Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Police Over Reacting, Libertadores, Transfer Rumblings

I told myself after the Newell's loss to San Lorenzo in the final match of the Apertura, I'd take a break and not write anything on my blog until the weekend... so much for promises.

I never like hearing about violence at matches, whether it's before, during, or after. Sure, as any journalist will tell you, it makes for "good copy,"* just like when I started writing ALIASL then president Eduardo Lopez made "good copy..." doesn't mean I enjoy writing about such things.

That said, I have to bring up the fact that there was an altercation between police and Newell's fans outside the stadium after the San Lorenzo game. One of the reasons I started writing about Newell's was because I was frustrated at the lack of coverage in the English speaking press/news sites. Because my Spanish is limited, all I can tell you is that Newell's president Guillermo Lorente has made a statement that the police over reacted to the situation. If anyone would care to take a look at the story I found in Spanish, you can find it here. If you can get back to me on what happened, please do so. As much as I don't like having these things happen, I don't like knowing half the story even more.

I did find the following footage on Youtube, though it really doesn't show much:


There's also been some news on the Copa Libertadores front. Newell's will face Ecuadoran side Emelec in the first round in an home/away battle to make it to the 2nd round of the competition. The winner on aggregate will go on to join Internacional of Brazil, Cerro from Uruguay, and Deportivo Quinto of Ecuador in group 5. Interestingly enough, Cerro is the former club of one Joaquín Boghossian, Newell's leading goal scorer during the Apertura.

I've also heard that River Plate are interested in defender Juan Insaurralde. I'm hoping we can hang on to him, but if River makes a solid offer, well, anything is possible. Lorente has stated that the team will hold on to Boghossian as long as possible, and that the team is looking for reinforcements for the coming Clausura and Libertadores campaigns. Thing is, the money for any in coming players has to come from some where...



* "Good copy," for those who aren't familiar with the term, refers to the newsworthiness of a subject. "Good copy" draws in readers. "Bad copy" will bore your readers, and drive them away.

1 comment:

Jeremy said...

Emelec and then a group that isn't overly difficult. I like the chances.