Is De Guzmán injured?

[Guest Jeffery S.]

I see he did not play in the Depor 1-2 win in Israel last week, and is not called up for the 2nd leg tomorrow. The Depor site does not refer to him when speaking of injured players not included in the squad. Can't find any info on it after a few searches: does anyone know if he is injured?

If they hold on tomorrow they go into the UEFA cup.

[loyola]

I remember reading somewhere on this forum that he was given some time off because of the extended season he had due to NT commitments.

[Tyson M]

ya he's still on vacay according to his facebook.

don't scare me like that!

[Massive Attack]

According to this Deportivo fansite, Julian is out with an Achilles injury:

http://www.deportivo-la-coruna.com/news.php

This is the same site where I got the news that he was left off the squad last week due to joining the team late due to international duty. They gave him a few extra weeks off.

[Gian-Luca]

Not good. Let's hope he is recovered by the 20th of August.

[ubuntu]

Interview with DXT Campeon.

http://www.enblanquiazul.org/deguzman/news.php

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/452/cmc296ze8.jpg

The canadian midfielder is back and ready for the new season. De Guzman thinks that the new signings will be very good for the team, which could play in three tournaments (league, national cup, and uefa cup). Julian ends his contract after this season, but he wants to renew with Deportivo.

DXT - You returned to work a few days ago, so you have not the same pace than the rest of the players. How is the pre-season going?

Julian - It's good right now. I need a little more time to get the same pace than my team-mates, but i'm very happy, comfortable, and i'm very sure that i'm going to be ready for this pre-season.

- I guess that you were looking forward to be on holidays, after the long season.

- Yes, but the holidays were long and i was already looking forward to play again. The team is stronger than last year, and we have higher targets.

- This year the team maybe will try to be more regular and having less ups and downs...

- I hope so. In theory we're very good.. but we must show that on the field. If we start with good results, i think this season will be very better.

- As you previously said, this summer the team has new signings and it seems to be stronger, which is exciting for the manager and the supporters.

- Yes, the new signings won't be only good for the league only, else it will be very useful for the UEFA Cup too. There is a lot of players now, and that's good for everyone, because if you want to play, you must do you your best. That's very good for the team.

- It seems the team is now improved with new strikers, which could guarantee more goals...

- We already scored a lot of goals last year, but it's obvious that if you want to win, you need to score. This season we have a lot of strikers, but we need to defend if we want to get the victory. We'll work all together to make the best for the team.

- One of the best "signings" is the return of Juan Carlos Valerón. I guess this will make you happy, particularly for the more veteran players.

- Yes.. if Valeron is fully recovered, the whole team will be very improved. I'm very happy about having him in fit this season.

- I guess that you will go step by step in order to play the three tournaments.

- Yes, we want to focus in every tournament, step by step. The first target is winning next Saturday in order to enter the UEFA tournament. Later, we'll start the league against Real Madrid.. and if we keep a positive tendency we could fight for other targets.

- What do you think about Saturday's match on Intertoto cup?

- We won 1-2 in the first leg, and that was perfect for facing up to the next match. I believe that we have a great team for winning at home too.

- The chance of returning to an european championship must be a great satisfaction.

- Yes, the immediate objetive is qualifying for the UEFA Cup, and it will be very good for us if we achieve this.

- Your contract ends next season. Would you like to renew your contract?

- Yes, of course. I'm very happy in Deportivo. I believe that i've performed my best seasons in this club and i want to stay here forever.

- Lotina have the confidence in you, and that's a warranty.

- Yes, he's very confident about me, and that's very important for a player. I'm very happy because he gives me the chance to play in La Liga with Deportivo.

[Jimmy]

It appears he is OK as he is included in the Depor squad that travels to Venezuela on Monday for a pre season tourney. This is from the Depor homepage(http://www.canaldeportivo.com). They are schedules to play three matches there. Below is the list of the players going.

Lista de convocados para la gira del Deportivo en Venezuela

Lunes 28/07/2008 00:27, canaldeportivo, A Coruña

La lista de convocados del Real Club Deportivo para viajar este lunes a una gira de amistosos a Venezuela está formada por estos jugadores: Fabricio, Aranzubía y Manu (porteros); Manuel Pablo, Adrián López, Filipe, Lopo, Ze Castro, Rochela, Laure, Juanan (defensas); De Guzman, Sergio, Verdú, Antonio Tomás, Guardado, Cristian, Valerón, Juan Rodríguez, Pablo Álvarez (centrocampistas); Riki, Bodipo, Lafita, Xisco, Mista y Omar Bravo (delanteros). El jugador Fabricio Coloccini se queda en La Coruña ya que su futuro se decidirá en los próximos días.