Week 4

Clausura

River Plate and Olimpo are atop the standings with seven points after a rather uneventful slate of games in the local league. The week ahead should be interesting, as national team practice begins on Monday and Tuesday, and Boca continues to play without Riquelme due to a dispute with Coach Falcioni (Riquelme does this with every coach he has ever played for). In the most meaningful game of the fecha, Argentinos Jrs. valiantly tied rival Velez Sarsfield 1-1, maintaining their undefeated streak in both competitions this semester.

Copa

Godoy Cruz hosts Penarol on Tuesday, El Semi travels to Montevideo on Wednesday to face Nacional with a chance to take control of the group and focus on some local league games (although something tells me Troglio plays each game the same way), Velez hosts U. Catolica on Thursday and troubled Independiente plays in the altitude of Quito.

Delray Beach

Del Potro powered through the Roddick-less draw, beating Mardy Fish then Janko Tipsarevic to claim his first crown (and 250 ATP points) since 2009. This win was huge for many reasons: to remember what winning feels like, to regain a normal ranking, and to get some legs heading into Indian Wells, the "5th major."

Global Events

Lets keep our eye on the Egyptian stock exchange tomorrow morning, as well as oil prices. Rumblings should start to heat up leading up to the October presidential elections. Food for thought regarding Kirchner isolationism: Paraguay overtook Argentina as beef exporter in 2010 confirming the country’s loss of leadership in the world’s meat markets.

http://en.mercopress.com/2011/02/28/paraguay-exported-more-beef-than-argentina-in-2010