Gonzalo, Rejected France call

For my money you should give this kid a shot. If Crespo is correct and he is the heir to the number 9 then Argentina is really set for the next ten years. You would have Him as the number 9 striker paired with Aguero. You put Messi back to attacking midfield and play these guys together every chance you get so that by the time 2010 rolls around we have an attacking force that has chemistry and understands each other. Now we would be set with some very talented players for at least the next two world cups and possibly the next three. Wow this would be awsome! I hope the kid turns out to be that good because this is the classic type striker that we have all been hoping for. I would love to see him play against France iin the friendly next year. That would be so funny to see. Dale Argentina!!

I am assuming that this article is wrong. I sure hope so.

River Plate sensation Higuain wants Chelsea move
tribalfooball.com – November 10, 2006

River Plate sensation Gonzalo Higuain wants to join Chelsea and will pledge his international future to France over Argentina to make the deal happen.
The Mirror says Higuain has opted to play for France – and bring his move to Stamford Bridge closer.

The Argentina-based striker, 18, was named by Les Bleus for the first time yesterday and should make his debut in a friendly next week.

The decision to play for France makes it easier for Higuain – keen on an ?8million move to Jose Mourinho’s side in January – to do well for club and country.

I cant believe that Gago said this. I dont think gago knows how to negociate a contract unless he alerady has a done deal with real which his comments would seem to indicate.

Gago: I prefer Real Madrid over Barcelona
tribalfooball.com – November 10, 2006

Boca Juniors midfielder Fernando Gago has told Barcelona to forget about trying to sign him.
Gago has his heart set on a move to Real Madrid and said: “I always said that since seeing Fernando Redondo go there, my dream has been to play for a team like Real Madrid, one of the greatest in Europe.

“I always said this clearly: between choosing to play in Madrid or Barcelona I always prefer Real Madrid. I identify more with them because from very young I watched Real games on television and it is a dream that I must fulfill.”

From CNN:

LYON, France — Teenager Gonzalo Higuain, the French-born son of Argentine parents, has told France he will not play for them in a friendly against Greece next week.

Coach Raymond Domenech surprisingly included the 18-year-old River Plate striker in his squad on Thursday.

On Friday, however, the French Football Federation (FFF) received a fax from the player’s father saying his son did not wish to play for France at the moment.

“Given his situation, I would have understood and respected Gonzalo Higuain’s choice if he had decided to play for Argentina,” Domenech told the FFF website.

“I am a bit surprised by the fact that he has made no decision (on whether he wished to play for France or Argentina).

“Every French player has to accept an invitation to play for France, no matter which club he plays for or what background he has,” Domenech added.

Higuain is a French national but does not speak French. Domenech has seen him play only on tapes and has not spoken to him yet.

A highly promising player, Higuain is already being compared with another French forward with an Argentine father, David Trezeguet, who was not on the 24-man list released by Domenech for next Wednesday’s match at the Stade de France.

Higuain’s father Jorge played professional football in France for Brest where Gonzalo, who will turn 19 next month, was born in 1987. He was only 10 months old when he moved to Argentina with his family and has lived there ever since.

A striker with playmaking skills, the teenager has played 30 matches for River Plate, scoring 13 goals including six in the current Apertura championship.

Domenech said the fact that Wednesday’s match was a friendly meant Higuain would have still been able to play for Argentina in the future had he answered the call-up.

“I wanted to use this friendly against Greece, which would have had no impact on his international future, to talk about his situation,” Domenech said.

If in the end this does prove to be a final decision … no backtracking or other excuses proffered ,then its fantastic news.

Higuain still has a lot to prove He is completely untested at international level( a role in the u20s would be useful) & at the top European table.

He has great ability & potential but its not enough to classify him as a future ‘great’. Hes still maturing physically & mentally & learning nuances in his game & that of his team mates.

Besides he isn’t a true out & out striker that will play up by himself ,much like Aguero really isn’t a true out & out striker & the same for Tevez.More of a shadow striker.

But the more options one has available & more competition for places then it can only be beneficial to the NT.

I personally would like FC to move himself in January as rumoured to the likes of Roma as did a certain Batitstuta & show everyone his true worth.

Then we still have Palacio (hopefully he will not be wasted at Barcelona by sitting on the subs bench or reserves as have Saviola(undeservedly) & Maxi Lopez(hasn’t cut the mustard), Milito.D who thoroughly merits a callup .

Lopez who Messay mentioned has done very well,full of confidence so far( but we will see how he pans out over the whole season ).

And even the likes of Nicolas Frutos when he comes back to full fitness shouldn’t be ignored.

Pavones performances in the Primera again highlight yet another potential future striker if he maintains his development & an outside bet for the Copa if we are intent on focusing for the creation of a WC2010 squad.

The champagne is still on ice until he dons the glorious blue & white jersey at whatever level it turns out to be. Personally a summer with the u20s & the likes of Aguero would be best for him.

And Neri Cardozo is another to look out for though he falls in the category of shadow striker.

Once Palacio leaves he will get his chance to shine.

Aurelius, Neri Cardozo is a midfielder who likes to start on the left side and make a diagonal towards the box. If nobody adjusts to defend, he’ll keep going on to shoot on goal, but he’s not a real forward.
Remember Rivelinho? What a player…

Todd Utah, how are you???

I feel your doubt, but this tribal football thing posts every rumor out there. unless you see quots dont take that seriously. Besides, the article says he will play for France next week, but Gonzalo himself has said that he doesnt want to play for france. So that contradicts itself. besides i dont understand why anyone would go to chelsea at this point. I mean look at sheva???

If I was gonzalo i wouldnt go anywhere till next summer. I would stay at river till the end of the year, because this kid is still untested as my boy Aurelius has said.

Hallo one & all. Albo he is one of those we seem to have a plethora of at present & all of a similar physical stature.

Not really true box strikers & not what one could categorise as an out & out midfielder but those who play in between.

Hes fantastic on the run is Neri.

You could place him on the left & Messi on the right & watch them cut in or up the flank. Neri scored his thunderbolt v San Lorenzo in such style if I remember rightly.Still has a lot to prove.

You are right Albo. He wouldn’t replace Palacio at all position for position my mistake.

Boca are chasing some guy from Chile obviously in preperation for his departure.

Todd. The Mirror is a redtop tabloid. Its about as trustworthy as our Prime Minister & indeed policians of any political persuasion for that matter.

Some writer has heard of Higuain & the saga of his tug of ‘love’ between Argentina & France. Obviously a promising kid .Throw in Chelsea who are attached to any promising kid inc.Anderson the young Brazilian wunderkind & you have a flashy story.

As for Gago his heart has been set on Real.His hero is Redondo & he wants to follow in his footsteps (not advisable at this time considering Capellos rather pragmatic style of play & short term fixes).

Albo will you be watching the Pumas tomorrow ? I doubt very much it will be broadcast in the US as the Eagles hardly get any coverage.

I do hope the Pumas win. Just to stick the proverbial two fingers to the IRB & in particular the New Zealand RU & for those wonderful gentlemen of the game namely Dr.Felipe Contepomi, Agustin Pichot & young stars Gonzalo Tiesi & Juan Ignacio Lobbe.

Chau for now Fair ,Alexa, Todd Albo etc etc.And thank you Messay for creating another blog entry.

Aurelius, I’m impressed at how much rugby you know, and I thought you might enjoy this story, but I first have to apologize to our gang for posting about rugby on a football board. I promise after this one I’m back to football for ever more. Gracias
Aurelius, I was born and raised in San Isidro, Buenos Aires, argentine mecca of rugby. I was a tennis player but most of my school friends played rugby for C.A.S.I. or S.I.C. (the 2 ruling clubs at the time) and later on some of them went on to become Pumas.
In those times rugby was a totally amateur sport, the “real thing”.
Hugo Porta and I were not directly friends but we did have a very close common friend of ours.
This school buddy of mine was playing for “Banco Nación”, the only team Hugo ever played for (besides Pumas). I saw Hugo a number of times, and I’ll never forget that I was there in a room with some friends the afternoon he came and showed us the Pumas jersey he had just been given by UAR.
Little did we know at that moment he was going to go on to become the best rugby player our country ever had and ever will.
I personally don’t know much rugby, but watching Hugo made it easy to understand the game. It’s good to know he’s still helping develop the sport in our country.
Saludos.

Dear Albo.Dont apologise .Its a fantastic anecdote & one which makes me more than envious. The closest I’ve been to a rugby player outside of a stadium is my old school chum Josh Lewsey who may be playing today at full back.

San Isidro more than CASI is well known here as a talent factory & a fantastic sevens team too (inc. both the Pichot brothers & latterly the likes of Lucas Borges).

Regarding Hugo Porta.He is a legend & one of the top Puma greats. But I would rate Pichot with him as the greatest scrum half playing today.

These guys play for the love of Argentina. They came here in economy class have been together for just 4 days & will still play magnificently. A win would really create more pressure for inclusion in a top tournament. Even the IRB President asked for them to be inc.in the Tri-Nations but NZ are still making excuses for refusing them entry.Disgraceful.

If I can draw a parallel to football.The UAR is as badly run as the AFA perhaps even more so. None of the members wnat the game to go professional or push for inclusion in a tournament abroad. They are happy with the situation as it is.

I hope Porta who is a wonderful gentleman & when Pichot retires shake up things & make the steps necessary. Argentina is poised on the threshold of becoming a giant in rugby union but the structures are still not in place to make that final transition.

Of course football is the passion of the people,in their blood but more & more children are taking up the game & crowds for recent tests at Velezs stadium have filled out the ground.

Argentina has a rich heritage in sport.The womens field hockey team are superb.Of course the polo teams & the tennis players (mainly the clay courters & men ),the basketball team & even now a sport that nearly died is being revived in the form of cricket not to mention winter sports at Ishuaia.

Okay.Thats it for rugby but I will mention scores as the Pumas are touring here for the next month & of course assuming this blog is running next September the Rigby World Cup.

Dear Messay,

You seem to have forgotten Julio Cruz in your list. The man has been sizzling for Inter, and seems to be finding the net in almost every game…he and Crespo have completely sidelined Adriano! Even though Cruz in 32 years old, Basile would be wrong not to consider him given his current form. Best wishes.

Hallo Nick.Nic to see you pop up again.

Adriano has been sidelined for more than on the pitch reasons. His off the pitch party antics & lack of conditioning have led him to being granted ‘home’ leave & if this keeps up a move in January back to Brazil.

Inter are already scouting out a replacement(indeed it may be FC who no doubt Crespo will have given a glowing report of).

As for Cruz hes been much maligned but despite always getting relatively limited playing time as an impact bench player his scoring record is superb(indeed at all the clubs he has played at namley Bologna & Feyenoord).

If we are more concerned with retaking the Copa then he should be in as a reserve behind Crespo (if he chooses to play this time).

PS Just one for Albo. Todeschini will be the toast of the nation tonight. He has just helped Argentina to a truly historic first ever win at the home of rugby by 25-18. Fantastic fantastic effort .

Nick, I agree about Julio Cruz. He’s lethal.
Our 3 best guns at the moment are Cruz, Saviola and Palacio, all of them with over a half a goal per game.

Nick, you are very right my friend. I did forget to write his name, but i didnt forget him at all. I was just looking at players that should be there for the 2010 WC. This is not say Cruz wont be there, I just couldnt see a place for him in the NT in the long run just because of his age, and the fact that Basile will be doing alot of experminting and I just dont think he will call up cruz. If he does I am all for it. I have great respect for Cruz and believe he could be productive for the NT as he is for Inter.

Cruz, Crespo, Maxi Lopez, Cavenaghi, Higuain…all of sudden I feel that “center forward” position is very very fine. Basile should call at least two of these listed above for each game.

Anyone else watch the Atletico vs villareal match today?? it was a pretty intense game from what i saw. Riquelme set up a nice a goal for villa, but they lost. btw, Aguero is pretty good for someone his age…today was the first time i’ve really watched him and i think he’s going to be amazing in a few years! In a couple of years Arg is going to be unstoppable w/ the up and coming talent we have.

I also heard that gudjohnsen is back from injury for Barca, so i wonder if he’ll be replacing Saviola again…unfortunately he prob will. I’m looking forward to the barca v zaragoza clash tommorow, lol, messi, aimar, possibly savi in the same game should be fun!

btw, i’m glad higuain made the right decision to play for Arg, but i’m curious to see what all the fuss is all about, i have yet to see him in action. In the end, the history and passion behind a great footballing nation like Arg is too great to pass up, it’s like someone passing up the chance to play for Brazil, lol, unthinkable…i dont care how good France are, they are no Argentina and i’m sure it’s every young kid’s dream to play for Argentina (heck i’m not even from Arg and it’s my dream, lol, maybe in another life!!)

I saw the game. Even though Riquelme assisted for one goal and almost assisted for two more, I think he had a bad day because he wasnt attacking enough and he lost possession about four times. Aguero was good and his finish was excellent. He created lot of chances for others too. I got the feeling he was trying to be conservative early on but he got bolder as the game went on. He will get better if he sees more game time.

I learned today that Gonzalo Higuain was a bit lost concerning his nationality because of his father. The father wants his son to play for France because he would have a French passport and play in Europe easily (can’t he keep it and play for Argentina?).

Well, in France, an interview with his father proved clearly that the father was responsible of all this mess. For the moment, Gonzalo wants to listen to his heart and play for our team.

Inter to spend 90 million Euro plus Adriano for MESSI???????

http://www.goal.com/en-US/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=166680

This is just crazy, if it is true. I wouldnt want Messi going anywhere, he should stay at barca for at least 2010

Messi left the pitch because of injury, some said he will be out for two months. This just hurt me so much, I hope he doesn’t rush to return so it doesn’t get worse. You all remember last season when he returned too early after 10 days and then his injury got worse and he was out for more than 2 months.

Saviola came on as a sub and scored and again proved himself.

Is the Barca-Zaragoza game on TV/internet? I tried http://www.live-footy.org/ but it doesnt seem to be working. If it is for anyone, which stream (1 to 4) is working?

The barca-Zaragoza game never worked for me. GolTV will show it on Tuesday. Sounds like it was amazing, a return of razzle dazzle from Ronaldinho, please a million yellows and reds. Plus Messi playing on the same field as his soccer-crush Aimar.

Messi will probably be out for 2 months. It’s too bad, and a real loss for Barcelona. I hope Messi takes it easy. It isn’t a wC year. He needs time to recover. I hate the thought of him with repeated injuries.

