Lujos: Claudio Borghi & Hugo Rubio nearly score a brilliant goal
In 1992 Argentine forward Claudio Borghi joined Chilean side Colo-Colo, despite only staying for one season he became an icon at the club and returned to manage the side in 2006 leading them to four consecutive league titles. Back in 1992 he was involved in this incredible move in a game against Palestino which nearly resulted in one of the best goals ever, however Hugo Rubio's volley hit the bar.
CONMEBOL roundup: Final round-up December 2010
This is the last round up of events in 2010, for all final league standings, championship playoffs and liguillas for the 8 other nations in CONMEBOL.
For the final results in Argentina and Brazil follow the links below.
Argentina final standings
Brazil final standings
Action finished at the back end of November with Oriente Petrolero winning their 5th Bolivian league championship. The other Copa Libertadores qualifiers are Jorge Wilstermann and Bolívar.
The Chilean championship concluded with Universidad Cátolica chasing down runaway leaders Colo-Colo to win their 10th Chilean league title. Both sides qualified for the Copa Libertadores 2011. The other qualification place was determined by a qualification playoff (liguilla) which was won by Unión Española.
Everton and San Luis were relegated from the division but both of the sides that had to play in the relegation playoffs (Santiago Morning & Universidad de Concepción) won and kept their places in the top flight.
Liguilla
In Colombia Once Caldas beat Deportes Tolima in the final of the Cluasura tournament to win their 4th league title, both sides qualified to the Copa Libertadores 2011 along with Junior who were the winners of the Apertura tournament.
Cortulua were automatically relegated and Envigado survived their relegation playoff against Deportivo Pasto.
The Ecuadorian final was contested between Liga de Quito and Emelec in a repeat of the 1998 final that LDU won 7-1 on aggregate. Liga won the 2010 version too but by the less grandiose scoreline of 2-1.
Deportivo Quito will join those too sides in the Copa Libertadores after an away goals win against Barcelona Sporting Club after a 3-3 aggregate draw.
Macará and Universidad Cátolica were relegated.
Libertad won the Clausura tournament and join Guaraní in the Copa Libertadores, Cerro Porteño also qualify having accumulated the most points of the non championship winning sides.
Defensor Sporting Club won their third short tournament since 2008, finishing one point ahead of NacionalBella Vista and and two points ahead of massive overachievers El Tanque Sisley. After a dreadful run of results Tacurembo, (the only Primera División team from outside the capital Montevideo) will face a massive fight to stay in the division during the Clausura 2011 tournament.
For the final results in Argentina and Brazil follow the links below.
Argentina final standings
Brazil final standings
Bolivia
Action finished at the back end of November with Oriente Petrolero winning their 5th Bolivian league championship. The other Copa Libertadores qualifiers are Jorge Wilstermann and Bolívar.
Chile
The Chilean championship concluded with Universidad Cátolica chasing down runaway leaders Colo-Colo to win their 10th Chilean league title. Both sides qualified for the Copa Libertadores 2011. The other qualification place was determined by a qualification playoff (liguilla) which was won by Unión Española.
Everton and San Luis were relegated from the division but both of the sides that had to play in the relegation playoffs (Santiago Morning & Universidad de Concepción) won and kept their places in the top flight.
Liguilla
Semi-finals
| 08-12-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Huachipato | 2-1 | Audax Italiano |
| 12-12-10 | ||
| Audax Italiano | 2-0 | Huachipato |
| Winner: Audax Italiano | ||
| 09-12-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Unión Española | 0-0 | Universidad de Chile |
| 12-12-10 | ||
| Universidad de Chile | 1-4 | Unión Española |
| Winner: Unión Española | ||
Final
| 15-12-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Unión Española | 2-1 | Audax Italiano |
| 19-12-10 | ||
| Audax Italiano | 1-1 | Unión Española |
| Winner: Unión Española | ||
Relegation playoffs
| 12-12-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Antofagasta | 2-1 | Santiago Morning |
| 18-12-10 | ||
| Santiago Morning | 3-1 (aet) | Antofagasta |
| Winner: Santiago Morning | ||
| 12-12-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Curicó Unido | 0-2 | Universidad de Concepción |
| 19-12-10 | ||
| Universidad de Concepción | 3-2 | Curicó Unido |
| Winner: Universidad de Concepción | ||
Colombia
In Colombia Once Caldas beat Deportes Tolima in the final of the Cluasura tournament to win their 4th league title, both sides qualified to the Copa Libertadores 2011 along with Junior who were the winners of the Apertura tournament.
