South American soccer - Alive and kicking

South American soccer - Alive and kicking
A recap of the past month in South American futbol.

So what's been going on for the last month in South American style? Here's a short recap.

Team of the Month: River Plate (Argentina)

Following a few years of mediocrity, Los Millonarios have strung together a good run of results to start off the Argentinean Winter Tournament. Collecting 17 points from seven games, River Plate have managed to preserve a slight advantage over arch-rivals and defending World Club Champions, Boca Juniors, while maintaining an unbeaten record. It is still too early to see if this River Plate team will be able to emulate Boca Juniors' successes from the past few years, but leading the tough Argentinean league is enough reason to award this squad Team of the Month honors.

Game of the Month: Vasco da Gama vs. Palmeiras (Brazilian First Division)

In the spirit of the traditional "jogo bonito," two of Brazil's powerhouses squared off in a much anticipated match up. The fireworks began 10 minutes into the first half with a wonderful strike from Palmeiras' Lucio that would set the tone for the remainder of the game. The goals came early and often as six more were scored before the game came to an end. Palmeiras would see Elson, Pedrinho and Osmar (on two occasions) add to Lucio's tally while Vasco replied with goals from Andre Lima and Petkovic. The game also had its heated encounters as three yellow cards were handed out and a red to Vasco's Henrique just before the full time whistle. The match would end 5-2 in favor of Palmeiras. This game was the perfect tonic for those detractors of football who say that it's a boring game with no scoring and no contact, it was definitely worthy of being recognized as the game of the month.

Player of the Month: Evelio Ordonez, El Nacional (Ecuador)

Ordonez has been tearing up the difficult Ecuadorian First Division with his stunning and well-timed strikes. While his team holds down the fourth spot, six points behind leaders Barcelona de Guayaquil, Ordonez sits first in scoring with 20 goals from 17 matches. Ordonez has come out of nowhere, puncturing the mesh and keeping his side in the championship hunt. Ordonez is our pick for the CONMEBOL player of the month.
By Gabriel Mederos