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Mintal officially turns down Union; Mondragón's salsa dance moves

Faryd Mondragón and Carlos Valdés were guests on Univision's signature sports show, República Deportiva, this past Sunday.

I just got confirmation from a source in Germany that FC Nurnberg striker Marek Mintal officially has turned down the Union's contract offer. I was told that Mintal has informed Union manager Peter Nowak of his decision. Not many details are known yet as to why Mintal decided to stay with Nurnberg, but I will post what i know when I hear it.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

(Warning, in case you haven't noticed yet: There wasn't any way to stop the clips from playing automatically. Sorry.)

As you know, I wrote last week about how signing Faryd Mondragrón and Carlos Valdés would have an impact in the Hispanic community. Well, it didn't take long for us to get an idea of just what kind of impact there would be.

Mondragón and Valdés were guests on Univision's signature sports show, República Deportiva, yesterday morning. I don't speak much Spanish, but I've watched the show for a few years now because it's a pretty big deal.

Since its debut in 1999, host Fernando Fiore - "el Presidente de la República" - has welcomed many of the top Spanish-speaking stars in America and around the world for interviews and features. The show also shows extensive highlight clips from the big soccer leagues in Europe and around the world, which is helpful if you don't have a fancy cable package.

Here's Mondragón and Valdés being interviewed by Fernando Fiore, "El Presidente de la República," as well as co-hosts Rosana Franco and Felix Fernandez:

And here's a clip that I know will get your attention: Mondragón salsa-dancing with the famous "Senadoras de la República." All three of them are Colombian, which added to the, shall we say, dynamics of the conversation.

Fiore, who also serves as the studio host for Univision's World Cup broadcasts, posts on Twitter in Spanish (and sometimes English) here. República Deportiva's account is also bilingual, and can be found here.