Newell's Old Boys Earn Place In 2013 Libertadores

I had the day off, having scheduled my final floating holiday for the year a few months ago. When I saw that Newell's Old Boys were playing today I was all set to sit down and watch the game. For the first half, it was not meant to be. The channels through which I normally watch had Newcastle United playing Wigan in the English Premier League, a rebroadcast Boca Jrs match, and an Argentine highlight show, but no Newell's against At. Rafaela. I asked for a few via a tweet (twitter post, for those who do not know) and soon had a link... but I did not have the proper plug-ins to run the video via the website. Nothing was going my way.

So, I watched the first half of Newcastle and Wigan... on TV, no internet needed, and kept track of the Newell's match via Twitter, and checked out the first goal by way of Ole. Fabián Muñoz scored his first goal of the season in the first minute of the match to give Newell's a 1-0 lead. And that is how the first half ended.

At half time I took a break to take a shower, I'd spent the day doing some cleaning up around the house and really needed one. When I got back to the computer I again checked my usual sources for futbol feeds and found that yes indeed someone was showing the match. I loaded it up and found they were fifteen minutes into the second half, and Muñoz had scored his second goal of the day. Meanwhile, I still had Newcastle and Wigan going on the television. When Newcastle took a 3-0 lead my gut told me that Newell's were going to get a third as well. I put it off as wishful thinking...

And then, in the 84th minute Muño, the man of the match, sent a ball toVíctor Figueroa who launched a looping ball that set Ignacio Scocco with only the goalkeeper to beat. Scocco scored and Newell's ended the day with a win that sends them into the 2013 Copa Libertadores in style.



With only one game left Newell's find themselves in a three way tie for second place along side Lanús and Belgrano with 33 points. There is no longer a chance at a title as Vélez Sarsfield claimed that with a 2-0 win yesterday against a hapless Unión de Santa Fe.

Final match for La Lepra will be next weekend away to Argentinos Jrs.

Sharing First Place

Last week, in an online discussion with a fellow Lepra, I mentioned that I was happy with the way Newell's Old Boys have been playing, but was concerned that we were not scoring enough goals, that only Maximiliano Urruti seemed to be scoring goals. So what happens today? Newell's beat Banfield 3-0 at home, with goals from Santiago Vergini (68'), Fabián Muñoz (86'), and Víctor Aquino (90').

I cannot say much about this win, other than I am happy, and that it placed us, at least temporarily, in a tie for first place with Boca Jrs (as I write Tigre and Boca are tied 1-1 with about five minutes to play, which puts Boca one point ahead of Newell's... opps... goal Tigre, or rather an own goal by Rolando Schiavi, back to a first place tie. Could it be that El Flaco's heart is still red and black?) * Editor's Note: Forgot to mention WHY I cannot say much about the match - I had to go into work. By the time I got to where I could get internet, the game was over.

Guess I should now state that I am worried by the fact that most of our goals seem to come in the second half.

Also find it a bit strange that it was not all that long ago that Newell's had to settle for second place when Banfield won a championship by a mere point. Much has changed for both teams since then, but now, it seems, Newell's are back in the title chase.

And it is over, Tigre 2 - Boca 1! Newell's will have a share of first place for a week. We will see what happens next weekend as Newell's play away to Arsenal, while Boca head to Córdoba to face Belgrano.

Forget The Veterans... Bring In More 19 Year Olds

I missed Monday's match up between hosts All Boys and Newell's Old Boys due to a bit of a cold that is still dogging me.

The match ended in a 1 - 1 draw (big surprise.) Bright spot of the night for Newell's was Fabián Muñoz scoring in his debut. And it was a beauty.

So was the goal scored by Juan Pablo Rodríguez that gave All Boys the early lead... a curving shot that tied Sebastián Peratta into knots. I do not think I have ever seen San Peratta get fooled this badly before, but can not fault him.



Still, have to wonder how La Lepra did not manage to take the full three points. Considering that All Boys spent the vast majority of the match down a man after Hugo Barrientos (who played with Newell's during the 2009/2010 season) was sent off during the 18th minute.