En su aniversario 70, Santa Fe empató 0-0 con Nacional

Tomado de: http://www.futbolred.com/liga-postobon/noticias/fecha4apertura2011/en-su-aniversario-70-santa-fe-empato-0-0-con-nacional/8937801
Autor: David Guzmán

Ante más de 16 mil personas no se sacaron ventaja. Van cuatro fechas y el rojo aún no gana...

Independiente Santa Fe sigue sin ganar en esta Liga 2011 y volvió a dejar escapar puntos de su casa, lo que no es bueno y menos cuando el partido tenía el tinte simbólico de servir como abrebocas a los 70 años del club.

El arranque del encuentro fue bastante rápido, los dos equipos buscaban el arco rival y trataban de hacerse con el dominio de la pelota. En Nacional Dorlan Pabón era el hombre más importante, pues a punta de velocidad lograba desequilibrar y acercarse al área roja.

Santa Fe era más constructivo e intentaba, sin éxito, construir desde la mitad del campo.

Pasado el primer cuarto de hora, fue evidente el dominio 'cardenal' pues la mayoría de hombres rojos permanecían en el campo visitante.

Nacional se sacudió rápidamente del yugo santafereño y, con un par de apariciones de Macnelly Torres y de Pabón, se acercó al marco defendido por Agustín Julio.

El juego se fue enredando con el paso de los minutos y aunque los dos equipos tenían la intención de atacar, ninguno tuvo la claridad para crear verdadero peligro en el arco contrario.

Esta dinámica se mantuvo hasta que Oscar Julián Ruiz decretó el final de la primera etapa.

Apenas pasaron 35 segundos de la segunda etapa cuando llegó la oportunidad más clara del encuentro para la visita. Dorlan Pabón recibió un pase profundo de Macnelly, dominó y remató fuerte, rastrero y cruzado, pero la pelota se fue desviada por muy poco.

La respuesta no se hizo esperar y tres minutos después, en un tiro libre en diagonal que exigió a Gastón Pezzuti, quien envió el balón al tiro de esquina.

Sobre los 54 minutos Santa Fe tuvo su gran oportunidad de abrir el marcador. Léider Preciado cabeceó un centro de costado, Pezzuti controló a medias y el rebote le cayó al mismo Preciado, pero con la presión del arquero y de los defensas verdes no pudo rematar de la mejor manera y el balón se fue por la línea de fondo.

La clara ocasión de Léider le dio mucho ánimo a los rojos que pusieronn el pie en el acelerador y se acercaron al arco verdolaga.

Prontamente Nacional reaccionó, adelantó sus líneas y, otra vez de la mano de Macnelly, creó riesgo en el último cuarto de cancha.

El juego se emparejó y se volvió de ida y vuelta, la vocación ofensiva de las dos escuadras mantuvo el juego muy movido. Nacional buscaba Víctor Ibarbo por la banda izquierda para que desbordara, mientras que Santa Fe atacaba por el centro del campo.

Los últimos minutos fueron para Santa Fe que quiso ir por el partido con muchas ganas pero con poca precisión. Nacional aguantó y busco sorprender por la via del contragolpe, y aunque se acercó, el gol nunca llegó.

Al final un empate que parece ser más conveniente para el visitante que para Santa Fe que vuelve a dejar escapar puntos de su casa.

Síntesis
Estadio: Nemesio Camacho 'El Campín'
Asistencia: 16.000 espectadores aproximadamente.
Árbitro: Oscar Julián Ruiz

Santa Fe: Agustín Julio; Juan Daniel Roa, Germán Centurión, Jhonnier González y Ricardo Villarraga; Jhon Ulloque, Daniel Torres, Gerardo Bedoya y Luis Manuel Seijas; Óscar Rodas y Léider Preciado. DT: Néstor Otero.

Cambios: Ariel Carreño por Rodas (18 ST), Sergio Galván por Seijas (26 ST) y Ariel Sevillano por Villarraga (38 ST).

Goles: No marcó.

Amonestados: Villarraga, Torres, Bedoya, Roa.

Expulsados: No hubo.

Nacional: Gastón Pezzuti; Víctor Giraldo, Stefan Medina, Édgar Zapata, Juan Duque; John Valencia, Jairo Palomino, Víctor Ibarbo, Macnelly Torres, Dorlan Pabón y Carlos Rentería. DT: Santiago Escobar.

Cambios: Yovanny Arrechea por Rentería (39 ST), Angelo Rodríguez por Pabón (47 ST).

