ARSENAL DE SARANDí

'Arsenal Fútbol Club', usually called 'Arsenal de Sarandí' or simply 'Arsenal', is a football club from the Sarandí neighbourhood in the city of Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

Contents

History

Copa Libertadores

Stadium

Current squad

Squad changes for Apertura 2007

Notable former players

References

External links

History

The club was founded in January 1957 by brothers Héctor and Julio Humberto Grondona, inspired by the English club Arsenal. The teams shirt colour is light blue with a diagonal red band (similar to the shirt used by River Plate). The colours were chosen as a combination of the two older clubs in Avellaneda - Racing (light blue) and Independiente (red).
Julio Grondona went on to become the president of Independiente, and then, in 1979, president of the Argentine Football Association, a post he still holds. He is also a vice-president of FIFA. Héctor Grondona, and then son Julio Ricardo, became presidents of Arsenal.
The club's best known former player is Jorge Burruchaga, who started his career at Arsenal in 1979, and coached the team from 2002 to 2005. ''Burru'', as he is nicknamed, scored the winning goal for Argentina in the 1986 World Cup final against Germany.
''Arse'', as the club are nicknamed, were promoted to successively higher divisions in 1962, 1986 and 1992, finally reaching the Primera División in 2002. The club's only appearance in an international cup was in 2004, when, coached by Burruchaga, they reached the quarter finals of the South American Cup, eliminating Banfield and River Plate before losing to Bolivian club, Bolívar.
On 6 September, 2006, Arsenal and Spanish club FC Barcelona (Barça) struck a deal whereby in exchange for the option to acquire young players that have not played more than one year in the Arsenal first team, Barça would help to improve Arsenals infrastructure . "We want to establish Barcelona as an option for young players in Argentina," Barça technical director Txiki Begiristain told Olé, an Argentine sports newspaper, "It's a long-term project that will benefit both clubs."^[1]
A member from Barça was to oversee the project, and visit the club on a monthly basis. This deal, however, fell through in 2007, reportedly because Arsenal could not afford the infrastructure to keep up with the plan.

Copa Libertadores

Arsenal finished fifth in the Apertura in 2006 and the Clausura in 2007, which gave them enough points to claim a place in the Copa Libertadores 2008, the first time in their history that they have qualified for South Americas premier club tournament.

Stadium

The Julio H. Grondona stadium in Sarandí has a capacity of 19,300, and is known as ''el Viaducto'' (The Viaduct). It is located at 3660 Juan Díaz De Solís in Sarandí.

Current squad

''As of September 6 2007''

Squad changes for Apertura 2007

'Players in'

★ Martín Andrizzi MF from Banfield

★ José Luis Calderón FW from Estudiantes

★ Sebastián Carrera MF from Argentinos Juniors

★ Israel Damonte MF from Nueva Chicago

★ Christian Diaz DF from Huracán

★ Gastón Esmerado MF from Colón

★ Aníbal Matellán DF from Gimnastic^[2]

★ Josimar Mosquera DF from Estudiantes

★ Jose Leonardo Ulloa FW from San Lorenzo

★ Diego Villar MF from Godoy Cruz

★ Andrés Yllana MF from Belgrano
'Players out'

★ Esteban Dreer GK to FBK Kaunas

★ Luis Pedro Figueroa MF to Banfield

★ Bryan Gerzicich MF to Hapoel Haifa

★ Cristian Ezequiel Llama MF to Catania

★ Gabriel Loeschbor DF to Gimnasia (J)

★ Javier Lux MF to Belgrano

★ Pablo Nicolás Mouche FW to Boca Juniors

★ Mauro Iván Óbolo FW to AIK

★ Jorge Ortiz MF to San Lorenzo

★ Ibrahim Sekagya DF to Salzburg

★ Lucas Valdemarín FW to AIK

Notable former players

★ Jorge Burruchaga (1979-1981)

★ Juan Pablo Caffa (2005-2007)

★ José Luis Calderón (2004-2005)

★ Néstor Clausen (1997-1998)

★ Germán Denis (2003-2005)

★ Christian Gómez (2002-2004)

★ Patricio González (1999-2006)

★ Silvio González (2002~2003, 2005~2006)

★ Santiago Hirsig (2003-2006)

★ Oscar Alejandro Limia (1999-2000), (2001-2005)

★ Leonel Ríos (2005-2006)

★ Ibrahim Sekagya (2005-2007)

References

1. El Arselona F.C.
2. argentinesoccer.com retrieved on 2007-08-20

External links

★ Official site

★ Unofficial site

★ Current team and latest developments as of 7 August, 2007.