Final
| 15-12-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Deportes Tolima | 2-1 | Once Caldas |
| 19-12-10 | ||
| Once Caldas | 3-1 | Deportes Tolima |
| Winner: Once Caldas | ||
Cortulua were automatically relegated and Envigado survived their relegation playoff against Deportivo Pasto.
Relegation playoff
| 12-12-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Deportes Pasto | 0-1 | Envigado |
| 15-12-10 | ||
| Envigado | 2-0 | Deportes Pasto |
| Winner: Envigado | ||
Ecuador
The Ecuadorian final was contested between Liga de Quito and Emelec in a repeat of the 1998 final that LDU won 7-1 on aggregate. Liga won the 2010 version too but by the less grandiose scoreline of 2-1.
Deportivo Quito will join those too sides in the Copa Libertadores after an away goals win against Barcelona Sporting Club after a 3-3 aggregate draw.
Macará and Universidad Cátolica were relegated.
Final
| 05-12-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Liga de Quito | 2-0 | Emelec |
| 12-12-10 | ||
| Emelec | 1-0 | Liga de Quito |
| Winner: Liga de Quito | ||
3rd place playoff
| 04-12-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Deportivo Quito | 2-0 | Barcelona Sporting Club |
| 11-12-10 | ||
| Barcelona Sporting Club | 3-1 | Deportivo Quito |
| Winner: Deportivo Quito | ||
Paraguay
Libertad won the Clausura tournament and join Guaraní in the Copa Libertadores, Cerro Porteño also qualify having accumulated the most points of the non championship winning sides.
Peru
Universidad San Martín won their third Peruvian league title beating León de Huanuco in the final. The first leg of which was marred by a mass brawl. Tim Vickery wrote an interesting article about it on the BBC website.Final
| 08-12-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| León | 1-1 | Universidad San Martín |
| 12-12-10 | ||
| Universidad San Martín | 2-1 | León |
| Winner: Universidad San Martín | ||
Uruguay
Defensor Sporting Club won their third short tournament since 2008, finishing one point ahead of NacionalBella Vista and and two points ahead of massive overachievers El Tanque Sisley. After a dreadful run of results Tacurembo, (the only Primera División team from outside the capital Montevideo) will face a massive fight to stay in the division during the Clausura 2011 tournament.
Venezuela
After leading for most of the season and then chucking it away in the last few games real Esppor came agonisingly close to winning their first league title finishing level on points with champions Deportivo Táchira but with a goal difference of +19 to Táchira's +20.For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.
Golazo: Ángel de María vs AEK Athens
On 17 December 2009 Argentine winger Ángel Di María scored this brilliant rabona goal for Benfica against AEK Athens in the Europa League.
Cosas locas: Nicolás Spolli vs Paulo Ferrari
When Rosario rivals Newell's Old Boys and Rosario Central met in the preliminary round of the 2005 Copa Sudamericana most people expected the tie to be hard fought. After only two minutes of play Newell's defender Nicolás Spolli proved just how hard fought the game would be with a this chest high kung-fu kick on Central full back Paulo Ferrari.
For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.
Golazo: Ernesto Farías against Boca Juniors, Clausura 2006
On 26 March 2006 Ernesto "tecla" Farías scored one of the most memorable goals of his career when he scored for River Plate in the superclásico against their fiercest rivals Boca Juniors in a 1-1 draw in Clausura 2006.
Golazo: Andrés Pérez rabona goal for San Lorenzo against Independiente
Colombian midfielder Andrés Pérez spent a few years playing in Argentina with Quilmes San Lorenzo and Arsenal de Sarandí. The best moment of his time in Argentine football was probably this famous rabona goal for San Lorenzo against Independiente in a pre season friendly (Torneos de Verano) in 2006.