Goles: No marcó.

Amonestados: Ibarbo.

Expulsados: No hubo.

David Guzmán
Redacción Futbolred.com
davguz@eltiempo.com.co
Bogotá

COPYRIGHT © 2011 CEET

que hueso, que hueso

Carling Cup 2010-2011 Final: Arsenal 1-2 Birmingham City

Tomado de: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story/_/id/887027/drought-continues-as-arsenal-freeze-in-carling-cup-final?cc=3888
Autor: John Brewin

It was the least of their ambitions but failing to secure it still hurt like hell. Jack Wilshere's tears showed it really did matter, as his team-mates lay prostrate in the usual manner of a last-minute defeat. Now, Arsenal might well be facing another season in which the trophy cabinet stays locked.

Catastrophe had struck them when Wojcech Szczesny and Laurent Koscielny's shared error gifted the League Cup to England's Second City, with Birmingham winning 2-1. With Manchester United reopening the gap at the top of the Premier League, this has been an unhappy weekend for Arsenal. Now Barcelona lie in wait, not to mention Leyton Orient. This day was Birmingham's, and deservedly so despite the lucky break that granted Obafemi Martins his winner. The memories of ten years ago, and that image of Trevor Francis consoling a stricken Andy Johnson, have been augmented with the club's second winning of this trophy after a gap of 48 years. Now it is Wilshere who is a poster boy for Wembley woe.

A year ago, Manchester United found that winning this trophy came at the cost of injury to both Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney, as Wembley's clagging pitch sucked reserves of energy. They at least could take solace in having something to show for their season. Arsenal now walk a tightrope and their manager admitted that the manner of this loss could have a worrying effect on his team. "I am bitterly disappointed like all the team," said a desolate Arsene Wenger. "We had problems to start with. It took us a while to get into the pace of the game, and in the second half we were on top but the goal gave us no time to respond."

The Gunners' attempts to win four trophies meant this was a lesser light for them, a fact confirmed by a lack of cup final tailoring - their pre-match pitch attire was tracksuits while Birmingham's players were suited and booted. Birmingham's first major final at Wembley since 1956 clearly meant a great deal to both their staff and fans, Alex McLeish's pitchside manner manic in contrast to Wenger's studied cool until all went wrong. In the end, the spoils went to the team who wanted it most.

That six-year trophy drought on which Wenger is clearly bored of answering questions continues. This was an occasion in which damage limitation and protection of leading players was hugely important but it was another target that was missed. In scoring his goal, Robin Van Persie clearly injured himself and was forced to leave the game early with a knee problem. For too long, Arsenal played as if other things were on their mind. Cesc Fabregas was clearly missed, and so too Theo Walcott. Arsene Wenger made mention of them post-match and pointed to the difficulty he faces in performing a balancing act with his squad. Birmingham, on the other hand, could concentrate on this fixture, a point of view which erred in forgetting Blues' fight for Premier League survival.

The Londoners entered the break lucky to be level, though Van Persie's goal was wonderfully taken. It had arrived at a time when Birmingham had been well in the ascendancy, though was inspired by a Wilshere drive against the bar which temporarily lifted his team-mates' tempo.

Blues had begun with a belief they maintained throughout and were denied what surely would have been a penalty when Lee Bowyer was wrongly ruled offside when surging through on goal only to be upended by Szczesny. A sending off may well have resulted too to further echo last season's final when Nemanja Vidic should have been dismissed for an early foul against Aston Villa. It was a moment always likely to be heavily mentioned post-match if Birmingham did not triumph but will now be forgotten though McLeish told of how at half-time he "gathered our team, saying that we must retain our composure". Meanwhile, the young goalkeeper may even wish he had been so punished. He was culpable for both Blues goals and has probably begun more talk about Arsenal lacking a trustworthy goalkeeper.

It was aerial power that was always likely to be Birmingham's most potent weapon and Nikola Zigic's 28th-minute header was a victory for McLeish's training-ground drills, and a first moment to rue for Szczesny, whose late commitment to Roger Johnson's flick left him in limbo as the Serb nodded past him. Sadly for him, his afternoon was to get far worse.

Arsenal's second-period showing had to be better and yet it was not good enough. Wenger perhaps needed to resort to hurling Wembley's finest bone china to lift his charges' desire; they seemed for long periods to be lacking it.

