The Zidane game.

yes! i love this blog.
Vamos Argentina, Vamos!!!
and i like “Zizou” too!

I love Zidane too his the Best, oh Maradona was a good player too in his career days

ZIDANE YOU ARE THE BEST. WE LOVE YOU. You had to do what you had to do and again I love you

As a Brazilian, I’ve never been able to root for Argentina because I know when you guys get your act together, you’re deadly. It’s not any resentment or national rivalry I feel, I just think you guys produce brilliant footballers but don’t have too much luck in international competitions. When it came around to the Germany-Argentina quarterfinal, I started out desperately wanting Germany to beat you because I didn’t want Brazil to meet the powerhouse that was the Argentine team (assuming Brazil advanced). Well, I watched that match and by the end of it, I was completely on Argentina’s side and felt that the result was just wrongwrongwrong!!! Terrible way to lose a match, for me you had the better team. I’ve made a complete turnaround and think that on balance, Argentina was still the best quality team of the tournament, period. And not just in terms of talent and skill but also in terms of the players’ conduct on the pitch. So I’m now rooting for your players and national team to continue and blast everyone else in whatever competition you enter. I still support Brazil but I want good teams like yours to beat them silly so they can shape up, lose the complacency and form themselves into a good organized team.

As for Zizou, I still love him, always will. I wish he’d waited until after the match to beat the crap out of that lowlife materazzi but instead he fell for the provocation. Stupid move but I understand his anger. He’ll always be the great Zidane and not one player on the Italian team can come anywhere close to his artistry and genius. He’ll always be one of the greatest footballers in history.

Zidane is an arrogant and he has no excuses for his behavior!!!You can be a good player and an idiot in your reactions!SHAME ON HIM!!!

Lucia shame on you, don’t even start with Zidane, his behavior? what about Materazzi’s behavior?. Lucia go do more research on Materazzi, then will talk.

Firstly, France didn’t dominate the Final and did not even deserve to be in extra time much less deserve to win. I can only assume that people people believe France dominated and deserved to win out of personal bias, hatred, and/or jealousy of Italy. Italy were in control in the 1st half, they let up in the 2nd half but still scored the winning goal which was erroneously called offside. and only in extra time did France start to look like a real threat. Toni’s goal was indeed a good goal considering the player offside was passive, much like Argentina’s 2nd goal against Ivory Coast or Henry’s goal against Brazil. Nonetheless, the deserving team won. As for the Zidane incident, people seem to love to portray Materazzi as a villian, as deserving of what he got. Why? Oh he “must” have said something, they say or they point to his past as a supposedly dirty player. Yet we are not talking about what Materazzi has done as a player, we are talking about 1 incident of “trash” talking. So because you consider Materazzi a dirty player he “deserved” the headbutt? If you want to talk dirty, look at Zidane for he is as dirty as they come. Zidane has a history of violence from headbutting to stomping on players with intent to injure. The only difference is that Zidane is supposedly a superstar while Materazzi is not, and he’s Italian and it in vogue these days to hate Italian football and players. Materazzi may be no saint but neither is Zidane.

About Zizue…He is a great footballer, NOT a great man. Lets not confuse this..he has a terrible history of violent acts, hes a terrible role model for kids. He was not so good this WC. They needed a hero story and he screwed it up being himself. I mean, they were setting it up for him, he just had to knockem down..He is NOT a great man, no where close

Pugnate, ita w/ u about Arg gaining new fans this WC. I’ve been an Argentina supporter since I was like 5yrs old (the 86 WC is my very first memory of them) and my brother has been a Brazil supporter since he was kid, and this WC even he was sad when Arg went out. Argentina played w/ heart and skill, and anyone who loves foot-ball had to appreciate what they brought to the field.

As for Zidane, i still love the guy and he’s my fave non-argentinian player in recent times. He made a horrible mistake and he proved he’s just human. I feel sympathy for him b/c i’m sure that on any other day he would have been able to let Materazzi’s comments slide, but with the amount of pressure on his shoulders and w/ his mother being so ill…that was the one day he couldn’t let it go.

I agree that Argentina were unfortunate to lose against Germany. I thought they were the better team and to lose like that really hurts. To be honest I thought Argentina was the most talented team in the World Cup. I loved watching Tevez play. He’s plays so hard with such skill and passion. As for Zizou, I will always remember him for the legend he is. Long live Zidane. And Lucia and Observer comments are quite garbarge.

france controled second half and extra time

they were unlucky not to win

this is the truth

regardless im just glad the germans couldent bribe the mexican ref to lean teh game there way

how easily ppl forget the one sided ref in our game

Zizou is a great player & will be regared as such fifty years from now alongside Platini.

However he will not be or cannot be remembered as the gentleman Platini was.His record has been marred by some nasty sendings off v Werder Bremen & a stamp in the 98 WC Finals.

Whatever the provocation he should not have responded. As to Materazzi he is a nice chap off the pitch I am sure but on it he can be a thug.

This is not the first time he has wound an opponent up. His elbow on Sorin could have blinded our beloved captain.

Nonetheless what he does is a part of a defenders game to rile the opposition. Forwards should know better than to react or simply reply back in a verbal manner.

Lets not judge Materazzi. Nothing has been proven as to what he said. Zizou declined to when he should have if it was serious to say anything on the matter.

There is no room for racism in football but this witchunt of Materazzi without concrete evidence does seem unfair even in view of his past indiscretions.

As for our football.Even here in England normally very hostile to Argentina people at work I have spoken to grudgingly admired our style of play & expressed a degree of sympathy at going out in the QF.

As for the final it was a very average game. At least when Argentina have played at recent world cups from 98 onwards almost every game they have played have left neutrals excited.

