Central & South America

In the wake of the LaMia Flight 2933 disaster which took the lives of 22 members of the Chapecoense football squad, the club has begun the painful process of building towards their new season with the aim of promoting players from their youth teams. While many seasoned professionals and other Brazilian clubs have offered their support with regards to personnel, Chapecoesne president Plinio David de nes Filho has maintained that the club will stay true to its roots and values.

There's no easy way to say this: someone sawed a statue of Messi in half.

Seriously, a statue of Messi in Buenos Aires was found with the top part missing because someone, or a group of someones, sawed it off.

What does one do with the top half of a Messi statue? I hope they didn't just throw it away. That would be such a waste. I assume they had it mounted on something, but if they haven't done that yet I will be so bold as to suggest they find a horse statue, remove the head and replace it with the top of Messi's statue. CENTAUR MESSI.

The Copa Sao Paulo de Futebol Junior (Sao Paulo Youth Football Cup) is Brazil’s prime youth tournament, showcasing the next generation of young Brazilian stars. 

Names like Lucas Moura and Gabriel Jesus played the tournament as youngsters.

When the casual soccer fan is asked who he believes are the best coaches in the world right now, the answers are usually concentrated. Names like Pep Guardiola, Diego Simeone, Joachim Low, and Jose Mourinho are mentioned. Those names come to mind because they have the most national and international exposure. These coaches are all monumental in their own way, but if you look a little deeper you’ll find there are coaches at every level of soccer setting records and cementing their place in their clubs’ histories. In this context, let me introduce you to Marcelo Gallardo.

Playing on Thursday night in Sao Paulo in a charity match for the victims of the Chapecoense plane crash, Brazilian defender Fred finally figured out a tactic to slow Neymar down, at least momentarily.

Who says you can’t go home again?

Deportivo Palestino – a club based in Santiago, Chile and founded by Palestinian expats to the city in 1920 – effectively did just that, visiting the West Bank and occupied territories this week for friendlies against the real Palestinian National Team and the Hebron-based club side Al Ahli.

Nearly four weeks after the LaMia Flight 2933 disaster which claimed the lives of 71 people on board, including 22 players on the Chapecoense football squad, the Brazilian club has been formally awarded the trophy for the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Final.

If you are a Real Madrid or Club America fan you better fear the deer, and I’m not talking about the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Since the dawn of the FIFA Club World Cup over a decade ago, there have seldom been semi-final upsets. In most Club World Cups, the decision of who takes the trophy has featured the UEFA Champions League winner and the Copa Libertadores champion. 

Still, Japanese side Kashima Antlers just joined Congo’s TP Mazembe and Morocco’s Raja Casablanca as the only three teams to knock out a South American representative in the semifinals. 

Apparently Chapecoense player Neto has woken up from his coma following the team's tragic plane crash in Colombia. That's the good news. The bad news is what happened after he woke up. It will rip your heart out.

Per ABC News:

Upon gaining consciousness after almost two weeks, Neto asked who won the final of the Copa Sudamericana and why he was unable to play, team doctor Edson Stakonski said.

Oh God.

Danilo, one of 19 Chapecoense players killed in a plane crash that took the lives of 71 total, has been named Brazil's Player of the Year.

A goalkeeper, Danilo made a stunning save in the Copa Sudamerica semifinals against San Lorenzo to help keep Chapecoence in the competition. The team was on their way to the final against Atletico Nacional when their plane crashed into a mountainside outside Medellin, Colombia.