The Gunners could have fallen behind again when Keith Fahey crashed the ball off the base of the post in the 57th minute. At this point, Birmingham were still the team raising their game to match the occasion. Only Wilshere of Arsenal's players matched their determination, with both Alex Song and Tomas Rosicky particularly lacking in drive and Gael Clichy struggling as Zigic towered on his shoulder. It seemed as if McLeish had targeted Arsenal's shortest defender on set-pieces. A gameplan had been struck, and stuck to and was a great success or "executed brilliantly" in the words of McLeish, who stopped short of slapping his own back and moved the credit to his players.

On a day when much went right for the Scot, even he could not have predicted the manner of victory. "You do need luck," admitted McLeish in the time-honoured magnamity of the victor.

As Wenger pointed out, a lack of "communication and determination" caused it to be scored. "The ball was in no-man's land," said Wenger, who described Szczesny and the equally guilty Laurent Kosciely as "destroyed" in the dressing room. "Someone had to take responsibility. Nobody from Birmingham was going for the ball." A costly error then, and one which may have far-reaching effects on the esprit de corps of Arsenal.

Now they are chasing for three trophies that all look far harder to win than this should have been. "The Carling Cup is playing just four or five games," said Wenger. "We will not throw 38 games away because of one game but we don't deny it's a massive disappointment."

MAN OF THE MATCH - Ben Foster - He will likely not be denied the champagne reception he complained wasn't forthcoming when he won this trophy with Manchester United, and can be highly pleased with a display that matched the quality of his previous showing on this stage. Two saves made with his legs, first from Arshavin and then from Bendtner were low on artistic impression but high on importance.

ARSENAL VERDICT: They will feel cursed, unlucky and bruised but when they were expected to blow away Blues with free-flowing verve, they singularly failed to do so. Wilshere was outstanding in that he was often the only player who looked up for it. That late goal was cruel considering they had begun to dominate, but their first-half performance was poor enough to deserve their fate.

BIRMINGHAM CITY VERDICT: Alex McLeish may have won plenty of trophies north of the border but this must register as his greatest triumph and he admitted as much. His players worked manfully all game and indeed were no less creative than their storied opponents. They had luck, of course, but they rode it well, and their fans can look forward to European adventures that McLeish forgot he had qualified for in winning this trophy.

ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA: Wembley's PA system made its usual incursion into the eardrums of the spectators, with a volume and music policy that surely acts against Brent Council's noise pollution policy. Welcome relief was provided by the playing of ELO's "Mr Blue Sky" and it had Blues fans pogoing in the aisles.
PARAGRAPH

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Y un día despertó: Nacional venció 3-1 a América

Tomado de: http://www.futbolred.com/liga-postobon/noticias/fecha3apertura2011/y-un-dia-desperto-nacional-vencio-3-1-a-america/8885321
Autor: Juan Diego Ortiz Jiménez

Rentería se multiplicó por tres (15', 29' y 41') y le dio el triunfo al 'verde'.

Los 'Diablos' descontaron con gol de Morales (24').

Vértigo, precisión y goles. Nacional fue una tromba y en apenas 45 minutos liquidó el clásico frente a América que no tuvo tiempo de reaccionar ante la arremetida paisa. Rentería se fajó una noche soñada tras marcar su primera tripleta vestido de verde. El equipo de Sachi despertó y ya ilusiona a su gente que se fue feliz del Atanasio.

El primero de la noche cayó apenas en el primer cuarto. Pabón se disparó como una bala por oriental, sacó del baile a Llanos que fue una sombra en el pleito y lanzó el balón al corazón del área. Rentería se adelantó a la zaga visitante y cobró por ventanilla.

Pero la alegría antioqueña solo duró nueve minutos: Artigas le ganó la marca a Giraldo, levantó el cuero y en el segundo palo emergió la cabeza de Morales que dejó la historia como al comienzo (24'). Claro que Nacional no agachó la cabeza y siguió carburando.

Esta vez John Valencia tomó la batuta y corrió con el balón cosido al pie desde medio campo. En la frontera del área construyó pared con Ibarbo pero fue Rentería el que capturó el esférico, enganchó, desenfundó y... otra vez a celebrar encima de su 'caballito'.

Pero la faena del hermano menor de Wason no había culminado. Antes del final del primer tiempo, pescó un rebote que otorgó Castellanos tras un potente disparo de Pabón y la mandó a guardar con su botín derecho. Manos al aire y de nuevo a festejar.

