All Boys Hand Old Boys 1st Loss Of Season

So much for the unbeaten run as All Boys discovered the formula to beat Newell's Old Boys. First, score early, as Jonathan Ferrari gave the visitors the 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. Second, start taking out Newell's key veteran players, as first Maxi Rodriguez (Víctor Figueroa came on for him in the 17th minute,) then Gabriel Heinze (Víctor López on for him in the 38th.) and finally it was Lucas Bernardi (Maximiliano Urruti for him in the 55th) all left the game due to injuries. Hopefully, none of them will be out long, but we'll see what the medical reports say on that later.

Once all that was settled, Newell's goalie, Nahuel Guzmán, took down an opposing player midway through the second half after a mad scramble to award All Boys a penalty, and receiving a yellow card in the process. Mauro Matos converted and Newell's were down 2-0 at home. Newell's drew one back thanks to a late goal from Pablo Perez, but even with 7 minutes of extra time in the second half was not enough for La Lepra to manage to draw level.



The good news is that while Newell's lost to All Boys, Vélez Sarsfield also lost at home, 1-0 against Boca Juniors.

Oh, right... I did not get around to talking about the previous two matches, which saw Vélez take over first place. Not much to say, really, both Newell's games ended in 0-0 draws, first to Quilmes at home, then on the road against Boca Juniors.

Problem: Lanús are tied with Newell's at the moment with 29 point (Vélez have 32,) but will be facing Belgrano tomorrow. If Belgrano they will join the congestion in second place with Newell's and Lanús, if Lanús win they will be tied for first with Vélez. Not sure what out come would benefit Newell's most at the moment, even a draw really does not suit me... isn't there a way where both teams lose?

No?

Ah, right.. Belgrano also have a mythical additional game that is yet to be settled there match with Independiente was suspended with Belgrano in front 1-0.

And Racing Club play tomorrow, and are also with in reach of the congestion in second place

Where once things were looking fairly simple, it is now very complex.

Up next Newell's have a short trip as they will be facing Unión. Should be an easy match, as Unión have only managed five points from sixteen matches... but at this point I am not going to make any bets.

It will also be interesting to see if Unión fans will be facing any punishment for their behavior during their 2-0 lost in their clasico against Colón. That match had to be stopped twice due to security (read, police at the grounds) having to deal with people in the Unión stands acting like idiots.


Thank you again Guillermo Lorente for doing your best to eliminate such behavior from our stands!

On Top Of The Table

This afternoon Newell's Old Boys walked into El Cementerio de los Elefantes in second place. Normally playing Colón in Santa Fe one does not expect to win, but after taking a 2-0 lead La Lepra held on for a 2-1 victory which propelled them into first past Boca Juniors. Boca had yet to play at that time, but after they lost 2-0 at Lanus we Lepra will have at least a week in first.



I am going to leave it at that, as it is late and I need to get to bed. I have to work tomorrow, and it has been a rather rough weekend.

Routing Colón Gives Newell's Hope

After two straight 2-0 loses, away to Boca Jrs and at home against Belgrano, Newell's Old Boys needed a confidence builder. Heading into Sante Fe to face Colón was not a recipe for such, but sometimes things work out far better than expected. The home of Colón is nicknamed "El Cementerio de los Elefantes", the Elephant's Graveyard. Visiting teams going there hoping for three points fail far more often they succeed.

I was not able to watch the match, as it was played on Friday while I was at work, and ended about the time I was leaving. Driving home I had a brief feeling that the game ended 3-0... which I put aside quickly, as holding such as a truth would surely mean that Colón had won. Instead I began singing in my head: "Yo no soy un Elefante, soy un leproso es verdad..." which is all I remember of a four line song I wrote when Newell's were last fighting for the title, and were heading into Sante Fe needing a win.

Imagine my surprise when I got home and checked on the score. Colón 0 Newell's Old Boys 3. HOLY SHIT! I could not help but make the exclamation out loud. I was hoping for a point, dreaming of three, but never imagined that La Lepra could roll over Colón in Sante Fe, not this current team anyway. But it had happened.

