Nacional victorious again - Dream start complete

Celebrating another goal: Nacional win their second game of the season as well. (Photo: Nacional Twitter)

Noone really knew where the club stood, not even after the first week of action in Uruguay's Primera División. After opening the Clausura with a 3-0 win over Villa Teresa, Nacional followed it up with another 3-0 away win, this time against Copa Libertadores participant River Plate.

One man stole the show throughout the 90 minutes: Nicolas López. He already convinced a week ago (see last match report), but this week he was on another level. A hattrick was the end result of a fantastic performance that might make the quick people ask who that Iván Alonso guy was. 

Kidding, we are not that far yet. But the start could not have gone any brighter for the 22-year old, who rejoined his youth club on loan from Udinese Calcio. The bottom line are 4 goals and an assist in just two games. 

During the week, the club signed central striker Léo Gamalho from Avaí, but the Brazilian will have an impossible mission to get into the first XI, if López keeps his form going. Especially considering the strong Copa Libertadores group Nacional got drawn into, any offensive strengths will be well-needed.

But not only López could convince the supporters. Jorge Fucile was very active on his right full-back position and continued being a threat going forward. The right side was the focal point of Nacional's attack for large parts, particularly in the first half. 

On the left side, Kevin Ramírez was not as strong as last week and could not get by defenders as effortlessly. Granted, River's backline is probably another quality compared to Villa Teresa's. On the back end, left-back Olivera had a fine game. After some time, he even commited to some attacking attempts. He can build on today.

One of the main problems last week was Mauricio Victorino after entering the pitch. He continued his shocking form today for a while, as River started to find their legs after going down 0-2 quickly. Misplaced passes, wrong positioning, all the good stuff you don't want to see from an experienced centre-back. Luckily he improved as the game progressed and in the second half, he had a fine outing next to the ever-consistent captain Diego Polenta.

Overall, the 3-0 win this week can be rated much higher than the opening one a week ago. Not only the competition was better, Nacional's performance was a massive step in the right direction. A win that could have ended up even higher, as countless chances went astray, notably through midfield engine Colo Romero.

Nacional are hosting Montevideo Wanderers in the Gran Parque Central next weekend, while River Plate are facing Palmeiras in the Copa Libertadores midweek.

Follow @germancopablog

Read More

Party in Santa Fe - Primera División Argentina

Colón celebrate their perfect start (photo from alejandrahoy.com)

Friday night and the Argentinian league table is showing an unusual picture. After splitting the Primera División into two zones for 2016, both of them are being led by teams out of Santa Fe. 

The country was being bullied by a heat wave, but that didn't stop the league from playing on Friday evening. Four games were on tap and not everything went as you would expect it to. 

Banfield travelled to Arsenal de Sarandi to build on their home win a week ago and go top of their zone. The first half was pretty dreadful despite the visitors having the majority of possession. After coming back out for the second 45 minutes, Banfield even managed to take the lead through Sarmiento's ball from distance that slipped through. 

It held for only 7 minutes. The introduction of Sánchez Sotelo changed everything. He scored the equaliser in the 69th minute, followed up by a direct freekick from Gabriel Sanabria. All of a sudden, Arsenal were in control and added another one through Sánchez Sotelo's second. Banfield's defense did not convince in this second half and will need to improve tremendously before hosting Quilmes on Tuesday. 

Talking of Quilmes. After their trashing at the hands of River last weekend, things did not brighten up for the club. Visiting Colón won 2-4 and went top of Zone A. It impressively showed where Quilmes are struggling, with now 9 goals against in just two games. 

Things were still okay by halftime, as the score was tied at one after goals from Franco Mazurek for Colón and Ezequiel Rescaldani for Quilmes. Post-break, the hosts fell apart at the back, allowing three straight goals from Pablo Ledesma twice and sub Nicolas Silva. Rescaldani could only counter with a penalty when it was too late. Belgrano at home will be the next opponent of Santa Fe's Colón who started perfectly with 6 out of 6 points.

The star until Claudio Riaño took over.

Local rival Unión de Santa Fe was successful on Friday as well and moved into top position of Zone B. The game was solely entertaining due to a dog running across the pitch and a broken net. Until Unión started to score in the second half anyway. After Temperley drew with Boca to start their year, Claudio Riaño proved unstoppable for the relegation candidate. 

Unión's number 9 scored twice and now leads the league with 3 goals from 2 games already. Malcorra should eventually add a third goal via a direct freekick. A massively deserved win for the home team, considering their improved effort in the second half and the superior quality chances. 

Independiente could not follow up their opening win with three points away at Godoy Cruz. Despite new signing Germàn Denis giving La Roja an early 5th minute lead with a well executed attack, the lead only lasted for 12 minutes. A dreadful defensive error led to Santiago Garcia's equaliser. 