South American football awards 2010
Hello and welcome to the Fútbol Fútbol Fútbol awards for 2010.
The awards focus on events in South American football, however there is room for an expatriate player of the year section to pay tribute to the best of the thousands of South American footballers plying their trade on other continents.
You may find some of the awards surprising or idiosyncratic, however if you are offended by any of these selections you can either find another website to tell you exactly what you want to read or failing that you could leave your opinion on why we are wrong in the comments section below.
Enjoy.
The awards focus on events in South American football, however there is room for an expatriate player of the year section to pay tribute to the best of the thousands of South American footballers plying their trade on other continents.
You may find some of the awards surprising or idiosyncratic, however if you are offended by any of these selections you can either find another website to tell you exactly what you want to read or failing that you could leave your opinion on why we are wrong in the comments section below.
Enjoy.
Team of the year
- Fluminense - In recent years Fluminense have suffered the heartbreak of losing two major continental finals on penalties. In 2010 they finally got their hands on some major silverware winning their first Brazilian league championship since 1984. They held their nerve in a dramatic final day in which three teams had the chance to take the title in last round of fixtures.
- Uruguay - For a team representing a nation of only 3.5 million inhabitants to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup was an astonishing achievement. To do it playing entertaining attacking football was simply brilliant. The fact that they were turned from heroes to villains in the minds of countless idiots with one instinctive handball from Luis Suárez and a wasted penalty from Gyan only reinforced our support for "la celeste".
- LDU Quito - The Ecuadorian side reinforced their position as one of the new giants of South American football by beating Estudiantes de La Plata to become only the 3rd team ever to retain the Recopa Sudamericana (South American Super Cup). They also reached the semi-finals of the Copa Sudamericana and won yet another Ecuadorian championship.
Game of the year
- Argentinos Juniors 4-3 Independiente - Both teams needed the win to have a chance to catch Argentine Clausura 2010 championship leaders Estudiantes, cue an amazing game featuring an Olympic goal, 2 goals for ex-Argentinos player Leonel Núñez against his former team and two dramatic late goals to turn the tie in favour of eventual champions Argentinos Juniors.
- Deportivo Cali 6-3 América de Cali - An unbelievable derby game from Colombia featuring one of the all time great hat-tricks from Argentine striker Martín Morel.
- Cruzeiro 3-4 Atlético Mineiro - Another local derby, this time from Brazil. Atlético Miniero had been struggling along in the relegation zone for months when they faced a trip to their championship chasing local rivals Cruzeiro. Atlético won the game 3-4 and at the end of the season they avoided relegation by 3 points and Cruzeiro missed out on the championship by two points making this the pivotal game in the Brasileirão 2010 championship.
Player of the year
 |
| Veteran striker José Luis Calderón came out of retirement to win one more medal. |
- José Luis Calderón - At the back end of 2009 the veteran striker retired after being left out of the Estudiantes squad for the Copa Libertadores final. Argentinos Juniors manager Claudio Borghi persuaded him to come out of retirement for one last blast with Argentinos Juniors where he was a key player in their Clausura 2010 championship winning campaign. After winning his 4th major title (all acquired in the last 4 years of his 21 year career) he returned to Defensores de Cambaceres where he had started his career way back in 1989 for one last game before finally hanging up his boots in August 2010.
- Neymar - Brazil's latest wonder kid scored amazing goals, was linked with big money moves to a host of European clubs, scored on his Brazil debut, scored a 7 minute hat-trick, was 2nd top scorer in the Brazilian league and inadvertently flashed his pants to the world.
- Darío Conca - The star player of Brazilian champions Fluminense and only the second Argentine ever to win the prestigious Bola de Ouro (Brazilian footballer of the year) after Carlos Tévez in 2004.
Expatriate player of the year
- Lionel Messi - Best payer in the World, head and shoulders above the rest. He won yet another Spanish league with Barcelona and was top scorer in La Liga with an incredible 34 goals in 35 games, scored another 13 goals for the club in other competitions and hit a brilliant last minute winner for Argentina against Brazil in November.
- Diego Forlán - Top scorer in the 2010 World Cup and won Atlético Madrid the 2009-10 Europa League almost single handedly.