Pablo Perez scored the first goal off a corner in first half injury time. The cross from the left was poor, but so was the attempted heading clearance, which Perez fought for and won with the kind of individual effort we have seen far too little of over the past year and a half. 1-0. As he celebrated Perez pointed into the stands, at the hincha who had traveled to support a team that had let them down in the previous two games.

I can only imagine that Colón completely fell apart in the second half. Iván Moreno y Fabianesi received a straight red card in the 69th minute put the home side down to 10 men. Gerardo Alcoba was sent off in the 82nd, and Colón where then out numbered 11 to 9.

Martín Tonso who had come on for Leandro Torres, scored Newell's second goal. In the 87th minute Lucas Bernardi turned playmaker, feeding a perfect return pass to the young attacking midfielder that left only goalkeeper Diego Pozo to beat. 2-0. It was a thing of beauty, but the best was yet to come.

Maximiliano Urruti had scored two goals in Newell's first two matches, and against Colón he scored the final goal of the match with what may just be the goal of the tournament. Five minutes into injury time he was feed a pass by Raúl Villalba. Again, goalkeeper Pozo was the only one left to beat. As he came out to cutoff the angles Urruti chipped the ball calmly over Pozo. One bounce, and it was in the net. 3-0.

Sure, the final two goals came after Newell's had a two man advantage, but it still feels good to get vital points on the road.

(Perhaps Roberto Sensini is not such a bad coach for Newell's after all... so long as he is running the opposing team - he took over Colón during the summer break.)

Up next Atletico Rafaela come to Rosario, match is scheduled for Sunday the 18th.

What A Lousy Weekend

First off, Newell's Old Boys hosted Colón de Santa Fe on Friday afternoon, which means I say not a second of this match as I was stuck at work. Because of that I have nothing I can say about the 0-0 draw.

I can say that it was not pleasant discovering that one of the tires on my car had a slow leak. Woke up Saturday morning to find it completely flat. I filled it up as best I could with my hand pump, and got it in and plug. No big deal, but not the way I imagined spending my Saturday morning.

The rest of the day went alright, until 9 PM, which is when a rather nasty storm came through, knocking down branches, and leaving us with out power... which won't be restored, by all estimates, until some time Monday evening. Even better was the fact that one of the branches that was down was blocking our garage door.

My crazy roommate / landlord took it upon himself to cut down the branch that was blocking the garage door (did I mention it was resting on a POWER LINE?) and once that was done I helped him clear it away from the door.

So, now I'm at a friend's house, who didn't lose power. I was already scheduled to be here to watch their dogs overnight as they are headed out of town to visit relatives.

With luck I've seen the last of the excitement for this weekend.

Season Is Over, And I Am Late... Again

Ok, ok... so I haven't gotten around to mentioning Newell's Old Boys final two games of the Clausura 2011. Can you really blame me? This has to be one of the most painful seasons we Lepra have had to sit though, ever. Even rosario3.com has the Olimpo 1-1 draw up as the last game played in their sidebar...

Newell's final two results were a rather dull 0-0 draw with San Lorenzo, and an uplifting 1-0 win over Colón de Santa Fe in the final match of the season. The win took La Lepra out of last place, two points ahead of Huracán, who were relegated. The only goal from the two matches was score by Mauricio Sperduti giving him four during the Clausura to lead the team in scoring.

Joining Huracán in the drop are Quilmes, who finished below Huracán in the relegation race, River Plate, who take the drop for the first time ever, and Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. Both River and Gimnasia lost play-offs against teams from the National B. (Please don't ask me to go into the rules about relegation in Argentina... it is complicated.)

The four teams that make the jump from the B up to the top flight are Atlético Rafaela, who won the B with 77 points from 38 matches, Unión de Santa Fe (which gives Newell's another provincial rival to go along with Colón,) San Martín (San Juan,) who beat River in their play-off, and Belgrano (Córdoba,) who took down Gimnasia.

