News of Dan Edwards

Dan Edwards

Gago pays the price for Superclásico defeat.

Restoring Xeneize to glory will take more than firing and hiring

30-04-2025 17:21 Until Juan Román Riquelme takes a long, honest look in the mirror and faces up to the real problems the club he presides over faces, the challenge of restoring the glory days appears to be beyond even the most accomplished of coaches in world football.

by Dan Edwards

Francis & Football

Not so saintly behaviour at Pope’s beloved San Lorenzo

25-04-2025 09:04 An unseemly mess has broken out at Francis’ favourite football club – it is impossible to escape the irony that this storm broke right at the moment the Cuervos' most ardent fan finally passed on.

by Dan Edwards

Inter Milan's Argentine forward Lautaro Martínez celebrates with supporters after scoring his team's first goal during the UEFA Champions League quarter final second leg football match between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich at the San Siro stadium in Milan on April 16, 2025.

FOOTBALL: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Tale of two Martínez – Lautaro progresses; ‘Dibu’ knocked out

16-04-2025 22:35 Two of Argentina's World Cup winners. Emiliano Martínez and Lautaro Martínez, both flew the flag in the Champions League quarter-finals, though their experiences could not have been more different.

by Dan Edwards

Football

Gallardo remains untouchable, but questions should be asked

12-04-2025 07:12 Almost a year after his triumphal return to the Monumental, Gallardo and River Plate cannot help but be concerned at how the team is performing.

by Dan Edwards

COPA LIBERTADORES

Copa Libertadores opens group phase in typically explosive fashion

03-04-2025 00:16 It's likely too early to tell, but are we witnessing a changing of the guard in South American football?

by Dan Edwards

Argentina's midfielder #08 Enzo Fernández celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the 2026 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers football match between Argentina and Brazil at the Mas Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires on March 25, 2025.

International football

Rout of Brazil shows 2026 World Cup hopes are very much alive

28-03-2025 12:39 Tuesday's showing against Brazil, in particular, was as strong a statement of intent from Lionel Scaloni’s side as one could wish to envision.

by Dan Edwards

Argentina's midfielder Thiago Almada celebrates after scoring during the 2026 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers football match between Uruguay and Argentina at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo, on March 21, 2025.

International football

Qualification all but sure as Scaloneta gets revenge in Montevideo

22-03-2025 09:32 This version of La Scaloneta continues to get the result when it matters most, taking revenge for the Celeste's stunning victory in the Bombonera almost 18 months ago.

by La Scaloneta continues to

Football fans take part in a protest of pensioners against the government of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires on March 12, 2025.

FOOTBALL & POLITICS

Football fans put rivalries aside to stand up for pensioners

13-03-2025 00:39 As this week’s protest against President Javier Milei's government proves, supporters are willing to put aside their differences to fight a perceived injustice.

by Dan Edwards

Vélez Sarsfield coach Gustavo Quinteros.

Football in Argentina

Vélez Sarsfield: From success to staggering slump

08-03-2025 06:00 The reigning Liga Profesional champions are sinking without a trace in 2025 with little sign of respite on the horizon for now.

by Dan Edwards

Boca Juniors coach Fernando Gago consoles his players.

Football in Argentina

Gago on ropes after Boca's stinging Libertadores defeat

28-02-2025 09:30 Not only will there be no Libertadores for Boca this year, there will be no Sudamericana either. Tuesday’s humbling and historic defeat to Alianza Lima will take some getting over.

by Dan Edwards

Estudiantes embark on spending spree with US billionaire Foster Gillett’s support.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Just what is going on with Estudiantes and Foster Gillett?

14-02-2025 13:30 After a January of reckless spending, serious doubts have emerged over US businessman Foster Gillett's economic dealings, raising questions about just what exactly is going on with their shadowy financier.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Unbeaten Independiente desperate to end long dry spell

07-02-2025 09:40 More than two decades have passed since Independiente were last crowned champions of Argentina. Will 2025 be their year of redemption?

by Dan Edwards

Boca Juniors and River Plate are among the teams competing for the title.