Hi Alexa, where did you hear that Messi got injured?

http://www.eurosport.com/football/la-liga/2006-2007/sport_sto1007222.shtml

Barca won but lost Messi. I hope it is not a fracture. Saviola scored too.

Saviola scored again.
Cruz scored again too.
Palacio scored last wednesday.
Our best “mosqueteros” these days.
And Agüero would be our D’Artagnan I guess…

Maradona, I tried live-footy, but none of them worked for me either.

Yeah, i heard that Messi was injured too and is out for 2 mo’s, i heard it was a fracture and he needs surgery. I feel terrible for him and i hope everything goes well with his recovery. He’s so young to be having to deal w/ so many injuries at his age, i hope he recovers from this quickly.

What a crazy game (i hate streams, crap i could barely see anything!), the ref went crazy with the red cards over nothing, both teams had a player sent off for minor fouls. I’m so glad Savi finally scored a goal, the guy deserves it. Did u guys hear the support he got from the fans in the stadium when he was subbed in? It was great, he’s obviously loved by the Barca fans even if Rikaard has some issues w/ him.

maradona, i know riquelme started off well in the match, but after the goal he did seem to disappear, still it was the first time in a while that i’ve seen him play, so it was good to see him again. I think the pressure ac madrid were putting on was just too great for villa…and aguero is really something, he’s a fighter and does’nt hold back, i love that, i’m so glad he’s argentinian!

Hi maradona! Since I couldn’t get the stream, I was tracking the game on marca.es. Messi has a bone broken in his foot.

He must be despondent. He seems to take injuries really hard.

The feature article of this month’s edition of World Soccer is about the new young superstars coming out of Argentina. Little interviews with Tevez, Macherano, and Messi.

Saviola scored again! Looks like Ronaldhino’s going to have to learn to play with el conejito, now that messi and eto’o are out for the duration.

guys, i tried live-footy too and it did’nt work for me either. I ended up trying rojadirecta.com instead and it did the job…although, the streams i was getting were pretty crappy this time, usually they’re better. You might want to give it a try next time too, they’re usually pretty reliable. oh, but the site is in spanish, so its bit confusing sometimes, but its not too hard to figure out.

Alexa, is the world soccer article available online? I’d love to read the interviews too.

Nice to hear from you again, Oilerfan. Here is the url for World Soccer >> http://www.worldsoccer.com/

I read the article in the bookstore, so i’m not sure if they have the article up yet (you can see the pic on the right side of the page)

Thanks for that hint on rojadirecta. The other streams i’ve been using have been shite.

Now they are saying that Messi might be out for 3 months instead of 2. Nothing in sure until the doc’s visit tomorrow, though.

It nice to see you’re still posting here too Alexa Since uni started, i’ve been forced into the lurker mode, lol, still enjoy reading everyones comments, but not enough time to respond usually.

thanks for the link, i’m def going to check it out.

yeah, i’m hoping the messi news isn’t as bad as it sounds too, barca’s sure having alot of bad luck this season w/ injuries. The only good thing, is that rikaard might finally be forced to give saviola more of a chance on the team now.

oilerfan – i’ve been forced iinto lurker mode as well, since starting my new job. But i check the board out practically everyday,. No other board comes close to this one in posts (and in quality of posts)

Wonderful to hear from Olerfan, Batigol, alfio, maradona, aurelius, messay. So many good posts.

Messi and Eto’o. Two of the best players in the game today. A big blow to Barcelona. They might be in danger of bowing out of the champions league altogether.

This is the article on messi, no new news, but in case anyone wanted to read it….

El argentino Leo Messi estará unos tres meses de baja tras confirmarse que sufre una fractura del quinto metatarsiano del pie izquierdo, después abandonar el campo durante la primera mitad del partido que enfrenta a su equipo, el Barcelona, y al Zaragoza en el Camp Nou. El joven delantero deberá pasar por el quirófano en las próximas horas.

Messi se ha sometido esta noche a pruebas médicas para confirmar ese primer diagnóstico de la lesión que se produjo en el minuto 23 del encuentro tras pisar al zaragocista Albert Celades en una acción fortuita.

Zaragoza didn’t derserve to lose. Although Ronaldinho scored 2 goals, he played really badly, losing lots of possession.

Aimar has such a class. So many fouls on him. Amazing. I understand now why he’s always injured.

Uruguayean, ex River, Diogo was a monster in attack.

G. Milito made many mistakes and had a red card, maybe because Zaragoza’s defenders are not good. He must do all the job. Anyway, the guy mustn’t be in out NT though.

Saviola brang the victory to Barca. He was fouled before Ronnie’s free kick and put fire in Zaragoza’s defence. Excellent. You are a fool Ridjkaard.

The problem for Zaragoza yesterday, was the fact that it was difficult to catch the ball. Barca are really hard to play. It was a great game. 2 great attacking teams. Vamos Zaragoza & Aimar!

Barca want Larsson back or Luque.

Video of Messi’s injury …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7pma6_t4sM

Hey guys!

I feel sad to hear the news about Messi, why is it this guy is always getting injured!!! It pisses me off! Players are so dirty these days… I was looking at the video and the other play deliberately stuck out his leg… Just terrible…

Saviola will be back on the bench as soon as Gudjonsen comes back… Sad because he is playing well…

Barca doesn’t need Luque or Larsson…they got Saviola… isn’t he good for Rikjard?? That guy is really starting to piss me off… Just because Saviola isn’t big physically….. the guy is a genius!

Anyways yes this is the best post… it is because the world knows who the best soccer players in the world are… especially the NON-ELITE…. People from the middle east and asia really respect us… The Italians, Germans, English, Brazilians, French, Dutch, etc, think that there game and there players are the best….

Somebody put a hex on Barcelona:

From ESPN deportes…El delantero del Barcelona Javier Saviola estará entre cuatro y seis semanas de baja a causa de una rotura muscular en su pierna izquierda

Saviola will be out for 4-6 weeks because of a torn ligament? in his left leg.

If I were rikyaard, I’d have Ronaldinho taken to and from practice and games in a wheelchair

The dark side of argies.
I’m an argentinean, so I’ll say it before someone else does it and then I feel even more ashamed.
Violence in the stadiums is becoming a common fact in Argentina, and the way I see it, for the very worst reasons.
My country, the source of so much football talent, that comes around so natural and makes so many people happy around the world, is up for a big overhaul of it’s moral values.
You see, we are like magicians. We create tricks. Tricks with the ball (that’s good), and tricks without the ball (not so good).
The greatest moves in football: “el tunel”, “la dormida”, “la tijera”, “la chilena”, “la rabona”, “el gol olímpico”, el sombrerito, la bicicleta, and it goes on for ever, all of them were invented by argentinean players (or at least we’re convinced of that, which is what matters).
But the “other” tricks our ours too.
The dive, the acting, the whining, the insulting, spitting, grabbing, elbowing, goals made with our hand, running the clock while winning by using trained ball-boys. Hitting hard while loosing, complaining and even getting a red card to provoke a change in the game.
There’s even a pride to it, if a player doesn’t do those things when needed, he’ll end up blamed by his own fans and labeled a “pecho frío” (”cold chest” = traitor).
Intelligence in my country is about finding a new trick to get away with something.
And that takes us to a brand new form of it.
The violent group of 40 to 50 fans called “Barras Bravas” of the loosing team starts a brawl early in the second half. The police intervenes, the Barras throw stones at the police (how do they get them into the stadiums???) Police shoot rubber bullets. Chaos grows, and the match is suspended by the referee. That simple. That way the teams have to play the remains of the game some other day, and their team might even be able to turn the game over in their favor.
Some of you might think I suffer from paranoia, but all this is true. It’s happening every weekend!!!
Too many argies simply refuse to lose in a normal fashion. Losing like that is simply not an option.
The terrible thing is that most young kids in Argentina, believe that being like that is cool. The “smart move” approach gives an edge. I know it’s disturbing, but for all of you who love the inspired football of my countrymen, I owe it to myself to show you the other side as well. The dark side that comes with our territory. Sorry about that. Saludos.

Its a hex alright. Messi, Saviola, Eto’o, Xavi, Iniesta, Edmilson are out. Barca’s Champions League campaign is looking very bleak right now.

Albo, that dark side has always hurt me, especially violence in staduims.

The thing is what could be done to stop all this??

Put a bunch of drunk young men (especially the ones with no real future prospects) together, and you’ll end up with violence 9 times out of ten. I guess the question is – as it always is – how do the good people react to this?

Football is such a universal love. There are so many really smart people who love the game, find the poetry in it. And it also appeals to the masses. What’s going on in Arg. is troubling because it seems organized, and the people commiting crimes seem to be getting away with a lot. So the question would be – what are the authorities doing about this?

Iniesta’s out too? Good lord.

Damn it, that’s so disappointing about Savi, I was hoping he’d finally get his chance to shine for Barca, but i suppose its not meant to be! If anything happens to Ronaldinho, i think Barca’s chances this season are done.

maxilopez, u’re right about zaragoza, they played really well yest and the final result was too harsh on them…it was nice to see aimar again though.

albo, its sad to hear about the violence in stadiums…sadly i dont think there’s anything that can be done about it. Its not just in Arg football either, but seen across many footballing nations…i mean look at England its “hooligan” fans…there is always a section of every population that resorts to violence to fill some void.

btw, Alexa, good luck w/ your new job ita, i’m the same way, I have to come on this board at least once a day to check the news and read the posts, its part of my daily routine now, lol.

It is too bad about the violence in Arg. games. I’ve become a real fan of the domestic league in Arg after watching the games on fox sports. The atmosphere is just electric, especially for those boca and river games. It’s so exciting and melodramatic, and the players (at least on that high level) are just madmen of passion. I don;t know how they deal with all the dark stuff going on behind the scenes.

Right after the WC I got in a forum war with some guy in bigsoccer about the arg. team. He thought that the players were just so unprofessional after coming to blows with the german players at the end of the game. He said that it was part of a trend with arg. teams, being petulant and striking out when things don;t go there way. I told him he was ridiculous, but I’d like to get you guy’s opinion. Why is it that there always seem to be fights after these games? What do you think, Albo?

And can anyone give me the cultural definition of “pecho frio”, what exactly does this mean? Why did they always call Riquelme a pecho frio?

A little off topic, but do Arg really take credit for a move called the “chileno”??!!

This may happen –

RUmor has it that both Higuain and Gago might be bought by Real Madrid.

What do people think of this? Good or bad for these very young players?

Alexa, it’s sad but I have to agree with the guy you mentioned. Unfortunately what you saw after the match with Germany is more than just an isolated incident. It has happened way too often to argentine players. I guess we’re just sore losers. I don’t know. As I explained above, not everyone is like that, we have our good share of players who are considered gentlemen everywhere they go.
But stats don’t lie. There’s been too many cases to ignore it. There is definitely a trend.

“pecho frío”, originally would mean someone dull, a player without any passion or pride. Someone who tends to give up.
But now they use it for any player they dislike, so the expression has lost its power.

Poor Alexa, I guess I don’t make it any easy for you to stay an albiceleste fan, uh?
Of course there a lot of positive things in Argentina but we have to keep making people aware of the negative ones too, so that something gets done about them.
Especially when it’s about violence and unsportsmanship-like behaviour.
Kids should look at the life of some of our great sportsmen like Fangio, De Vicenso, Heguy, Porta, Batistuta and the likes, and learn what being the best and still having class is all about.
That’s right, Maradona, our number one idol, funnily enough, will never make it to that list. That in itself tells the whole story, doesn’t it? Saludos

saviola and aguero scored in there games

anyways i seen an article that said gonzolo wanted to wait for argentina

http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=501293

correct me if im wrong tho

Flamengo eye Hammers duo

Flamengo are the latest club to reportedly be showing an interest in West Ham’’s Argentine pair Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.
The Brazilian club’s vice-president Kleber Leite is reportedly set to fly to London to discuss the possibility of signing the duo.

Speculation suggests that Leite will meet with prospective Hammers owner Kia Joorabchian to discuss the future of on-loan goalkeeper Bruno. However, Tevez and Mascherano could also be mentioned in talks.
“My first intention in London will be (to discuss) Bruno’s contract,” he said.

“However, if you are asking me if I will ask about the two of them (Tevez and Mascherano), we will ask about them.
“It would be illogical if we meet Kia and didn’t try to find out about their situation.”

Oh Albo, I’ll always be a fan of beautiful, skillful football. Sometimes the game is just enthralling, and so many arg. can play to that level. Thats why I love Riquelme so much. When he’s at peak, he just doesn’t have a peer. And that’s also why I don’t understand why people from his own country can criticize him so much. From all accounts he seems like a good guy off the field, he doesn’t get in trouble, and still so many people in Arg. seem to personally dislike him.

This whole thing we are discussing all comes down to an issue with cultural identity. Even in my culture, in Ecuador, it sometimes seems more lauded to be “vivo” rather than to be “intelegente”. People who don’t cheat the system are sometimes seen as stupid, rather than ethical. It seems like something along the same lines happens in Arg. as well.

I love Arg. football, and I’m proud of it, as a South American. And posters like you and the other Arg on this board show the great side of the country. Saludos.

This is an article about the vioelnce going on in Arg football.

It’s long and it is in Spanish. i don’t really understand the occurences, but they seem really widespread.

Anyway- here it is:
http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=501273

Bad news:

1. Higuian said that his decision wasn’t a final decision.

2. One of the medical staff members of Barcelona said that Messi had had this injury for a year, but it wasn’t very serious, and he said that they tried to keep it healthy with extra care for that area in his foot. However, he said it wasn’t a surprise that Messi finally got injured in that part of foot.

Thanks to all of you for posting great posts. Alexa, your posts are great, keep it up.

Ridjkaard deserves what’s happening now: Ronnie, Etoo, Deco and some other players from Barca played 1 game each 3 days last year. Maxi Lopez sat on the bench and never played. Remember when Messi came back too earlier, he could have not been at the WC because of him. It will soon be Ronnie’s turn. It wouldn’t be that important, because he’s so tired now. He should rest 4 months in order to recover.

Mascherano and Tevez will never leave: they are in Kia’s prison, West Ham, forever. And if not, at Chelsea, CSKA, Benfica or Corinthians.

Alexa, to me, Gago and Higuain to Real would be bad for them, especially with Capello. But going to West Ham or Chelsea would be worst.