More important to us Newell's fans, of course, is that Rosario Bentral (ok... for those who don't know, they're really called Central) are still in the B, having only managed 50 points on the season.

Soon after the season closed, Newell's announced that Rolando Schiavi was headed back to Boca Jrs in exchange for striker Ricardo Noir... as far as I can tell this was a straight up player swap, no money involved. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

It also looks as though goalkeeper Sebastián Peratta will be headed to Boca to join Schiavi, as an offer of $1.5 million has been made. Newell's are reported to be looking into bringing Justo Villar back to replace the man who replace him between the woodwork. (Crossing my fingers on that one... and wishing there was/is an option that does not cost the team any thing... we need the cash.)

There has also been talk of shopping Sperduti and Leonel Vangioni around. So far I have not seen any word on teams being interested. Considering that over the past year Vangioni has spent more time injured than on the field does not help. Neither does the poor season the team just finished.

Returning from loans should be Juan Quiroga, Pablo Perez, Diego Torres, and Leandro Torres. Leandro could well slide right into place as our playmaker. He did quite well in that role before. Diego Torres is a capable forward, and I really do not understand how he did not manage to break Quilmes starting 11 more often than he did... unless it was due to injuries. Quiroga never was convincing as a defender, in my opinion, but seems to have found himself while away. Same can be said for Perez, but unless the team finds a buyer for Sperduti.

After a long and trying season, there are reasons to hope for a better 11/12.

And Newell's Old Boys Apertura Ends On A...

Nothing like a stretch where your team ends a season with three goals scored in their last eleven games (including the Copa Sudamericana knock out by LDU Quito... I think I had that miscounted in a previous post.) It is at times like this that I wonder if I have stumbled into the Twilight Zone.

Yes, Newell's Old Boys failed to score again today, Colón de Santa Fe instead handed them a 1-0 loss. All this, and, if the rumors are to be trusted, both Mauricio Sperdutti and Mauro Fórmica, the teams only real offensive threats through out the Apertura will be gone before the Clausura starts.

Still, Newell's bank accounts have to get out of the red, and the sale of these two players will certainly help, provided, of course, we can get what they are worth. Thing is, with the Apertura ending with eight points from the final ten matches after starting the campaign with eighteen from the first nine... I cannot see that doing anything but lowering their price tags.

I was only able to keep half an eye on the match, as I was at my weekly Sunday night get together with friends, but did not see anything that I had not seen in the past few games. The defense was as good as one can expect, the lone goal was perfectly placed, so no blame on back up goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán. In fact I think Guzmán had an admirable game. Same can be said for the midfield.

The problem is still the forwards. The have seldom looked dangerous during the entire Apertura, including the first half of the season when the only loss was the first game against the winners of the Apertura, Estudiantes de La Plata.

Ah, well, there are good times, and bad times.

On a side note, the 2009/2010 jersey that I ordered arrived on Friday:

Who Will Play In Place Of Estigarribia?

Having received a red card for perhaps the stupidest foul of the Apertura, the biggest question for Newell's Old Boys is who will play on the left side of midfield in place of Marcelo Estigarribia. So far there are three possible answers: Franco Dolci, Cristian Díaz and Federico Dominguez.

I have seen both Dolci and Díaz in action, and either one could do well enough. Dominguez, on the other hand, has only made two appearances off the bench for Newell's in the Apertura. Digging around a bit I did discover that the last game he played in was the 2-0 victory over Tigre, so perhaps tossing him into the line-up could bring the team some luck.

Another man facing suspension is Gabriel Cíchero, who earned his fifth yellow card against Olimpo, but his replacement is pretty predictable: Ignacio Fideleff.

The final change is at goalkeeper, as the team no longer can qualify for the Copa Libertadores there is no reason for Sebastián Peratta to continue playing with a fractured finger. Nahuel Guzmán will take his place between the posts.

