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Great story about Navarro, although it's a real shame that this kind of story makes the news for being the exception rather than the rule.

In any case, it's a refreshing story amid so much corruption. Thanks for sharing it Tim.

I'm curious how it's possible for a team to go from establishment to national Champions in the space of seven years?!

To compare this Pweruvian feat with an quivalent achievement in England, Italy or Europe generally would I realise be grossly unfair but even allowing for the fact that Peru is not one of the world's strongest footballing nations, this seems a bizarre (and of course excellent) thing to have done!

How many domestic leagues did San Martin have to be promoted through before reaching the top flight? How have they managed to fianance this adventure with so few fans compared to established clubs with the gate receipts from thousands of fans? And forgive my cynicism but is this a case of an amazing accomplishment that should be credited solely to San Martin's brilliance or more a bit of an indictment of the standard of Peruvian football that this could be possible?

Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful story, but it sounds incredible, bordering on impossible!

btw, hard to beat San Martin's record so far...less than 7 years old and already 3 league titles...quite impressive.

Tim,
"Rodas has yet to pick up any momentum at senior level. He went to Portugal, first to Estoril, and is now with Olhanense, where he seems to spend most of his time on the bench."

Lulinha, you mean, I presume?

Otherwise a lovely story and excellent article, as per usual.

The foundation followed by huge success thing is not unique to San Martín in South American football, Chilean club Cobreloa were founded in 1977, won the first of their 8 Chilean championships in 1980 and contested the Copa Libertadores finals of 1981 and 1982.

It would be as unlikely to see something like this in Brazil and Argentina as it would in England or Italy given the depth of their league structures but in countries with only a few of tiers of professional & semi-pro football like Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Peru it is possible to rapidy climb the one or two tiers necessary to have a crack at winning the national championship.

To answer JoeG's question, the standard of domestic football in Peru has fallen back dramatically from not great to abysmal. back in 2003 I thought that Cienciano's win in the Copa Sudamericana would be a watershed moment for Peruvian club football, however it turned out to be more of a high tide mark.

I also hope León do well in the Libertadores but I am also concerned that they don't suffer the same kind of humiliation as another Peruvian side Sport Huancayo did in their debut performance on the international stage (a 9-0 demolition by Uruguayan side Defensor).

Sport have a similar lack of history to USM, they were only founded in 2007 and have already won the Copa Peru, secured the one promotion they needed to play at the top level and then qualified for last seasons Copa Sudamericana.

Sounds like the cuts are starting to bite at the ´óÏó´«Ã½ if that's the standard of editing Tim!

Excellent article as always. My knowledge of South American football is little better than the standard in Peru by the sounds of it but it is a great story. Although I found it worrying that Navarro would have to make that sort of call.

It's hard to imagine that such a small team can rise to be national champions, as a Hartlepool fan I've been resigned for a long time that the odd playoff appearance is the best I can hope for!

I wonder, do you find that the unpredictability and the capability of small teams to rise to the top makes up for the lesser quality?

A very heart warming story.
What do the fans think? Are they happy with the moral high ground or do they think that the coach should have played Rodas?

Understanding San Martin is not as complex as it may sound. For one the big 3 teams in Peru (Universitario, Alianza and Cristal) are run like personal bank accounts by their presidents. They are millions of dollars in debt and SUNAT (the local tax collector) has began lawsuits which threaten to embargo everything from their stadiums to their training fields (Universitario alone owes the tax collector more than 30 million dollars).

San Martin has the backing of a popular university with one of the biggest medical schools in Peru. They have thousands of students who pay student fees and the university has both the facilities and the cash. They also have made smarter decisions: bring in known international coaches or accomplished local ones, good hard working foreign players and some good local talent and its not too hard to see how the results keep on coming.

They play by far the most attractive football here and were leading the championship by more than 12 points with more than half of it to go.

Leon is a feel good story as well. The Peruvian championship may not be as competitive but it is by no means easy. You get to play in Cuzco in high altitude, in the jungle and in the northern coast where some games are played at more than 30 degrees celcius in mid afternoon.

About a decade ago Cerro de Pasco had a team where teams had to play at 4200m of altitude and the field was next to the top of an active volcano.

The Copa Peru which is a regional knockout tournament (something along the FA Cup) goes on for months and has all the regional winners facing each other after an exhausting eliminating proccess. This determines the second direct qualifier to the first division, the other coming from the winner of the second division.

This year a team from a small town in the jungle of San Martin with a little more than 40 thousand inhabitants won the whole thing. It adds a lot of folklore as the entire town comes out and travels for these games.

In the end though some of these newcomers have smarter directives, good sponsors (a lot of mining companies have a lot of cash and are present in these cities) and can learn from the mistakes the bigger and more traditional teams have made in the past.