El equipo de Aponte nunca se pudo parar de la lona después del triple derechazo que le propinó su oponente. Con mayor razón cuando perdió a Avilés Hurtado (53') por doble amonestación. Con pocas ideas y con el agua al cuello, el cuadro caleño terminó entregado.

Los dirigidos por Sachi disfrutaron en el complemento y de contra, tuvieron para sentenciar la goleada con Arrechea, que malogró un gol claro debajo del arquero americano (78') y con Angello Rodríguez al que se le corrió la mira al momento del remate (86').

Pero el 3-1 fue suficiente para el 'verde' que ganó el primer partido del año y prendió la esperanza en su afición que se fue satisfecha a casa. Y un día despertó...

Ficha técnica

Atlético Nacional 3: Gastón Pezzuti 6; Víctor Giraldo 4, Stefan Medina 6, Edgar Zapata 6 y Juan David Duque 5; Víctor Ibarbo 6, John Valencia 7, Jairo Palomino 6 y Macnelly Torres 5; Carlos Rentería 8 y Dorlan Pabón 8. D.T: Santiago Escobar.

América 1: Leandro Castellanos 6; Fabián Morales 6, John Lozano 5, Andrés Cadavid 5 y Mario Llanos 3; Jorge Banguero 5, John Pai 5, Jorge Artigas 4, William Zapata 6, Avilés Hurtado 6; Duván Zapata 6. D.T.: Álvaro Aponte.

Partido: entretenido.

Cambios en Nacional: Carlos Múnera por Víctor Ibarbo (72'), Yovanny Arrechea por Carlos Rentería (76') y Angello Rodríguez por Dorlan Pabón (85').

Cambios en América: David Olguín por Mario Llanos (46'), Luis Miguel Carabalí por William Zapata (70') y Deimer Cetré por Andrés Cadavid (88').

Goles: Carlos Rentería (15', 29' y 41'); Fabián Morales (24').

Expulsados: Avilés Hurtado (53').

Amarillas en Nacional: Jairo Palomino (17') y John Valencia (74').

Amarillas en América: John Pai (26'), Jorge Banguero (34'), Fabián Morales (35') y Avilés Hurtado (40').

Figura: Carlos Rentería 8.

Estadio: Atanasio Girardot.

Asistencia: 12 mil espectadores aproximadamente.

Árbitro: Hernando Buitrago 5.

Juan Diego Ortiz Jiménez
Corresponsal Futbolred.com
Medellín

COPYRIGHT © 2011 CEET

Defeat of Barca gives Gunners belief

Tomado de: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story/_/id/881554/arsenal-2-1-barcelona:-defeat-of-barca-gives-gunners-belief?cc=3888
Autor: John Brewin

Pessimism is often used to shield a rising sense of hope, but now Arsenal have genuine grounds to believe where before many had predicted nothing but doom.

The Gunners will travel to the Nou Camp in three weeks with a 2-1 lead to defend. That may not be their natural game, but if anything is to be taken from this night, it is that the fighting spirit that looked lost in 45 minutes at Newcastle United has been quickly recovered.

There may have been moments of clinging on, and plenty of last-ditch defending, but two breakaway goals have shown that Barcelona are not impregnable and are beatable. A goal in Spain and Barcelona's patience, displayed as ever here, can be sorely tested. Both Robin Van Persie and Andrei Arshavin's goals were of a quality to remind that Arsenal possess a threat to be recognised, and can trust their attack's ability to damage Barcelona.

Arsenal had spent recent days talking up their chances and seem to have convinced themselves into this battling display. When December's draw was made, there was a sense of destiny even before the two were paired. Indeed, Arsene Wenger had joked after the closing Champions League group game with Partizan about how he would not need to name who he would have liked to have avoided. Hope sprang at the absence of Carles Puyol, whose leadership at the back may well have been missed here. And then there was Barca's weekend draw with Sporting Gijon, whose defending in droves offered a key to surviving wave after wave of twinkle-toed attack. But such an approach would surely be anathema to Arsenal. At times here, and as it will definitely do at the Nou Camp, it became necessity, but there was still no desertion of ideals.

Gunners fans, like Wenger, are protective of their status as the English team that plays the 'best' attacking football, a pretence that can annoy. Thus, defeat to the same opponents last season over two legs came at the cost of much mockery. But lessons have been learned, and Arsenal were able to field a better depth of personnel. Laurent Koscielny was "oustanding" according to his manager where Mikael Silvestre came so unstuck a year ago. Van Persie, missing then, had looked off-form for much of the game but his finish here was proof of a player who trusts his instincts.