Argentine players are not cheaters in Europe. I don’t see matches in America, and i would love to, but i’m not sure. Albo, i agree with your post, but remember that cheaters are everywhere. Passion is certainly in Argentina though.

Alexa, i believe that the “problem” in Argentina comes from the fact that a playmaker has only one chance: Riquelme had it. They want Aimar who deserve it. Maybe that’s why they also hate Veron, who had 2 WC shots.

Thanks for those comments, Maxiplopez. Cheaters certainly exist everywhere, and I really hate it when English fans and media whine about “latin” cheaters in the game, you know, the guys who dive and make up fouls, etc. That IS a problem in the game, but in my mid a worse problem is the dirty play that risks the health of players like Messi and Aimar, those guys that are just so skilled that they can’t really be stopped any other way than by fouling them. And I’m convinced that Mourinho uses this sort of play as a directive to his team, but that’s just an aside.

I think that the “you have just one chance” mentality is what has kept Arg. back. It would be unthinkable to unload Ronaldinho from Brazil, for example, and he was absolutely invisible in the world cup. Likewise, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Roberto Calros, all those guys came back after the 1998 fracaso and went on to win 2002. Why does it have to be different in Arg? Why do they get just one chance?

Veron is a different case, but there is no denying his talent.

The article Alexa linked above, as well as articles in all the papers of the country, talk about something pretty bad that happened 2 weeks ago in Argentina.
Boca Jrs. and Estudiantes de la Plata are (in that order) at the top posicions, with a 2 or 3 games left in the season.
Boca had to play Gimnasia La Plata (Estudiantes’ arch-rival from the city of La Plata).
Actually they had to play just the last 45 minutes because another problem with violence had happened before that had led to suspend that match.

The Barras Bravas from Gimnasia threatened their own players (!) swearing that if they won the game they would get shot in their legs. Yes, just like that.
Their own players. Why? Because they wanted Boca to win so that Estudiantes can’t be the champion. :-/

But it doesn’t end there. Rumor has it that it was Gimnasia’s president himself who hired the Barras Bravas to scare his own players. Is it amazing or am I totally out of my mind???

Boca scored 4 goals in 45 minutes…
And to top this week of shame in our football:Gimnasia’s players who had been very vocal about these events with the press a week ago; now, when called up to report the facts to a prosecutor, they all said nothing ever happened.

Now you all know. Shame on us

That’s just insane and really scary for the players.

Gago and Higuain are headed to Real —–

Real Madrid have won the race for Argentine-based starlets Fernando Gago and Gonzalo Higuain, according to Spanish sources.

Between them Gago and Higuain have attracted the attention of just about every major club in Europe over the past 12 months.

But the lure of the magical Bernabeu looks set to win the day for Real, whose status around the world continues to bear fruit on the transfer front.

The main competition for the pair had emerged from England and Italy, with Milan looking at both players and Chelsea wanting Higuain.

However, the news that Real look to have won the race has emerged after Milan director of football Ariedo Braida returned home from Argentina at the weekend.

Braida was in South America looking to strike at least one deal, but he admitted that Madrid had already made their move.

“The players only want to go to Madrid,” he told AS.

Two great players, Gago and Higuaín, but I don’t think they’re ready to save Real Madrid from its tribulations yet.
I hope Aguilar brings them up slowly.
Gago is really the closest thing I’ve seen to Redondo.

Funny, our players are offered in pairs now.
A midfielder and a forward, almost sounds like a prescription.
Problem is you can either end up at Real Madrid playing for diamonds or at the end of West Ham’s bench, playing for a warm cup of tea…
The weird thing is that Gago/Higuaín may be as good, but not really better than Masche/Tevez.
Imagine the level of anxiety these kids suffer

I dont know if this is such a good thing for higuain and gago, i realize both kids are huge fans for real and its their dream to play for them, but i wonder if they realize who they will be competing w/ for a spot on the team. The likes of established players like robinho and RVN, they’ll hardly get any play time.

I actualy think Aguero made the the smartest move by going to a less prominent team like AC Madrid, where he knew he’d get a shot once in a while, but at Real, these kids are going to be competing w/ major egos for playing time. I wish them luck though since they are argentinian and I want to see them be successful. lol, i think i’m going to have to do the unthinkable and divide my loyalty to Barca now, ah well.

gago should replace the aging emerson and higuein the aging ronaldo

Yeah- for real. Now I’ll actually be interested in watching real madrid.

I think that Gago will def. have more playing time at first than Higuain, who is still a bit of a question mark. I’m not that impressed with the real midfield. But Gago is so young. I hope he adjusts well.

Gago si going to have to put on a couple pounds of muscle, the way most kids do when they get there. Ronaldinho had to do it, Messi and Robinho are doing it now.
And then he has to get used to playing with that extra weight.

ALEXA,
thanks for you great posts.
Messi’s injury should not surprise anyone because of the way he plays.

I believe that there is a lot to learn from Maestro like Zidane. How did he last for so long?

Well, he used his energy when it is only effective.

It appears that if you play with your heart all the time you are doomed…

Th bottom line is that if you do not use your head you are screwed…

I agree with that 100%… Messi is all heart, he gives it his all and that’s why he got injured. It was inevitable because of his style. He runs and dribbles so hard all the time, it was a matter of time before he would get injured.

I got a feeling that Gago will do great, but i’m not so sure about Higuain… I mean don’t get me wrong I like him and all, but I just have a gut feeling about this one. I am very happy about this move though because Gago is great, he will definitely playing for the seleccion maybe even in the COPA america alongside Mascherano and Cambiasso.. Wow what a team we got… And even for 2008 we are ready for S. Africa…

If Gago comes to Real Madrid, he won’t play because of their coach.

Capello will always start Diarra (a real monster, i didn’t see him much this year though) and Emerson (loyal to Fabio). Gago would replace Guti on the bench. Remember that Capello wants a defending and tactical team, and not really technique players who play “toché” football (he says it’s an old and inefficient way of playing).

Higuain would replace Ronaldo? Maybe. And he’ll do just like him. Watch the others playing in the Bernabeu stadium. I think that Capello has been confident in only one young player during his hole career: Maldini. And he wasn’t 18 year old…

By the way, Palacio could sign for Barca because of all their injured players. After Saviola, Riquelme, Maxi Lopez, it’s maybe Palacio’s turn…to be destroyed?

Palacio is a truly great player, but I see him having problems in Europe.

Capello would be stupid to not use Gago. Real seems to have such a disjointed midfield, and Gago is the type of player that can stitch up those broken seams if given the chance. Of course he needs that period of adjustment.

I agree with you, Julian, about Higuain. I really hope he is excellent and that he chooses Argentina (although this whole ‘who will i play for’ hemming and hawing is getting pretty annoying), but I feel right now that he is just hot property rather than a known quantity. He has a way to go to prove himself as the next best thing in Arg., and there are so many young brilliant players coming out of Arg. that he really has work cuot out for him.

But it is good that he is tall.

Well I am back from an out of town trip and the news is not so good for Messi. I trully had believed that this would be his year to shine. Based on the coaching at Barc I am no longer a fan of barc based on the arrogance of the coach. They will miss Messi greatly! Hopefully Messi will be back by February and rescue Barc from their stupid coach. I am sorry for being so negative but this and the tevez west ham situation having really lowered my excitement for this season. I will write another post in a few when I am out of the funk. Later out

Is everyone still glad we dont have to watch an Argentine friendly today? Personally I would love it if we had another so called waste of time friendly but that is just me.

I nominate todd utah for funniest funk posts ever.

Why do you hate Rikyaard? Just curious.

Hey guys, I didnt want to creat a new blog for this, but here are some latest news in the violence in Argentina.

Some extreem measures were taken by the AFA

Here´s a list of these measures:

1. From now on, there’ll be no more away fans attending games from First Division down to Primera D (fifth tier football).

2. No more tickets sold on the day.

3. Access will be only given to members and season-ticket holders.

What do you guys think????

Re Messi & Saviolas injuries. Sometimes a blessing in disguise. I dont wish to see Messi playing more than 30 games a season esp.at his age or indeed Saviola.Theres a balance to be kept here.

So a break could do wonders for him. Besides recovery from injury is quicker at that age. Its only when theres a leg break or cruciate ligament injury that I worry.

Tough on the rabbit though when at last he was showing the ‘coach’ to be the bumbling numpty he is.

For both can ruin a player completely .Either mentally because they are fearful of a recurrence & so only play half heartedly or due to continued physical impediment.So I hope Gonzalo does recover fully.

As for Palacio Barca have first refusal & he ought to do well considering he is blessed with pace something which European coaches place too great an emphasis on times.

As to Gago & Higuain.I dont like seeing them in the parade ring at Real esp.with a pragmatic coach like Capello in charge a smarter version of Hector Cuper remember him ?

One benefit would be Higuain could easily gain a Spanish passport(despite being of Basque extraction) & not count as a foreigner in tournaments under UEFA jurisdiction.

Real over the recent past have a history of buying big & leaving both home grown & foreign youngsters on the bench.

Interesting to see Real-Atletico next year if Gago were to get his chance against Belluschi in yet another classico.

Come January some agents will see sense & move their players to the right clubs in the sense that it will ultimately benefit the national team.

And hallo lurker Oilerfan. Disappointing not to see the Oilers give much of a chance to Alexei Mikhnov so far. Could be just what you need.

Dear Messay, as I understand, AFA took those extreme measures only until the end of the Apertura Tourney, which is a couple of weeks away.
That way they can deal with the issue more in depth later on, during the football break.

Albo, you may be right.

I am somewhat Glad that the AFA is taking a step in this major problem.

as you have said, this method might only be applied until 2007, i dont even think this will solve the problem.

next would probably be point deduction, i dont ever remember this method being used in Argentina(has there???)

The real solution is removing these currupt club members. They are the real disaster in footbal. Untill something is done to root out these sort of people we will never avoid the corruptness.

ok, let’s see. If I was Basile and I had to face France tomorrow (and provided everybody on earth was available and healthy,,,), I would try to win this match.
It’s something we need badly.
So, this would be my choice to go kick some serious butt out there:

Abbondancieri
Ibarra, Ayala, Milito, Sorín
Mascherano, Gago
Aimar
Saviola, Cruz, Palacio

Yes, 3 forwards!!! A total of 7 players with the ability to find the net.
Ibarra, Sorín, Gago, Aimar, Saviola, Cruz and Palacio. The last 2 with 0,6 goal/game ratio. Saviola with over 0.75!!!
Plus Ayala and Milito for set pieces.
What do you say?

oh yes Messay, point reduction is one of the things we’ll see again next year.
The problem is deeper than football though.
It’s a cultural tendency that may take a long time to change.

Albo I do not agree with your team, if everyone is available our best team should be look like following.
Abbondangieri
Zanetti, Ayala, Heinze
Mascherano, Gago/Cambiasso
Messi, Aimar, Tevez/Aguero
Saviola, Crespo/Cruz

Albo,

I believe Cruz is good but too old, he has no future in the NT. Milito is not too bad but i don’t think he deserve to be a starter. I like Heinze. He loves his country.

Do someone knows if Placente is injured again. He seemed good against Real isn’t it? Each time he plays for Celta Vigo, they win… I love this guy, i am maybe the only one.

I like Ibarra very much but he’s old too. Maybe for la Copa?

France are really a difficult team to manage: Vieira, Abidal, Thuram, Gallas, Henry, Anelka are very strong players. We must play like against Ivory Coast: make them run. I want to win this game. I hope our players too. I WANT TO SEE PABLITO if i go to the stade the France!!!

This would be my team.

Ustari

Ayala-Heinze-Placente

Gago-Mascherano-Sorin

Messi-Aimar

Aguero-Crespo

Remember that the white glove/collar are the ones who control all. Most Barra Brava are controlled by the very president of the club. You have to cut the head to solve the problem. Who sends money, tickets and airfare to los barra brava to travel when Copa Libertadores is on? Easy, the club members and directors. Not only must Argentina start there but also in the schools. I remember a time when all the people who went to these games wore suits and were educated. Unfortunately I don’t see that anymore. Argentina need to educate there people and improve the economy, until then expect to see a lot of this! If u ever drove the streets of Buenos Aires u’d know what I speak of. On the trains how many little kids with dirt on there face selling candy, used newspapers instead of being in school. A dam shame!!!!!!!!! In Clarin I read the other day translation:”(1st)Che, have u heard that United Nations named us 10th most corrupt nation in the world. (2nd) Really, well maybe we should send them a case of wine, some hookers and see what they can do to make us #1!!!

Thanks for the info Jason. You are providing a lot of insight about the Argentinian culture.

Like Albo said we need to expose all sides and this is def. one very bad one. There are so many beautiful things in Argentina unfortunately our leaders are so corrupt and that ways so heavily on our economy and our people. The rich get richer…I’m sure u know the saying, education is badly needed.
Back to soccer though! I think AFA’s reaction is a good start, but we need a figure atop AFA that will do whats best for the game and eliminate this white glove/collar persuation. Grondona is not our man!!!!!

I really appreciate and admire Albo and Jason for being so honest about their country. I can understand and appreciate the problems you guys face in Arg.

Keep the wisdom coming.

Maxi I love your starting 11! I think that line up would be very difficult to deal with for France. I would have Lucho, Zanetti, Tevez, and Cambiasso as my subs. I love Cruz but if we are going to have an old forward on the team I think we limit it to Crespo because I dont think either one will be around for 2010 on the NT.

Alexa the reason I dont like Rikkard is very simply that I dont think that he has been true to the team regarding Saviola. He has let his pride get in the way of playing saviola and to me a good coach places the team first.

Cruz scores every 72 mins in the champions league. Amazing!

mannn, it seems like everyone forgot about Tevez. I remember how many people cried when Tevez was put on the bench and saviola started.

this will be my starting 11

Pato

Coloccini, Ayala, Samuel, Heinze

Mascherano
Gago(belluschi) Aimar Aguero

Crespo(Tevez) Milit(Higuain)

My reason is, i think this would be our best defence, and masch could play more of a defensive role, as someone has said the french are really strong, so we would match them with our fiesty defenders,

Gago is offensive(like redondo) team him but good at defense as well, so he could shadow Aimar

Aimar would have a lot of room to creat havoc with Aguero next to him.

Aguer is a creative player, we could use him just like Real used Robinho against barca. Remember? they had rudd and raul upfront with robinho on the back left.
So aguero would be ideal in that spot.

Crespo would be lethal as always, and tevez mannnnn he needs some playing time or we are killing his career so he needs this game more than everybody.