Godoy Cruz continued to dominate the game chance wise, while having the disadvantage regarding possession statistics. Still, they would have deserved the win and even had a one man advantage for ten minutes at the end. Leandro Miguel Fernandez was sent off for his second yellow card and will miss Independiente's home game against Rosario Central. Godoy Cruz is going to El Monumental with at least one point in the bag. 

Here are all the goals, so far:

Follow @germancopablog

Read More

Big games in matchweek 2 - Argentina

Matchweek 2 of 16 in Argentina's Primera División has quite a lot good games to offer this weekend. After the shocking result in the Argentine Supercopa (Boca 0-4 San Lorenzo), a lot of eyes are on Rodolfo Arruabarrena, as his team Boca hosts newly promoted Atlético Tucumán.

They won the double, they were one of the big favourites to start in all competitions, but 2016 has not been good to Boca Juniors yet. As the wait for a goal reached five games with last night's humiliation, the pressure turns onto the team and coach Arruabarrena. It is quite mindblowing that a team including the likes of Carlos Tévez and Dani Osvaldo is not able to score any goals. 

Will Atlético Tucumán come at the right time for them? They played an extremely strong opener against Racing in the process of beating the heavy favourites, 2-1. Now, the pressure is off ahead of the visit to the Bombonera, because all eyes will be on the struggling title defenders. If everything goes normal, Boca gets back on track, but who expected Tucumán to beat Racing after all?

Undoubtedly an even bigger game will be played between Rosario Central and Newell's Old Boys this weekend. The Clásico between the two rivals is this week's interzonal matchup. While it's safe to say, that we can expect a heated atmosphere, the difference between the clubs could not be much bigger right now. Rosario is on top of things, played for both titles last year, and won their season opener relatively comfortable. 

NOB on the other hand are struggling in the table's midfield, lost away to San Martín last week. Right now, this team won't challenge for anything and have not beaten their foes in the last 5 games either. Everything speaks for a home win.

River, after starting the season in tremendous fashion, have a tough trip ahead of them this weekend. It is never much fun to play away against Belgrano, who defend well. Only a late 86 minute winner saw them drop their opener to Independiente. 

For the visitors, returning star midfielder Andres D'Alessandro could make his entry onto the pitch for the first time in many years. In general, they have so much quality up front, that it will be interesting to see who coach Marcelo Gallardo leaves on the bench to start with. 

After Huracán's bus crash on their way back from the Copa Libertadores leg in Caracas, the match from El Globo against Tigre has been called off. Obviously, most players were under shock and unable to play.

Here is a complete overview of what's to expect in matchweek 2:

Follow @germancopablog

Read More

River trash helpless Quilmes - Second half show

Gonzalo Martínez (photo from taringa.net)

Yesterday evening, the previously postponed match between Copa Libertadores champions River Plate and Quilmes was finally played to start the season for each team. Here is how it went.

In general, you can say it was a typical game of two halves. A relatively slow start with a lot of help from the referee led to River's opening goal, a penalty from Rodrigo Mora. While the spotkick itself was pretty questionable (Alario went flying), Mora missed on his first attempt. A Quilmes player had run a yard into the area during the attempt. It was an extremely harsh decision by the linesman who had raised his flag. 

During the second try, the same thing happened, but this time Mora blasted it into the top corner and the goal stood. River took the decision that went their way happily and could continue playing with the lead. 

However, Quilmes responded with angry attacks of their own, pressurizing the hosts in El Monumental. After a total defensive disaster in River's back four, they got the equalizing goal through Sébastian Romero. There was nothing that goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero could have done about it.

Instead, he came up big shortly after, making an outstanding save low to his left. The speed with which he reached the pitch was impressive. Keeping his team in a tied game, young super talent Gonzalo "Pity" Martínez bailed his team out with a superb strike right before halftime. From 25 yards out, his shot found the back of the net over the helpless hands of Quilmes' Walter Benítez. 

This goal seemed to change a lot momentum wise among both teams, as River came out firing out of all cylinders to begin the second half. Pity Martínez was wide open on the edge of the 6-yard box and fired home another one in the 52nd minute. 

Rodrigo Braña completely put the game to bed then. Quilmes' captain came up with an unbelievably stupid and hard foul on the sideline and rightly received a straight red card for his efforts. 

The home team got going even more then and scored another two for a final result of 5-1. Rodrigo Mora with his second and Lucas Alario were the goalscorers in minute 60 and 72. Alario's goal profited from an offside position of assist man Iván Alonso, who celebrated his River debut after arriving from Uruguay's Nacional.

A few more good chances could have seen the game end with an even higher result, but the bottom line is that River fully deserved this after their second half performance. Especially Gabriel Mercado with his overlapping runs on the right and Nicolás Bertolo in midfield stood out aside from the strikers.