So here then is Newell's probable starting eleven for the final match of the Apertura:

Nahuel Guzmán
Agustín Alayes, Rolando Schiavi, Ignacio Fideleff
Luciano Vella, Diego Mateo, Lucas Bernardi, ?
Mauro Fórmica
Mauricio Sperdutti, Daniel Salvatierra

Colón will most likely begin the match with:

Diego Pozo
Ronald Raldes, Ariel Garcé, Marcelo Goux
Ismael Quilez, Iván Moreno y Fabianesi, Cristian Ledesma, Juan Quiroga
Damián Díaz
Federico Higuaín, Joaquín Larrivey

Oh, and their coach? Our old friend Fernando Gamboa.

Where Have All The Good Times Gone

One goal in the last eight matches, three in the last twelve (including matches in the Copa Sudamericana.) That sums up the current form Newell's Old Boys are in, a slump that today found the team losing 1-0 at home against Olimpio, a team that until today had only managed one point in nine previous road games.

I am not sure if I should call it fortune, or misfortune, but I was able to see the second half of the game. Turns out that today was the company Christmas Meeting/Party, and, sense I am working through a temporary employment agency, I was not invited.

Newell's spent nearly the entire second half looking for an equalizer (the lone goal came in the 38th minute, scored by Olimpo defender Christian Villanueva,) but Newell's continues to fire blanks. The best chance came when a cross found Diego Mateo at the far post with only keeper Laureano Tombolini to beat, but his header bounced harmlessly off the post.

One might say that La Lepra were playing with nothing to gain, but while the Copa Libertadores qualification slot was taken when Independiente lifted the Copa Sudamericana last night, Newell's still should be looking for points in the quest to qualify for the 2011 Sudamericana. Award for boneheaded play of the game goes to Marcelo Estigarribia. His late tackle in injury time earned him a red card. The tackle was so ill timed that I would not be surprised if it earns him more than the customary one game suspension.

Here is the red earned by Estigarribia:

And here, for those who can bare it, is the lone goal:

Ah, well. Guess we only have one more game to lose before the summer break... against Colón de Santa Fe in El Cementerio de los Elefantes.

Newell's Steamroll Over Colón

After watching Newell's Old Boys destroy Colón de Santa Fe 5-0 I have to ask: just what has woken La Lepra up this late in the Clausura? Sure, Los Sabaleros were playing with out there best forwards, including their best goal scorer Oscar Fuertes, but that only explains why they didn't cause Sebastián Peratta many problems.

No, this was Newell's day, it's as simple as that. Every starter played to the best of their ability, no one more so than Joaquín Boghossian. The first time he put the ball in the back of the goal was called back due to two of his team mates being offsides. That didn't keep the big man from playing his best game in months, and, with service reminiscent of that which he got during the Apertura, he scored a pair of headers, the game's first and final goals to bookend the three others. He also narrowly missed lobbing a shot off a rebound that would have had Colón's keeper Diego Pozo beat by a mile. Not bad for a player who might not have been playing had Cristian Nuñez not been suspended for his red card during last week's Clasico Rosarino.

Mauricio Sperdutti scored the second goal with a golazo, Mauro Fórmica scored off a beautiful freekick for the third, while Jorge Achucarro notched the fourth. I'm disappointed for Leonel Vangioni, who has yet to notch a goal this season. He's come close several times, and against Colón he rang one off the crossbar.

Raúl Villalba looked like he's a player ready to become a force. He only started because both Diego Mateo and Lucas Bernardi weren't available, but as a lone holding midfielder he handled himself well, made a number of dangerous passes, and took a couple of shots from distance that weren't too far off the mark. With the two veterans in front of him, it may be a while before he can crack the starting 11 on a regular basis, but he'll only turn 21 this September, so he's got plenty of time.

Peratta spent more time taking goal kicks and punting the ball forward than he did making saves. He was credited with making three, but those were so easy he didn't even have to make moves on them. Still, he's one of my favorite players, so how can I not write a few word, and post a picture of him?