Football in Argentina

Time will tell if money talks in top flight

30-01-2025 23:38 One of the joys of this league, after all, is its ability to constantly surprise us.

by Dan Edwards

Liga Profesional de Fútbol

New season, more teams, new stars, same dream

24-01-2025 06:40 After a lively start to the transfer window in Argentina, there’s certainly no shortage of contenders for this year’s title(s).

by Dan Edwards

Estadio José María Minella in Mar del Plata.

Football in Argentina

Summer football has forsaken its spiritual home

17-01-2025 11:54 (Disclaimer: The following column is full of unabated nostalgia and old-man-yells-at-cloud aimless ranting. When asked for an explanation, the author professed that it is very hot in Buenos Aires right now and that has him in a foul mood. For actual up-to-date information, please consult elsewhere in today's newspaper)

by Dan Edwards

Football in Argentina

Estudiantes embark on spending spree with US billionaire’s support

09-01-2025 21:23 Estudiantes have arrived to shake up the hornets’ nest with a series of audacious transfer bids, bankrolled by billionaire US national Foster Gillett, in a financial offensive which has dragged the conflict around private ownership of clubs back onto the agenda.

by Dan Edwards

2025 – YEAR IN PREVIEW

What lies ahead for Argentine football in 2025

03-01-2025 07:59 Your (tongue-firmly-in-cheek) guide to what lies ahead for Argentine football in the next 12 months.

by Dan Edwards

Vélez Sarfield players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Liga Profesional de Fútbol title at the José Amalfitani stadium in Buenos Aires on December 15, 2024.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Vélez may have stumbled to finish line, but are worthy champions

18-12-2024 15:55 If ‘El Fortín’ can keep this side together and strengthen in the summer, they have a great chance of fighting for honours again in 2025.

by Dan Edwards

Football in Argentina

Tripartite showdown guarantees exciting end to gruelling season

13-12-2024 13:33 Not since 2014 have three teams reached the final day of the season with the chance to win the domestic title. Vélez Sarsfield, Talleres and Huracán are separated by just two points at the top for a showdown that promises drama.

by Dan Edwards

Racing Club fans celebrate the team's Copa Sudamericana win.

THE MAGIC OF FOOTBALL

Joy, ecstasy, relief – and so many tears

29-11-2024 12:00 The tens of thousands of Academia fans who travelled to Paraguay for the Copa Sudamericana final all had one singular goal: to see Racing Club win a continental crown for the first time since 1988. And our dream came true.

by Dan Edwards

Argentina's forward Lionel Messi fights for the ball with Peru's forward Alex Valera and Peru's defender Luis Advincula during the 2026 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers football match between Argentina and Peru at the La Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires on November 19, 2024.

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL

Argentina top World Cup qualifying group – but are they running on fumes?

21-11-2024 17:36 If the Albiceleste, as some of the more hysterical sectors of the sporting press have begun to hint, is entering a crisis, it is an extremely curious kind of crisis.

by Dan Edwards

Argentina's coach Lionel Scaloni gestures during the 2026 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers football match between Paraguay and Argentina at the Ueno Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asunción on November 14, 2024.

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL

Paraguay's anti-Messi approach pays off with Argentina win

15-11-2024 14:36 Paraguay inflict a rare defeat on Lionel Scaloni's charges, giving their World Cup 2026 qualification hopes a huge boost.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL & POLITICS

Gustavo Costas gives soul to Argentina’s exhilarating spectacles

08-11-2024 00:45 Grizzled coach Gustavo Costas provides a connecting thread as Racing end three-decade drought to reach club's first continental decider in 32 years.

by Dan Edwards

FORMULA 1

Franco Colapinto, Argentina’s new star attraction, draws fans to F1

01-11-2024 07:34 As anyone who has ever driven in Buenos Aires or negotiated the monolithic speedway that is the Panamericana highway out of the capital can attest, racing is in Argentina’s blood.

by Dan Edwards

River Plate's head coach Marcelo Gallardo.

