News of Dan Edwards

Dan Edwards

Boca Juniors' Carlos Tevez and teammate Carlos Izquierdoz take to the field for their Copa Libertadores semifinal football match against Argentina's Boca Juniors at the Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos, Brazil, on January 13, 2021

Libertadores: River's heroics fall just short, timid Boca fail to get going

15-01-2021 01:25 Any hopes (or fears) of a repeat of 2018's Superclásico Copa Libertadores were extinguished over the course of 48 hours this week.

by Dan Edwards

COPA LIBERTADORES

Boca and River fail to get going in Libertadores semi-finals

09-01-2021 08:37 Xeneize retain hopes of advancing, although they will have to up their efforts significantly. For the Millo, only a near-miracle will secure passage to Rio.

by Dan Edwards

La Pulguita and La Pulga, preparing for a capybara asado.

2021: THE YEAR IN PREVIEW

What lies ahead for Argentine football in 2021

02-01-2021 08:57 Your (tongue-firmly-in-cheek) guide to what lies ahead for Argentine football in the next 12 months.

by Dan Edwards

Alejandro Sabella, pictured after signing for Sheffield United in 1978 and Diego Maradona, pictured playing for Argentina in 1977.

A LA CANCHA

What might have been: Sabella and Maradona in Sheffield

19-12-2020 09:23 Late footballer and national team coach Alejandro Sabella was a fans favourite during his time with English side Sheffield United – and he was nearly joined in South Yorkshire by Diego Maradona.

by Dan Edwards

COPA LIBERTADORES

Argentine sides remain in running as Copa Libertadores nears end

12-12-2020 10:00 By the time the Libertadores finally bids farewell to 2020 on the eve of Christmas Eve, there will be at least one Argentine team among South America's four top sides.

by Dan Edwards

Maradona, 1986, versus England in Mexico.

DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA (1960-2020)

Maradona: Out of this world

28-11-2020 07:35 Diego Armando Maradona, the popular icon that Argentina was crying out for, blessed us mortals with 60 years in his magnetic presence. But now, the ‘Cosmic Kite’ has finally been called back to his home planet.

by Dan Edwards

A LA CANCHA

Stormy waters in Avellaneda as sudden crisis engulfs Racing

21-11-2020 09:32 A run of defeats has plunged Racing Club into crisis. Such is the scale of the disaster that it now looks set to take with it one of the club's most beloved figures: Diego Milito.

by Dan Edwards

Argentina's Lionel Messi (R) and Paraguay's Gustavo Gomez vie for the ball during their closed-door 2022 FIFA World Cup South American qualifier football match at La Bombonera Stadium in Buenos Aires on November 12, 2020

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

Argentina's perfect start cut short by ever-competitive Paraguay

12-11-2020 23:43 Argentina went into Thursday's World Cup qualifier hoping to extend their perfect start to the competition, but had to settle for a tense 1-1 draw against a combative Paraguay side

by Dan Edwards

Supporters of Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata and Diego Maradona gather outside the private clinic in Olivos, where the legendary former footballer underwent brain surgery for a blood clot.

Liga Profesional de Fútbol

Opening weekend overshadowed by Maradona’s health woes

05-11-2020 13:05 Top-flight football returned to Argentina last weekend, but most of the nation’s fans were focused on events in La Plata and row over River’s search for a temporary home.

by Dan Edwards

Football's back – and on Maradona's birthday too.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Top-flight football returns in Argentina, but Covid's presence looms large

30-10-2020 02:00 The long wait is over. After more than seven months of wistful stares at empty stadiums Argentine football is back, on none other than the 60th birthday of wayward legend and Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata coach Diego Maradona.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL

Argentina’s footballing authorities pick a fight with Disney

24-10-2020 09:27 AFA and new-look Liga de Fútbol Profesional – a.k.a. the powers that be in local football – pick a fight with Mickey, Donald, Pluto & Co, with another broadcasting rights battle in the courts the only obvious outcome.

by Dan Edwards

Lionel Messi takes on two Bolivia players during Argentina’s 2022 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiing match this week.

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL

Snarling skipper Messi sets tone for Argentina

17-10-2020 09:10 Lionel Messi was back to his vociferous best this week, and the Albiceleste captain's transformation from shrinking violet to snarling porteño cabbie stuck in rush hour traffic has been gestating for some time now.

by Dan Edwards

Lionel Messi is seen during Argentina's 2022 FIFA World Cup South American qualifier football match against Ecuador at La Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires on October 8, 2020.

