Mexico’s 2-0 win over Brazil at the Copa America could signal the end of the international road for three players who had been regarded as fixtures in the team — defenders Ricardo Osorio and Carlos Salcido and midfielder Pavel Pardo.

The trio, all based with European clubs, pulled out of the Copa America saying they were tired. But without them, Mexico, who had stuttered to a 1-0 win over Guadeloupe and lost to United States in the Gold Cup, suddenly came to life.

Osorio, Pavel and Salcido were untouchables under previous coach Ricardo La Volpe, the gruff former Argentina goalkeeper who shocked stylists with his jacket-and-jeans combination at the last World Cup. So when La Volpe’s nemesis Hugo Sanchez took over at the end of last year, their future was immediately thrown into doubt.

Sanchez promised that there would no recriminations and kept his word by including them in the Gold Cup squad. However, as the tournament wore on, rumours abounded that the camp was split between “Huguistas” and “Lavolpistas”.

Osorio, Salcido and Pardo are all seen as hardline “Lavolpistas” and their absence in Puerto Ordaz on Wednesday seemed to give more harmony to the team. Rafael Marquez was the only survivor from the previous regime to play against Brazil — and he, in any case, is seen as a moderate Lavolpista.

Wednesday’s performance may prompt Sanchez to launch a purge of the Lavolpistas once and for all, especially as newcomers like Juan Carlos Cacho, Jaime Correa, Fausto Pinto, Johnny Magallon and, above all, the hugely gifted striker Nery Castillo all showed that they were more than up to the task. The other side of the coin is that Osorio, Pardo and Salcido all have the invaluable experience of playing in Europe.

“It is up to Hugo,” wrote Hector Huerta, a leading Mexican sports writer, after the game. “Either he submits himself to Lavolpism or he starts to make history with players who want to leave their soul on the pitch for the colours of Mexico.”

Brian Homewood is in Venezuela to cover the Copa America

Argentina are the slight favorites to win the Copa after Brazil’s top pair Kaka and Ronaldinho asked not to be picked, saying they needed a rest.

That’s the widely-held view. Which team do you expect to win? Send a comment with the link below.
Follow the games in Spanish on Reuters Latin America news site Pictured right: Venezuela’s Ricardo Paez (11) celebrates with teammate Edder Perez after he scored their second goal against Bolivia in Match 2. Pictured left: Bolivia’s Gonzalo Galindo (L) fights for the ball with Venezuela’s Leonel Vielma. REUTERS/Jorge Silva (VENEZUELA)

Real Madrid have sacked coach Fabio Capello, less than a fortnight after he led the team to their first Spanish league title in four years.

It’s a familiar story to anyone who has followed Real and our Spanish sports correspondent Simon Baskett writes here about his latest bout of deja vu.

Real did well to overhaul Barcelona over the closing weeks of the season but the Bernabeu crowd remained unimpressed with the team’s laboured playing style and sporting director Predrag Mijatovic confirmed that the lack of good football was behind the decision.

Curiously, this is the second time Capello has left Real after winning the league title in his first season in charge. Last time that happened, Real went on to win the European Cup under a German coach in the following season. By all accounts another German, Bernd Schuster is set to take over this time as they look for history to repeat itself. Is the relatively inexperienced Schuster the right man for the job?  

Kevin Fylan 

Brazil’s 2-0 defeat by Mexico was by no means the first shock for fans at the Copa America.

It is hard to imagine a World Cup or European Championship semi-final venue being changed at a fortnight’s notice, yet when the South American Football Confederation (CSF) switched the Copa America semi-final from Caracas to Maracaibo on Monday, two weeks before it is due to be played, nobody batted an eye-lid.

The CSF appear to pride themselves on being masters of improvisation. In 1997, when the competition was held in Bolivia, there was a fantastic rule that the final would be played in La Paz at 3,600 metres above sea level if Bolivia qualified and at low-lying Santa Cruz if they did not.

In 2001, the tournament, due to be held in Colombia, was postponed and relocated because of security fears. Then, under pressure from sponsors and the Colombian government, it went ahead as scheduled at eight days’ notice. Argentina, who had already told their players to go on holiday, pulled out and Honduras took their place.

In the light of this, a mere semi-final venue switch, officially for security reasons, raises few eyebrows. But where do the supporters fit into the middle of all this?