Milito has to get a start here, he is our definit present striker.

Higuain, i would bring him in to rubb it on the Frenchs face. what do yall think???

Ohh my bench would be, Milito, zabaletta, cambiasso, saviola, cavenaghi, and so on

Primera | Atlético de Madrid
RODRIGO PALACIO ES EL SIGUIENTE GRAN OBJETIVO

Ha impresionado a los emisarios atléticos e irán a por él en verano

How about Palacio to Athletico Madrid! That would be awsome.

————–pato/ustari———-

—–ibbara—-ayala—–heinze

———mascherano/gago——–

—-maxi—messi—aimar—lucho

–saviola/aguero—-tevez/crespo

Fab,
thats the best line-up I’ve seen yet. Only question I would have is finding someone else instead of lucho…I think he is to weak. Love the double 5 and Messi & Aimar together. Ha, finally someone I can relate to.

I like Maxis line up better. We need to make sure and have enough defense. Then we can put in some offensive subs if we need too. We also we be less likely to be countered.

Hey you guys really think that Ibarra is that good huh? hmm… interesting…

My vote is for maxilopez’s lineup….

Ustari

Ayala-Heinze-Placente

Gago-Mascherano-Sorin

Messi-Aimar

Aguero-Crespo

I can’t wait to see Gago play for the NT

Alexa,
what about Tevez?

May I criticize some of your line-ups?
Of course, respectfully.
You can destroy mine too, deal?
Maxilopez, Placente and Sorín share the same position of left side lateral def.
Sorín has played as a midfielder several times but he’s not that great at it.
Also you’re playing Messi as an offensive midfielder but he can’t play well in that position. Messi needs more room to exploit his speed and ability.
And you’re playing Agüero before Saviola and Palacio?
Check the stats.

Fair, you’re placing Agüero as a midfielder but he’s a forward.

Jason, Fab is not placing a double 5, it’s either Mascherano or Gago unless he wants to play with 12 on the pitch.

Fab, you’re playing a line of 3 backs (Ibarra, Ayala and Heinze) and just one contention midfielder (Mascherano), but Ibarra is too small for 3 backs and Ayala is too old to cover so much ground for 90 minutes, Ibarra and Ayala are perfect for 4 backs and a double 5.
You also place Messi as a play-maker but he’s not one, at least yet. Messi has to learn to finish his own plays and he’ll be a superstar but he’s a forward not a midfielder.

Don’t throw with bricks. Saludos

“Ustari

Ayala-Heinze-Placente

Gago-Mascherano-Sorin

Messi-Aimar

Aguero-Crespo”

I love this line-up except that I would put Milito or Gonzalo instead of Placente. Plecente isn’t a NT material, he was bad in 2002 and that was his prime.

Oh I forgot, I would put Tevez instead of Aguero.

Here is my lineup:

USTARI

Coloccini-Ayala-Heinze-Sorin

Mascherano-Gago

Messi-Aimar

Crespo-Tevez

How’s that? I was also thinking of Burdisso as a sub for Coloccini.. Aguero as a sub for Tevez or Crespo too… NO CRUZ on the national team… Cambiasso as a sub for Mascherano or Gago…

Agreed with Jason & Albo .The way players are coerced by these thugs & forced to hand over part of their wages to them in order for their trips & other expenses to be subsidised needs to be eradicated.

But when you have people like Grondona in charge what can you do ?

I have always liked Placente. Neat comfortable accurate distributor from left back.Excellent at Leverkusen & solid for Celta.

———–Ustari————-
—-Samuel–Ayala—-Heinze—
————-Mascherano——-
——–Gago——————
———–Aimar————-
Messi——————Bilos–
——Palacio—-Crespo——-

Subs:
Aguero
Cavenaghi or Milito.D
Belluschi
Higuain
(just to keep him with us otherwise Tevez)
Ferrari
Cambiasso

Chau

A little off topic but relevant as we are fans of the ‘beautiful’ game.Ference Puskas has passed away.He had been suffering with dementure for some years & his love of pastry like most Hungarians had led him to burgeon in size.

The mighty Magyars revolutionised football in Europe much as the Grande Torino had done & the Machine of River had done in S.America.

He was a teamate of di Stefano when the Whites(albeit helped by the dictator Franco) were in a truly glorious heyday.

And had been fit for the 54 WC final against the cheating Germans(again) the outcome would have surely been different.

RIP.That too after the passing earlier this year of Il Magno Giacinto Fachetti a great player & gentleman on & off the pitch.

Then I would take lucho out and put Maxi on the left, since he can move on either wing. Good catch Albo. I love double number five it allows flexibility for both offense and defense.

The best team, against France, is the following:

Abondanzieri
Burdisso – Ayala Samuel-Heinze

Masch – Cambiasso

Messi – Aimar
Milito (aguero)
Crespo

Diego milito is very, very, very STRONG, moreover he’s used to play with Aimar

Aurelius, thanks for remembering the great Puskas.
For those of you who never heard of him, Ferenc Puskas (1927-2006) was possibly the deadliest striker football ever had.
Playing alongside Di Stéfano for Real Madrid, he won 6 spanish leagues and 3 European Cups.
Check his numbers:
83 goals in 84 matches with his NT (Hungary).
512 goals in 528 matches with Real Madrid.
hello…

Let me first point out that what a sad loss to the world of football is the passing of Ferenc Puskas, part of one of the greatest teams not to win the world Cup (Hungary). He was also ranked as the 4th greatest player in the history of football which is not bad going. My second point is will Basile use any of his local players in the friendly against France.

Messay, thanks for dropping by the France page and giving me your thoughts on our mutual friend, Higuain. I haven’t been ignoring you, just busy with Wednesday’s France-Greece game. I’m sure we’ll have more to talk about as the France-Argentina game gets closer.

What do you think about Domenech’s idea of Gonzalo playing one half for each team? I guess we’d see then where his loyalties really lie?

Laurie, hahaha

I tell you I was laughing hard when I read that article, but for a second I thought it was a great Idea. On the serious note, do you think that Domenech would call him again? mainly for the Argentina game? I honestly dont see Basile calling him, but then again it is Basile

>>will Basile use any of his local players in the friendly against France?>>

Brian, I’m pretty sure Basile will call up some local players for our next match.
The big question is which players are going to be “local” come January or June…
Arg. forwards must be running only second to the Sony Play-Station 3 in the list of hottest christmas gifts, these days. Saludos

I really have a hard time seeing Domenech calling him for at least a year. Domenech is a total alpha male, and I’m guessing he didn’t take this well and will want to teach the young pup a lesson in respect. (Unless he really, really wants him for the team? Our strikers are getting older, except for Cisse, and he breaks easy.):-)

I was really surprised to see the half-half comment — it seemed out of character for Domenech to offer anything like a compromise. I haven’t read the original article yet — just Bob’s commentary. Do you think he was serious?

Pekerman is to coach the USA team.

I surely miss this guy a lot, even though I didn’t like him ignoring some big stars, but still he is one of the smartest coaches.

Tevez and Masche will be back to Brazil, this time Flamengo. This sucks they should head to Italy or spain for their career’s sake.

We all see how Ortega was a great player but he fell down very early because he didn’t plan his career very well, hope this doesn’t happen to Tevez and Masche.

http://www.26noticias.com.ar/index.php?p=notadetalle&pp=deportes&idNota=26440

what the hell is going on here? someone?

Tevez showed his true class today against Chelsea, but his teammates sucked and didn’t help him a lot.

Anyone has tevez’s video of today? I missed him.

Riquelme,
Where have you been? I miss you me since you represent genuine goodness..

Since some of you were kind enough to comment on the France blog so I thought I would return the courtesy and post on yours.

I have been reading with some amusement the various lineups that some of you have proposed for the friendly with France coming soon. If that’s the best team Argentina can field I am even more anxious to see this game happen. Keep up your optimism it can’t hurt, I enjoy reading it and sharing it with my friends.

Allez

Thanks Ken!… I was busy with my personal life…relocating to Texas for my new job!!

Every of our stars are going through a lean phase, with out of firm, some not getting enough chances. And then soccer looks dull….

I am not much hopeful about the France vs Arg game too. Esp, with the loss of Riquelme, Arg will need at least a year to be back into rhythm again.

Yeah I know we have starts, but without Riquelme, we dont have a leader who can lead. Messi, Tevez, Aimar( to some extent) they all play good individual football, but they cant lead other players.

What french board are you talking about, luca? It doesn’t look like anyone is that interested in the french team on its corresponding sited on this blog. Compared to the arg. posts, they have like 15 entries in the last 3 months.

Hello Riquelme,
Glad to hear from you. Congratulations in your new job. It appears that you are excited with your new job. That is a very good thing. I recently became an eye doctor and that was also exciting for me. I am now settled in San Diego. Regarding soccer, every comments you made most recently is true. But I still watch Requelme at Villareal. I am very hopeful that he will be back in NT before 2010. I for one believe Argentina needs him. Tevez did very well on Saturday but unfortunately he did not score.
For all those of you who post regularly, thank you.
I am particularly grateful to Albo and Jason for opening the window to their culture to people like myself who cherish the Argentinian football though I am non-argentinian.

Alexa, I just took over the France page about three weeks ago and am in the process of getting it going again. (It had been dormant since World Cup.) We’ll come back to life, trust me!

Hi guys!

I’d love to find some clips of Tevez against Chelsea, I also heard he played great! What about Aimar, he scored again, how was he? Anyone know?

Also Higuain scored today against Gimnasia! Unbelievable! This guy is going to be something special me thinks…

“River Plate have turned down a 10-million euro offer from Real Madrid for 18-year-old striker Gonzalo Higuain.

“We’re not satisfied with the price nor the idea of handing over the player at the end of the year,” River Plate secretary Mario Israel told Reuters on Sunday.”
******
So what do you think he’s worth, and where do you think he’ll go? (It’s got to be somewhere in Europe, I’m guessing.)

Hello Laurie.Nice to see you.

My guess is that Internazionale are hot on his heels. They are looking to replace Adriano & Solari.

Mariano Gonsalez disappointgly hasn’t been given a chance & will likely return to Palermo in January.

Higuain would be the type of player Mancini would love to have. Plus you have all the Argentine seniors there who will have told Mancini about the kid.

Then again Aguilar may just be trying to bump up the price.He has been under fierce criticism & justifiably so for selling off many River youngsters for what an be considered pittances.

Tevez proved his own point today & which I mentioned some time ago. They his so called teamates hold a grudge against him & Masche .Secondly they cannot function as they cannot read his
play which is far more inventive than theirs.

Thirdly this is a big game & Tevez indeed upped his game causing the criminals defence all sorts of problems.

Flamengo is a rumour /They are interested but so are a host of clubs. The clubs ownership is still in the balance so where they will be come February is undecided(Sevilla for Tevez would be ideal as they missed out on Marcelo Masche Parma or Udinese would be a good move.They need a player like him.

Riquelme good luck with your job in Texas. Regarding the captaincy issue if there has to be a captain for the future then the material lies inherently in Masche with his calm temperament & silent determination.

That said most coaches would be saying the notion is an irelevant one. No one should need motivating or driving on playing for the NT.There should be eleven captains on the pitch full of fire & heart. But such is the range of human frailties that such a person is needed at times to lift teamates & spur them on.

Besides at that position Masche as he does can see everything thats going on infront & the way he reads the game behind him too.

Hi everybody!

Fair, if Tevez isn’t playing, it’s his fault, he should have think a bit before signing a MSI contract. That’s why he could only be loaned to Flamengo and not go to Italy, Batigol. Same for Masche. These guys should have bought a brain. Now, they must act like Cassano at Real Madrid! They must have a very bad behaviour in order to be fired and released from Kia and Abramovitch. A bit like Mutu, but this guy went a bit to far.

For the NT, Tevez is a fabulous player but the problem is that he is never on the field and not obviously scoring. We have Saviola, Aguero, Messi, Palacio and plenty of talents in attack by the way.

Albo, Placente can play central defender, not only left back winger. I love him because he’s so constructive. Sorin played that left MD position and was a monster in 02. But you’re maybe right. It’s maybe better to play Placente in MD and introduce Paletta or Gonzalo in defence instead of Sorin (old). Messi is a bit like Aimar. Less constructive but so speed! He can play everywhere Albo, he’s very very technique. He should learn to be a playmaker and stop playing like at Barca, a winger that attack into the center of the field.

Batigol, Placente was good in 02. That year, he reached the Champions League with Bayer Leverkusen. Remember. You’ll think i’m mad, but i even believe he is the most constructive left defender i’ve ever seen in my life! Vamos Diego Rodolfo!

Batigol, why do you still believe Pekerman is smart? Me too, i still like him, even if he’s responsible of our terrible defeat against the Germans.

Did you guys see the Crespo goal yesterday? Wow! I love this guy. What a striker. Too bad he couldn’t strike against Germany…

Cavenaghi must be called and learn about Crespo in the NT. I remember that Pekerman called him in the NT one time, it was during a friendly against Barcelona i think. He is the future. Much more than Higuain. I truely believe it. Fernando is a poacher. Hope he’ll leave Spartak at winter. Never understood why he went in Russia, even if it is for money…

Messi is unjured once more because of Ridjkaard. It’s the second time. And it’s official: http://albicelestes.com/news/474-Argie-Doc-Barcelonas-Messi-paying-for-ignoring-advice

Finally, do you people really think El Pato deserves to be included in the starting 11 of our NT? He made such a mistake this week end!!! El pato is really his name!

Samuel made a huge mistake too and Inter could have lost 2 points because of him. I didn’t see the game tough.

Aurelius,
How did Maxi Lopez play against Barca? Mallorca crushed but did Maxi played well and created some opportunities like he used to at River? I just saw that his substitute scored 10 minutes after Maxi went out…

Hey MAXILOPEZ,

Samuel has done a good game though he made a mistake, but I ‘m not sure it’s samuel’s mistake, maybe it is Burdisso, because here are the marks given by Inter fans on the http://www.Inter.it
name mark votes
JULIO CESAR 7.7690 2117 -
ZANETTI J 7.9744 2116 -
CORDOBA 6.9095 1969 -
SAMUEL 6.7446 1966 -
BURDISSO 5.7096 2015 -
FIGO 6.4246 2150 -
VIEIRA 7.0206 1987 -
STANKOVIC 6.9872 2033 -
SOLARI 6.9295 1988
CRUZ 6.6179 1979
CRESPO 7.9120 2241 -

Good news for football: West Ham is going be bought by Northern Investors (Iceland). It means Kia, MSI boss, won’t buy the club and won’t build a Chelsea #2. But it doesn’t mean Tevez and Mascherano could go in Italy or Spain. They should only have the choice between these clubs: Porto, Benfica, CSKA Moscow, Corinthians and Chelsea. On the other side, there are clubs that want to be friendly to MSI: Sevilla and Rennes.