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

Little to shout about as Argentina see off Ecuador

09-10-2020 01:12 The stands were silent at the La Bombonera on Thursday night and Lionel Messi and Co responded with a suitably muted performance against Ecuador.

by Dan Edwards

ARGENTINE FOOTBALL

Renewal and re-invention: the secret to Gallardo’s success at River

03-10-2020 10:08 Coaching in the Primera División, even at one of the nation's top clubs, is often a thankless task, and one that only gets harder the longer one occupies a place on the bench.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL & CORONAVIRUS

World Cup ties pose selection dilemmas for Albiceleste

26-09-2020 10:25 Putting out an Albiceleste XI for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers is an acute logistical and selection dilemma for Lionel Scaloni. But despite the difficulties, some of Argentina’s old-guard still can’t find a spot in the squad.

by Dan Edwards

COPA LIBERTADORES

Argentine sides return to action in Copa Libertadores

17-09-2020 23:52 All five of Argentina's Copa Libertadores participants were back in action in the continental competition this week, dusting off the cobwebs after the extended, seemingly endless absence forced upon them by the coronavirus pandemic.

by Dan Edwards

Bielsa, followed quickly by the rest of the first team, was one of the first in the English game to take a voluntary pay cut in order to keep Leeds’ finances above water.

FOOTBALL

Bielsa ready to take on ‘best league in the world’

12-09-2020 10:12 Two months have passed since Leeds clinched the Championship title and Marcelo Bielsa has been hard at work, preparing his side to take on England’s top clubs.

by Dan Edwards

Argentinian football club, Boca Juniors.

COPA & CORONAVIRUS

Libertadores ties in doubt as 18 Boca players test positive for virus

05-09-2020 09:34 Wth Boca's first match against Paraguay’s Libertad less than two weeks away, serious doubts have emerged over how the club will be able to fulfil their fixtures.

by Dan Edwards

END OF AN ERA?

We need to talk about Lionel Messi

29-08-2020 10:20 Barcelona are entitled to seek a fair price for their prize asset, but they do not have the right to deny Lionel Messi the chance to seek his future elsewhere after such a long, glittering spell.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Nacional's high-fliers mocked as AFA’s creates another monstrosity

20-08-2020 22:25 The men from Viamonte have done it again: just when you thought they couldn’t mess up the national game anymore, they’ve created another monstrosity, rendering a host of already played matches irrelevant in the process.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Problem mount for Independiente as clubs return to training

15-08-2020 10:18 The case of El Rojo, one of the traditional 'big five' of local football, is emblematic of the struggles likely to become commonplace in this uncertain new world.

by Dan Edwards

Football, coronavirus, AFA, return to training.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

First tentative steps toward ‘normality’ for the national game

08-08-2020 10:07 Argentine football's stars are finally preparing to shed the paunch and unwelcome kilos as they head back to training.

by Dan Edwards

GRONDONA’S LEGACY

Don Julio’s shadow still looms large over Argentine football

01-08-2020 10:01 Six years on from his death, Julio Grondona continues to live long in the public’s memory. That is a measure of his towering presence – but also the inability of his successors to clean up the mess he left behind.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL & THE PANDEMIC

CONMEBOL forces Argentina to step up plans for return of football

18-07-2020 10:12 While many South American leagues have already retaken the field or are preparing to restart leagues, in Argentina even the return to training remains pending. That, however, hasn’t stopped CONMEBOL.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL

Footballers must look forward, despite coronavirus confusion

11-07-2020 09:29 Growth and momentum are key in football – just ask Argentine strike duo Lautaro Martínez and Adolfo Gaich.

by Dan Edwards

Diego's impossibly swollen ankle, Goycochea the hero, Maradona and Caniggia destroying Brazil, Naples in rebellion – Italia 90’s memorable storylines ensure that it’s still remembered 30 years on, especially in Argentina.

FOOTBALL

Epic Italia ‘90 continues to live long in the memory

04-07-2020 09:35 If Italia '90 was a grainy Fellini masterpiece, complex, tense and unafraid to lay bare humanity at its ugliest and, therefore, most real, four years later football had already crossed the line into pure Disney fantasy.

by Dan Edwards

Will Ricardo Centurión be rejoining Carlos Tevez at Boca Juniors next season?