After reading you're comments on Lulinha, I was wondering what chance you think Zezinho has of making it in the European League? I keep reading his name linked with various clubs (including Arsenal who I support!) and was wondering if you think he has what it takes to play in Europe, and more specifically England? Also, has Robinho's time here damaged the way young Brazilians views the Premier League? He was a 'golden child' of sorts and really failed to make the impact expected

Hi Tim,

Great article as always! I would be interested in your opinions of what the smaller South American nations, particularly Uruguay and Paraguay, are doing to be successful on the international stage and what steps do you think smaller population countries like Wales and Northern Ireland could be doing to improve their prospects of World Cup qualification? Presumably these countries don't have massive budgets, so is there a key reason?

Cheers,

ddddamian

Tim,

"It is early days but I am optimistic that in a few years the South American champions will be strong enough to come out and play an expansive game against any opponents."

Whats afoot that brings this optimism?

Inter Cardiff formed in 1990 and were twice runners up in the welsh league 1 or 2 seasones later. They even played in the UEFA cup and won the welsh cup twice. But it doesn't realy count as they were a formed by a merger of 2 other teams.

How do they get away by doing such things, only over turning the red card for one player? Clearly I haven't seen any footage but it sounds like blatant corruption, not even have the decency to do it on the side...

Good on Navarro though, well played.

33 away fans? That's more than Liverpool took to West Ham a few years ago. 14 I believe.

Great gesture though, however how many fans of British clubs (me included) would be happy with their manager doing something similar?

Internacional's defeat against Mazembe wasn't greeted badly by everyone in Brazil.

Gremio fans were ecstatic after having to put up with months of Colorado arrogance and didn't we let them know it!!!

Historic disgrace? Absolutely!!!

Tim, listening to the last ´óÏó´«Ã½ World Football Phone-In, there was a discussion about some famous players returning to Argentina (Veron and Riquelme).

You mentioned Boca started its decline after signing Riquelme (although they won a Libertadores before the downfall started), and among the reasons were the huge salary differences etc.

Well, it just happens I am very worried with Grêmio. It seems we are 90% close to signing Ronaldinho.

Whats you view on it? Can Renato tame him? Will he fit in a team where we ALREADY have someone who cant defend if his life depended on it (Douglas)? Can Grêmio, with only 7 million fans and somewhat away from the SP-RJ axis afford him?

Btw, this week news is that Fluminense´s new president has cried on TV and said the club was completely broke.

Its just incredible... these Rio teams invest all their money in ONE season, then they win the league but the next season are broke? First Flamengo, now Fluminense. Talk about bad management.

Tim you do not know how much I love your articles (and you on the WFPI). There is a player I have my eye on, Claudio Yacob, any news on him? Do you think he has what it takes to be a great midfielder in a top European league?

Thanks very much!

Life is not just about what you do, it is about how you do it.' ' The real lesson of football and not unique to football - and why it is so important to so many.

Cool story, but makes you wonder what it was that persuaded the Peruvian FA to reprieve Navarro.....

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"Football is not just about what you do, it is about how you do it."
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Amen to that Mr Vickery. If only that was the widely held view in football.

Some footage of the "confrontation" that preceeded the four red cards -

I agree with "Football is not just about what you do, it is about how you do it.".. But i feel the way clubs operate should follow the same guidelines.

Have a read of

Another really interesting article.

Love your writing Tim, and tbh I'd like to see more of this on the Beeb - knowledgeable articles about sport in other parts of the globe, rather than our usual British self-obsession.

Quality blog, just thought it was a bit long in the tooth. I'm glad San Martin won despite being so close to the jaws of defeat, but the Peruvian authorities need filling in on how to conduct themselves. Meanwhile, Leon now have to brace themselves for a new adventure and as for Rodas, with a little more bite he could really shine.

Tim, what did the fans of Leon of Huanuco have to say about their coach leaving out their best player when the authorities had cleared him to play in the second leg? I remember Arsene Wenger getting Arsenal to replay an F.A. Cup match with Sheff Utd after the Gunners won the initial match by a very controversial goal - ...A grand gesture for sure, but I often wonder what 'gooners' would say if he lost the replay? Nearly every match has controversy.

If teams refuse 'to play to the whistle' or 'laws of the game' laid down by the sports officials - we end up with all out anarchy and in football losers unfortunately aren't long remembered. Was Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer criticised for playing on after Lampards' obvious 'goal'..or did Uruguay offer to play a replay after Suarez' 'criminal' handball against Ghana - no they played to the whistle.

25 your comment was a bit of a mouthful

#26 - There is no anarchy here. Navarro can drop or pick a player for any reason he chooses, he holds the whistle here. No rules were broken, just a rare snippet of sportmanship and honour in a game so engulfed in avarice. Neuer and Suarez had no input into the decision-making, they did not hold the whistle.

Great article as always... what can you tell me about dario conca and federico laurito?