Perhaps even more impressive than the five goals was that this is, if I'm not mistaken, the first match I've seen Newell's play were not one of their players received a card. It's not that Juan Carlos Loustau didn't call any fouls (five against Newell's, eight for Colón,) but that none really deserved a carding. Two were doled out to Colón players, but I only recall Maximiliano Caire's, who was called for a hand ball when he seemed to intentionally punch the ball out of bounds rather than vie with a Newell's player who was rushing down the right wing (it was either Sperdutti, or Achucarro, I'm not sure.) The carding wasn't for the hand ball, however, but for protesting that he had struck it accidently.

With the team playing so poorly for much of the Clausura, it's good to get a blow out win. With luck Newell's can still end up in the top five, provided they win their final three matches. For now, let's enjoy today's goals again:


Next match with be on Thursday, April 29th when Newell's again travel to Buenos Aires to face Arsenal de Sarandí.

Newell's Old Boys - Colón de Santa Fe... Winner Gets The Women

As I've stated many times, my Spanish is somewhat limited, which makes following Newell's somewhat challenging at times. Some times on line translators are a big help, but others they are simply priceless:

"Newell's and Columbus hit by a place in the South American woman"

Translating that back we get:

"Newell' s y Columbus golpearon por un lugar en la mujer suramericana"

The original:

"Newell's y Colón chocan por un lugar en la Sudamericana"

Bottom line is, both Newell's and Colón are in the race for places in the next Copa Sudamericana. I'm not going to pretend to know what one has to do to qualify, but, for all the complaints there have been over the course of the Clausura, Sensini has a team that is in 6th place on the relegation table, and with 60 points in 34 matches over the course of the Apertura 2009 and current Clausura. If Argentina only played one championship over the course of the season, that would place them in 5th. Simply put, we've been doing fairly well, with a 2nd place finish in the Apertura we had a thrilling ride, now we seem to be suffering in the Clausura.

What am I doing posting at this hour? Well, I took a nap after dinner, and then a friend showed up at 12:30AM. But now it's time to get back to bed.

And Now, A Word Against The Ref

Colón de Santa Fe's Germán “Pirulo” Rivarola, a former Canalla, has stated that the reason he kicked the ball at Collado as the referee blew the final whistle was that the official had insulted him during the match. “Within the first 5 minutes of the match I approached him to argue a foul that Schiavi had made on Nieto, and he said 'f*k you, you mother f*ker, sod off’”, the midfielder said. He went on to say that he hadn't really intended to strike the official, but that seems a bit far fetched to me.

Colón’s president, German Lerche, will be filing a formal complaint with AFA (Asociación del Fútbol Argentino.) I don't know how well that's going to go over, as five of their players have received suspensions from AFA's disciplinary board for their actions after the Rivarola's red card, for which he receives an automatic suspension. Joining him are keeper Diego Pozo, defenders Marcelo Goux and Ariel Garcé, as well as forward Esteban Fuertes.

And lets not forget that Hugo Barrientos will also be serving a suspension. With Hugo getting playing time due to Diego Mateo's injury, I have to wonder what sort of line up Sensini can cook up for Sunday's match against Arsenal de Sarandí.


Here is the referee list for the weekend, officials yet to work a Newell's match again in bold:

Estudiantes de La Plata - Chacarita Juniors, Rafael Furchi.
Godoy Cruz - Rosario Central, Mauro Giannini.
Huracán - Banfield, Héctor Baldassi.
Racing Club - Tigre, Patricio Loustau.
Argentinos Juniors - San Lorenzo, Javier Collado.
Atlético Tucumán - Colón de Santa Fe, Juan Pablo Pompei.
Boca Juniors - Independiente, Saúl Laverni.
Vélez Sarsfield - River Plate, Néstor Pittana.
Newell's - Arsenal, Pablo Lunati.
Lanús - Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, Cristian Faraoni

Wait... something is wrong with this picture, let me double check... yes, Pablo Lunati will be working his first game involving Newell's this Apertura. Amazing.

And, of course, my condolences to Argentinos Juniors and San Lorenzo for drawing the short straw, and having to deal with Collado.

Lastly, I've changed the Poll app, so get your votes in for Newell's best player of the Apertura!

