Central & South America

FIFA 21 officially releases worldwide on Friday, Oct. 9, but anyone who ordered the Ultimate or Champions editions, as well as those provided early access codes by EA Sports, are now free to play the game. With the early reviews arriving, is FIFA 21 worth it?  

The elephant in the room is the situation faced by video game developers over the course of the ongoing pandemic. I’ve got huge respect for Pro Evolution Soccer’s decision to admit that PES 2021 is nothing more than a “season update” with the latest lineups, kits, etc. and a reduced retail price of $29.99. 

It’s flown under the radar since it’s not within the FIFA International Match Calendar — meaning European clubs aren’t obligated to release players — but the Mexico national team returns to action on Wednesday night with a friendly against Guatemala at the Azteca. 

It’s been almost a year since we last saw El Tri (a 2-1 victory over Bermuda back on Nov. 19, 2019), but the likes of Miguel Layún, Uriel Antuna and José Juan Macías are finally back in action for the world’s 11th-ranked nation.

The president of Paraguayan club Olimpia, one of the most successful in South America, has been banned for life from football after being found guilty of match manipulation, global soccer body FIFA said on Monday.

Anthony Fontana, Ilsinho and Brenden Aaronson each scored one goal to lift the host Philadelphia Union past Inter Miami 3-0 on Sunday night.

Kacper Przybyłko recorded assists on the first two goals for the Union, who are 4-1-0 in their past five games. The Union (8-2-4, 28 points) picked up three points in heavy rain without captain and midfielder Alejandro Bedoya (suspension for yellow-card accumulation) and right back Ray Gaddis (hamstring).

SANTIAGO — Chilean side Deportes Antofagasta travelled 1,500 km (932 miles) to play a league match on Saturday, only to be told at the stadium that the game had been called off because of a positive COVID-19 test amongst the staff of opponents Colo Colo.

The Chilean league said in a statement that the case was detected on Friday among the Colo Colo delegation which had travelled to Brazil for a Copa Libertadores match.

Comunicado Oficial pic.twitter.com/NEMX7BTWCU

Brazilian champion Flamengo has asked league organisers to cancel this weekend’s game against Palmeiras after 16 of their players tested positive for COVID-19.

Seven players tested positive ahead of Tuesday’s Copa Libertadores match against Barcelona in Ecuador and several others, plus their coach and doctor, came down with the virus on their return.

Barcelona striker Luis Suárez has agreed a deal with the club to end his contract and settled on personal terms with Atlético Madrid, according to reports in Spain on Monday.

The Catalans' third top scorer of all time was told he was not wanted by new Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman and has been looking for a new club. Suárez, 33, who has one year to run on his Barcelona contract, agreed a deal with the club to cut it short, reports said.

Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal is on the verge of sealing a move to Inter Milan from Barcelona after landing in Milan on Sunday.

Inter's official Twitter account published a photo of Vidal's arrival and a video of the player, 33, saluting fans saying "Hi Inter, I'm here.”

| PHOTO@kingarturo23 has landed in Milan! pic.twitter.com/VivgtWo7pS

BUENOS AIRES — The Copa Libertadores made history on Thursday with its first female officials, drafted in at the last minute to officiate in two matches after the scheduled officials tested positive for COVID-19.

Four Brazilians were among those named to run the Racing v Nacional game in Buenos Aires but they tested positive and were replaced by two Chileans and two Argentines, one of whom was assistant referee Mariana de Almeida.

The situation was repeated in the match between Argentine side Defensa y Justicia and Ecuadorean club Delfin.