Argentinos Juniors

ENGLAND international Owen Hargreaves is among the players being linked with a summer move to West Ham. The Hammers have money to spend after a successful season and manager Alan Pardew is determined to add at least one midfield player to his squad.Bayern Munich could be tempted to release 25-year-old Hargreaves, who is currently training with England's World Cup squad. Several other midfielders are being linked with West Ham, including Sunderland's Argen-tinian Julio Arca and Modeste M'Bami of Paris St Germain.Arca was signed from Argentinos Juniors for £3.5million six years ago but Sunderland may now decide to let him go after being relegated from the Premiership. Cameroon international M'Bami, 23, who almost moved to Wolves three years ago, made 34 appearances for PSG last season. Pardew could renew his interest in Tottenham's Republic of Ireland defender Stephen Kelly, 22, after having an approach rejected in January. There could also be several departures from Upton Park in the summer with Norwich showing an interest in West Ham's Elliott Ward and Clive Clarke. Meanwhile, Wally Downes, coach of Premiership new boys Reading, has turned down the chance of joining West Ham's coaching staff.

Liga Deportiva Universitaria players dominate the provisional 23-man squad named by Ecuador coach Luis Fernando Suarez for the World Cup finals.
The leading side in Ecuador's domestic league provide seven players while Suarez has also included five foreign-based stars, including Aston Villa full-back Ulises de la Cruz.
Ivan Kaviedes, who has struggled to hold down a first-team place at Argentinos Juniors this season, is nevertheless selected.
The striker made his last appearance for Ecuador in their 5-2 win over Paraguay in World Cup qualifying in March, 2005.
Eight of the players named by Suarez - Ivan Hurtado, De la Cruz, Giovanny Espinoza, Edwin Tenorio, Marlon Ayovi, Carlos Tenorio, Kaviedes and Agustin Delgado - were part of the squad for the 2002 World Cup, in which Ecuador were knocked out in the group stages.
Ecuador, who will face Costa Rica, Poland and hosts Germany in Group A, are the first South American nation to announce their squad for the showpiece.
Goalkeepers: Edwin Villafuerte (Deportivo Quito), Cristian Mora (Liga Deportiva Universitaria), Damian Lanza (Aucas);
Defenders: Ivan Hurtado (Al Arabi), Giovanny Espinoza, Paul Ambrossi, Neicer Reasco (all Liga Deportiva Universitaria), Ulises de la Cruz (Aston Villa), Jorge Guagua (El Nacional), Jose Luis Perlaza (Olmedo);
Midfielders: Marlon Ayovi, Luis Fernando Saritama (both Deportivo Quito), Edwin Tenorio (Barcelona), Edison Mendez, Patricio Urrutia (both Liga Deportiva Universitaria), Cristian Lara, Segundo Castillo (both El Nacional), Luis Antonio Valencia (Recreativo Huelva);
Forwards: Felix Borja, Cristian Benitez (both El Nacional), Ivan Kaviedes (Argentinos Juniors), Agustin Delgado (Liga Deportiva Universitaria), Carlos Tenorio (Al Saad).

Boca Juniors capped its Argentine Apertura championship by defeating Olimpo Bahia Blanca 2-0 in the last round on Sunday at Bombonera stadium.Matias Silvestre scored off a header in the 14th minute and Rodrigo Palacio made it 2-0 in the 59th for a seventh straight win for Boca, which won the tournament last week.It was Boca's fourth cup in less than a year, after the South American Recopa and Copa Sudamericana, and the Clausura championship.Boca ended with 43 points, followed by Lanus with 35, River Plate with 34, Gimnasia Jujuy on 33, and Gimnasia La Plata at 32.River Plate defeated host Quilmes 3-1 in a match which was suspended in the 67th minute because of fan violence.Boca, Gimnasia La Plata, River, Banfield and Velez will play in the 2007 Copa Libertadores. The same teams plus Lanus and San Lorenzo will strive to wrest the Sudamericana from defending champion Boca.Instituto and Tiro Federal were relegated to second division.Argentinos Juniors and Olimpo will play with two teams from second division, and the two winners of the home-and-away series will play in the first division next season.

Troubled striker Iván Kaviedes looks to have been given another chance by Ecuador, manager Luis Suárez named the Argentinos Juniors forward in his 23-man squad for the FIFA World Cup finals this summer.
Kaviedes, who has been a bit of a team-hopper in his career in Europe and in South America, has a reputation for being a disciplinary problem wherever he plays, but Suárez considers him a valuable member of the squad.
The Ecuadorean defense will not be short on experience with long-time national team players Iván Hurtado and Giovanny Espinoza being named and will likely be in the starting XI come 9 June when Ecuador open Group A play against Poland. Aston Villa fullback Ulises de la Cruz is also likely to be a starter.
The key player in the squad could be young playmaker Edison Méndez. It is through him that all attacks could be created, hopefully setting up primary striker Agustín Delgado.
Ecuadorean side Liga Deportivo Universitaria will feel very proud of their squad, boasting seven of the 23 team members. Ecuador World Cup squad
Goalkeepers:
Damián Lanza (Aucas)
Cristian Mora (Liga Dep. Universitaria)
Edwin Villafuerte (Deportivo Quito)
Defenders:
Paul Ambrossi (Liga Dep. Universitaria)
Ulises de la Cruz (Aston Villa)
Giovanny Espinoza (Liga Dep. Universitaria)
Jorge Guagua (El Nacional)
Iván Hurtado (Al-Arabi)
José Luis Perlaza (Olmedo)
Neicer Reasco (Liga Dep. Universitaria)
Midfielders:
Marlon Ayoví (Deportivo Quito)
Segundo Castillo (El Nacional)
Cristian Lara (El Nacional)
Edison Méndez (Liga Dep. Universitaria)
Luis Saritama (Deportivo Quito)
Edwin Tenorio (Barcelona, ECU)
Patricio Urrutia (Liga Dep. Universitaria)
Antonio Valencia (Recreativo Huelva)
Forwards:
Cristian Benítez (El Nacional)
Félix Borja (El Nacional)
Agustín Delgado (Liga Dep. Universitaria)
Iván Kaviedes (Argentinos Juniors)
Carlos Tenorio (Al-Sadd)

