Conflicting reports out of Mexico and Argentina have Guillermo Franco signing with a European side, which could be Spanish squad Betis, Estudiantes La Plata or even San Lorenzo in his native Argentina. The Argentine naturalized Mexican, recently called by "Tricolor" head coach Javier Aguirre, should finally have a team by the time this weekend is over.

Franco's chances of ending up with the "Pincharatas" (Rat Stabbers) will improve if Udinese reject a one-year loan offer for 550 thousand dollars that the defending Copa Libertadores champions made for Chilean forward Fabián Orellana.

"Guille" is also aware of interest from another Argentine squad, San Lorenzo which need to fill a void in their attack. The "Cyclone" recently transferred forward Gonzalo Bergessio to a Saint-Etienne of France

Mexican international forward Antonio de Nigris, who lasted played in the Turkish Superliga with Ankaragücü, signed a two-year contract with Greek first division team Larisa, which made the announcement on Thursday.

De Nigris, who also played with a couple of other teams in Turkey, including Ankaraspor and Gaziantepspor, keeps his dream of playing in Europe alive while not losing hope that Mexican national team coach Javier Aguirre will call keep in what is left of World Cup qualifying.

The Monterrey native, 31 years of age, has played with the "Tricolor" on 16 occasions and has scored four goals as an international.

Almost 24 hours after firing Héctor Medrano, the powers that be at Querétaro have offered the head coaching job to Eduardo "Yayo" de la Torre, who after analyzing the offer agreed to take the position that team president Ulises Zurita put on the table. 

Team management had thought about the possibility of luring Carlos de los Cobos from his El Salvador coaching gig but considered De la Torre to be the ideal candidate to put an end to its struggles and to begin racking up points.

After five rounds in the Mexican Apertura 2009, the "White Roosters" have three losses and two draws, disproportionate results if they wish to reach their main objective, which is to stay away from the relegation zone in their first season since earning promotion to the top flight.

Although Valentir Gomes has been named interim head coach at Querétaro, the deal between Zurita and De la Torre is to have the new coach presented to the local media after the Roosters' Round 6 match against defending champion Pumas UNAM this Sunday.

De la Torre decided to stay away from the action in the upcoming round before taking the reigns while observing the team to give him an opportunity to see how it functions. What "Yayo" has noticed is that the squad's self-esteem has hit rock-bottom, something that he hopes to lift on first day as the Querétaro boss.

His contract expires at the end of the Apertura season and it's assumed that it will be extended if the management sees positive results and would then be thinking of acquiring reinforcements of high quality.

The "Gallos Blancos" (White Rooster) have suffered two straight setbacks; the most recent one came last night against Atlante, which came away with a 2-1 victory at the Corregidora Stadium.

Giovani dos Santos still piques the interest of various teams. Now it's Turkish side Besiktas that would like to sign the Mexican attacking midfielder.  According to the English media, the team would be willing to put up six million pounds (approximately 9,724,000 dollars) to purchase the rights of the native of Monterrey.

Unlike Greek powerhouse Olympiakos, which is only interested bringing him over on loan from Tottenham, it appears that Besiktas is making the signing of the Mexican attacker a priority. Nevertheless, it looks like the more viable option for Spurs boss Harry Redknapp would be to loan him, given the fact that he's only 20 years of age.

I could not help but being shocked that I heard on ESPN Deportes Radio today that Adolfo Bautista's future could be in Europe. It would not be in La Liga, the EPL or even the Serie A, but in Greece's top flight.

The name of the club or clubs interested in "Bofo" were not revealed. However, another option for the current Jaguares de Chiapas striker would be Major League Soccer.

To be honest, I was taken aback by this news since Bautista has never played to his potential. Yes, he's been capped a few times, but sometimes looks like he's bored on the field. At his best he places passes perfectly and does not waste scoring chances. But at his worst, he passes up on open teammates, trying to be the hero and end up with some awful finishes.

This is not the first time that Bautista has been rumored to move to a European side, as it happened before several years ago when he formed part of Pachuca.

According to ESPN Deportes Radio, former Estudiantes UA de G (once known as Tecos UAG) goalkeeper José de Jesús Corona will be counted on to defend the pipes for the "Máquina Celeste".

This will definitely help one of Mexico's storied franchises that is still trying to end a 12-year drought without a league championship.

It was thought that Corona's future would be at Tigres UANL, but according to an ESPN Deportes Radio correspondent in Cancún where the illicit, once-a-semester "draft" that the Mexican Football Federation is staging, the Atlas youth academy product will be moving to Mexico City.