I’m concerned about this because MSI buy the youngest and best players from Argentina (and Brazil). They train them in 4 European clubs, see if they adapt and are really good. If it’s the case, they give them to Chelsea. Kia and Abramoshit are playing with us, with everybody and making business. MSI is killing football and its spirit. MSI can kill some of our most promising players: Tevez and Mascherano. Higuain too? And MSI could corrupt very soon football because they are trying to associate with more and more clubs (They already have Aguilar in their pocket). It’s terrible.

In 2005, Lucho, Mascherano and Maxi were supposed to be bought by MSI and Kia. Lucho to Porto, Masche to Chelsea/Corinthians and Maxi to Benfica. But Barca and Ridjkaard finally bought Lopez and the last minute. I just wanted to say that Lucho’s future could probably be linked to MSI. Another of our players who is trapped.

Sevilla is trying to get closer to MSI and will try to get Tevez on loan. A bit like Rennes in France. Remember Fabiano’s teams: Rennes, Porto, Sevilla. It’s just an example. When Porto won the Champions League in 2004, many Porto players joined Chelsea with Mourinho. It’s just an other example.

Tevez could go to Sevilla on loan or not. What will happen if Carlito scores 20 goals in La Liga? He’ll return to Chelsea and that horrible championship and it’s horrible way of playing, which do not fit at all with the Argentinean way of playing.

I’m very pessimistic because one day, Abramoshit will bring his dream come true: win everything with the best players of the world (Kia’s ones).

I missed the game yesterday unfortunately Maxi.So I cant comment on his performance yesterday.

Suffice it to say he hasn’t looked a threat in the games I have seen him play but to be fair most have been highlight packages.

In the couple that I have seen hes excerting his utmost & he unsettles the opposition without creating much directly.

His touch isn’t sharp enough for the League & he often cant retain the ball.

That said his supporting cast isn’t exactly a stellar one. Its early days though.He’d be better off taking a pot shot more often as hes constantly trying to pass too often & losing the ball.

Agree about FC but hes not jus a poacher.He is a thorougbred striker. He can finish from anywhere.He has that rare gift. Moratti would be mad (though he is inclined to it)not to sign him.He could bang in 20 goals a season given the service they could provide him.

(Aurelius, I totally agree with your last paragraph, i thought that “poacher” meant “accurate striker” like Pipo Inzaghi or Trezeguet, the “old” strikers)

Bummer… Julio Cruz will be out ’til mid January with a strained ligament.
What an unbelievable player he is.
He normally shares the striker position at Inter, with nothing less than Crespo, Ibrahimovic and Adriano (currently out of commission) as fourth on the list.
Yet, his last 6 goals have been at a rate of 1 each 84 minutes!!!!
Talk about effective time management…?
How many players can beat that?

Alexa and Ken, thanks for your kind words and understanding regarding the situation of football in my country. Saludos

Albo, Trezeguet can beat him! And he comes from Buenos Aires…

Maxi dont compare FC to Pippo or Trezeguet !!

Compared goals scored to chances created hes much better. And a cleaner purer striker.

I apologise if I misunderstood what you meant by poacher. A poacher in English terms is a striker who doesn’t often finish clinically/cleanly but is often in the right place at the right time picking up a loose ball in the box to knock it home.

While FC & Crespo even Batigol (not our eponymously named poster ! like any top class striker do this they also have the facility to create something out of nothing by a sudden sway of the hips ,a deft flick to get away from a defender and a clinical shot from anywhere up to of thirty yards outside the box.

If I could be permitted to add a name to the subs list then Garay who is having an outstanding season at Santander & the fans favourite would be the choice. Add him to the future defensors list.

West Ham boss Pardew happy with Tevez display
tribalfooball.com – November 18, 2006

West Ham boss Alan Pardew was happy with the performance of Carlos Tevez in yesterday’s defeat to Chelsea.
Pards handed Tevez a rare start and remarked: “If it was a boxing encounter you would say it was pretty close.

“It was our maximum performance but we couldn’t get the result.

“Against the champions we’ve given a performance to suggest the season is not going to be as long as people are thinking.

“Tevez showed the qualities he can bring to the club, it’s taken him a while and he’s had knocks but he was up to full speed. He was terrific.”

In short Tevez needs to get out of West Ham. He’s played out of position. Pardew might have praised him – but the general viewpoint was Tevez was barely adequate against Chelsea. The premiership in general sucks, and lacks flair and quality that La Liga and/or Seria A possess.

Plus punting long balls over and over again – to someone short like Tevez will not cut it. Sure he’e been playing as a right winger, but he needs to play upfront or as a shadow striker. And guess what his price just dropped. He needs to get out come January, goto a decent club and start scoring. I doubt he’ll be picked by Basile in February if he’s still rotting @ West Ham.

But maybe he’s still not a 100% fit. That could ppssibly be it. I hope thats the case, and I really hope he adapts well – and starts to show his true class.

the only player i can think of that did well in premiership is crespo

and that after a few seasons

argentine players are more dribblers and passers (short passes) premier is full of speed and long passes

One of the few arg. players who did very well for himself in the premiership, back in the 80s, was Ozzie Ardiles.
The small guy, and Villa, both ‘78 world champions with the albiceleste, later played for Tottenham Hotspurs. Although far from superstardom, Ozzie had quite a nice career and many people loved him in England

If Tevez wants to be a great player, I think he should struggle and settle himself down at EPL, which is arguably the most completive league in the world.

Else if he wants to be just star, he can go to south america again or to Qatar and scoring again.

If Tevez has confidence in himself, he should cling to English league and prove himself. If not, there are always easier leagues. But once Tevez leaves English league, he can never be back there.

I know I sound odd but thats what I feel. Tevez should have thought well while he chose West Ham. But now once he is already there, he should have faith in himself.

If he leave West Ham in Jan and goes elsewhere and struggles to settle even there, that will be the end of Tevez’z career. And want to remind you that there are hell lot of Argentine talents who have ruined their careers just because they didnt take proper decisions at proper time.

Riquelme

For technical ability La Liga still reigns supreme as does serie A. I’d put Ligue1 ahead of the EPL.

The EPL still has many mediocre players of very limited ability.

Regarding Ardiles & Villa they are folk heroes at Tottenham & Ozzie still lives not too far away.

Arca has done well for Sunderland & Middlesborough despite the former beinh a truly terrible team he shone consistently. And Heinze has been a revelation.D’Alessandro did well in his short spell at Portsmouth.

It helps these players they had some experience of the top level & Europe before coming to play unlike some of kids like Marinelli who floundered at Middlesborough.

Because the EPL is the richest league in the world then it may be no surprise to see more Argentines ending up here.

But compared to Spain, Italy & France they will have more settling down to do in terms of culture clash,language ,climate & pace & structure of the English game which is less frenetic than it used to be due to the influence of coaches like Wenger but still for most clubs a physical confrontation.

A while ago we talked about listing arg players in europe– here is a list of all latinos in the champions league this year.

Interesting — look at porto–it’s basically Brazil. And InterMilan is basically arg…

GRUPO A:

Barcelona (España)
Juliano Belletti (Def – BRA)
Rafael Márquez (Def – MEX)
Edmilson (Def – BRA)
Sylvinho (Def – BRA)
Thiago Motta (Med – BRA)
Ronaldinho (Del – BRA)
Lionel Messi (Del -ARG)
Javier Saviola (Del -ARG)

Chelsea (Inglaterra)
-

Levski Sofía (Bulgaria)
-

Werder Bremen (Alemania)
Naldo (Def – BRA)
Diego (Med – BRA)

GRUPO B:

Bayern Munich (Alemania)
Lucio (Def – BRA)
Martín Demichelis (Def -ARG)
Julio Dos Santos (Med – PAR)
Claudio Pizarro (Del – PER)
Roque Santa Cruz (Del – PAR)

Inter de Milán (Italia)
Julio César (Arq – BRA)
Iván Córdoba (Def -COL)
Javier Zanetti (Def -ARG)
Maxwell (Def -BRA)
Maicon (Def -BRA)
Nicolás Burdisso (Def -ARG)
Walter Samuel (Def -ARG)
Esteban Cambiasso (Med -ARG)
Santiago Solari (Med -ARG)
Mariano González (Med -ARG)
Julio Cruz (Del -ARG)
Adriano (Del -BRA)
Hernán Crespo (Del -ARG)
Alvaro Recoba (Del -URU)

Spartak Moscú (Rusia)
Geder (Def – BRA)
Clemente Rodríguez (Def -ARG)
Mozart (Med – BRA)
Fernando Cavenaghi (Del -ARG)

Sporting Lisboa (Portugal)
Anderson Polga (Def – BRA)
Ronny (Def – BRA)
Rodrigo Tello (Med -CHI)
Carlos Paredes (Med -PAR)
Leandro Romagnoli (Med – ARG)
Alecsandro (Del – BRA)
Liedson (Del – BRA)
Carlos Bueno (Del – URU)

GRUPO C:

Bordeaux (Francia)
Henrique (Def – BRA)
Fernando Menegazzo (Def – BRA)
Alejandro Alonso (Med -ARG)
Geraldo Mauricio Wendel (Med – BRA)
Juan Pablo Francia (Del -ARG)
Edixon Perea (Del -COL)

Galatasaray (Turquía)
Faryd Mondragón (Arq – COL)
Marcelo Carrusca (Med -ARG)

Liverpool (Inglaterra)
Fabio Aurelio (Def – BRA)
Gabriel Paletta (Def -ARG)
Mark González (Med – CHI)

PSV Eindhoven (Holanda)
Heurelho Gomes (Arq – BRA)
Alex (Def – BRA)
Carlos Salcido (Def – MEX)
Edison Méndez (Med – ECU)
Jefferson Farfán (Del -PER)
Diego Tardelli (Del -BRA)

GRUPO D:

Olympiakos (Grecia)
Julio César (Def -BRA)
Nery Alberto Castillo (Med -URU)
Rivaldo (Med – BRA)
Félix Borja (Del -ECU)

Roma (Italia)
Julio Sergio Bertagnoli (Arq – BRA)
Marangon (Arq – BRA)
Gilberto Martínez (Def – CRC)
Rodrigo Defendi (Def – BRA)
David Pizarro (Med -CHI)
Rodrigo Taddei (Med – BRA)
Mancini (Del – BRA)

Shakhtar Donetsk (Ucrania)
Leonardo (Def – BRA)
Fernandinho (Med – BRA)
Matuzalem (Med – BRA)
Elano Blumer (Med – BRA)
Jadson Rodríguez (Med – BRA)
Brandao (Del – BRA)

Valencia (España)
Roberto Ayala (Def -ARG)
Edu (Med – BRA)
Mario Regueiro (Del -URU)

GRUPO E:

Dynamo Kiev (Ucrania)
Rodolfo (Def – BRA)
Rodrigo (Def – BRA)
Carlos Correa (Med – BRA)
Diogo Rincón (Med – BRA)
Harrison Otalvaro (Med – COL)
José Moreno (Del – COL)
Kleber (Del – BRA)

Lyon (Francia)
Cris (Def -BRA)
Claudio Cacapa (Def -BRA)
Juninho Pernambucano (Med – BRA)
Fred (Del – BRA)

Real Madrid (España)
Roberto Carlos (Def – BRA)
Cicinho (Def – BRA)
Emerson (Med – BRA)
Ronaldo (Del – BRA)
Robinho (Del – BRA)

Steaua Bucarest (Rumania)
-

GRUPO F:

Benfica (Portugal)
Moretto (Arq – BRA)
Anderson (Def – BRA)
Luisao (Def – BRA)
Leo (Def – BRA)
Alcides (Def – BRA)*
Diego Souza (Med – BRA)
Beto (Med – BRA)
Kikin Fonseca (Del – MEX)

Celtic (Escocia)
-

FC Copenhagen (Dinamarca)
-

Manchester United (Inglaterra)
Gabriel Heinze (Def -ARG)

GRUPO G:

Arsenal (Inglaterra)
Julio César Baptista (Med – BRA)
Gilberto Silva (Med – BRA)

CSKA de Moscú (Rusia)
Daniel Carvalho (Med – BRA)
Dudu (Med – BRA)
Vágner Love (Del – BRA)

Hamburgo (Alemania)
Juan Pablo Sorín (Med -ARG)
José Paolo Guerrero (Del – PER)

Porto (Portugal)
Helton (Arq – BRA)
Pepe (Def – BRA)
Fucile (Def – URU)
Ezequias (Def – BRA)
Ibson (Med – BRA)
Luis González (Med -ARG)
Anderson (Med – BRA)
Paulo Assuncao (Med – BRA)
Alan (Med – BRA)
Lisandro López (Del -ARG)
Jorginho (Del – BRA)
Adriano (Del – BRA)
Bruno Moraes (Del – BRA)

GRUPO H:

AC Milan (Italia)
Dida (Arq – BRA)
Cafú (Def – BRA)
Serginho (Med – BRA)
Kaká (Med – BRA)
Ricardo Oliveira (Del – BRA)

AEK Atenas (Grecia)
Martín Pautasso (Def -ARG)
Emerson (Med – BRA)
Gustavo Manduca (Del – BRA)
Julio César (Del – BRA)

Anderlecht (Bélgica)
Nicolás Pareja (Def -ARG)
Lucas Biglia (Med – ARG)
Cristian Leiva (Med -ARG)
Nicolás Frutos (Del -ARG)

Lille (Francia)
Michel Bustos (Med – BRA)

Alexa One thing that did stand out to me in your list is how few latinos are on the English teams. I believe that for a latino player to thrive in the English league he needs to be on one of the top teams ie Manchester united, Chelsea, liverpool, arsenal. The reason is that those seem to be the only teams that do a lot of short passes. Most of the other teams are just looking for speed and athletisism. One player that might do well in the english league is Palacio because of his pace. The english league just does not place as much importance on skill on the ball. You can be a magician with the ball but if you are not lights out fast you will hardly ever touch the ball. Instead of passing to players most of the offense is sending players and hoping that their speed gets them to the ball before the defenders do. Maxi Rodriguez also might do well in the English league. I have to say that the smaller skllful players jsut dont seem to do well in the Englsih league unless they are gifted with a lot of pace. Once again the exception being the top teams.