Lanus drew 0-0 Saturday with Velez Sarsfield. In other games Saturday, Gimnasia La Plata beat Newell's 3-2 to move into third place, p***ing River Plate, which fell to fourth with a 2-0 loss to Racing.
Elsewhere Sunday, it was: Banfield 3, Argentinos Juniors 1; Arsenal 1, Instituto 1; Tiro Federal 1, Quilmes 1; Olimpo 1, Gimnasia Jujuy 0.
Later Sunday, Estudiantes hosted Rosario Central and Colon visited San Lorenzo.
With striker Sergio Aguero suspended, Independiente set up two defensive lines and employed only one attacker. However, it was able to create and several runs down the flanks, forcing Argentine national team keeper Roberto Abbondancieri into acrobatic saves on shots by Esteban Bujan and Gaston Machin.
Rodrigo Palacio and Martin Palermo scored one goal apiece and traded ***ists for Boca. Palacio put the Buenos Aires side ahead in the 38th with a shot from outside the penalty area after a long p*** from Palermo, who added the insurance in the 47th with a header off a cross by Palacio.
In the oldest derby in Argentine soccer, Racing beat crosstown rival River Plate, which played with a mostly reserve team to rest its regulars for the first leg of Copa Libertadores quarter-finals against Paraguay's Libertad on Thursday.
Maximiliano Moralez headed in a cross from Juan Manuel Torres in the 38th, and Claudio Fileppi made it 2-0 in injury time.
River midfielder Lucas Pusineri was red-carded in the 88th.

The scandal involving Ecuador's national team isn't going to keep coach Luis Fernando Suarez from thinking his team can reach the second round at this year's World Cup.Four years after finishing second only to Argentina in South America's tough World Cup qualifying group, Ecuador was third this time behind the second-place Argentines and five-time World Cup champion Brazil.Still, the team was hurt off the field by an alleged immigrant trafficking scandal.Team coordinator Vinicio Luna was arrested in March and team doctor Patricio Maldonado was detained on April 10 for allegedly seeking US visas for at least two people not connected to the squad. On April 21, a judge issued another arrest warrant for the team's public relations director.The Colombian coach is still optimistic, however.''As a minimum we have to get to the second round. After that, a ton of other goals will open up,'' Suarez said. ''This is what we want the people to understand.''Ecuador will face host Germany, Poland and Costa Rica in the first round in Group A, and Ecuadorean soccer federation president Luis Chiriboga hopes the team can avoid getting distracted by the scandal.''We ask the players for introspection and for total concentration to obtain results,'' Chiriboga said.Suarez has only publicly mentioned one name so far as a definite for his World Cup roster: Agustin Delgado.Known as ''Tin,'' the 32-year-old striker is the team's anchor. He scored his biggest goal in Ecuador's first ever win over Brazil - 1-0 in Quito on March 27, 2001.Former Ecuador coach Carlos Sevilla also thinks the team can get to the second round.Sevilla called defender Ivan Hurtado ''an icon in a defensive block for his experience and technical abilities,'' and midfielder Edison Mendez, who scored against Croatia at the last World Cup, the ''axis'' of the squad.Missing from Ecuador's roster is striker Franklin Salas, out of action with a knee injury.And striker Ivan Kaviedes is questionable. Kaviedes' performance has been erratic in recent months, including on his current team, Argentinos Juniors .Ecuador's progress in soccer is owed mostly to 10 years of Colombian coaching.In 1996, coach Francisco Maturana headed the team, followed by Hernan Dario Gomez, who brought Ecuador to its first World Cup in South Korea and Japan.In tune with that Colombian style, Ecuador's game is marked by frequent passing, a 4-4-2 formation, and a line of midfielders that mixes talent, strength and speed, backed up by swift attacking defenders.Back again from Ecuador's first World Cup appearance are Hurtado, Delgado, Ulises De la Cruz and Edwin Tenorio.Suarez also built up talent on the team with goalkeeper Cristian Mora, defenders Neicer Reasco, Paul Ambrossi, Jorge Guagua and midfielder Antonio Valencia.''The fundamental of this squad is its collectivity - a very compact group,'' Suarez said.But critics note Ecuador's poor performance, particularly by its strikers, in matches leading up to the World Cup: five losses and one win so far.

Federico Insua scored a pair of goals and Rodrigo Palacio and Guillermo Barros Schelotto added one each to pace Boca Juniors over Estudiantes 4-0 Sunday and to the brink of a second consecutive Argentine title.
The victory gave Boca 34 points, four more than Lanus with two games remaining. Boca could earn another three points if the Argentine disciplinary tribunal awards it the three points from last week's game against Velez Sarsfield. The match was suspended in the 88th minute because of fan disturbances with Boca leading 3-2. Lanus kept pace by beating Arsenal 3-0.
River Plate, which drw 3-3 with Gimnasia La Plata, was six points behind Boca, followed by Newell's, which drew 1-1 with Argentinos Juniors.