This time, those long periods of play when Arsenal were unable to even get on the ball did not look so humiliating. And there were moments of the expected attacking verve. Wenger proclaimed this win, and more specifically the manner of it, as a triumph of his unwavering devotion to a prescribed style of play. "I am very proud for Arsenal Football Club," he said. "Everyone urged us to play differently to our nature, and for more than just pride, it can only increase the belief in our philosophy."

For Arsene the aesthete, the optimum would be for his team to duke it out on their own terms, and not resort to the pragmatism that the likes of Inter Milan and Chelsea have used to frustrate Barcelona. As it was, his team displayed an attacking edge to delight the purist but also a strength of character that meant they were able to recover and regroup when Barca's pitter-patter of tiny passes looked likely to last forever. Jack Wilshere was the embodiment of this. His passing was exemplary in the main, but his pressing and closing down of Barcelona's moving shadows marked him, to coin a favoured Wenger word, as "outstanding''. The teenager displayed an edge of determination that has long been depicted as lacking in Arsenal's ranks and it was Alex Song who looked the junior partner in the centre of midfield.

Barcelona will still look on this night as an opportunity missed, as with 20 minutes to play they had looked to close out their superiority of scoreline and possession by removing goalscorer David Villa for Seydou Keita. They had enjoyed typical dominance of possession, with 66% being a high ratio even for them in the latter stages of the Champions League. It took Xavi 52 minutes to misplace a pass, and he would not do so again, as the holy trinity of him, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta cast their usual spells.

Less starred but no less important in this match was Sergio Busquets, whose one-touch play was hailed last week by Xavi and off whose gawky frame so many of Barcelona's patterns were weaved. The battle between he and Wilshere was the evening's prime one-on-one contest.

Villa's first-half strike was classic Barca, but came as a result of a breakaway after Van Persie had been denied a header on goal by Victor Valdes' claw. Seconds later, the ball was in the net, a Messi pass bissecting Arsenal's defence as Gael Clichy played the striker onside for him to deliver the type of finish that eluded Zlatan Ibrahimovic rather too often for Pep Guardiola's liking last year.

Arsenal's pair of goals were no lesser in quality, and the third of the match, that which hands a narrow but defendable advantage, was the type of incision that is a Barcelona trademark. Arshavin's finish was superbly placed after Cesc Fabregas had played Samir Nasri through on the right, and his ball was drilled back where it came from by the Russian substitute.

Arshavin had come on for Song with 21 minutes to play, an attacking player for a more defensively-minded colleague. But the goals were needed if this tie was to stay alive beyond the realms of fantasy. "I took a gamble, and it worked," Wenger admitted. "We were in the need of scoring two goals.

"We now have a special lift. I believe my players have shown exceptional strength and togetherness." Last year, a 2-2 result was greeted with gloom, and an expectation of an inevitable defeat in Catalunya which duly came. This late surge of goals has served to alter assumption.

"We believe we have a chance," Wenger said of a visit to a team he also described post-match as the best in the world. "We know we can beat them. We didn't know that last year."

MAN OF THE MATCH: Sergo Busquets - Barcelona dominated possession here, and though Xavi was the playmaker, this game served as a reminder of the qualities of his cohort in the base of midfield. Busquets' awkward build allows him a variety of angles and his one-touch use of the ball was usually the start of a Barca attack, of which there was wave after wave. It is small wonder Javier Mascherano can only look on from the bench.

ARSENAL VERDICT: Sometimes clinging on, sometimes capable of attacking in numbers. Theo Walcott had looked the prime attacking weapon before fading later on. By then, Fabregas and Nasri had grown into the game, both having suffered slow starts. Defensively, there were shaky moments, and Messi could have grabbed two but composure was recovered and embodied by a classy display by Koscielny.

BARCELONA VERDICT: They played as expected, with chances aplenty created and their coach was not unhappy with his team. Messi was the greatest threat, while Villa, apart from his goal, and Pedro were a little off-colour. Gerard Pique's absence from the second leg after a booking offers cause for concern, though Puyol will surely be back by then to man a defence that looked not quite as high quality as the midfield and attack undoubtedly are.

HIGH CAMP NOT NOU CAMP: Arsenal fans were asked to create their own pre-match atmosphere though a belting out of Elvis Presley's The Wonder of You while flags were waved barely registered as an anthem to put fear into Catalan hearts. This was hardly the Ali Sami Yen, it more resembled an oversized Islington karaoke bar.

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