placita de Jose C. Paz" - clashed, and the dispute ended with five people injured from gun shots and knife wounds, one of whom died in hospital.

Later in the night Angela Toscano, the director of the "Penna" hospital, confirmed that they treated six people after the violence between the barrabravas, which left "two dead". The other four will be "under observation."

A doctor at the hospital said that the two deceased were a man who arrived at the hospital already dead "with a gun wound close to his heart" and the other, a 30 year old, "with a gun wound in the throat and the abdomen."

It seems that violence has become an integral part of Argentine football, and despite security measures, as was the case on Sunday, much of the violence takes place outside of the stadium.

[/quote]

[Golden_Boy™]

Huracan All Set For Clausura Showdown With Velez On Sunday

"What one Velez player is worth is Huracan's budget for two years. But in football terms, we are equal." - the words of Huracan coach Angel Cappa ahead of their upcoming Clausura championship title decider away to Velez on Sunday.

Sitting one point ahead of Velez at the top, anything but defeat would cap off a fantastic season for the small club from Buenos Aires and give Quemeros [the burners] their first ever league title under the current Apertura/Clausura system, the clubs only previous league title was the old ‘Metropolitano’ in 1973.

At 62, Cappa, the former Assistant Manager of both Real Madrid and Barcelona, has packed his side full of youngsters and loan deals and will go into Sundays match, the biggest in the clubs history, in sparkling form having won 9 of their last 10 games.

Huracan have been this seasons revelation in Argentina, knitted together on a shoestring budget, they have taken the league by storm with their brand of exciting, attacking football. Mario Bolatti was brought in from FC Porto on loan and has been a rock in the midfield and 19 year-old forward Matias De Federico’s performances have been earned him the burden of being dubbed “the new Messi”, but the real star has been 20 year-old attacking midfielder Javier Pastore.

After appearing against Huracan at under-18 level for his club Talleres de Córdoba, Huracan President, Carlos Babington, was so eager to sign Pastore that he went to one of South America’s many ‘investment groups’ to secure a $200,000 loan to purchase 50% of the players registration.

Pastore’s performances over the course of this season have attracted some of the biggest clubs in Europe, not least Manchester United. Despite praising the youngsters’ performances, Cappa is determined not to let him get carried away with all the hype, ‘He is still developing so he needs to harness that ability and adjust it to work as part of a team.’

The stand-out result of Quemeros’ season so far was the 4-0 annihilation of River Plate in which Pastore starred, setting up two goals and grabbing a brace for himself.

Velez come into the game knowing nothing less than a home victory will secure the title, and with three wins and a draw in their last four games, are in fine form themselves. Despite only managing a 1-1 draw with Lanus last week, Velez manager Ricardo Gareca remains confident. Speaking after the game in which Velez played nearly the whole of the second half with just ten men, he said "If I analyse the match, I think Velez played a great game. Because of this I'm satisfied with our character, and with the level of football that Velez demonstrated."

With the build-up to Sundays showdown reaching fever pitch, Gareca stressed the importance of being mentally prepared. "The mental aspect is the most important of all in these kinds of decisive matches," he said, "The team that are strongest mentally will win." Velez will look to striker Hernan Rodrigo, who is the leagues top scorer at present with 11 goals, for inspiration in what is sure to be an enthralling climax to the season.

[Golden_Boy™]

Match Report Here

Like Sam - I'm still taking it in, one of the best games I've seen for a fair while! ;D

[Golden_Boy™]

Some Granny



Proof, if needed that health and safety is fine in Argentine football.

[ovechkin8]

Shame Huracan did not win it. They played super football.

Any news on de Federico Sam ,now that Pastore has gone to Palermo (wont be picked thanks to the idiot Diego) and Forlin has gone prematurely to Espanyol along with Munoz to Fiorentina ?

[Golden_Boy™]

Corinthians are going for the Copa Libertadores big style.

Ronaldo will wear the number 100 on the back of his shirt next year to signify Corinthians centenary year.

In the case of Falcao, it was about time he made the move across the Atlantic, I think. Same with Palacio, they are unlike the teenagers you hear of making the move very early. The Montenegro move surprised me though, he was talked about as one of the replacement for JRR in the NT, and with him moving to Mexico you'd imagine he possibly won't get much of a shout. Andujar however, was a decent move, he's one of the keepers in with a shout of making the number 1 gk spot his own. Hopefully he and the others will progress well.