- Radamel Falcao - A controversial choice considering Porto missed out on the Portuguese league, only winning the 2009-10 Portuguese Cup and also because last season he was only the 2nd top scorer in the Portuguese league behind Paraguayan Óscar Cardozo of Benfica. However Porto are the only remaining unbeaten side in Europe in the 2010-11 season and Falcao has been scoring some magnificent goals.
Manager of the year
 |
| Muricy Ramalho 4 times Brasileirão winner. |
- Muricy Ramalho - He started the year badly, getting sacked as Palmeiras manager in February, however Fluminense snapped him up pretty quickly. In July he was appointed as the Brazil national coach but couldn't take up the role as Fluminense wouldn't let him go. Instead of stropping and making a fuss about it he led Fluminense to their first league title since 1984. His 4th Brasileirão championship in the last 5 tournaments.
- Omar Asad - Did not win any trophies in his first year as a head coach, however he did lead Mendoza minnows Godoy Cruz to their highest ever finish in the Argentine league (3rd), made them the most entertaining and high scoring team in the Primera División and qualified them for their first ever participation in the Copa Libertadores in 2011.
- Juan Antonio Pizzi - The Argentine manager of Universidad Cátolica pulled off one of the great comebacks. His team were seven points behind Colo-Colo with only six games of the season remaining however he did not allow his team to give up hope leading them to six consecutive wins while Colo-Colo fell to pieces.
Honourable mentions
- Antonio Mohammed - Took over basket case club Independiente and led them to their first international title in 15 years, winning the Copa Sudamericana 2010.
- Claudio Borghi - Led Argentinos Juniors to the Clausura 2010 championship, their first title since the 4 they won in the mid 80s when he played for the team, later poached by and then sacked as Boca Juniors manager after only 14 games in charge.
- Óscar Tábarez - The veteran Uruguayan manager led his team all the way to the semi-finals of the World Cup and aside from a turgid opening game against France every game was thoroughly enjoyable to watch.
- Gerardo Martino - Argentine manager of Paraguay. He made them one of the most solid and tactically disciplined teams in the World Cup and came the closest to eliminating eventual champions Spain. He did all this without their star player Salvador Cabañas who was shot in the head in January.
- Edgardo Bauza - Returned to Ecuadorian side LDU Quito, retained the Recopa Sudamericana and led them to the 2010 Ecuadorian championship.
- Alex Sabella - After the dissappointments of losing the World Club Cup final at the back end of last year, getting overhauled by Argentinos Juniors in the Clausura 2010 tournament and losing the Recopa Sudamericana to LDU Quito his Estudiantes side won the the Apertura 2010 championship in fine style with a 100% home record.
Incomprehensible managerial departure of the year
- Marcelo Bielsa (Chile) - Bielsa led Chile to their first World Cup since 1998 and their first win at the tournament since they hosted it in 1962. Later in 2010 he gave his word before elections at the Chilean Football Federation that he would resign as national coach if the incumbent Harold Mayne-Nicholls was unseated by Jorge Segovia. The delegates duly voted 28-22 in favour of Segovia and Chile's most successful and popular coach in years kept his word and resigned.
- Luis Zubeldía (Lanús) - When Luis Zubeldía was appointed as coach of Lanús in 2008 at the age of 27 he became the youngest manager ever in the Argentine Primera División. By 2010 he was the Primera División's longest serving manager but in November the Lanús board asked him to resign after the club suffered four consecutive defeats. He left the club in 3rd position in the relegation table, with the two championship leaders Estudiantes and Vélez Sársfield the only teams to have accumulated more points than his side over the previous 90 games.
- Estevan Soares (Ceará) - Under Estevan Soares Ceará got off to a flying start to the 2010 Brasileirão, accumulating 18 points in their first 8 games. Their form tailed off and after a six game winless run consisting of four draws and two defeats and he was sacked. When he left the club they were in 3rd position with 21 points. When his replacement Mário Sérgio was sacked a month later they had slipped to 11th position and they eventually finished the season in 12th.