Fiorentina revive bid for West Ham duo Tevez, Mascherano
tribalfooball.com – November 21, 2006

Fiorentina are eyeing West Ham United pair Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.
The Argentine duo are expected to be sold by West Ham’s new chairman Eggert Magnusson after failing to settle at Upton Park. Fiorentina had both players tracked by Giovanni Galli before their move to England and have remained interested in the pair.

While FIFA transfer rules block moving twice to two different countries in the one season, special dispensation can be granted if both federations agree

Agreed, Todd Utah. I do think that it woud be good for Latin American defenders to go to England, practice their trade there, to adjust their game to that speed.

A few interesting bits –

Brazilian players seem to be everywhere.

I remember seeing Romagnoli (Sporting)as a teenager playing for San Lorenzo, I think. He was so great. I wonder how well he has adjusted to Europe.

My country has two players in the champions! And Felix Borja has the great good fortune of player with the great Rivaldo.

It’s amazing that other teams, like Zaragoza and At. Madrid, can’t be in the Champions. We can’t see Aimar, Maxi Rod, and Aguero in the champions (not even mentioning Milito, etc.).

And of course it sucks not to see Riquelme there (although he’s looks pretty worn out just with la liga these days).

As an aside– I finally saw the at Madrid/villarreal game. Aguero was AWESOME. He looks like the real deal.

That sounds promising Todd.They’ll certainly get the game time they need & the adoration of the fans.

Excellent list Alexa. The preponderance of Brazilians shouldn’t be a surprise seeing as they have the larger population.

Uruguays dismal performances can be highlighted by the lack of palyers in that list.They are all to be found at the smaller Liga clubs in general.

There are a few Eastern European clubs run by criminals who have taken the wealth of nations to line their own pockets & used some of the monies to purchase what they see as the best ie Brazilians & for once they can afford them but not the cream of the crop.

Nonetheless the prestige of the likes of serie A La Liga weighs heavily so the likes of Elano for instance is a huge target for clubs in these respective leagues.

I know that this is not soccer related but since you are my friends and I am ToddUtah I have to say. How about that Utah Jazz? 10 wins 1 loss not bad. The reason I mention the NBA is that it is having the same problems that futbol is. That being that the teams are forced into signing players to young based on potential and then they dont get a chance to play much because they are not ready. My point is that a player with a lot of talent at the age of 18 will not be as good as a player with a lot of talent when he is 25. I believe that the Big clubs need to get the rights to players without bringing them up. A good example would be Higuain. Real could sign him right now but let him play another year or two in Argentina. This would be the best for everyone involved and would let these young guys get playing time and develope before they arrive at a big european club. Plus it would allow them to emotionally develope in the atmosphere they grew up in.

Alexa, thanks for that list. It reveals a number of different interesting trends.
Among them, it brings me back to something I posted about a month ago about the important weight of population of countries when comparing exported talent.
Aurelius just mentioned it on his post.
Stats may be cold and sometimes misleading but one can’t just take them for granted when they speak so eloquently:

Population
Brazil: 190 million
Argentina: 40 million
Ratio: +4.75

Players in European leagues
Brazil: 82
Argentina: 29
Ratio: +2.82

This all means that while there’s a total of almost 5 brazilians per each argentinean, there’s only almost 3 brazilian players per each Argy player in Europe.
Those numbers not only favor Argentina over Brazil, but makes us look at Uruguay with different eyes.
Consider Uruguay’s population is a mere 3 million people…

I dont follow the NBA much Todd .Its the NHL for me.But I hope you’re enjoying your teams sucess after a run of poor seasons lately.

But your point is a good one I guess it concerns the number of young players in your team.

However the top clubs are always searching for that little one up on their rivals.

Take Pittsburgh Penguins for instance. If they hadn’t gotten Malkin only 18yo this season then he would have become a free agent & then a host of clubs would have been after him.

However its different for American sports v-v European sports as you have a draft system so that at least the talented youth get split amongst teams instead of being concentrated amongst a few.

It depends on if the player is ready.If Higuain is asessed by whichever clubs coach that purchases him as being able to contribute they’ll put him in.

If not he’ll be loaned out to gain experience in a less pressured environment .

It really does depend on a players skills no matter the sport. The old adage if they’re good enough they’re old enough applies.

toddutah – you make a great point about young talent. It seems like since these guys are so young and have so much talent, that they’ll have a great future no matter what, but the truth is that they have just a few chances – no matter the potential. There have been plenty of wonderfully talented players who never made it, because of bad decisions, bad luck, poor management, etc.

Let’s hope that Higuain can navigate through these rough waters well. And that Mascherano and Tevez can keep their heads in that mess that they are in.

messi reminds me of aimar i hope he does not get injurd a lot like him because that the reason aimar had a slip in recent 2 or 3 years.aimar has best player potential if he would not be often injurd.
he seems to come back and i hope he stays healthy and shows the world is talent.
yes garay for the national team he plays regularly and is young i was very impressed in the youth world cup he played in the final and was superb then signed a 6 month contract with santander he impressed and they gave him a full contract.
i liked westham before the transfer coup but what i am dissapointet by them how they treat those 2.i hope they prove them wrong but if they leave they will be always marked,they must stay show them who they really are and just when they shine leave this f…in club.
what is with riquelme i dont get la liga this year omly some highlights.i read at goal.com that the fans are booing him and he is underperforming but in some highlights i saw he made alotta assists.so i will ask u for your kind opinion who get to see him how does he perform because with him u are never sure in the same game some say he is the best and others terrible.so i dont want bias for him or against him.
just your honest opinion.
i think he its time for him to move on and i hope to inter he must win some titles.and if that is true that the fans of villa are booing him after what he gave them then i dont know where we as people are heading we are sick.sorry.

Alfio – I’ve seen all the Villarreal games that Goltv shows (about 4). Riquelme is more aggressive with Vreal than with the NT. He throws his body around more, and moves in the box. He isn’t playing with the same quality of players as in the NT – this is pretty obvious, because he makes a bunch of great passes that are not capitalized.

He had one sublime game – against Zaragoza. he took over the entire second half, and just made the goalie and defense haggard and disturbed with his constant threat, especially with corner kicks.

The other games – he’s done well. I think he looks tired, and he also looks depressed. I’m not sure if this is an always thing with Riquelme, since this is the first time I’ve gotten a chance to see him play over a long period of time.

But every single time he touches the ball, even if the move doesn’t work out, he works with the ball beautifully. I remember reading that they call Riquelme “panadero” or something like that, the guy who sets dough spinning in the air for pizza, he does that with his feet and the soccer ball.

I’m not sure if the fans are booing at him, but rather at the team in general. I know that they boo Forlan a lot. I’m not sure why.

Since we are discussing cham[ions league –n

lucho gonzalez played a geat game today with porto and had a wonderful goal. Porto is beaut to watch. They all have mad skills (the team is basically brazilian with a few arg, and lucho as the capitan), and they play a clean, aggressive style. I hope they go far in the champions.

Thank the heavens for streaming and asian espn.

Agreed Alexa another excellent game from Lucho. He should be in any future squad.

Hes constantly driving forward & taking he others with him.Never stops & his distance shooting is becoming impressive.

Lucho is looking very good! In my eyes he has improved a lot that last two years and with his quality goals should be a factor on Basiles team. Lets hope that Inter wins today!

Boy this kid is getting a lot of interest.
Galliani confirms AC Milan offer for Higuain
tribalfooball.com – November 22, 2006

AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani admits they’re competing with Real Madrid for River Plate striker Gonzalo Higuain.
“Is our offer higher than Real Madrid’s? I don’t think so. It will be very hard for Italian clubs to compete with the Spanish ones as they have higher revenues,” he said.

“There are less taxes in Spain and if things continue this way I fear that in a few years’ time Italian football will not be able to keep pace with the top clubs in Europe.”

“The last one to leave, please switch off the lights” reads Ole/Clarín today, in reference to an article by Marca (Spanish sports paper).
Looks like Franco Baldini, top man from Real Madrid in Buenos Aires, is not only finishing the deals for Gonzalo Higuaín and Fernando Gago, but also for 2 very young Boca players, Oscar Trejo (forward) and Matías Cahais (central defender).
Marca refers to them as “these new jewels of argentine football still with no price tag”.

Grondona should start thinking about more special packages like this one for Christmas, or handy kits with a manufacturer’s rebate. For instance, a def. midfielder, an attacking midfielder and a striker, the 3 for the price of 2.
Or maybe “take a goalie and get a left winger for free”.

I’m even thinking about starting to offer our best 10 year old strikers, don’t you?
Something like “don’t pay until 2017″…

Crespo scored yet again. I am starting to think that he is probably the best striker out there behind DROGBA(for the moment)

Crespo is just amazing. Last year he was injured and didnt play much but still did just as much as drogba, they split playing time. SO how good is Crespo??? well, look at the so called best striker of the past few years Sheva???? he is as sorry as they come in Chelsea, so i am starting to think Crespo might be one of the best strikers of this decades because he proved himself both in ITALY and in England. where many great strikers struggle when they do that switch. now I know why we freakin lost to Brazil and Spain. We didnt have crespo.

Very true, fair. And Crespo has the habit of scoring in very important games. He will be VERY missed.

Arg has been spoiled of late with this type of striker. They went from Batistuta straight to Crespo with no waning time in between. At this point no one really knows who will fill his place when he finally retires.

His goal today was gorgeous.

great clip of Argentine soccer. What great memories!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2JOzWl2×3w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2JOzWl2×3w

Alfio mentioned Cahais in another thread in this blog. He did shine at the Toulon tournament & has featured in the u17 sides most recently in the Korean tournament.

Hes been a bit up & down in his performances that is only to be expected in such a young player.

The best thing Argentinian clubs can expect now is that they can hold onto their kids until they are 18 or 19. The financial lure is just too great to be refused.

Unfortunately it may damage the career of some of these as they wont get first team football at the time they need it most to develop their potential.

Uruguay have to be the greatest football nation on Earth as Albo mentions for sheer sucess v population size.

However the system that created this sucess is dying out. Once upon a time every street in Montevideo would see kids playing football often barefoot developing their ball skills.

Hardly any kids play in the street now. Montevideo has changed & the structure of football has been altered breaking up the street team system in favour of a European system of juniors youths training .

The basic skill levels of the kids have dropped.Poverty means basic infrastructure is lacking.

Something which teams in Argentina have avoided stressing the importance of technique always to kids in controlling the ball.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!
It’s a healthy tradition to feel grateful for our blessings.
We should do it every day of our lives but the message is valid nevertheless.
And it comes with a true desire that by next Thanksgiving our entire land is free of war. Ethnic war, religious war, political war, corporate war.
And since we’re at it, here’s to peace in the football stadiums of the world too…
Saludos

Lovely sentiment, Albo.

Hope everyone in the US stuffed themselves.

Peace to everyone…

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

I have been so busy lately, so I wasn’t able to contribute as much as I used to. I read the blog everyday, it became a routine, but didn’t have the time to respond and stuff. But I will be back soon hopefully.

Tevez and Mascherano to Athletico Madrid?!

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=430908&CPID=8&clid=21&lid=2&title=Atletico+‘offered’+Hammers+pair

check it out its true

tevez and masche along side aguero and maxi

If this move happens, A.Madrid will a new power in the European football, and it might be the start of a golden era for the club. Tevez Aguero Torres backed by Maniche and Mascherano and Maxi, with a couple of good defenders, Athletico will be unstoppable.

VAMOS VAMOS!
ATLETICO ATLETICO ! ATLETICO !
VAMOS !

I chose this team as one of my new favourite team since MAXI’s performance and Aguero’s arrival.
This is already an offensive team, with TOrres, Mista, Petrov (injured, like Maxi), Maniche.
If tevez and masch come it’ll be for sure a great power in Spain.
While it is already a good team (5th) though they miss Maxi(3 goals in the first 2 games) and Petrov.

VAMOS !

Belated happy Thanksgiving to all of you Todd ,Alexa ,Albo Batigol living in the USA.

This is great news if its confirmed . Only yesterday the WestHam manager was saying he would like to keep Carlitos & Masche but you could tell in his tone of voice he had no confidence he would do so.

Atletico went down this S.American route in the 70s .

Well if they could get Garay in from Santander or Gonzalo from Villareal next season it would be perfect.

They do have money to spend but my worry is that having already sold Kezman Torres might have to be shipped out to balance the books which is a shame as he is my favourite non Argentine striker.

And Galletti is getting back to his 2004-5 form.Heres to Atletico who are also pursuing Belluschi for next season as well.

Hello everyone. It’s great to hear from the lot of you. Like talking to old friends. here is the article about Tevez and Macherano…

Spanish sources claim that the race to land Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez has already begun with Atletico Madrid lined up as a possible destination.

Madrid-based radio station Onda announced on Thursday that Atletico had been offered the services of the Argentine duo – who have both struggled since joining West Ham in August.

The pair have not had the best of times since their arrival in East London and the failure of MSI’s Kia Joorabchian to buy West Ham has left a huge question mark over their futures.

Joorabchian had been hoping to buy West Ham, but Icelander Eggert Magnusson has struck a deal – meaning MSI assets, Tevez and Mascherano, look unlikely to remain.

Atletico are said to be particularly keen on Mascherano, while Tevez too is of interest but the likes of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ricardo Quaresma seem higher on their list of targets.

The news that Atletico have been reportedly offered the MSI pair will come as little surprise to West Ham – and manager Alan Pardew admits he wants to talk with Joorabchian about their futures.

“We have put a lot of work into trying to ease the settling in process for Tevez and Mascherano,” Pardew said.

“Hopefully we will get time – maybe for the rest of the season – to see that through.

“At some point I will meet Kia and see how our wishes fit in with his plans for the players.

“Maybe [the takeover] will be a situation that works for them. I hope they start to grow here quicker than they have done in the initial period, and I think that can happen.

“But for now the players are here to play football and they will be judged on their performances in training and in games.”

—————–

I hope this happens for the poor guys. They must be miserable. I can see A Madrid being a plucky, gritty side indeed, taken to a whole other level with these two players…

Riquelme linked with Bayern.
This would a good move for him because B.Munich is always a contender for the champions league.

Inter wants both Messi and Mascherano.