COPA LIBERTADORES

River need a miracle after Libertadores humbling

25-10-2024 09:58 Tuesday's disaster in the Estadio Mineirão demonstrated the scale of the task ahead for Marcelo Gallardo.

by Dan Edwards

International football

Dominant Messi in no rush to walk away from Argentina

19-10-2024 09:32 Tuesday night’s 6-0 thrashing of Bolivia proved to be another dream evening for Argentina's evergreen talisman, who once more rolled back the years to leave his audience spellbound and wanting more.

by Dan Edwards

Argentina's midfielder Rodrigo De Paul and Venezuela's midfielder Yeferson Soteldo fight for the ball during the 2026 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers football match between Venezuela and Argentina, at the Monumental de Maturín stadium in Maturín, Venezuela, on October 10, 2024.

International football

Albiceleste take the positives from a waterlogged clash in Venezuela

10-10-2024 23:19 The most remarkable thing by far about Argentina's otherwise wholly unremarkable stalemate against Venezuela is that the game went ahead in the first place.

by Dan Edwards

Football in Argentina

Boca eye Gago as next in line to test Gallardo’s supremacy

02-10-2024 22:23 After Diego Martínez's Boca tenure ended with a whimper, the Xeneize are once again back to the drawing board. Fernando Gago would bring a fresh, adventurous style of play – the kind that has been rarely seen at La Bombonera of late.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL

River faithful on cloud nine as 'El Muñeco' continues to torture Boca

25-09-2024 22:01 Marcelo Gallardo, Boca’s executioner-in-chief, raised temperatures by holding his nose while walking onto the La Bombonera turf, provoking the wrath of the home support. By the end of 90 minutes, however, those same fans were turning on their own.

by Dan Edwards

Football in Argentina

River cling on in Santiago to round off another eventful week

21-09-2024 00:33 River in the Libertadores, a title race is looking like a procession, Messi explodes back onto the scene, a ‘Chiqui’ Tapia masterclass and the futsal ‘muchachos’ fly the flag.

by Dan Edwards

Colombia's defender Yerson Mosquera (right) celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the 2026 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers football match between Colombia and Argentina, at the Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez stadium in Barranquilla, Colombia, on September 10, 2024.

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL

Messi-less Albiceleste drop points – but no need to panic

12-09-2024 16:47 Argentina caught a glimpse of what that future without Lionel Messi may hold. And thankfully, it is not entirely bleak.

by Dan Edwards

Vélez Sarsfield head coach Guillermo Quinteros.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Quinteros leads Vélez Sarsfield through a storming winter revival

30-08-2024 09:17 A sparkling run of six wins in seven game, culminating in last Monday’s 5-0 demolition of Barracas Central, has left Vélez at the summit of Argentina’s top flight.

by Dan Edwards

Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia, the head of AFA, and President Javier Milei.

FOOTBALL & POLITICS

Milei’s sets collision course with AFA in club ownership row

23-08-2024 14:41 A conflict is brewing that could tear the nation's game down the middle. President Milei’s government is bent on imposing a new club ownership model that would privatise sporting institutions, but its arguments for the change do not stand up to scrutiny.

by Dan Edwards

River Plate's head coach Marcelo Gallardo gestures during the Copa Libertadores round of 16 first leg all-Argentine football match between Talleres de Cordoba and River Plate at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium in Córdoba, Argentina, on August 14, 2024.

Football in Argentina

Gallardo is back at River for one purpose: glory

15-08-2024 17:38 River are already showing signs of switching from the patient, thoughtful, at times ponderous football which characterised them under Demichelis to Gallardo’s patented break-neck style, but it will take time for heads and legs to start responding to this increase in velocity.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Can underdogs break up Superclásico dominance of Argentina’s top flight?

09-08-2024 13:04 In a cash-starved league like Argentina's where player and coaching turnover is at astronomical levels this by definition gives the Buenos Aires heavyweights the advantage almost before a single ball is kicked.

by Dan Edwards

Copa América 2024

Copa victory caps stunning run for Argentina’s golden generation

15-07-2024 15:46 The last three years have been ones to remember for this Argentina team and with this latest victory, they are surely the greatest that this football-addicted nation has ever seen.

by Dan Edwards

Lionel Messi, Ángel Di María and Nicolás Otamendi of Argentina celebrate after winning the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 semifinal match between Canada and Argentina at MetLife Stadium on July 09, 2024 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Copa América 2024