Competitor (other website) of the year
- Universofutbol - The most comprehensive coverage of South American football, many other sites include league tables, goal scorers etc but let themselves down when it comes to the relegation tables (promedios) and minutiae like home and away records, managerial sackings, player appearances etc, Universofutbol doesn't. (en Español)
- In Bed With Maradona - OK, I'm biased because they have published my work but if you haven't come across this website yet then you should take a look. It really does offer different perspectives on football across the world.
- Guardian football - Their coverage of South American football may be dismal to non-existent but if you are interested in European football this is the place to go. They boast some of the best football writers, have a useful Stats Centre and the highly entertaining Knowledge and Classic Youtube weekly columns.
Honourable mentions
- Hasta el Gol Siempre - Excellent coverage of Argentine football and creator of the brilliantly named Hand of Pod podcast.
- When Saturday Comes - You have no excuse for not knowing about WSC.
- Soccerway - Football stats galore.
- Canchallena - Excellent Argentine sports coverage. (en Español)
- World Football Columns - A website for aspiring football writers, why not get in touch and offer them your talents, you'll never know if you don't try.
- If this lot isn't enough for you try anything on this list.
Goal of the year
- Patric for Avaí against Internacional. - A brilliant team goal direct from the kick off by Brazilian relegation strugglers Avaí against the Copa Libertadores champions Internacional.
- Juan Manuel Martínez against Racing Club - In order to have a chance of winning the Apertura 2010 championship Vélez Sársfield needed to win their last game of the season and hope that Estudiantes would fail to win their game which was being played simultaneously. Martínez finished off a fine season with his 10th goal, this magnificent individual effort. Even though Estudiantes won their game and denied Vélez the championship, this was still a brilliant goal in a high pressure game which earned Martínez comparisons with Maradona and Messi.
- Dayro Moreno for Once Caldas against São Paulo - He carries the ball from his own half, ghosts between two defenders as if they aren't even there and fires in an unstoppable shot, all from Colombian Steaua Bucharest flop Dayro Moreno.
Other awards
- Villain of the year - Uruguyan striker Luis Suárez, not for that hand ball against Ghana which was pure instinct, but for his constant diving in the World Cup and for biting an opposition player in a league match later in the year.
- Reaction of the year - Luiz Felipe Scolari for his reaction after being hit in the head by a portable radio thrown from the Goiás stand.
- Controversy of the year - Universidad de Chile vs Alianza Lima - There was an offside in the buildup play, another two players standing offside and in the goalkeeper's line of sight for the shot, the linesman flagged but the referee overruled him and awarded the injury time goal that eliminated Alianza Lima from the 2010 Copa Libertadores.
- Humiliation of the year - Defensor Sporting Club 9-0 Sport Huancayo The Uruguayan side Defensor handed out a footballing humiliation to Peruvian side Sport Huancayo in the 2nd phase of the Copa Sudamericana.
- Fight of the year - Universidad San Martín vs León in the first leg of the Peruvian championship final.
- Brainmelt of the year - José Pedrozo for thinking that he could escape getting sent off for a second yellow card by strangling the referee.
- Miss of the year - Awarded to the Alianza Lima striker Juan Carlos Fernández for unbelievable hesitation in front of goal.
- Special overconfidence award - Neymar, for being the most outrageously talented 18 year old we have seen in years, his failed panenka penalty kick and this not so special back-heel.
Golazo: Damián Akerman, Morón vs Estudiantes BA, 2007
Argentine striker Damian Akerman has played professional football for a number of different clubs in Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. The club where he has spent the best part of his career is Deportivo Morón in the lower leagues of Argentine football. he is a popular player with the fans, understandably so given the quality of this goal against Club Atlético Estudiantes in 2007.
Golazo: Germán Denis vs Colón, Clausura 2007
back in early 2007 Germán Denis was still a workaday footballer but in the first game of the Cluasura 2007 tournament he hinted at the great things that were to come with this specacular flying back-heel goal for Independiente against his former side Colón in a 1-3 home defeat.
The following season Denis finshed as the top scorer in the Primera Division, earned a call up to the Argentina national team and a6.3 million Euro transfer to Italian side Napoli.