Not Even Collado Can Bring Down Newell's

I got home just in time to see that Newell's were up 1-0, and to see Collado red card Barrientos for tossing the ball too far when returning it to the Colón after a foul. Bastard. (Barrientos was already on a yellow card from earlier in the match, but, from what I saw, Collado gave him a straight red.) Then, in the 16 minutes of the game I managed to see (including 6 minutes of injury time,) I twice saw Colón players jump onto the backs of Newell's players as if they expecting to be able to ride them, and while Collado did give a yellow on the one, he only called a foul on the second. Idiot.

Then, as he blew the whistle to end the game, Colón midfielder Germán Rivarola kicked the ball and struck Collado with it, which did result in a red card. That's when the entire Colón team started swarming around him, and soon the police with their riot shields came out to keep them from their quarry. I've said before that when Collado referees the loser will always have a reason blame him... if this doesn't prove that point, I don't know what will.

But enough about the insufferable officiating. Boghossian scored in the 65th minute to give Newell's the win, and a claim to sole possession of first place with three matches to go. It was a beauty of a goal, and the big man deserves all the credit for it, as he dribbled, that's right he dribbled, through two defenders, while a third tried to come from behind before drilling a shot past Colón goalkeeper Diego Pozo.

Please note that I have added a poll to the right to determine Newell's best player during the Apertura. A few weeks after the end of the season I will close this poll, and try and come up with a new one for the summer (I know it's winter here, where I'm writing this) break.

Up next Arsenal de Sarandí visit the soon to be renamed Coloso. More on that later... right now it's time to celebrate!

Please, We Are Lepers Not Elephants

Rolando Schiavi has come out and stated that Newell's Old Boys will need to win their final four matches to have any chance at the Apertura '09 title. The general feeling at the club is that Banfield will drop some points in their final matches, though I'd have to say that Newell's have the tougher matches, starting with tomorrow's match against Colón de Santa Fe, at the Brigadier Gral. Estanislao López, better known as El Cementerio de Los Elefantes - the Elephant's Graveyard in English.
The stadium has earned that nickname, as it is a very difficult place to win as an away team. Even when Colón aren't playing well in general, clubs dread having to play there, especially when their chances at the title are on the line. Thing is, Los Sabaleros are playing well, sitting in third place on 31 points, though they've played one more game than leaders Banfield (35 pts) and second place Newell's (33 pts.)

I have yet to see anything in the way of an expected line up for La Lepra, which I suspect is due to Sensini and his staff perhaps wanting to keep his counterpart at Colón, Antonio Mohamed, from knowing what to expect. Not so with the opposition...

Colón de Santa Fe expected lineup:

Diego Pozo
Alexis Ferrero, Ariel Garcé, Marcelo Goux
Ismael Quilez, Alejandro Capurro, Cristian Pellerano, Germán Rivarola, Nicolás Torres
Federico Nieto, Esteban Fuertes.

The player to worry about, of course, is Federico Nieto, who is having a career year so far with 11 goals, having played in every game for Colón. Even if Newell's defense manages to neutralize him, his front line partner Fuertes isn't doing badly either, having scored 6 while sitting out 5 matches.

The less I say about the man who's scheduled to referee the match, the better. Let's just say that in book "Soccer In Sun And Shadow" Eduardo Galeano (as translated by Mark Fried) states "In Spanish he is the árbitro and he's arbitrary by definition." Truer words I've never heard.

Now, it's time to watch Banfield take on Racing Club...

Reliving A 2-2 Draw That We Can Celebrate

Earlier this year, back in July, we celebrated the 35th anniversary of Newell's Old Boys' first ever championship. In 1974, the Campeonato Metropolitano was split into two groups, the top two teams from each group then entered a final 4 team tournament to crown a champion. Topping group A was Rosario Central, while group B was won by Newell's. Boca Jrs and Huracán joined them as the second place finishers, Boca having won a one game playoff against Ferro Carril Oeste, both teams finishing joint second in group B with 23 points.