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Tim, as a United fan I always want to know about the Brazillians at United. Anderson has recently been performing fantastic for the club, has this been noted in Brazil or is it seen cynically, one swallow doesn't make a summer and all that?
As for Rafael, I know he has recently had a call up for Brazil, he has really impressed me this season, is he seen realistically as a long term prospect for the right back role in the Brazil national team?

Tim an interesting and different look at the world game as always.
Following on from the theme was an incident in 1976. QPR were playing Birmingham City in January of that year and playing for Birmingham was Kenny Burns - a hard and aggressive individual to say the least - who committed a dreadful foul in the first half. The referee didn't send him off. Burns never appeared in the second half but wasn't substituted and Birmingham played with ten men. The Birmingham manager was Willie Bell who said after Burns should have been sent off and that's why he reduced Birmingham to ten men.
A big story at the time but now sadly forgotten in the main.

Pity Argentina didn't follow the same Morals when Tevez scored rom offside and it was shown on the screen.

or did Uruguay offer to play a replay after Suarez' 'criminal' handball against Ghana - no they played to the whistle.
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Suarez committed an offence and recieved the correct punishment for it. There was no case of it being an incorrect decision, it was simply a player doing what was necessary at the time to help his team. The rules ALLOW for such an occurance.

Great Blog Tim!

What an incredible gesture. Sad thing is that football continues to allow these situations to occur, at every level of the game - be that a suspect suspension reversal, the Lampard goal, diving, Scottish referees, World cup bids.

Is football just corrupt, or do governing bodies know that allowing these flashpoints sell papers?

All of the above flashpoints are preventable. I read the stories, but the lack of transparancy, and ignoring video evidence in all forms to eliminate cheating, is putting me off the game.

For the past few years football conversation has been focused in the wrong area - cheating, corruption, scandals and WAGs. Not skill, flair, passion and most of all enjoyment.

#34 hackerjack 'The rules ALLOW for such an occurance' ...to some extent that was my point.

Controversy in whether certain decisions are correct or even just will always occur in football..it's the nature of the game. It may have been the correct and most morally applaudible decision for Franco Navarro to make in leaving out his star player in surely their most important game, but as he was within his rights to play him he somewhat shot his team in the foot.

#34 Actually, the Suarez incident was a case of a player lamentably cheating in order to help his team. But you are right. He was punished according to the rules.

Nice story, thanks for reporting it Tim.
Did the Peruvian FA model themselves on our own inept and incompetent FA?

@Tim: Loved the story, I hope Navarro wins some trophies sooner than later.

@the people discussing about Suarez: so, Uruguay should have offered to play a replay match? But I suppose Ghana should have refused mentioning the fact the free kick that originated everything had been wrongly given since the Ghanaian had dived...

tim thanks for the answer to my question on brazil and the conferadtion cup.

back in 1999 arsenal v sheff utd in the fa cup, a player when down injured, ball kicked out of play by sheff utd, arsenal throw and score a goal, unwritten rule is that the possession returns to the side which kicked the ball out of play. sheff utd lost the game but afterwards arsene wenger offered sheff utd a replay.

this sort of thing would not happen in europe especially with managers like mourinho, fergie etc.

the ADFP seem to have lost all creditability by doing what they did. surely the south american confederation should get involved as something stinks within the ADFP.

Delighted to see the return of the phrase "the Copa Libertadores, South America's Champions League" this week!

@32 that is an amazing story. I am surprised it isn't more widely remembered.
As a Forest fan I loved Kenneth Burns. Wouldn't have liked to have played against him though.

Hi Tim,
I was wondering, what makes you think the South American teams will be able to play against any opponent in the near future? Has there been a boost in economy?

Lovely story and life lesson Tim - its significance extends far beyond football. Like many posts here, I wonder how the team's supporters reacted. To my mind, it is the supporters who hold the key to changing attitudes and cleaning up the game - special note to No.35 (I sympathize with your feelings).
On that same point, in relation to No.34 ("a player doing what was necessary at the time to help his team"), while fans continue to consider cheating to be "necessary" this sort of problem in the game will continue. We all know that life sometimes isn't fair (and look to the justice system to correct the errors), but sport is a human invention and the rules are there to try and make it as fair as possible. If bending or breaking those rules is considered acceptable then much of the whole purpose of sport is basically discarded. I truly believe that both in sport and in life, it is how you play the game. Perhaps we need to take a new look at what 'winning' and 'losing' really mean.
I suspect that a great many people feel the same way, as I have the impression that many who had never heard of Leon before will now be cheering for them in the Libertadores, based on that single act of fair play.

@41

how about "Champions League, the European Libertadores!"???

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Tim you have done much for the promotion of football game and your blogs are full of information about teams and their players,Weldon and keep going.Thanks for sharing all this.//

thanx for adminnnn