Golazo: Mariano Pavone vs Racing Club, Apertura 2004
Back in 2004 Estudiantes de La Plata were not the all conquering team we have come to know in recent years, they were a mid table side that had endured more than 20 years without a major title. The foundations of success were being built by Reinaldo "mostaza" Merlo who led the team to a respectable 4th place finish. Their star player was Mariano Pavone who lived up to his nickname of "el tanque" (the tank) with some brilliant performances. This goal against Racing Club was one of his best moments of the season.
Golazo: Martín Palermo vs Banfield
Martín Palermo recently scored his 300th career goal, 230 of them were for Boca Juniors where he is now the all time top scorer. In Apertura 2004 he scored this chilena against Banfield to end Boca Juniors run of six games without scoring a goal.
He has scored a number of other brilliant goals for the club including this chilena for his 200th Boca Juniors goal, this record breaking header and this spectacular long range strike against Independiente.
Golazo: Juan Martín Parodi, Deportivo Español vs Unión 1997
Uruguayan midfielder Juan martín parodi is a classic example of a South American international journeyman footballer. In his 13 year career he has played for 12 different teams in seven different countries and on four different continents. He had a stint in Argentina with Deportivo Español between 1996 and 1998 in which he scored 13 goals in 51 league games. This one agianst Unión in 1997 was one of his best.
Golazo: José Luis Calderón vs Banfield 1997
José Luis Calderón had a professional football career spanning four different decades (1989-2010). He spent the majority of his career in the Argentine Primera División although he did have short spells in Italy and Mexico too. His most famous goal was a brilliant effort in a 4-0 win against Boca Juniors in 1999, however this long forgotten goal from 1997 was another one of his best.
Apertura 2010 Dubstep mashup
Here are most of the best bits from the Apertura 2010 tournament in Argentina set to a mesmerising Dubstep soundtrack.
(Unfortunately Youtube only allows uploads of 15 minutes so we've had to shorten the video and split it into two segments. Once the full version is uploaded on a different service provider we will replace the two videos with one)
Part One
Part Two
Golazo: J.J. López vs Boca Juniors, Superclásico 1981
J.J. López was officially appointed as the River Plate manager in December 2010 after he secured 13 out of 18 points as caretaker manager after the departure of Angel Cappa in November. He is a former player for the club, a thoroughbred River Plate legend and a popular choice amongst the fans. One of his finest moments in a River Plate shirt came in the Superclásico in 1981 when he scored this long range goal in a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors.
Cosas locas: Pato Abbondanzieri gifts D'Alessandro a goal
In December 2010 Argentine goalkeeper Roberto "pato" Abbondanzieri announced his retirement from football. He will be fondly remembered by fans of Boca Juniors where he won six league titles, three Copa Libertadores, two Intercontinental Cups, two Copa Sudamericanas and one Recopa Sudamericana. He also won the Copa Libertadores in 2010 as the goalkeeper for Internacional of Brazil, the Ricardo Zamora trophy as the best goalkeeper in La Liga in 2006-07 and won 49 caps for the Argentina national team.
In this clip Abbondanzieri gifted Real Zaragoza a goal by leaving the goal open to remonstrate with the referee about the positioning of the free kick when he was playing for Getafe. Fellow Argentine Andrés D'Alessandro took the free kick quickly firing into the unguarded net.
It seems a bit harsh to point out one of his mistakesin in the week that he announced his retirement but it is only being done as a demonstration that even the most highly decorated players in world football sometimes make mistakes.
For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.
Errado: Dani Alves vs Real Sociedad
On Sunday 12 December Barcelona played Real Sociadad in La Liga. Real won the game 5-0 with a magnificent performance but it really should have been six but for this unbelievable miss from their Brazilian full back Dani Alves.
For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.
Game of the week: 15 December 2010 Racing 0-2 Vélez
On 12 December 2010 the Apertura 2010 championship in Argentina went down to the last round of fixtures. It looked like the tournament was destined for a championship playoff after Vélez Sársfield established a 2-0 lead against Racing Club a brilliant individual goal from Juan Manuel Martínez and an exceptional free kick from Maxi Moralex, and Estudiantes were being held 0-0 by Arsenal. It took two late goals for Estudiantes' ex Vélez striker Hernán López to secure a 5th domestic championship for the La Plata side.
Not only were the two goals brilliantly taken, but the atmosphere created by the Racing Club fans was amazing.