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Tevez likely to re-sign with Boca – will Centurión be joining him?

25-06-2020 23:29 There may be no date yet for a resumption of top-flight football in Argentina, but that's not stopping Boca Juniors from making moves in the transfer market.

by Dan Edwards

“Everything is very difficult due to the uncertainty it generates and it is getting harder and harder to accept it,” the River boss fired off to Radio La Red this week.

FOOTBALL

Gallardo unafraid to go against AFA on virus crisis

20-06-2020 11:48 River Plate coach Marcelo Gallardo voices his discontent at the Covid-19 lockdown. He might be wrong on this occasion, but at least he’s willing to stray from AFA’s party line.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Two of the league’s most dependable veterans bow out

13-06-2020 10:56 Ignacio Scocco and Gastón Fernández will surely not have to wait too long until they are toasted once again by the River Plate and Estudiantes faithful respectively.

by Dan Edwards

Riestra, based in the southern Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Villa Soldati, a stone's throw from more illustrious neighbours San Lorenzo's home stadium, were caught holding a training session on Wednesday which involved several players being put through their paces by the club's fitness coach.

FOOTBALL UNDER LOCKDOWN

Deportivo Riestra in hot water after lockdown training breach

06-06-2020 10:28 Villa Soldati side gain the dubious honour of becoming Argentina’s first club to break coronavirus lockdown rules.

by Dan Edwards

Barra violence doesn´t stop with pandemic virus.

HOOLIGAN VIOLENCE

Barra violence continues in Argentina – with or without football

30-05-2020 08:58 Failed assasination attempt on Boca hooligan Marcelo ‘El Manco’ Aravena shows that not even a global pandemic and the cancellation of matches can stop barra violence.

by Dan Edwards

AFA – and Chiqui Tapia – have reasserted their control of the local game.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Old habits hard to shake as AFA regains control of top-flight football

21-05-2020 23:08 AFA President Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia awarded fresh four-year term, as football governing body regains control of top-flight football, bringing in new Liga de Fútbol Profesional to replace Superliga.

by Dan Edwards

The superclasico River- Boca and the reminder of the pepper incident.

BOCA-RIVER RIVALRY

The Superclásico that took the Boca-River rivalry to new heights

16-05-2020 10:00 Thursday marked the fifth anniversary of the infamous Boca-River Libertadores pepper-spray incident, an event that pushed the rivals’ animosity to almost-unseen levels.

by Dan Edwards

Internacional coach Eduardo Coudet oversees a training session in a face mask.

WORLD FOOTBALL

Brazil takes tentative steps toward restarting football, unlike Argentina

09-05-2020 09:02 For once, officials in Argentina are adopting a sensible approach to a high-profile issue – unlike the country’s giant neighbour to the north.

by Dan Edwards

AFA’s decision to suspend relegation in the top flight for two years has attracted fierce criticism.

ARGENTINE FOOTBALL

AFA’s attempt to be decisive only ends up being divisive

02-05-2020 09:00 If any observers were hoping that questions about the future of Argentine football would be answered this week they were to be sorely disappointed, if not entirely surprised.

by Dan Edwards

Just what form the top flight will take once this crisis finally passes is still very much up in the air.

FUTURE OF LOCAL FOOTBALL

Football officials toy with removing relegation amid virus shutdown

25-04-2020 09:59 Argentine football has now been paralysed for more than a month, causing immense damage to the budgets and bank balance of almost every team in the country.

by Dan Edwards

Istiqlol were crowned champions of Tajikstan, despite WHO recommendations that games be halted.

FOOTBALL & CORONAVIRUS

Desperate fans await football's return, though some are still going

19-04-2020 08:04 Just four leagues in the world continue to hold professional football matches, with Nicaragua the sole American nation that has not shut down the activity.

by Dan Edwards

‘EL LOCO’ IN LEEDS

Marcelo Bielsa’s value should be measured in far more than titles

11-04-2020 08:32 Yes, there are naysayers, but Marcelo Bielsa’s is once again leading by example amid the coronavirus pandemic, proving once again that his impact goes above and beyond the trophy cabinet.

by Dan Edwards

Carlos Tevez belongs to the lucky few in football who – thanks to his long years in England, Italy and China – enjoy total financial security.

