Koozar

The 2007 Torneo Apertura finally kicks off in Argentina on Friday, when Colón de Santa Fe take on Vélez Sársfield, but it's been an interesting few days in the runup to the championship, as well.

One of Argentina's big clubs, Independiente have one more year in exile, playing in the stadium of their bitter rivals Racing, whilst their own Estadio Libertadores de América – A.K.A. Doble Visera – is rebuilt to bring it into the twenty-first century. On Tuesday the plans for the new ground were unveiled, and very nice it looks too. With a capacity of just 46,000, it will be considerably smaller than the old stadium, but crucially will fit better with new FIFA regulations requiring all-seater venues, and will make extensive use of executive boxes (among many other design cues taken from European and English stadia) to pay for itself. Providing the construction all goes to plan, the new look Doble Visera will be open in time for the 2008 Apertura.

Of rather more immediate importance on Thursday were the fortunes of two players who could play vital roles in their respective clubs' challenges for the title. Juan Kropoviesa, Boca Juniors' rampaging full-back, has sprained ligaments following Thursday morning's training session, and could be out for a very long time indeed. Team-mate Jonathan Maidana will join him on the sidelines, having severely bruised a rib, but whilst he needs a scan, he's not expected to be out for too long.

Juan Sebastián Verón, however, very nearly didn't end up registered in time to appear for his side, 2006 Apertura champions Estudiantes de La Plata, after an apparent mix-up between his previous club Chelsea, the FA of England, and the relevant parties in Argentina saw the documents relating to his registration with Estudiantes – where he's already spent one season on loan, having begun his career with them previously – fail to turn up by midday on Thursday. After much to-ing and fro-ing, the situation seems to have been resolved, but for a few hours Verón was left a bit peeved to say the least.

In addition to all this, the Argentine FA have announced that from next year onwards, the winners of the Apertura championship will go into the following year's Copa Libertadores. This is a change from the previous system, which had seen them enter the following season's competition – which begins well over a year after the end of the Apertura, and thus meant that sides would often be considerably weakened before being able to participate in the tournament they'd earned their place in. The move could well be a way of lining up a switch to a single, season-long championship over the course of the calendar year in the not too distant future, for now, though, the short championships are still very much with us, with their unpredictability and drama. The sprint starts here.

Sam Kelly is the author of English-language Argentine football site Hasta El Gol Siempre.

I'm hoping to get that match on the streaming thing!

 

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RobbieTorres9

he posted this 7 months ago and still on the first page how sad