Part of the game of the week series.
Gonzalo Aban funny goal, Sudamericano sub-20 2007
In 2007 Argentina U-20 played Ecuador U-20 in the first round of matches in the Sudamericano Sub-20 (South American under 20) tournament. 19 year old River Plate forward Gonzalo Aban scored the opening game after a couple of ludicrous Ecuadorian clearances presented him with an unmissable* open goal.
* Well maybe not unmissable.
For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.
Mauricio Caranta gifts Mariano Pavone a goal
On the final day of the Apertura 2010 tournament Lanús hosted River Plate in a game that would guaruntee a 4th place finish to the winners. River plate were already 1-3 up when Lanús goalkeeper Cesár Carranza gifted Mariano Pavone his 2nd goal of the game.
The match finished Lanús 1-4 River Plate and River claimed 4th place.
For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.
Golazo: Hamilton Ricard vs Bradford, FA Cup 2000-01
When Colombian striker Hamilton Ricard first arrived at Middlesbrough FC back in 1998 he struggled to find the scoring touch that had made him the top scorer in the Colombian league in 1997 earning himself the nickname "Hamilton Retard" amongst some of the less sympathetic Boro faithful.
He did come good for the club eventually netting 15 league goals in the 1998-99 a number only bettered by Fabrizio Ravanelli (1996-97) and club legend Bernie Slaven (4 times in the 80s & early 90s) since Alan Foggon hit 16 back in 1974-75.
Ricard's most fondly reemembered goals is this spectacular curling effort against Bradford City in January 2001. He eventually left the club after the arrival of Steve McClaren and has since gone on to have a career as an international journeyman footballer.
Golazo: Dodó, Santos vs Internacional, Brasileirão 1999
In 1999 Brazilian striker joined Santos from São Paulo, he scored 30 goals in 55 league games for Santos and this was probably the pick of them. A brilliant "sombrero" to lift the ball over the defender followed by a magnificent volley into the bottom left corner of the net to give his side a 2-1 win against Internacional.
Golazo: Juan Manuel Martínez vs Racing Club, Apertura 2010
On 12 December 2010 the Apertura 2010 championship in Argentina went down to the last round of fixtures. It looked like the tournament was destined for a championship playoff after Vélez Sársfield established a 2-0 lead against Racing Club with this brilliant individual goal from Juan Manuel Martínez and an exceptional free kick from Maxi Moralex, and Estudiantes were being held 0-0 by Arsenal. It took two late goals for Estudiantes' ex Vélez striker Hernán López to secure a 5th domestic championship for the La Plata side.
Highlights: Argentine Primera División, Apertura 2010 - Fecha 19
 |
| Estudiantes captain Juan Sebastián Verón lifts the Apertura 2010 trophy. |
Estudiantes had a two point lead over Vélez meaning that there were still three distinct possibilities. If Estudiantes equaled or bettered Vélez's result they would win the championship, if Estudiantes lost and Vélez won the championship would have gone to Liniers instead. The third tantalising possibility was a one off championship playoff which would have occurred if the top two teams finished level on points, irrespective of goal difference.
It looked like the Apertura 2010 tournament was destined for a playoff after Vélez established a 2-0 lead with a brilliant individual goal from Juan Manuel Martínez and an exceptional free kick from Maxi Moralez, and Estudiantes were being held 0-0 by Arsenal. It took two late goals for Estudiantes' ex Vélez striker Hernán López to secure a 5th domestic championship for the La Plata side.
In the first game of the final round All Boys recovered from conceding two goals in the first seven minutes against Godoy Cruz to draw 2-2, their equaliser came from a penalty in the 4th minute of injury time.
San Lorenzo finished off a poor season by their standards with a 2-1 win against Banfield. During the week Carlos Abdo was elected as San Lorenzo's new president, he said that keeping Ramón Diaz as manager would be his main priority. As for Banfield it was not the first time this season they have scored a wonderful goal but gone on to lose the game.
Colón's turbulent season ended with a 1-0 win against Newell's Old Boys, the only goal of the game came late in the second half and added a little bit of excitement to an otherwise pretty uninspiring game.