In the end, Newell's won the tournament, our final game against Rosario Central may well have been the most important clásico. During this final match, much like the clásico last Sunday, Central took a 2-0 win, only to have Newell's fight back an claim a 2-2 draw. The difference is, the 2-2 draw in 1974 earned a championship, much easier to celebrat than Sunday's, which knocked Newell's two points off the top of the table, and allowed Colón de Santa Fe, Newell's next oppenents, to gain ground with 31 points to Newell's 33.

Here in the United States, where I live, it's Thanksgiving day, and so I give thanks to the team of 1974, and to Roberto Benedetto, who found and posted one of the following videos on his Facebook account. It's a half hour documentary featuring interviews from some of the players from 1974, including captain Mario Zanabria, and "El Mono" Alfredo Obberti, as well as Roberto himself, as a fan of the team, and a current part of the clubs administration.

And Now, A Word From The Ref

Diego Abal, the referee who handled the clásico between Newell's Old Boys and Rosario Central over the weekend, has come out and explained why he didn't halt the match when a knife was thrown onto the field near Newell's keeper Sebastián "El Flaco" Peratta from a section of Sinas. "Clearly a knife on the field is something abnormal, but had I decided to suspend everything it would have been like I was trying to make myself the figure of the match," Adal stated plainly, or as close as I can translate (once again, with a bit of help from Babelfish.)

While no one was harmed, it does go to prove that Central has a ways to go before they have their Barras Bravas under control, and that security at El Coloso may need to be tightened even further for such matches. Still, it's far less trouble than we could have expected had Lorente not become president at Newell's.

The sunglasses which Peratta wore for a brief moment were also thrown by Sinas, but that is hardly anything to complain about. If anything, it gave Sebastián a souvenir from the encounter.

Meanwhile, the officials for this weekend's matches have been announced, and the fact that once again Javier Collado has been drawn to handle a Newell's game is making me forget the displeasure of the tie with Central. Once again I have to ask, just who decides on the referee assignments?

Following is the full list of referees, once again the referees yet to call a Newell's match are in bold:
Rosario Central-Atlético Tucumán, Luis Alvarez.
Independiente-Huracán, Nestor Pittana.
Chacarita Juniors-Godoy Cruz, Carlos Maglio.
River Plate-Estudiantes de La Plata, Federico Beligoy.
San Lorenzo-Boca Juniors, Héctor Baldassi.
Tigre-Vélez Sarsfield, Pablo Lunati.
Banfield-Racing, Sergio Pezzotta.
Arsenal-Lanús, Mauro Giannini.
Colón-Newell's Old Boys, Javier Collado.
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)-Argentinos Juniors, Juan Pablo Pompei.

Even worst than having Collado again, the game against Colón has been scheduled for Monday, at a time slot when I'll be at work. Please, someone wake me up and tell me this is all just a nightmare, and that the clásico is only just about to start.

Sánchez Prette Scores His First Goal For Newell's

The bad news is that it was during a 2-1 loss away to Banfield. Now, it's always difficult to write about a loss, but that does not excuse my putting off doing so. No, that would be more due to the fact that I have been under the weather this weekend, and the fact that I missed the vast majority of the game. All I can really claim to have seen was the last ten minutes.

With in those ten minutes, I can say that it was good to see Newell's fighting for an equalizer. In fact, as Newell's were setting up for a corner, Rolando Schiavi and Banfield's Santiago Silva were battling for position and got involved in a bit of a shoving match resulting in red cards for the two of them. Honestly, I've seen worst were given no more than yellow handed out, but if they'd been given verbal warnings by the referee earlier in the match...

Newell's took the lead during the 65th minute on the goal mentioned above, but with in a minute the referee called for a penalty at the over end, which was converted by Santiago Silva. I wish I had seen this, as the only video I've found does not show it, but joins in as the Newell's players are protesting the call with the official. Even the announcers were questioning the call.

Six minutes later, Colombian James Rodriguez put Banfield ahead with a blast from about 10 yards outside of the penalty area.