Atletico is interested in Palacio.

–
Messi shoudln’t go to Calcio now, he should probably wait for at least 4 years before going there. just my opinion.

Atletico trying to get many Argentines = building an Argentina NT

Hi, Batigol. Where did you read that about Riquelme? The only thing I could find was a bit about how La Volpe doesn’t want him to come back to Boca. (As if Riquelme would want to return to Arg futbol right now?!)

I can’t see him moving. He doesn’t seem the type to uproot and change now, and this stage inm his career. InterMilan would be perfect for him.

Messi to Inter? Interesting. His price would be more than whole teams get. it’s ludicrous.

As some of you might remember, “enganche” is how we call in Argentina, the play-maker, our number 10, also known as creative midfielder.
Bobby Charlton, Maradona, Pelé, Zidane, Platini, Riquelme, Gallardo, Francescoli, Bochini, etc, are examples of pure “enganche”.
Enganche means “the link” between midfield and the forwards, the ball distributor, the brains and the technique.
For many years there’s been one in every good team.
Not so today though,
The debate I have mentioned in the past months, on weather enganches are still effective these days or not, keeps going on in Buenos Aires, mainly because of the changes La Volpe is making at Boca Jrs. since Basile left to become our NT coach.
This is information extracted out of 2 or 3 articles published by Clarín/Olé in the last 2 days and remains the favorite topic of conversation in the cafés of Buenos Aires.
Basile still fights to keep a real number 10 on the pitch. That’s why we might see Aimar playing after all. I even think there’s a possibility that Riquelme might come back to play for Basile.
La Volpe on the other hand, represents those who acknowledge the fact that “enganches” are a species on the brink of extinction and follows the steps of the majority of the big european teams. He also thinks that if you put 2 or even 3 men to neutralize the opponent’s enganche, the whole flow of their team gets disrupted and the forwards end up isolated and out of reach.
Basile says our number 10 is the essence of our football.
La Volpe says “well we better change that in a hurry because it’s not winning us tournaments.
Real Madrid, Chelsea, Inter, Valencia, Bayern Munich, even Barcelona with Ronaldinho don’t register that position in the field anymore.
The same with the NTs of Italy, Germany, England, Netherlands just to name a few.
France have the same problem now that Zidane is gone.
Interesting fact, Marcello Lippi opted for keeping Alessandro del Piero on the bench while a less technical but poly-functional hard worker Andrea Pirlo had a chance to shine. Those are our Maxi Rodriguezs and our Insúas.
Meanwhile you play with 3 forwards, one who steps back a few yards.
Back when Boca Jrs won the Copa Libertadores with Bianchi, and Riquelme moved to Europe, Bianchi placed Tevez 10 meters back with Palermo as striker and G. Barros Schelotto as side forward. They were unstoppable.
Back in 1978, Menotti had a 16 year old Maradona, but he thought Diego was to young for that responsibility and since he didn’t have another player of that characteristic, he placed Kempes (a pure breed striker) a few meters behind forwards Luke and Bertoni. Yes, we won the world cup without a real 10 and playing wonderful football.
I believe the system has to adapt to the players and not the other way around.
How about you folks?

What the hell has happened to Tevez? Is he still so arrogant of himslef after the mess with Corinthas?.. I think he severely needs a lesson from Saviola.

I think West Ham has been supportive enough to Tevez. What else can Pardew do after letting him play in 4 or 5 matches without a single goal in such a competitive league.
Saviova got 10, 15 minutes in a match and proved himself almost each time. But he is still humble. That faith with one day work magic for Saviola – I hope.

nice post albo

Lippi’s Keys To Success

http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/Kind=4/newsId=477196.html

cc: AFA

This is interesting subject, Albo. Wonder if we could expand this in a different blog.

“He also thinks that if you put 2 or even 3 men to neutralize the opponent’s enganche, the whole flow of their team gets disrupted and the forwards end up isolated and out of reach”.

Opponents have been doing this to us all time.

is it not probable to put in 2 enganches?

i remember pekker did that at one of the youth world cups

aimar and roman

that way they wont put 2 on each guy cause it will leave players like maxi or lucho wide open

Hi everybody.

Aurelius, I’m curious about Gonzalo Rodriguez. I never seen him play before. He seems technique and clever. I hope he’ll recover soon because we need him. If he is honest and respectfull of his club, he’ll stay at Villareal. Remember when Redondo refused his salary during 2 years at Milan, and Heinze who didn’t left MU when he had greater clubs chasing him after La Copa and many injuries.

Riquelme to Bayern? For me it would be strange. I don’t understand these players like Sorin who are transfered in Germany. I’m too passionate to accept that, after the WC. I hate Germany and Germans now! I don’t even watch their games. Even if i like De Michelis or Pizarro from Bayern.

A rumor was saying that Riquelme could return to Boca Juniors. La Volpe told journalists that he didn’t like to play with a playmaker. By the way, great post ALBO, i hope everybody read it. Playmakers are essential to me. If a playmaker is marked by 3 players, like Zidane was against Italy at Euro 2000, then i believe that the solution is to include another one. If Aimar and Riquelme played together at the WC, i’m sure we would have destroyed every team, even if we would have been a less balanced. So frustrating not to see this happen… France used to play with 3 playmakers in 82 and 86! It was a very exciting team. But the risk is being too much offensive and see FRA-GER 86 matches happen. They were very close to win a WC, though.

Insua, 17 years old, not the one from Moenchgladbach, is sold from Boca to Liverpool. You are right ALBO, Grondona must offer some packages. All this is ridiculous. When will it stop? When will this fool of Blatter react?

I learned that Grondona was the FIFA vice president! Didn’t he talked about all this to Blatter?! Young players should not leave the club where they were raised until 20 years old in order to protect them. Clubs would also win more with the transfer fees. Incredible that Grondona isn’t doing something. At WC 06, the man must have watched Argentina being stolen by Germany and the referees, with Blatter beside and saying to him: “We weren’t lucky but Germany deserved it, see you at our next supper”. Maradona criticized him concerning the violence problems in Argentina. He said he acted like a Mafia person.

Everybody is talking of Gonzalo Higuain. Do you know that his elder brother(?) scored more goals than him this year? He plays at Chicago.

You people don’t seem to read my MSI comments. Aren’t you concerned? Philipps is on his way to West Ham confirming that WH could soon be Chelsea #2. MSI has still some control on WH, even if Kia didn’t buy the club.
If Tevez and Mascherano left WH for a none MSI-club, i must admit that i would be a bit lost. We know nothing about all this situation and it’s frustrating. Maybe Tevez and Masche will be transfered to Benfica or Porto and then join Chelsea.

Happy Thanksgiving late to everyone. I would be very excited as well to see Tevez and Mascherano move to Atletico but I think that Atletico are keen to grab Palacio of Boca. I believe that Mascherano should get out of the English league and Athletico would be perfect. I would like to see tevez stay. I thought that he looked good against Chelsea and seems to be adjusting. He would not be the first forward to take some time in adjusting to the premier league. For a striker it is essential that he be able to score some goals in these league or he will always have the * on his carreer. He should stay or maybe move to another english team like Arsenal or Bolton. I also think that Manchester United could really use him. They had no one to bring off the bench against Chelsea and Hienze is already there.

Looking forward to reading your posts, but I have a question for the knowledgable:

I’ve been watching Mariano Barbosa play for Villarreal recently, and he’s excellent. made some world class saves against great teams, and he’s still so you.

Will he be considered the next golaie for the NT?

Enganche OR not Enganche, that is the question.

To me, a team must be adapted to its best players features. I mean , if you got a great “Enganche” play with him , if you got 2 (Aimar AND riquelme) play them both.
Of course, there are limits:
Between 0 and 2 “Enganche” you’re right.

First of all Blatter who is a supreme idiot at times has ruled out replay technology so long as he is president at FIFA.

So despite the advances in technology which could result in instanteneous decisions & fairer results this will not happen in all probability for 2010.

Alexa Barbosa is on the list. Bit of a drubbing yesterday but with that defence infront of him.. which leads me to Gonzalo R. Quiet dominant aerially comfortable on the ball Ayalas heir apparent.His absence is being felt badly at La Madrigal.

Garay scored again yesterday too but was at fault for one of Recretivos goals. Still on the way to moving onto a ‘big’ Liga club & place in the NT side in the future.

I agree Maxi its a serious injury.Hopefully the recovery is full & complete but one can never be sure.

Unfortunately Figueroa needs another knee op which will rule him out out of Genoas serie B campaign & any chance of a Copa place.

I’d stick with 5 defenders(that inc.2 defensively minded midfielders) 5 attackers 2 of whom are playmakers (or if required just one with a worker alongside him)coupled with a PACY mobile front three.The reason NTs like England Holland dont play with aone is that they lack a player of sufficient vision & creativity & teams like England are traditionally mistrustful of such skilled players ie Hoddle Barnes.

Cannavaro deserved it…congrats to him!!!!!!!!!

A team is just that “A TEAM”. This means that with a great coach the team will be better than the sum of its parts. It is up to the coach to look at his talent and put it together in such a way to make the best team. If you are far and away better than the opponent you play your game and win. Strategy comes in when you look at who you are and make changes based on who you are playing. I believe that Argentina is in a position to play one or two enganches most of the time. I still would argue that at some point Messi could be an enganche along with Riquelme and Aimar. I do think that the idea of just one enganche might be gone as most teams will just mark him out of the game. I also think that with all of the talent Argentina has there might be times when going with a less structured line up might surprise an opponent and give us an advantage. At the end of the day a coach should try and have the best 11 on the field. Pekerman tried to much strategy in the last world cup and it cost us in the second half aganst Germany. For me the ideal line up would be a 3 2 3 2 with Aimar as the enganche and Messi right in next to him on the left side and Maxi as the other half. Gago and Mascherano as the defensive mids. That should provide plenty of playmakers. Crespo and Aguero up top. The defense would be another topic for another day

Fab, Asil, MaxiLopez, Todd, Wamdiego, Aurelius, thanks for your responses. I believe that if it was just about playing Riquelme and Aimar together, Pekerman and Bielsa would have figured that out?
2 enganches? has been done, with very mixed results.
Matter of fact, both Bielsa and Pekerman even tried it with our 2 favorite enganches Román and Aimar.
One problem is that by the nature of that position, they are used to moving laterally and they end up getting in the way of each other.
Another problem is balance (as always).
If you place 2 enganches you have to remove either a forward or an attacking midfielder (i. e. Maxi or Lucho, who are more physical and retrieve balls in midfield too).
When you have to play against a 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1 (ultra defensive) formation, enganches just don’t have enough room to maneuver in the middle of 8 or 9 defenders.
Barça places Ronaldinho by the left side line and Messi on the right side, Decco in the center, and all well behind the striker.
That’s what we call “to open the field”.
There’s no real number 10. And yet it’s fun to watch.
Todd, in my opinion you’re right to mention Gago.
Gago might make the difference in the near future. He’s not a 10, he’s a defensive midfielder but if he learns to play with Mascherano as a double 5, Gago can be placed a little ahead, around half field, and he could certainly conduct the orchestra from that position. It’s the position Pekerman wanted for Cambiasso during WC but it didn’t work out great. Riquelme was continuously overwhelmed with defenders and Cambiasso could do little or nothing to assist him.
Anyway, didn’t mean to get so technical about the greatest sport of all. But the topic is interesting.
Lastly, Boca again playing at top level beat Colon 4-0 and has almost clinched its first triple championship in history. Watching some of their players is such a treat.
Ibarra is phenomenal, Palacio (2 goals) is to me our best scorer for the NT. He has the speed of Messi and the finishing of Saviola. Nery Cardozo, watch him…
Special mention to Estudiantes La Plata, (where Verón plays and Simeone is the coach). They are playing excellent football, second, 2 points behind Boca and still with chances. Saludos

Carlos Tevez stormed out of The Boleyn Ground after being substituted midway through the second half of today’s 1-0 win over Sheffield United

Why do Argentine players have such poor attitudes? They have this reputation around the world of poor sportsmanship and no class. Is this behaviour a norm in Argentina?

Should a delegation of English Gentlemen be sent over to teach how to them how to behave?

I don’t understand it and am curious.

God Save the Queen

Also with regards to the WC. How did it make you feel as Argentine fans to see them start a brawl with Germany after the game?

Was there any discussion and self analysis and examination about this? Billions of people saw this and it was a shame it reinforced universally held beliefs of Arg. poor sportmanship. Pitty.

God Save the Queen

Hey guys, I have been so busy with work and so on, i didnt get a chance to comment or anything. I will start another thread once we hit 200. We are the only blog on here that have this much comment and i am proud of that. I kind of want to show off how we argentina fans are real passionate about our team.

Anyhow, ALBO great post and as usual, alexa, todd utah, aurelious, maxilopez, batigol, fab and the rest of the gang, great comments.

I was thinking about the same thing in regards of the “enganche” topic. The critics that are saying that they could stop the enganche by having him marked by two players, well. as you all have said what happens if you add two playmakers??? either way you have to have a playmaker inorder to control the flow of the game. What makes Riquelme so unique is this guy somehow has a gift in controling games. I have always said, I prefer Aimar over Riquelme “since we use only one playmaker” because aimar is a bit more active on the field. I am a big supporter of having both aimar and riquelme in, but that never really happend.

Here is another question that i have. Where does Messi fit??? we know he isnt a striker. No way, he is too useful in the midfield to be stuck in the box.

Is he a playmaker??? or is he just that insanely good winger??? my favorite player is Steve McManaman and I see messi as a better version of Steve, though they play on the opposite side of the field.

So, as for now, Riquelme is out so no Aimar/Riquelme duo. So how is the Aimar/Messi combo going to work???

Another question i have is Aguero. I am still having a hardtime with him being a striker, not because i think he wont succeed, but i just think he is more useful as an attacking midfielder.

I am curious how Basile is going to approach the France game, because it really is an important game for us. I mean our pride is depending on it. we cant afford to lose to brazil, spain, and then france. just shouldnt happen.

Elliot, Argentine players and supporters are the most passionate people of the world. Period. If Tevez is angry because he’s substitued, it’s because he loves football much more than others.

At WC 06, Argentina was the best team. Everybody say this, not only us fans. When you are the best, passionate and lose, it’s very difficult to manage your angerness. I’m not ashamed about their reaction.

