Football Dispatch

Tuesday Football
by Jerrad Peters
24 June 2008

The last Ecuadorian side to qualify for a Copa Libertadores final was Barcelona Sporting Club. That was ten years ago. As a matter of fact, Barcelona’s two appearances in the championship of South America’s top club competition mark the only occasions where Ecuador was represented in the showpiece. They lost both – 4-1 over two legs to Vasco da Gama in 1998 and 3-1 to Olimpia of Paraguay in 1990.

With LDU Quito having qualified for the 2008 final, Ecuador will have its third chance to reach the pinnacle of South American club football. Playing to responsible, if not stifling, tactics, the nine-time domestic championships overcame Estudiantes, San Lorenzo, and America in succession to progress into the last round.
On the other side of the ball, Fluminense will be hoping to turn their season around by winning a first Libertadores title. Currently dead-last in the Brasileirao, the Big Flu have scored just four goals in seven domestic matches – just one at the Maracana.

Ironically, the goals have flowed for them in the Libertadores. Washington’s six goals paces the club and 23-year-old Cicera Santos has been especially potent as well. After overcoming Columbia’s Atletico National and Brazilian rivals Sao Paulo in the round-of-16 and quarterfinal, respectively, Fluminense scored five goals over two legs to defeat reigning champions Boca Juniors in the semifinals.
Quito are performing considerably better in Ecuador’s Primera Division. With 34-points from 18-matches, they are eight points behind leaders Deportivo Quito with two games at hand. Argentinean marksman Claudio Bieler and Eder Vaca have each scored five goals in the league while Luis Bolanos leads the club with four goals in the Libertadores.

The final will begin tomorrow at the 55,000-capacity Estadio de Liga Deportivo Universitaria in Quito before shifting to the Maracana for the second leg on 02 July.

Andrei Arshavin burst onto the scene and into the minds of western-European football observers during the 2007-2008 UEFA Cup campaign. By engineering the defeats of continental giants Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, and Rangers, the Zenit St. Petersburg playmaker set himself up for a summer move to a middling, European contender.
All that has changed in just over a week. Arshavin, who looks much younger than his 27-years, has played just two of Russia’s four matches at the EURO 2008 finals. But in masterminding his country’s victories over Sweden and The Netherlands, he has suddenly become one of world football’s most sought-after commodities. Arsenal are thought to be interested; and a host of other big clubs are sure to come calling after the competition concludes.

Zenit manager Dick Advocaat knew that Arshavin’s time had come before the Russian team assembled for Austria-Switzerland.

“We had a meeting and he said at his age this is the time to move on,” stated the Dutchman. “I can understand that he wants to play in Europe. I think he has some clubs in his mind – some in England and others in Spain, because they are the only two countries he would like to play in.”

While one star appears headed out of Russia, another is set to arrive. Recently-retired Czech Republic international Jan Koller has signed for Sovetov Samara – currently sixth-place in the Russian league. The 35-year-old made the 1M-euro move from Bundesliga side Nurnberg after spending just one season at the club.

Koller’s most successful years were spent at Borussia Dortmund from 2001-2006. The 6-foot-7 striker scored 59-goals in 137 league matches over the five seasons at Signal Iduna Park and helped the club to the 2001-2002 Bundesliga title. He scored an impressive 55-goals in 90-appearances for his country over a nine-year international career.

Schalke 04 are poised to sign Holland international Orlando Engelaar. After an impressive showing in Marco Van Basten’s setup at EURO 2008, the FC Twente captain is believed to fancy a move to a big club and has been tempted further by the presence of former Twente coach Fred Rutten at Veltins-Arena.

The 28-year-old, at 6-foot-five, strikes an imposing shadow across the midfield and has become a very capable passer of the ball from a central position. Newcastle and Everton have also been linked with him; but Schalke general manager Andreas Muller is confident of his club’s ability to complete the transaction.

“I hope that we can sort out the transfer this week,” he said on Tuesday. “Orlando only wants to come to us. He had clearly early already opted for Schalke. That is our trump card.”

If successful, Engelaar would become Schalke’s second major signing of the off-season. They have already signed Peruvian striker Jefferson Farfan from PSV Eindhoven for 10M-euros.

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Have a question about football? Email your query to jerradpeters@gmail.com.

Jerrad Peters covers football for the Winnipeg Free Press, Soccer Three-Sixty magazine, ESPN Soccernet, and Soccer365.com. His work has also appeared on TheMirror.co.uk, Canadian-soccer.com, Footy247.co.uk, Foot2ball.com, and Squadinfo.com.