ARGENTINE FOOTBALL

Footballers are easy targets for virus-tinged anger at high earners

04-04-2020 08:26 There’s a lot of talk about the cutting of salaries amid the coronavirus pandemic, but there’s no reason footballers should be singled out above other societal high-earners.

by Dan Edwards

He continued to represent youths like himself, from Argentina’s most deprived, precarious neighbourhoods, until the end of 2017 when he was diagnosed with tongue cancer.

TALES FROM THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

René Houseman: the football star devoted to Argentina’s villas

28-03-2020 11:47 El Loco, the ex-Huracán and Argentina idol who passed away two years ago this week, was a true villero who never forgot his roots.

by Dan Edwards

A measure that will be a huge inconvenience for Superliga clubs may well prove devastating in the lower leagues, deprived of even the modest incomes they rely on to pay playing staff and survive.

NO FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Argentina’s lower leagues will be hit hard by virus crisis

21-03-2020 09:13 Cancellation is an inconvenience for Superliga clubs, but it may prove to be devastating for those hanging on in the lower leagues, deprived of even the modest incomes they rely on.

by Dan Edwards

Few could have imagined River Plate’s jitters at the final post, drawing against both Defensa y Justicia and Atlético Tucumán to throw away what would have been their first league title since 2014.

BOCA CAMPEON

Superiga glory makes Russo the toast of La Boca

14-03-2020 07:56 Who, at the start of the season, would’ve predicted that Boca would take the title against Maradona’s Gimnasia, with Russo on the bench and Riquelme in the directors’ box?

by Dan Edwards

Fifteen years have passed since River Plate and Boca Juniors went head-to-head for the title on the final day of a Primera season.

Argentine superliga

Not even a River-Boca title showdown will save the Superliga

06-03-2020 11:41 At breakneck speed and with an outrageous ad hoc rule change thrown in for good measure, the Superliga's days appear to be numbered.

by Dan Edwards

Perhaps the most miraculous outcome of this latest wave of violence is that nobody was killed or suffered lifethreatening injuries in either of the three most serious incidents.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Football resumes after Summer break – and sadly, so does fan violence

29-02-2020 10:10 Until both clubs and the authorities get serious on supporter violence, and hand down suitable punishments, football in Argentina will remain locked in the same old cycle.

by Dan Edwards

Sergio Agüero, plying his trade for Manchester City.

ARGENTINE FOOTBALL

Man City’s ban sparks dreams of prodigal sons

23-02-2020 16:41 UEFA bombshell greeted with glee in Argentina, but calm down, the top stars are not returning home anytime soon.

by Dan Edwards

The 21-year-old has decided to pursue his career in England’s Premier League as soon as possible.

FOOTBALL TRANSFERS

MacAllister crowns Pre-Olympic glory with Premier League slot

08-02-2020 09:41 Brighton & Hove Albion’s gain is Boca Junior’s loss at crucial stage for the xeneizes.

by Dan Edwards

Javier Mascherano, Marcos Rojo and Daniel Osvaldo.

ARGENTINE FOOTBALL

Ageing stars return to Argentina as transfer window closes

01-02-2020 09:07 Yesterday saw the Argentine summer transfer window slam shut, although at some points it was difficult to notice – aside from the inevitable, endless rumour mill – that it had ever opened.

by Dan Edwards

ARGENTINE FOOTBALL

River bid to complete Gallardo’s CV as Superliga returns

25-01-2020 11:17 Almost half the Superliga kicks off the new year dreaming of glory, but the 'Millo' know that just seven games separate them from domestic glory.

by Dan Edwards

Fernando Batista oversees a training session of Argentina’s Under-23 squad.

ALBICELESTE U23S

Albiceleste U23s kick off Olympic quest in Colombia

18-01-2020 12:18 Argentina’s footballers are the latest to try and book their ticket to Japan, with the Pre-Olympic Qualifying tournament kicking off today.

by Dan Edwards

ARGENTINE FOOTBALL

Argentina’s top flight continues to suffer perennial problems

11-01-2020 10:53 As happens every year, 2020 has commenced with a bitter dispute between those in charge of the national game over the fixture list.

by Dan Edwards