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Latin American Roundup Gallardo injured in debut as River Plate loses againPosted: Monday August 18, 2003 12:07 AMBUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -- Midfielder Marcelo Gallardo was injured half an hour into his debut for River Plate as the Argentine champions lost 2-0 at home to Newell's Old Boys on Sunday to slide to their second successive defeat. Colombian duo Julian Vasquez and Jairo Patino scored either side of halftime for Newell's to leave River with three points out of nine in the Apertura, the first of the two league championships in the Argentine season. Gallardo, who returned to the club last month after signing from AS Monaco, limped off with a knee injury in the 75th minute and could be out of action for up to a month. He had come on as a halftime substitute. Chile international Marcelo Salas, who returned to River after signing from Juventus last month, also came on at halftime but was unable to rescue his side. "It was a great win and a great satisfaction for me to have scored," Patino, one of several Colombians signed by Argentine clubs in the close season, told reporters. The defeat sent River slumping to 13th in the table. Newell's, led by former River and Boca Juniors coach Hector Viera, are unbeaten this season and have not conceded a goal. Boca, River's archrivals, lead with a maximum nine points from three games after coming from behind to win 3-1 at Velez Sarsfield. Velez took a first-half lead through Mauro Obolo before the South American champions hit back after the break with another excellent performance by new Brazilian signing Iarley. Nineteen-year-old Carlos Tevez equalised before defender Rolando Schiavi added two goals. "It was a complicated game but we were always comfortable," said Tevez. Independiente, who won last year's Apertura but then had a miserable time in the Clausura championship which followed, continued their good start by winning 1-0 at Banfield. Emiliano Dudar headed a 75th minute winner for the Red Devils, who are coached by former Argentina defender Oscar Ruggeri. In other matches, Carlos Bilardo's Estudiantes played out a grim goalless draw at newly-promoted Quilmes and Colon thrashed Talleres 5-1.
Mexico: Champions Monterrey, big-spending America fallMEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Title holders Monterrey and big-spending America were left waiting for their first win in the Mexican Apertura championship after losing again at the weekend. America, who have invested heavily to bring Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker back for a second stint at the club, went down to a shock 3-2 defeat at Veracruz only five days after their last-gasp 4-3 reverse at Unam. The Red Sharks were in control after Martin Rodriguez and Angel Morales put them 2-0 ahead after 15 minutes. Uruguay striker Sebastian Abreu, another big-name signing, scored his first goal for America to pull them back into the game only for Walter Jimenez to restore the home team's two-goal advantage in the 62nd minute. Christian Patino's 83rd-minute goal was too late for America, who have only one point out of nine. Monterrey, under Argentina's former World Cup captain and coach Daniel Passarella, have no points after their surprise 2-1 defeat by UAG, who managed only seven points in 19 games in the previous championship. Eliomar Marcon and Mirsha Serrano scored in each half for the Tecos while Brazilian Alex Fernandes replied for Monterrey. In another upset, Chiapas won 1-0 at Guadalajara after Luis Romero scored the only goal in the 17th minute. Guadalajara had Ramon Ramirez sent off in the 31st minute and Chiapas also finished with 10 men after Omar Monjarez was dismissed in the 87th minute. Title contenders Cruz Azul comfortably disposed of Atlas 4-1 after the visitors had two players plus coach Fernando Quirarte red-carded. Argentine striker Cesar Delgado put Cruz Azul ahead in the fifth minute before Atlas had Peru midfielder Roberto Palacios sent off for a tackle from behind four minutes later. Three goals in eight minutes during the second half from Delgado, Mario Ortiz and Melvin Brown finished off Atlas, who replied through Diego Perrone before having Fernando Salazar sent off followed by Quirarte. Unam, coached by former Real Madrid and Mexico striker Hugo Sanchez, lost their 100 percent record when they were held to a goalless draw at home by San Luis. Sanchez had set his team the target of winning their first five matches.
Brazil: Cruz resigns again as Fortaleza coachRIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -- Brazilian soccer's dance of the coaches produced another bizarre twist on Sunday when Luiz Carlos Cruz walked out on struggling Fortaleza for the second time this year. Cruz left for the first time in April after the team had played only one match in the Brazilian championship. He returned 11 matches later when his replacement Fernandinho Teixeira threw in the towel, only to offer his resignation again after another 14 games in charge. Cruz, who announced his decision after the team crashed 3-0 at Sao Caetano, said the final straw came when he was insulted by supporters during a training session this week. Although Fortaleza are 21st in the 24-team championship, club president Jorge Mota remained upbeat. "Football is dynamic and we're going to hire a big-name coach," he told reporters. Sao Caetano, who are themselves on to their third coach of the championship, won with an early strike by striker Adhemar and two in the second half from Marcinho and Warley. The win lifted Sao Caetano, runners-up in 2000 and 2001, to sixth place. Cruzeiro, under controversial former Brazil coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, won 3-1 at Ponte Preta to go three points clear at the top. Colombian striker Victor Aristizabal opened the scoring with a 34th-minute penalty. Rafael Santos equalised three minutes later but Alex put the visitors back in front before halftime and Marcio added a third in the second half. Second-placed Santos lost ground when they went down 1-0 at Figueirense, where Luiz Carlos Ferreira was making his debut as the club's third coach of the championship. Triguinho scored the only goal with five minutes left for the Florianopolis team. Santos striker Robinho, who shone last year, was left on the bench by coach Emerson Leao. A second-half goal by Jean gave Flamengo a 1-0 win over Fluminense in a stormy Rio de Janeiro derby watched by only 22,179 fans in the huge Maracana stadium. Eight minutes of injury time were added after a series of unpleasant incidents in the second half. Fluminense had defender Rodolfo sent off for arguing along with coach Joel Santana, who was seen to push a Flamengo player. Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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