Argentina's old masters lead way to Copa América final

10-07-2024 15:04 Lionel Messi and Ángel Di María are enjoying every minute of what could be their international farewell. But thankfully, this Argentina team remains so resilient as to absorb almost any departure, even those two legends.

by Dan Edwards

Football in Argentina

Clubs ready their wallets as Liga Profesional de Fútbol pauses

14-06-2024 12:30 Last call for league football before Copa América kicks off – let transfer silly season begin!

by Dan Edwards

Football

Countdown to Argentina's Copa América defence begins

07-06-2024 16:58 After four games no fewer than four teams sit at the top of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol, but in Argentina, all eyes are about to switch to Lionel Messi and the Albiceleste.

by Dan Edwards

Football in Argentina

Football isn’t always a young man’s game

31-05-2024 13:27 Racing Club’s Gustavo Costas is overseeing a fine run of form at his beloved boyhood club and his formula is working like a charm.

by Dan Edwards

Football in Argentina

Beware coaches… success is nothing if not ephemeral

25-05-2024 05:17 Football is a cut-throat business, whether you are coaching at the nation's biggest clubs or fighting down the bottom of the table.

by Dan Edwards

Football in Argentina

Thrilling start as Argentina's top flight kicks off (again)

17-05-2024 11:28 There was certainly no shortage of goals in this first round of Liga Profesional fixtures.

by Dan Edwards

César Luis Menotti (1938-2024)

‘El Flaco’ left an indelible mark on Argentine football

07-05-2024 16:48 César Luis Menotti will be forever associated with football and the nation he took to the top of the world, in the most difficult of circumstances.

by Dan Edwards

Estudiantes de La Plata vs. Vélez Sarsfield; Sunday, May 5, 5.30pm; Estadio Madre de Ciudades de Santiago del Estero.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Copa de la Liga deals up surprise Vélez-Estudiantes final

02-05-2024 19:42 Vélez Sarsfield and Estudiantes will be gunning for the title in Sunday’s final, a match-up that cannot fail to evoke memories of the sides’ most recent glory days over a decade ago

by Dan Edwards

Boca Juniors' Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani celebrates with teammates after winning during the Argentine Professional Football League Cup quarter-final match between River Plate and Boca Juniors at the Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium in Cordoba, Argentina, on April 21, 2024.

Football in Argentina

Superclásico victory boosts Boca’s Copa hopes

25-04-2024 20:16 Boca's 3-2 victory over rivals River was a vindication of the work Diego Martínez has put in to whip the Xeneize into shape since taking over as coach.

by Dan Edwards

Superclásico: Boca Juniors v River Plate.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Copa drama sets up first Superclásico with both sets of fans since 2018

19-04-2024 11:23 The final round of Copa de la Liga fixtures brought a festival of gripping football which kept fans glued to their chairs.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Copa de la Liga Profesional qualification goes down to the wire

11-04-2024 21:58 Conceived in 2019 as a hybrid stopgap to plug a few holes in the fixture schedule, the Copa de la Liga Profesional has taken on its own life as a worthy tournament in its own right.

by Dan Edwards

Boca Juniors players wait to board a plane to Bolivia for their Copa Sudamericana clash against Nacional Potosí.

FOOTBALL

Boca’s trip to Bolivia turns into an Odyssey

04-04-2024 00:34 Logistical nightmares for Boca and River, but both return safe from overseas trips with good results from continental competitions.

by Dan Edwards

INTERVIEW

Agüero wants consistent criteria for use of VAR in football

29-03-2024 05:22 Former Independiente, Manchester City and Argentina star Sergio Agüero reminisces about winning an Olympic gold medal and tips wonderkid Claudio Echeverri to do well at his former club.

by Dan Edwards

Estudiantes had played less than half an hour against the Xeneize when Javier Altamirano suddenly went to the floor off the ball. It instantly became clear that the Chilean midfielder had suffered a serious issue, halting the game.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Altamirano scare sparks solidarity on pitch

22-03-2024 13:29 Every now and then, a timely reminder comes along that football, contrary to popular perception, is not more important than life or death.

by Dan Edwards