The CSF does not appear to be overly concerned about this minor detail. The local organising committee have very kindly told supporters that they’re tickets will be valid at the new venue, although they would have to travel 750 kilometres to a city where the limited number of hotel rooms have been been booked for months.

It is no wonder that the organisers failed to fill the stadium for Tuesday’s opening game between Peru and Uruguay.

Brian Homewood is covering the Copa America in Venezuela

For Scottish fans, the English FAs apparent lack of enthusiasm for reviving the old Home Internationals may mean no repeat of the famous afternoon in 1977 when they gave a different meaning to the term crossbar challenge.

Yet for the Scots, Welsh and Irish, both north and south, the proposed Celtic Cup, to start in 2009, could be their ticket out of major tournament ennui.

When the home nations tournament was shelved in 1984, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland had returned from one World Cup bound for another.

Since the 1998 World Cup, however, only England and Ireland (their anticipated replacements in the revived tournament) have qualified for a major championship. Scotland and Northern Ireland are both making positive steps towards Euro 2008 but biennial British Isles success is no longer a given.

Even if fortunes were revived, a Celtic Cup would still allow for one meaningless friendly fewer a year. Waless last competitive trip to Belfast proved a memorable one, while no living Irishman south of the border will ever forget a wet November night in Windsor Park when Alan McLoughlin booked their tickets for the USA 94.  

But would a Celtic Cup really capture the imagination? More importantly, will England join the party?

Padraic Halpin works on the Reuters sports desk, London

Thierry Henrys 24 million-euro move to Barcelona has left Arsenal with plenty of money but not many players to spend it on.

The Gunners need a 25-goals-a-season striker who can exploit the entertaining passing football which regularly gets them to their opponents penalty area — and no further.

The problem is a shortage of top-quality strikers up for grabs.

Barca have made it clear they want to keep Samuel Etoo, Juventus have re-signed David Trezeguet on a new contract, Real Madrid are very unlikely to part with former Manchester United hitman Ruud van Nistelrooy and Bayern Munich have just snapped up World Cup top scorer Miroslav Klose.

Frederic Kanoute wants to stay in Seville for another two years, while West Hams Carlos Tevez, who would not be a straight replacement anyway, is more likely to end up in Spain or Italy than stay in the Premier League.

Roma fans would sell the Coliseum before parting with their captain and Europes leading league scorer for 2006-07, Francesco Totti. In any case, Totti would not have won any friends by saying last season: I don’t like English football and I don’t like England either because of the weather.

Arsenal have been linked with two players, their former French striker Nicolas Anelka, who made a lucrative but unpopular move to Real Madrid in 1999, and Newcastle Uniteds injury-prone Michael Owen.

Anelka, currently at Bolton Wanderers, would not be welcomed back by all of the fans, while Owen has only managed 14 games for Newcastle over the last two years.

Two other options are Atletico Madrids Fernando Torres and Valencias David Villa. However, Torres has had a modest record over the last season or two and would still cost an extravagant amount of money, as would Villa.

Spain has also been a mixed hunting ground for Arsenal. Midfielder Cesc Fabregas has been a spectacular success, but Jose Antonio Reyes has been a flop and was packed off to Real Madrid last season on loan.

Is Owen the best bet of the bunch? Or does Arsene Wenger have his eye on a surprise package?

Trevor Huggins, London

Barcelona fans are salivating at the prospect of a dream team of attackers after Thierry Henry flew in to join Samuel Eto’o, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi at the Nou Camp.
 
But Italian newspapers are desperate to show that it is impossible for all four to play together and that one of the original three will have to leave, with AC Milan an obvious destination.
 
Elaborate diagrams showing how Eto’o and Henry would collide with each other and how there would be no defensive cover have been printed in a bid to convince Barca to sell.
 
 ”Milan in the lead for Eto’o,” wrote Gazzetta dello Sport. “After Henry’s arrival, it is too crowded in Barca’s forward line and a bid for Ronaldinho could also be attempted.”
 
Despite Milan’s European Cup success, the Italian press are paranoid that corruption scandals mean Serie A is no longer as highly-regarded as La Liga and the English Premier League.
 
Ronaldo’s move to Milan from Real Madrid last January fuelled fears that top players are now coming to Italy when they are past their best. Henry’s decision to go to Barcelona rather than consider Milan and speculation Kaka might be tempted to go to Real have further undermined confidence.
 
