South America to Sunderland; Bruce set to move again

Harry Redknapp of Spurs, continuing his ongoing dialogue regarding all things England, this week gave his verdict on Wayne Rooney's showing for the Three Lions against Algeria; "If he'd have been available for £1.5m, on that showing, I'd have said no'.  

Of course there is no chance of Rooney becoming available for that amount, so it's all hypothetical, but as you will have already sussed, Redknapp has made an astute point.  Rooney was awful.  If a scout had recommended that you go and take a look at the England striker, not being aware of his work, you'd have probably ducked out after half time and went home.  Not worth it, the verdict.

Which is why clubs need scouts.  Building up a profile and having players watched regularly before passing a final judgement; something that Steve Bruce at English Premier League side Sunderland has done to very good effect.

Riveros; he's in there, somewhere

In May, Bruce moved to secure the services of Cristian Riveros from Cruz Azul in Mexico.  Having tracked the player during his time as manager of Wigan Athletic, the Sunderland manager continued to monitor Riveros' progress and availability.  Originally put off by Cruz Azul's prohibitive price tag, which estimates suggested were near the £12m mark, Bruce could easily have choked on his cornflakes after learning of Riveros' eventual availability......on a free transfer.

“We have been monitoring Cristian for a while now so I’m delighted to have concluded a deal which will bring him to Sunderland and the Premier League" said Bruce, following the capture of the Paraguay international.

“He is a very creative midfielder and a player that will enhance our attacking options from wide positions.”  added the Newcastle born Sunderland manager, and this is something that Riveros has demonstrated already in Paraguay's World Cup campaign at South Africa.  Indeed Sunderland fans will have been pleased not only to see Riveros turn out for his national side, but to play particularly well at the heart of their engine room, capping his displays with a fine goal in the 2-0 win over Slovakia.

South America continues to be a happy hunting ground for Bruce, and his forays into the murky waters of transfer markets in that part of the world have been particularly effective.  Targeting players not always from the cost inflated Argentinean or Brazilian stables, but focusing on the rest of Latin and Central America, Bruce already has a good record.  

While Antonio Valencia of Ecuador was signed by Paul Jewell and Honduras international Wilson Palacios' recommendation come straight from Arsene Wenger, Bruce was certainly responsible for the development of both during his time with Wigan.  As both players were then sold on for huge transfer fees to Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, Bruce demonstrated the opportunities that arise by purchasing from the Americas.

Over the last year Wigan have seen the potential resale value of a second Honduras international, Maynor Figueroa as well as Columbian striker Hugo Rodallega rocket, with several of Europe's top sides closely monitoring both.

So what is Bruce's secret?  In a nutshell, a good scouting team........that includes John Benson.  Not a hugely well known man, despite holding just about every role - including manager -  at Wigan over the last 15 years, Benson recently joined his former boss at Sunderland.
 
And this as a partnership that again looks potentially fruitful.  Bruce has already added Riveros' international team mate Paulo da Silva and has been linked with moves to increase the Paraguayan contingent at Sunderland by adding Nelson Haedo Valdez, as well as looking at Argentinian duo Mauro Boselli and Marcos Angeleri from Estudiantes.  Chile's 'big boned' hitman Humberto Suazo has also been linked and the excellent Salvador Cabanas was also on the Bruce/Benson radar, prior to the Paraguay strikers 'run-in' with a revolver.

Suazo.  Mid air peanuts; out of shot

South American players have traditionally settled well in the North East of England; Nolberto Solano of Peru more than enjoyed his time at Newcastle, and more recently Argentinean duo Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Guttierez have fell in love with the Geordies.  At Middlesbrough, Brazilian Juninho became part of the fabric on the banks of the Tees in the 1990's..

Further back, the Chilean Robledo brothers were also trophy winners with Newcastle in the 50's; are Sunderland set to follow with a 2011 vintage?

Viva la mackems.

Comments welcome.

Will Manchester City or Real Madrid get Argentina's Angel Di Maria?

I dare say there will be a fair few rumours about who is going where over the coming weeks should topics of conversation ever move away from Vuvuzelas and Jabulani's....or how crap England are.

99% will be mere speculation and most of these will involve Manchester City, as is always the case with these things, but some just look inevitable. Especially where the shrinking violets that are Real Madrid are concerned. 

 

Di Maria; Bernabeu bound?

Currently in the Madridistas sites, (and I’ll include the word ‘allegedly’ here) allegedly, is Argentina’s fleet of foot young left winger, Angel Di Maria, who looked a little more into his stride against South Korea this week....but Manchester City have also been linked

"I have not been called about anything new, I hope it is true that my transfer goes ahead, because it will be a great option," stated Di Maria, speaking to Spanish sports daily Marca this week.