I don’t believe Maxi Rodriguez is a bad guy. I believe he and his team were provocated by Frings, Bieroff and Borowski when Cambiasso missed his penalty. Some people even say that the battle was linked with Maxi’s religion. Maxi was provocated like Zidane by Materazzi, Cantona by a Crystal Palace fan, Beckham by Simeone (02),…

So, Cannavaro won the Ballon d’Or as expected.

Riquelme has ZERO points.

This should be called the “Ballon de Merde”.

Because:

- Only one Argentine player in the 50 men list. Where are Maxi Rodriguez? Mascherano? Crespo? Ayala?!

- Riquelme brought Villareal in the semis of CL and was great in 05/06 (he destroyed Inter on his own) and had a correct WC. He was at least much better than Klose(7), (Pirlo(9), Kaka(11,he did nothing, a joke),Ribéry(13) and all the rest is worst: Lahm, Terry, Zambrotta(!?), Podolski, Lampard, Gattuso,…are in front of Roman.

-In 00, Zidane deserved it much more than Figo. He was at his best.

-In O2, Ronaldo didn’t play the hole year.

-Laurent Blanc never won it unlike Cannavaro.

-Zidane won it only one time! He is the best player of all time with Diego.

It’s the last time i’m talking about these FF and FIFA awards. Their place is a garbage.

Thanks for clearing that up for me MaxiLopez, it boils down to passion, who would of thought.

No wonder you don’t see such behaviour from Brazilians, Italians,and Spaniards et al they lack the amount of passion that Argentine fans have.

I agree The golden ball “media ball”, is not delivered to the best player, but to the most commercial player.
Riquelme, no Vote ? It is a shame, and I’m a Riquelme hater !
Riquelme shoud have got votes, like Maxi Rodriguez, Cambiasso…
Henry was the strongest this year along side Etoo’, but they are black… A shame I tell you.
I’m sorry to disagree with you MAXI lopez, Zidane is not the best of all time, you can’t compare him with Maradona, Zidane is too slow, and scored a few goals. A “Greatest of all times ” requires all the abilities: Technic, speed and gret goal scoring abilities. Diego, pelé, Cruyf, Di stephano, Puskas are the Ones.

I think of Zidane as the greatest European of all time.

Riquelme not getting one vote pretty much discredits the entire enterprise.

Ignore the troll elliot.

One problem why Arg might not make this list (even though it’s completely bogus) is that very few are on the superstar teams. It’s amazing, for example, that Barcelona and Real Madrid only have one arg player between them, and like 11 Brazilians.

If you check the way inter milan has been playing of late, you can see how good a arg-based team can be.

The awards are meaningless. Junk.

Even if Riquelme won the award its meaningless. What counts is trophies on the pitch ,moments of brilliance, spectacular or well crafted goals, defensive displays of mastery that live in the mind long after a player has retired.

Wonder what species Elliott is though Alexa ? Cave ,mountain … ignorant little twerp.

Albo I dont know how many years you have been watching football & I didn’t see this live but funnily enough Peles elbow on the poor Uurguayan defender never gets mentioned. A definite red card.

As for German sportsmanship hurling anti-semitic insults at ones coach is likely to lead to a degree of provocation.

Schumacher was a great sportsman as I’m sure Battiston will testify too.

Elliot, to answer your questions, first let me say that the topic has been addressed in the past. You can find my last comment easily because it’s the one that ends with “shame on us”.
I am an argentinean who doesn’t like some of the things that happen in our football and the first one to share it with my friends here in this blog.
But there’s tone in your comment that sounds cheaper than a spit in the face.
Are you talking from up a podium somewhere in a perfect country with perfect citizens who never get rowdy?
Are you living in a country where there’s no racism, where players and fans never insult black or hispanic players?
The players from your country never stick an elbow on their opponent’s face, they never step on an opponent’s genitals? How ’bout the fans of your country? do they ever have a beer and get loud and white-trashy?
The simplistic way you use to generalize about my people, shows me how poor and mediocre you are, wherever is that you come from.
But if I were to judge the behavior of people from your country, based on your pathetic comments about mine, I would say your people have a major attitude problem.

>>Should a delegation of English Gentlemen be sent over to teach them how to behave?>>

You gotta be kiddin’. Deliver me from that.

God save you, the queen and your english gentlemen from us argies…

Elliot, your nickname should be “idiot”.

Wamdiego, we finally disagree eachother!

I believe the Golden Ball has nothing to do with race or color of the skin. It’s quite impossible nowadays, we are at the 21st century!

To me, Zidane is the best of all time with Maradona. I repeat it because i truely believe it. I saw him at the stadium many times with Juve and i’ll never forget it. What i saw is unique. It’s enough to me. Forget about him at Real Madrid, his career ended in 02. Then he had injuries.

What you must understand Wamdiego is that Zidane builds the game. He make other score. By the way, he always scored in important games (WC, CL). Admit this, even if you dislike the fact that he’s French and was raised by these coaches who only want physical skills. He’s slow? So what? He has pure class. The classiest and constructive player ever, to me!

By the way, great posts Aurelius and Albo. GREAT! Constructive. That shows how much we love and defend our team. And we are right…

Thanks for your response Albo. Admitting that the poor sportsmanship, most recently evident at the WC and by Tevez, is endemic of Argentine culture is a great first step. I encourage you to further this debate with your fellow countrymen. Now these types of problems are by no means exclusive to Argentina however the evidence is overwhelming that it is greater there than anywhere else.

Argentineans can learn much from the way Anglo’s (and indeed Europeans) comport themselves in all things including football. I would think as a caring supporter of Argentine football you would want to encourage this education and not take offense to it being offered.

To AURELIUS and Batigol your responses to my post saddens me. Unintentionally you have both proven my point which brings me no joy.

God Help Argentina.

Aurelius, on your question about Pelé’s elbow, I had heard about it but never saw any footage of it.
And yes. I got to see “O Rei” once when I was a kid!!!.
My dad took me to the Monumental to see Argentina-Brazil (a qualifier of sorts).
He would say to me:
“Can you believe it? That’s Pelé. And that one over there is Garrincha. There’s Didí…”
I wish I had been able to appreciate what was going on, but I was too little.
Saludos

Oh my god, Albo – you saw Pele Garrinch and Didi? Live? I’m so jealous. I’m sure you probably also saw maradona live too.

eliot is a troll. He has to make lame complaints because he knows that his team will never reach the level of the south americans, whether in Arg or Brazil. England is a beautiful country, one that I love, but they are really not a soccer power anymore, and their players, save a few exceptions such as Gerrard, don’t have the skills to compete with their south american brothers.

Aurelius—
As for German sportsmanship hurling anti-semitic insults at ones coach is likely to lead to a degree of provocation.—–

can you give some background on this statement?

Unfortunately I have to spend a few seconds dealing with your comments Elliott.

If you actually watched the Pumas on their tour of Europe you would see sportsmen of the greatest ferocity on the pitch yet perfect gentlemen off it .Just witness Pichot & Dominici arms round each others shoulders after the dramatic one point defeat at the Stade de France or the Lions on the hockey pitch or Nalbandian parading round the tennis court.

You talk as Albo has said in blind generalisations.And by declaring quite brazenly that somehow Argentineans are endemically an underclass to Europeans in terms of their behaviour you show a great deal of bigotry.

Argentines seem themselves as Europeans seeing as most are of European descent. There is a unique culture a fusion of the Spanish & Italian.They need no lessons in deportment or culture (if you or I indeed were lucky enough to actually visit the country(which I intend to do in the near future)one would see that plainly) & certainly none from you.

As an Englishman myself & something I have stressed before there is actually a great deal of commonality with Argentina in historical links some unfortunate but mostly beneficial.

There is a social underclass in this country which need lessons in refinement, education & how to behave.No doubt there are similar persons in Argentina indeed around the world.

Your pointed remarks towards all Argentines in general indicate an unwelcome degree of hostility disguised by fair seeming remarks ,hence the retort from Batigol .

I really shouldn’t be wasting my time responding but you are irksome with such crass comments.

It would be like characterising the whole population of Britain as Europeans have done on the basis of the actions of a few hooligans & increasingly the chav Brits abroad on holiday.

But that of course would be untrue as well.

Of course English footballers are angels.They never cheat, throw elbows or abuse opponents or the referee just witness the QF against Portugual.

They certainly could do with lessons in erudition & seeing how real footballers like Moore,Charlton & Best played the game & unlike certain characters like Alf Ramsay a true English gentleman calling the opposition animals & that after a very dubious home decision by the referee .

Even his own players were embarassed by his actions which shows the characters they were.

Enough.

Regarding the fracas after the game Alexa. It was already a heated situation. But something was clearly aimed at Pekerman which incensed Ayala & Heinze (Volga Germans speak a medieval dialect of German still but he still would have understood it) both fluent German speakers(most English footballers struggle to speak English).

It was implied but mysteriously the whole thing was hushed up by FIFA for political reasons with Germany being the hosts & for obvious historical reasons. The culprit was in all likelihood Bierhoff.

And German fans will deny anything happenend at all & that it was yet again a case of sore losers.
Albo you are indeed lucky to see have that team live. I saw the incident on a tape recently obviously not being alive in 1970.

Pele just lifts his elbow into the chin of the defender who’d obviously annoyed him.The referee though & the linesmen were walking away at the time & never saw it.

So much for Peles saintly image !

Alexa, I did see Maradona at Boca’s La Bombonera about a year before he was sold to Barcelona. I remember the noise level and the way the stadium vibrated, it was scary.
But the biggest highlight of my life as a football fan was Argentina-The Netherlands ‘78WC finals at The Monumental. Visually, the most impressive match I’ve seen.
OK, this probably makes me the oldest of the gang. Let’s leave it there…
I’m sure some of you guys have a few memories of big games at big stadiums.
Anyone?

Aurelius, you’re such a class act. Great post.

AURELIUS I never wrote that poor sportsmanship was exclusive to Argentine football but that it was prevalent in it. I am genuinely surprised at your and others reaction to what I wrote. What I wrote is a statement of the obvious. If you wish to bury your head in the sand and hope this behavior will just self correct on it’s own that is your choice. I would still encourage others to ask the tough questions about their NT players behavior that is setting the example for the youth.
One observation I would like to make which contributes to this poor behavior on the pitch is the constant conspiracy theories that I read not only on this blog but in the media. You alluded to it yourself when referencing the post match fight between Ger. V Arg. When you said in part
“It was implied but mysteriously the whole thing was hushed up by FIFA for political reasons with Germany being the hosts & for obvious historical reasons. The culprit was in all likelihood Bierhoff.”
I say stop the endless self pity and continued promotion of conspiracy theories. This type of discussion will inevitably lead to another international incident like that at the WC.
Allow me one more very quick example. I read all the various countries blogs as I love the game and am interested in how different people view events happening in the sport. Some have questioned how a player like Riquelme wasn’t able to even one vote for the Golden Ball. Fair enough, however in the same sentence they will assume natural bias towards Argentine players. Now I bring this up because a player like Totti was not even nominated in the top 50. Anyone who watched Serie A last year knows this is an absurd oversight. When I read the Italian blogs there is no uproar or claims of conspiracy about this.
It takes courage to self examine and I wish Argentina the best of luck at placing the focus back on football and not the drama.

Oh Elliot, Elliot, you keep going at it.
You come into our blog to criticize our conduct as a whole, and in particular that of our members for their opinions, comparing us to bloggers of other countries and comparing the conduct of our players to those of other countries.
The whole thing with us is wrong, right? So why are you still in here?
Nobody really cares about your experiences in other blogs?
You little brat, should be the first one to learn from your own preaching.
You have interrupted the flow of an interesting conversation about midfielders we had been having for the last couple of days.
You came in this board to bully us about a topic that has been covered extensively not long ago and instead of going back and reading first, you made a fool of yourself assuming we would prove your point at the first insult. Now that’s cheap.
Where are your manners, Elliot? Are you really one of those gentlemen you talk so much about?
A lesser argentinean is respectfully asking you these questions, hoping that you will consider them and finally come to your senses.
Do you know how to exit a room in an educated fashion, Elliot?
Well thank you, I know you will eventually understand.

well duh, no Italian complained about Totti because Cannavaro won the whole thing.

But enough about elliot. Albo and Aurelius’ posts were already too good for troll stuff.

About midfielders=== I ABSOLUTELY think that any team with people like Riquelme or Aimar would be dumb not to use them to their best potential. If the Arg systems values midfielders enough to develop players like R and A, they should use them.

Rumor is that the Gago deal to Real Madrid is all but done. 20 mill euros for the January transfer window. Let’s hope he’s the new Redondo.

ALbo – again. I’m gobsmacked that you were at that game. You should write your experiences.

messay i am number 200 start a new thread

There can be no doubt I am on an Argentine football blog when responses to my posts include name calling.

I know you will have no difficulty justifying it by saying I started it, or I work for Fifa. Good Luck.

I can accept your apologies, Albo and company, but I will no longer contribute to the Argentine Blog.

As i said before good luck.

elliot if you will no longer contribute then piss off

Extremely valid point Messay old chap, it’s been a while. The funny thing is I do feel you’ve still left out some important strikers such as German Denis (Independiente), Nicolas Frutos (Anderlecht), Maxi Lopez (Mallorca), Mariano Gonzalez (Inter), Luciano Figueroa (when Genoa is promoted to serie A next season) and who could forget (the for some reason somewhat unliked) Julio Cruz who has even upstaged Crespo so far this season. Basile will have his hands full but I still think Demichelis, Solari and D’Alessandro are all worth a serious shot in the midfield where I feel the real problem lies.

Btw for Eliott and other Totti fans I’m sorry to say it but Totti was one of the worst players in the Italian squad at this years WC. Del Piero (even in his twilight) completely outshone him and played the role Totti was supposed to play for Italy. If he was injured then he should not have gone simple as that. Oh and what did Roma finish last season? = Totti outside the top 50 = JUSTIFIED….

Fernando I accept your apology.

Matias Totti as you know broke his ankle about 45 day’s prior to the WC. So the world only had a chance to see Totti at 60% of full health.

Looking back at the 2005 – 2006 season Roma won 11 consecutive games, a new record in Serie A. Totti played a huge role and was recognized by no less than Pele himself who called him “The King of Soccer” just before he broke his ankle. To say he shouldn’t have made at top 50 list is….baffling.

Today he is still playing with metal plates in his ankle. Recently on the weekend when Ronaldhino scored a beautiful bicycle kick goal Totti out did it with this beauty….enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g85KNt-8ZE4

Regards