Highlights: Argentine Primera División, Apertura 2010 - Fecha 19

Estudiantes captain Juan Sebastián Verón lifts the Apertura 2010 trophy.

After Estudiantes de La Plata and Vélez Sársfield both won in midweek the Apertura 2010 championship in Argentina went down to the last round of fixtures at the weekend. The leaders Estudiantes faced a home tie against Arsenal de Sarandí, who had only lost twice on the road in the Apertura, while Vélez face a tricky away tie at Racing Club, who were beginning to look like a decent team again after years of turmoil.

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

• League standings*
• Relegation table
• Copa Libertadores qualification table
• Top scorers*
 

*= 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:

click here

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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For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Cosas locas: Universidad de Chile vs Alianza Lima controversial goal.

On 6 May 2010 Peruvian side Alianza Lima travelled to Chile to face Universidad de Chile in the last 16 of the Copa Libertadores. They were 0-1 down from their home leg but had established a 1-2 lead going into injury time at the end of the game and looked set to progess to the quarter finals on goal difference.

When Felipe Seymour fired in a long range shot, the goal looked set to be disallowed as the linesman was flagging, however the referee overruled him and awarded the goal anyway. In retrospect it looks like a poor decision, there was an offside in the build up play and two Universidad de Chile players were offside and in the goalkeeper's line of sight when the shot came in.

The Alianza Lima players and staff were understandably upset and surrounded the referee to complain prompting the Chilean police to come onto the pitch in scenes reminiscent of scenes in the Copa Libertadores semi-final in the same stadium back in 1991 when the Chilean police set about intimidating the Boca Juniors players with dogs instead of clearing the pitch invasion by hundreds of Colo-Colo fans.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Cosas locas: Neymar's shorts

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On 28 August 2010 Brazilian wonderkid Neymar lost his shorts in a tackle playing for Santos against Goiás. He came back to haunt them later in the season scoring a 7 minute hat-trick to seal their relegation  to Serie B.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Golazo: James Rodríguez, Banfield vs Lanús, Clausura 2010

On 15 February 2010 the Argentine champions Banfield hosted Lanús (the other team to have won their first Argentine championship in the last few years). The 2nd goal of the game was this classy finish from 18 year old Colombian winger James Rodríguez, who also played a part in the buildup with a caño (nutmeg) and a taco (back-heel).

Banfield couldn't retain their championship, nobody has since Boca Juniors in 2005-06 and Rodríguaz was predictably snapped up by one of the European clubs. In this case FC Porto, where he is currently rotting in the reserves.

Part of the Golazo series.

Cosas locas: Universidad San Martín vs León fight

On 8 December 2010 the first leg of the 2010 Peruvian championship final between León de Huánuco and Universidad San Martín descended into a mass brawl around half an hour into the game, leaving the referee with little choice but to send off two players from each team. The game continued and ended 1-1.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Highlights: 2010 Copa Sudamericana final, Goiás vs Independiente

Independiente celebrate their first international title in 15 years and their first major honour of any description since 2002

CONMEBOL had been made to regret their decision to change the rules to allow the winners of the Copa Sudamericana a place in the much more prestigious Copa Libertadores before this game had even kicked off after an already relegated side reached the final which they would contest against a team sitting in 18th position in their own league with only two wins from sixteen league games.

Goiás were relegated from the Brazilian Serie A before the second leg of their semi-final against Palmeiras which they won 2-1 to progress to the final on away goals. Independiente also progressed on away goals after four goals apiece in their semi-final against holders Liga de Quito.

Goiás vs Independiente (1st leg)

The first leg of the final in Goiânia was far from a classic encounter, both teams showed the kind of form their fans have had to endure all season in their respective leagues, however Goias made the best of the home advantage and some shambolic defending from the visitors to score two goals in the first 21 minutes. The goals were scored by Rafael Moura and Otacilio Neta.

Independiente tried to fight back in the second half but their chances of cutting the deficit were badly damaged when Andrés Silvera got himself sent off for violent conduct after 57 minutes. From that point onwards Independiente did well to keep the pressure on Goiás and prevent the Brazilians from extending their lead, however they will be far from happy to be going into the second leg two goals down and without any of the useful away goals they have relied upon to progress in previous rounds.

Independiente vs Goiás (2st leg)

 The second leg of the Copa Sudamericana final finished 3-1 to Independiente with all of the goals coming in a mad 15 minute spell in the first half. Julián Velázquez put the home team ahead on 19 minutes but on 22 minutes Rafael Moura scored for Goiás to restore their two goal advantage. Facundo Parra then scored two goals for Independiente on 26 and 34 minutes. Parra volleyed his second goal and the vital equaliser while sitting on the ground.

In the second half both sides continued to attack but Goiás looked the better passing side and the most likely to score for long spells, they did manage to hit the net but the goal was ruled out by a debatable offside decision. After 90 minutes the game went to extra time since away goals don't count in the final to Independiente's advantage.

Extra time was also goalless despite Rafael Moura hitting the post for Goiás meaning that the 2010 Copa Sudamericana final was the first to be decided on penalties. Independiente scored all five of their penalties to win the tournament, Goiás miss came from 2nd half substitute Felipe who hit the post.

Independiente won the tournament with a decidedly average run of results, of their ten games they won 4, drew 3 and lost 3. The only tie they won outright under the competition rules was their first tie against Argentinos Juniors, they beat Defensor Sporting Club on goal difference and progressed through the next two rounds on away goals before winning the final on penalties.

Despite winning the tournament with a rather average run of results, CONMEBOL will be relieved that Independiente are the champions, which means that the South American confederation will avoid the embarrassment of seeing a 2nd division side gain automatic entry into the prestigious Copa Libertadores tournament next year.

Video compilation of Independiente's championship campaign.

01-12-10
Goiás (Bra)	2-0	Independiente (Arg)
08-12-10
Independiente (Arg)	3-1	Goiás (Bra)
Winner: Independiente (5-3 on penalties)

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues, the pick of the rest and other international tournaments:

click here

Facundo Parra, sit down volley against Goiás

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On 8 December 2010 Argentine side Independiente hosted Goiás from Brazil in the final of the 2010 Copa Sudamericiana. The home team needed to win by at least two goals after losing the first leg 2-0 in Brazil. All of the goals came in a hectic 15 minute spell in the first half, Facundo Parra made the score 3-1 with this unusual lying down volley.

The game finished 3-3 and went to extra time and then penalties which Independiente won to claim their first international trophy in 15 years.

Game of the week: 8 December 2010 River Plate 0-4 Estudiantes

In the penultimate round of the Apertura 2010 championship in Argentina the league leaders Estudiantes de La Plata faced a tough looking trip to El Monumental to face a resurgent River Plate side, who had recovered from their slump in form that cost Angel Cappa his job.

River Plate's squad of young players like Rogelio Funes Mori and Erik Lamela mixed with experienced veterans like Ariel Ortega and Matías Almeyda had found their form again under caretaker manager J.J. López, however Estudiantes gave them a pasting in this game to put themselves within one win of securing their fifth Argentine league championship.

Part of the game of the week series.