River are visiting Belgrano next week, while Quilmes host Colón.

Elsewhere: CA Lanús won away at Estudiantes, 0-1 (Goal: Román Martínez). Sarmiento celebrated a 1-0 home win over Vélez Sarsfield (Goal: Carlos Bueno).

Follow @germancopablog

Read More

Mixed success for big teams - Argentina Roundup

Rosario Central's Hinchada was more than ready for the season to start.

It was finally time for the Argentine league to start its new season this weekend. While some smaller teams surprised, the big ones collected pretty mixed results. 

Rosario Central, who were in the title race until the very end and lost the cup final in unlucky fashion, started the season off with a victory. In the absence of top striker Marco Ruben, 34-year old Cesar Delgado stepped up and scored the only goal of the game against Godoy Cruz. The visitors were held without a single shot on target and therefore deserved the loss against the heavy favourites. Central dominated and celebrate a successful start to the season.

Meanwhile, the first goal of the season was scored by Banfield's captain Walter Erviti. The experienced midfielder opened the goalscoring in the ninth minute and initiated the home win against Gimnasia y Esgrima. Lihue Prichoda added the second and final goal of the game 7 minutes from the end. Banfield outshot and outchanced their opponents and rightly positioned themselves at the top of the league during the first night.

Huracán had a tougher outing at home against Atlético Rafaela. The Copa Sudamericana finalist and Rafaela contested a pretty even match and an own goal made the difference on the day. Mauro Bogado left his goalkeeper Diaz no chance in the 25th minute. While the home team had the chance to tie the game in a second half pressure period, they could not do so and find themselves towards the bottom of the Primera Division to start with. 

Largely anticipated was the Clásico in week 1 between Aldosivi and Olimpo. It turned out to be a relatively one-sided affair after all. Aldosivi left their guests no chance and beat them convincingly, 3-0. Key moment of the game was the sending-off for Olimpo's left midfielder Elias Borrego. He received his second yellow card for a foul inside the area, the following penalty was converted by Gaston Diaz in the 71st minute. Santiago Rosales and Alexis Castro should add two further goals to reach the final score.

Happy looks different: Boca players after a 0-0 draw at Temperley.

Defending double champions Boca Juniors disappointed despite having the majority of shots away at Temperley. A game that ended in a goalless draw was never something for the eyes despite the involvement of the likes of Carlos Tevez or Nicolas Lodeiro. Boca surely had imagined their title defense campaign to start differently. 

The same can likely be said about San Lorenzo. Newly promoted Patronato held them to a 2-2 draw, which was at times even lucky for the favourites. San Lorenzo conceded early goals in each half, through Fernando Telechea after 12 and through Fernando Emmanuel de la Fuente after 48 minutes. Striker Leandro Romagnoli via direct freekick in added time of the first half and Nestor Ortigoza via penalty in the 66th tied the game respectively. Patronato were delighted with their start, gaining a point that was not necessarily to be expected.

Argentinos Juniors also came back from a one goal deficit. After Jose Correa gave Tigre a 17th minute lead, Luciano Cabral equalised in the 73rd. Visiting Tigre had the better chances throughout the game and an away win would not have been undeserved.

Elsewhere, San Martín started the season with a victory over the iconic Newell's Old Boys. The visitors did not have a good year to end 2015 as well and 2016 does not start any better. Not only did they lose the game, 2-1, but also substitute Diego Mancini, who was sent off with a straight red card late in the game. Emanuel Dening and Juan Francisco Mattia gave San Martín a 2-0 lead, before new signing Lucas Boye cut the lead in half in injury time.

On Sunday, another shock result: Primera B champions and freshly promoted Atlético Tucuman were able to beat title contenders Racing Club at home. It was not undeserved. A goal from Fernando Zampedri gave the hosts the lead in the 20th minute, doubled by Leandro Gonzalez right after the start of the second half. While Gustavo Bou got one back at the hour mark, it was all that Racing were able to accomplish in the electric atmosphere. Not only that, but they also lost Yonatan Cabral due to his second yellow card in injury time. Their defending and especially goalkeeping needs to step it up for them to have any chance to win games.

Talking of title contenders, Independiente left it late to beat Belgrano in the Libertadores stadium. Emiliano Rigoni scored the only goal of the game in the 86th minute. It was all there is to write about this game, as it was quite the poor one. The Argentine rain made this match a tough one and led to very few chances on either side.

No game possible: River's Monumental stadium.

Rain. River Plate and Quilmes had their opening match postponed to Monday (11pm CET). Torrential rain inside the Monumental led to a delay first, until the referee decided it no longer made sense, because playing was just impossible.