A few squiggles in a newspaper are unlikely to affect Frank Rijkaard’s tactics, and he may rest one of four each week in any case, but Italy is ready for the dream team to become a nightmare.

Mark Meadows, Milan

Bernd Schuster was sitting on the away bench at the Bernabeu as I watched his brave Getafe side go down 1-0 to Sevilla in the final of the Kings Cup, but the German is expected to be occupying the home dug-out very soon.

Although Fabio Capello officially remains coach of Real Madrid, the Spanish media are taking it for granted that Schuster will step into his shoes next week.

Opposite Schuster at the Bernabeu on Saturday was Juande Ramos, the most successful coach in Spain this season. In the past two seasons, Ramos has steered Sevilla to back-to-back triumphs in the UEFA Cup, victory in the European Super Cup and the Kings Cup and a place in the qualifying round of the Champions League after the clubs best league finish in 37 years.

You only had to take a glance at the 50,000 ecstatic Sevilla fans crammed into the Real Madrid stadium to see the impact that such success has had on the club. The Andalucians brand of fluent, intense, attacking football is admired throughout Spain and the fans are rightly proud of their team.

Strange then, that Ramos, who has yet to renew his contract with Sevilla, has not been approached by Real.

If Real do go with Schuster, self-confidence is unlikely to be a problem for the former Real, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid player.

Im glad we were picked as the away team, he said before the final. I wouldnt have liked my players to have gone into the home dressing room and seen my poster everywhere.

Schuster has done a fine job at modest Getafe but question marks remain over whether he will be able to cope with the pressures of Bernabeu hot seat.

As a player he was involved with bitter disputes with nearly every team he played for, leaving Real, Barça and Bayer Leverkusen under a cloud and calling a premature end to his international career after falling out with his team mates. As a coach he had public disputes with interfering club presidents at Xerez and Levante.

If he does get the Real job he will not only have to bring the same success as Capello but also do it in style. Anything less and he will be deemed a failure.

Simon Baskett, Madrid

Thierry Henrys impending move to Barcelona robs Arsenal of their captain, record goalscorer and talismanic striker of the past eight years. Worse than that, it deprives them of a 29-year-old who, with a change in role, might have been their inspiration for another five years.

Like Henry, Roberto Baggio was once an astonishing striker and matchwinner, blessed with pace and ball skills in equal measure.

Partly due to injury, but also to age, Baggios role changed in his latter years as he moved back from the frontline into a playmaking behind one or two strikers.

He continued to be a great player. His basic talent was undimmed, the lack of blistering pace was less important and his experience brought the ability to read the game and provide defence-splitting passes.

One speciality was a lifted pass over the top of a static back four, struck with enough backspin to make the ball sit up, instead of run forward, on the first bounce. It meant a striker timing his run could dash through and shoot without bringing the ball under control. Try doing it at home, let alone in a packed San Siro.

That role, which Dennis Bergkamp occupied in his final seasons with Arsenal, would have been tailor-made for Henry. His dribbling and deftly-weighted passing already put him in the upper reaches of the assist charts.

He has already changed roles once before under Arsene Wenger, who turned him from a left winger into a centre forward. As a second striker, or even at the top of a central diamond, protected by a holding midfielder, Henry could have been a devastating player for Arsenal well into his 30s.

Now it is an option for Barca coach Frank Rijkaard, particularly if Ronaldinho were to make his exit, while the Gunners are left to face an uncertain future.

Henrys boots were the key to Arsenals success. Who can fill them now?

Trevor Huggins, London 

It looks like Barcelona have got their man at last. Sources close to the club say Barca have agreed a deal with Arsenal to sign Thierry Henry, 12 months after the Frenchman turned down the club’s approaches.

At first glance it looks a good piece of business for Barcelona at a reported cost of 24 million euros. It does raise a few questions, however.

Is there really room at Barcelona for another player of Henry’s stature, in the dressing room and on the pitch? Can Henry, Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o all fit in the same forward line? 

Are the Catalans in danger of becoming more a collection of high-profile, high-earning stars rather than a real team. Barcelona recently announced another pre-season Asian tour. Are they simply repeating the mistakes of Florentino Perez’s Real Madrid?

And, assuming the move goes through, what does it mean for Arsenal? Do the English club have any chance of replacing Henry with a player of the same influence? Fans must be worrying that if Henry goes, other players, or even coach Arsene Wenger, may be next.

Let us know what you think about the biggest transfer story of the close-season so far and check back for more analysis.