The Guadalajara native will be taking over as the primary after Yósgart Gutiérrez and a couple of other goalkeepers did not play up to Cruz Azul standards, contributing to one of the Máquina Celeste's worst campaigns in recent memory.

When it was thought that Hugo Sánchez was enjoying his time away from the spotlight, an unexpected announcement from Spain confirmed that "Hugol" wants to keep his name in the headlines in some way, shape or form.

It turns out that Almería in Spain's La Liga is giving the former Mexican National Team head coach an opportunity to be a hero by counting on him to save them from relegation.

This wouldn't be the first time that a Mexican is being asked to help a squad stay in the Spanish top flight. After Javier Aguirre guided Mexico to the Round of 16 of the 2002 World Cup, Osasuna offered him the head coaching job. To make a long story short, Aguirre added a much-needed boost to the Pamplona side by not only helping it stay in La Liga, but also bolstering his value as a strategist. And I'm sure you know the rest of the story.

Without a doubt this will be a daunting task for Sánchez since the Andalusians don't have much of a budget to begin with. But at least a player already there has something in common with him, ties to Pumas UNAM. Esteban Solari, who had a brief but successful stint with UNAM in the Primera División de México, can count on getting strong consideration from the "Pentapichichi" since he is familiar with the Argentine's playing style.

At the time of the hiring of Sánchez, Almería stood in 16th place with 16 points, 25 back of Barcelona. There's doubts out there regarding the Mexican's ability to rescue his tarnished image after being fired as Mexico's coach. He couldn't figure out how to coach a talented "Tricolor" with a dozen players in Europe and failed miserably in his quest to help Mexico's Under-23 National Team reach the Beijing Games. And that team had decent players as well.

Perhaps this is what "Hugol" needs: to take the reigns of one of La Liga's most modest teams and place it permanently in the middle of the table. At the same time, he pumps up his market value and get one step closer to one of his dreams, to coach Real Madrid.

In what has been a year with mixed results, Pachuca, at least for one game, reminded the soccer world of what they're capable of in a high-pressure situation.

The Tuzos certainly revived images of the Copa Sudamericana championship squad from 2006 on a Saturday afternoon in Tokyo, Japan. They displayed the "never say die" attitude that put them on the international map by obliterating a 2-0 deficit against Al Ahly with four uncontested goals to advance to the Club World Cup semifinals where they will face Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito of Ecuador. 

Speaking of their accomplishments in 2006, which included a Mexican Clausura title, important players such as Christian Giménez and Damián Alvarez showed the younger players that weren't around at that time what it takes to win a match on a big stage. Giménez contributed two crucial goals while Alvarez scored another in a memorable game in the short history of this competition.

No matter what happens in their next match, the team led by Enrique Meza has already boosted the image of not only the Mexican First Division, but also of the CONCACAF region that they represent.  Keep in mind that it was "one and done" for Pachuca in last year's competition after falling 1-0 to Etoile du Sahel.

This is not an unpleasant way to close out a 2008 that had mixed results. If you leave out their CONCACAF Champions Cup title, it hasn't been a very productive year for the Tuzos. In this year's Mexican Clausura they couldn't get past the now extinct "playoff stage". It went even worse for them in the Apertura, missing the postseason completely. 

Now Pachuca will look to become the first side from the CONCACAF region to reach the final of this tournament. For this to happen, they have to avoid getting beaten on counterattacks (as Al Ahly demonstrated on a scoring play) and to be prepared for long balls (another facet of the game where the African champions exposed the Mexicans).

Alright Tuzos, now that you guys have woken up from a slump that has lasted a year and a half, the pressure is on again. And while you're at it, show the world that the CONCACAF region can compete with anybody.

Four unanswered goals from Pachuca deflated Al Ahly's hopes of moving on to the next stage after a convincing 4-2 victory in extra time. The Tuzos, in their second appearance in the Club World Cup, left a much better impression after their feeble effort in Japan just last year.

Christian Giménez led the CONCACAF champions with two goals, leading a comeback that made a 2-0 deficit disappear.

Pachuca definitely showed some personality that was nonexistent in the first half and now wondering what coach Enrique Meza told his team at halftime.

The Tuzos advance to the semifinals where they will face Liga of Ecuador, a team that will be without key figures such as Enrique Vera and Joffre Guerrón that guided them to the Copa Libertadores title earlier this year.

Let's call this one a game now that Pachuca have distanced themselves from Al Ahly after a nice goal from Christian Giménez to make it 4-2. This is the second goal for "Chaco", who received a nice ball from Bruno Marioni in the 110th minute.