Looking at the statistics for the match it looks like it was a fairly even game. There are those that look at the loss and continue to clamor for Sensini to resign. There are those that call for the return of Gamboa. If I knew that Gamboa would agree to return, I'd be more than in favor.

However, if it takes the return of Edwardo Lopez for Gamboa to come back? I'd sooner join the voiceless chorus over at Central... Speaking of which, they lost for the first time during this Apertura, 1-0 against Colón.

Good to see Sinas take a loss, and nice of it to come to a team in Rojo y Negro... even if it isn't Newell's.

22 Games, And Running

Once again, I was unable to watch as Newell's ended up with a 1-1 draw at home, this time against Colón de Sante Fe. Unlike last week's game, I was not stuck at work, but, instead, the internet feeds that have allowed myself, and many others, are being clamped down. While I found many sites that hadthe game, all lead to the same feed, which required an access code from the web site that it was fed through.

As mentioned in the game preview, Colón have had Newell's number for some time now. 22 league games in a row, to be exact, Newell's have failed to claim a full 3 points.

Newell's:

Sebastián Dario Peratta; Ignacio Pillud, Rolando Schiavi, Juan Insaurralde, Juan Quiroga; Mauricio Sperdutti, Lucas Bernardi, Pablo Martin Monsalvo (Leandro Torres 86,) Leonel Vangioni (Ernesto Cristaldo 72;) Mauro Fórmica (Damian Steinert 65,) Santiago Salcedo

Colón:

Diego Pozo; Alexis Ferrero, Marcelo Goux, Salustiano Candía; Germán Rivarola, Diego Martín Chitzoff (Sebastián Sciorilli 21,) Sebastián Prediguer, Nicolás Torres (Alfredo Ramírez 74,) Matias Oyola; Fabián Castillo (Daley Mena 59,) Esteban Fuertes

Goals:

Newell's: Juan Quiroga (7)
Colón: Germán Rivarola (80)



And so, no celebrations for this game... just to cheer myself up, here's the goals from Friday night's Banfield win over Rosario Central:



Watch the first goal carefully. Yes, that's Diego Braghieri of Central scoring... into his own net!

Yes, Sin Aliento seem bound and determined to take the drop. We'll miss you when your gone.

11 Years Of Frustration

With Newell's game today at El Coloso there is the chance to stop an 11 year streak with out a win against Colon at home. Yes, that's right, for nearly a dozen years Colon have come to El Coloso and kept the home team at bay. It was in 1997 that Newell's last claimed a victory against a visiting Colon. Mind blowing.
November 2, 1997, Mario Zanabria was in charge at Newell's, and his team won 3-2 on two goals from Saldaña, and one from Rocha. In fact Newell's have not beaten Colon in an official match anywhere in a very long time. The last away win was April 14th 1998.

Due to this long winless streak, Newell's over all record against this team is 16 wins, 25 ties, and 21 losses. Here's hoping that today brings the start of a new streak, a winless streak for Los Sabaleros.

Let them go fishing for points against other opponents.

Newell's over Colón 1-0

Here's how Newell's lined up:

Sebastián Peratta; Iván Pillud, Rolando Schiavi, Juan Manuel Insaurralde, Ernesto Cristaldo; Gastón Machín, Hernán Bernardello, Leonel Vangioni; Leandro Torres; Steinert y Leandro Armani.

The fact that Deigo Torres place was taken by Steinert has me wondering if Deigo is up for a transfer to raise some much needed cash. Still, good to see Steinert giving a chance. I always thought he had the skill, just that he had a bit of injury trouble early in his career, and then wasn't given a chance... hopefully those days are over.

I don't recognize Leandro Armani by name. Everyone else in the line-up is a known quantity, though some haven't had much game time. Haven't seen any mention of subs.


There's some sort of rumor that Edgar Davids is interested in playing in Argentina, with the two teams he's looking at being River and Newell's. I don't care how reliable the source, not sure I can believe this one.


And of course there's the eternal story of Newell's, El Ogro, and River dancing around and never settling on a figure.