There were a few more interesting games this weekend, however the conclusion of the intruiging race for the last Copa Libertadores qualification place concluded early when the spot was given to Independiente after they won the Copa Sudamericana in midweek. On Monday they lost 1-0 away at Huracán who leapfrogged them out of last position, so Argentina's fifth representatives in the Libertadores lie in 20th position in the table.
The one remaining game (Independiente vs Tigre) could be quite important, with a win Independiente could finish as high as 18th in the table and leave Gimnasia y Esgrima de la Plata to suffer the humiliation of a bottom of the table finish. The other important issue that will have to wait until the outstanding game is played is that of the division's top scorer. Denis Stracqualursi netted his 10th of the season for Tigre in a 1-1 draw against Argentinos Juniors meaning that if he scores against Independiente he will finish as joint top scorer with Santiago Silva and if he bags a brace he will win the acolade outright.
Gimnasia y Esgrima could still end the season in last place but they can be pleased that they finally bagged an away goal in their 1-1 draw against Boca Juniors in la bombonera. They may however have preferred to have finished in last place and lost the game they drew 0-0 against Vélez which ended up handing the title to their local rivals Estudiantes.
Boca Juniors won't be happy to have dropped points against Gimnasia, however there was yet another personal milestone for Martín Palermo. He opened the scoring with his 300th career goal. 230 for Boca Juniors, 36 for Estudiantes, 21 for Villarreal, 3 for CD Alavés, 1 for Real Betis and 9 for the Argentina national team.
Olimpo and Quilmes; the two newly promoted teams that got off to really poor starts to the Apertura faced each other with the chance for one of them to reach the 1.00 points per game mark. The game was won by Quilmes with a 2nd minute goal from Danilo Gerlo meaning that they averaged exactly 1 point per game, a remarkable achievement given the fact that they failed to win any of their first 13 games before winning four of their last six. Olimpo are only one point behind on 18/19 meaning that Gimnasia, Huracán, River plate and Tigre may be spending much of the Clausura looking over their shoulders.
At the end of the 2010 Clausura River Plate ended their season with a humiliating 1-5 home defeat to Tigre, in the Apertura they faced a potentially difficult trip to Lanús. River's youth came good with a fine 1-4 win which featured a calamitous mistake from Lanús keeper Mauricio Caranta to gift Mariano Pavone his 2nd of the game and red cards for the Lanús manager Gabriel Schürrer and defender Santiago Hoyos.
| 11-12-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| All Boys | 2-2 | Godoy Cruz |
| 12-12-10 | ||
| Estudiantes | 2-0 | Arsenal |
| Racing Club | 0-2 | Vélez Sársfield |
| San Lorenzo | 2-1 | Banfield |
| Colón | 1-0 | Newell's Old Boys |
| 13-12-10 | ||
| Huracán | 1-0 | Independiente |
| Lanús | 1-4 | River Plate |
| Boca Juniors | 1-1 | Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) |
| Olimpo | 0-1 | Quilmes |
| Tigre | 1-1 | Argentinos Juniors |
- *= Will not be fully determined until the postponed game between Independiente & Tigre is played.
For more South American football highlights, including the Brazilian league, the pick of the rest and international tournaments:
Neymar back heel fail.
In the 18th round of the Brasileirão 2010 Santos' latest 18 year old wonderkid Neymar took the opportunity to do some showboating in a game against Avaí, His attempted back-heel didn't exactly come off, but to be fair to the kid it normally does.
Neymar's Panenka penalty fail
On 29 July 2010 Santos' 18 year old wonderkid Neymar won and took a penalty in a Copa Brasil game against Vitória. Neymar had the balls to try a Panenka penalty chipping the ball straight towards the goalkeeper's position expecting him to dive either way as Sebastián Abreu had famously done only a few weeks earlier to win the World Cup quarter final against Ghana and originally inspired by Antonin Panenka who famously used the technique in the European Cup final against Germany back in 1976.
Unfortunately for Neymar he ended up looking a bit of a tit as the Vitória goalkeeper Lee saw it coming and stood exactly where he was to calmly make one of the easierst saves of his career.
Here is the original and the best from the few men in World football to have a specific move named in his honour.
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