"I have not spoken to anyone about my move to Real Madrid, because right now I am solely focused on the World Cup", added young Angel. The fee is suggested to be somewhere in the region of £30m, which certainly sounds like a Real Madrid type amount of dosh to this correspondent. There have already been reports of medicals being carried out for the player.

Of course I should add a word of warning here, as the majority of quotes do seem to be emanating from the player, rather than the club, and we all know how Real Madrid like to keep these things quiet. (Ahem).

Quite exactly where Di Maria would fit in considering that Cristiano Ronaldo is already in situ at the Bernabeu is one issue; another is whether new Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho quite fancies the player.   All encouraging for Roberto Mancini at Manchester City.

The enigmatic Jose may well prefer to send his large amounts of cash in the direction of his former employers at Milan, with Inter reluctantly sticking the likes of Maicon, Milito or even Samuel and Cambiasso onto a train bound for the Spanish capital.

No doubt there will be more to come.

Comments welcome.

Argentina 4 South Korea 1 - Messi, Tevez and Higuain in control

Argentina lined up for their second Group B game against South Korea today with Coach Diego Maradona again sporting a natty grey suit, selecting Maxi Rodriguez to cover for the rested/injured Juan Sebastien Veron. 

Argentina looked full of intent right from the start, and Maradona had barely completed the last of his eight signs of the cross before lively Benfica winger Angel Di Maria made a slalom like run at the Korean defence only to find the side netting in the the 4th minute.

With Messi and Tevez causing problems, South Korea barely looked like a side capable of competing with the South Americans.  Indeed on 17 minutes, the gulf in class was fully illustrated as a shell-shocked Park Chu Young eased a decent, but not spectacular, Leo Messi corner into his own net to give La Albiceleste the lead.

Tevez continued to dominate proceedings and saw his 28th minute free kick sail just over the bar, to the relief of South Korean custodian Jung Sung-ryong.  When I say relief, I'm not referring to any potential goal, but Tevez had hit the ball so hard, Sung-ryong would have been lucky to retain his arm had he a got a hand to the Manchester City strikers effort.

Tevez was involved again with a typically dogged run down the Korean right that led to a Maxi Lopez free kick which was nodded home, almost in slow motion, by Gonzalo Higuain.  2-0 and coasting, with a stunning Messi lob also going close.

It was very nearly 3 just before the break, with a wicked cross/shot from Higuain that had Sung-ryong stretching, before making a theatrical save from Di Maria.  That looked to be that, but on the stroke of half time, DiMichelis in the Argentina defence was caught napping and allowed Lee Chung Yong time to finish.  2-1 and game on.

A clearly fired up South Korea emerged from the dressing room for the second half but Argentina continued to press, with Sung-ryong making a point blank save from a Higuain  effort and a smart stop from Carlos Tevez's shot.  

The game was beginning to swing more toward the Koreans and Guttierez was booked for a foul and subsequent reaction (sensibly getting a suspension out of the way now), Mascherano quickly following suit, but yet again, Higuain found himself in the right place at the right time.  

A neat through ball from substitute Sergio Aguero found an onrushing Leo Messi whose shot returned back from the post to give the Barcelona maestro a second chance to cross, with Higuain given the easiest of finishes.

Higuain completed his hat-trick moments later following a sublime move with a deft lofted cross from Leo Messi being expertly tucked away by the head of the Real Madrid striker.

Final score, Argentina 4, South Korea 1.

Totally comfortable in the end, although South Korea did have their moments.  What will El Diego take from this?  Having to replace Walter Samuel due to an injury in the first half will be a concern.  The Argentine defence never looked totally at ease once he went off, and this correspondent was far from surprised when Di Michellis made an absolute hash of things to allow South Korea to score.

Yellow cards are mounting too, with bookings in this one for Javier Mascherano and 'not a right back' Jonas Guttierez, who will miss the Greece game (albeit quite sensibly).  El Diego will also have to watch himself with the regular waving of the imaginary yellow card so far going unpunished.  I suspect referees in the latter stages of the tournament will not be quite so forgiving.  If El Diego has a pop at Sepp Blatter this week, the card waving might just get their attention.

All said and done, there were elements of the best and worst about Argentina today.  Occasionally rattled in defence, but far more often devastating in attack, and it was attack that won through, yet again.  Messi, although yet to score, is clearly operating at  top level, and is being ably assisted by Tevez and Higuain.  Look out Greece.