Nicolas Stefanelli and Agustin Bouzat gave their team Defensa y Justicia a 2-0 half time lead against the visiting Unión de Santa Fe. Unfortunately for Defensa, that would not be enough for the win. Malcorra through penalty in the 56th and the added time equaliser after a corner from Claudio Riaño tied the game up late and let Unión steal an unlikely point.

Lastly, Uníon's local rival Colón were at home against Arsenal. This game, most likely, saw the best goal of match week 1, through Alan Ruiz. The Argentine striker was the figure of this meeting anyway, scoring twice for his team before being sent off in the second half with a straight red card. While the game itself was relatively even shot and chance wise, Ruiz made the difference. Arsenal could only counter once at 90+2 through Joaquin Boghossian. They start their campaign off with a loss, but showed some promise at times to have a better season than in 2015.

Follow @germancopablog

Photo note: all pictures taken from infobae.com.

Read More

Nacional win 3:0 - Many answers, but questions remain

Nico López celebrates his goal against Villa Teresa. (photo from @nacional)

Uruguay's record champions Club Nacional de Football started into the Clausura yesterday. A 3-0 win over Villa Teresa was mostly comfortable, but some parts of the game left supporters and experts doubtful concerning this team. 

Nacional will most likely open the new season as second in the league. So far, so good. Goals from Santiago Romero, Leandro Barcia and Nico López gave the visitors a 0-3 victory in Maldonado. Still, not everything that shines is also gold. 

Especially the injury of Erik Cabaco in his debut for the club could hurt assuming he is out longer. He instantly had to be taken off towards the end of the first half, being replaced by experienced returnee and former Uruguayan international Mauricio Victorino. 

Victorino himself did not look good at all. He gave the ball away easily way too many times, had problems with his timing and accuracy. His colleague and new team captain Diego Polenta had to help out several times to ensure defensive safety. Not even the calming influence of goalkeeper Esteban Conde seemed to do him any good. 

If you want to look at bright sides in the game, look no further than new central striker Nico López. After he could not fully break through in Europe, he returned to Nacional until at least June, and did just fine. He scored a goal, finishing clinically. One more time, he was through on goal, but just offside. No doubt, that he would have finished that one as well, as he was by the goalkeeper already.

New left winger Kevin Ramírez convinced for the most part as well. He knows the league well coming from Montevideo Wanderers and looks to fill one of the Apertura's gaping holes. He's speedy and tricky and showed just that on the pitch, even if not everything he tried worked out.

In the long run, you can well wonder, if the rather diminuative front 3 have got what it takes for all situations. Especially when falling behind and increased amounts of long balls are a mean, they do not look like the prime option to play with. Maybe Juan Mascia's role will improve when Nacional find themselves in such positions.

Meanwhile, Santiago "Colo" Romero was his usual effective self, even getting on the scoresheet once again. He cleans up where there isn't even anything to clean up. Defensive midfield colleague Gonzalo Porras was not as strong, but good, in a performance that was enough to get by pretty weak opposition. 

Without the individual mistakes at the back, Nacional's overall performance was not great, but pretty solid, particularly in the second half.

Next week, Nacional will visit River Plate, who will have played again during midweek in the Copa Libertadores first round. A tired opponent, maybe?

Make sure you follow Germancopa on Twitter for all live updates and to never miss any post. 

Follow @germancopablog

Read More

Questionable CONMEBOL verdict on Boca Juniors & Co.

Today, the South American football association CONMEBOL has reduced multiple sanctions for clubs and players significantly. This has been justified with it being the "centenary year" of the organization.

The serious pepper gas incidents in last year's Copa Libertadores round of 16 Superclásico are still in a lot of peoples minds. Boca was originally handed a 4 game both home and away fan ban, as well as a $200.000 fine. 

This has been heavily recuded with today's decision by CONMEBOL. Following the inaugeration of the new authorities, the Argentine club will only be forced to play behind closed doors once. Away fans are not allowed for just one game as well. For Boca, this concerns the opening visit to Deportivo Cali and the home game against the winner of Puebla vs Racing Club.

Scenes from last year's Superclásico (photo from worldsoccer.com)

In the process of the questionable judgment, the Uruguayan vice president of the Disciplinary Tribunal, Leiza Adrián Zunino, stepped down from his position. 

"I think it is illegitimate. There is an interference of politics. I will resign, because I don't agree with this and can not be in a place where we don't share the same positions." - Zunino

Should you create a possible precedent in (South American) football, only because it's the 100th birthday of CONMEBOL? In times of organizational scandals, it was probably not the smartest decision to make. If there was any credibility left, what does this do to it?

Not only Boca profit from the decision, multiple other clubs and players are on the plus side as well, including Rosario Central, Iván Alonso or Sébastian Saja.

Read More