As for the tough draws lets hope with our QF placing & being seeded for 2010 we get a nicer draw !

Btw the Pumas have qualified as expected for the Rugby World Cup next September.

They are in the top 8 of rugby nations in the world. However yet again we are in a very touhg pool.The RWC is of 4 groups of 5 teams the top 2 in each go to the QFs.

Yet again we are stuck with Ireland & France.This means 3 out of the top 8 teams globally are in the same group

Talk about an unfair draw ! Nevertheless we have young stars on the way in the likes of Tiesi & Juan Lobbe along with established stars Hernandes & a man who is the only really genuine rugby icon in Argentina Agustin Pichot.

Football fields will cry with Zidane no more to bring grace and elegence to the sport.

Lucia……………

GET LOST…….

what zizu did was ok…if i was there i would have KICKED Materazzi in the balls. that is not part of fair play..thoguh i think zizu should have headbutt him after the game…

GO ON ZIZU….u r the game.

it’s good news that the blog will be running. The bloggers have done a fine job during the cup and hopefully will continue to
get things updated.
Now the time is to keep an eye on Arg players playing in different leagues. As for copa, players with age 30+ should have to
leave, as they are not likely to be available for next world cup. Next youth championship may also provide some young talents.
Aguero looks really good and should be included in the national team.
As for zidane… well nobody is perfect… what he did was something he shoudn’t have done inspite of all provocation.
But still he is perhaps the best player in the post-maradona era and surely will go down in history as one of the bests ever to play the game.

Guys,

Any site to get argentina’s old macthes in between 1994-2006

Any site to get argentina’s old macthes videos in between 1994-2006

The biggest losers are the fools who keep defending Zidane’s headbutt action. Coz ZIdane is now happily retired and rich and famous, shopping and enjoying coffee with his italian friends and comrades from the italian league.

While u losers are left to pick up the SH*t he left behind, struggling to justify his stupid act. You guys who therefore the biggest losers, but u dont see it. And u still want more of it. Fools!

anti-whiner shut the hell up, you are probably jealous of Zidane because whatever he has you don’t have, your here to count his money or what? His a legend and what are you? Nothing

Zidane foreverrrrrrrr we love you Zidane

Zidane has acted like a street thug. See it for what is is people.

looks like here becomes a Zidane blog…

You can see many clips of old world cup and argentine matches on youtube. It’s an amazing resource. I just saw the highlights of the 86 arg/ger final. God, Maradona was so amazing (he didn’t score in the game, but his passes were just spectacular)

The Crying Fields of Football
———————————————–————-

Football fields will cry with Zidane no more to bring grace and elegance to the sport

Football fields cried when foul words were the crowning glory of the champions

So reads the epitaph of the “Beautiful Game” which was laid to rest in Berlin on July 9th, 2006

i LOVE ZIDANE

Zidane was crazy, no doubt about it. His weaknesses come from his greatness — he’s really really intense. Many extraordinary players have this wild/nutjob side. It’s pretty hard to separate the one from the other.

But Zidane is such an antidote to the boring, grim defensive european soccer that was on display in this world cup. He’s a joy to watch.

But, you know, he fucked up. He’s human that way.

The best player in the world. Check out the Zizou song its hilarious.

http://zidaned.blogspot.com/

“The best player in the world. Check out the Zizou song its hilarious.

http://zidaned.blogspot.com/ ”

Your team won by cheating and provocation.

This is what loosers like you & Materazzi do best.

I see Italy as the perennial world cup “default” team. If all the other great teams sabatoge themselves, run out of luck, etc, Italy will always be there. They have a great defense. They made all their penalty kicks. They won. I don’t think they cheated any more than any other team.

The best team didn’t win. In some other, better, more beautiful parallel universe Argentina won the world cup. Here, we are stuck with Italy.

Question – does anyone know of any interviews with the Argy players now, about how they feel about the world cup? I’d like to read their opinions. Thanks!

I love Zizou he’s so sexy!, and the best player at the moment. Materazzi plays dirty, he deserved it…
I remember when Materazzi broke the sorin face :@!!!, Marco plays very dirty and is a bad player, also
Justice for Zizou too, hopefully F.I.F.A fines to M.M

check it out the Materazzi feats (:@!!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKGcUr0S-FU

(the Zizou head blow is nothing)

One word to describe the Argentinian players feelings.

Devastated.I think that they really were going to win it this year.

In transfer news Ayala may be going to Tottenaham.

Youngster Leandro Gioda of Lanus a target of Valencia may be going to Bolton(bad move). He ‘d be better off at Valencia or an Italian club in serie A.

Re: AURELIUS

From this gloom and depression a team of champions will arise in Argentina. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Hallo Kruman

For sure. I have every confidence we will be even better prepared for 2010 & there will be new players we havent heard about in plus the young players who will be all the better for this WC experience.

We should use the Copa America as a testing ground & go from there.

As usual some starlet will pop up in the u17 & u20 tournaments & then we have the Olympic tournament too (we are champions of course)for further tests.

If JP is retained he wont repeat the same mistakes. Lets not forget his original gameplan completely shut down the opposition in the QF for 70 minutes.

I was hoping that Ayala would go to Villarreal, to play alongside with Sorin and Riquelme.

I’ve heard that that kid Gago might be going to Real Madrid. He must be real talent.

I too think that Argentina will be hard to beat in 2010. Brazil will also be really tough, since you know they will come back gangbusters after this wc debacle.

I think that Argentina will always have a hard time, in a way, because they rarely take the easy way out. They never give up their style in the name of an assured victory (ie, they never go boring defensive). You can tell they value futbal for the love and beauty of it, while other teams would rather win “ugly”. Like Scolari said, all the teams that play beautifully are home now.

I think it’s a real problem with futbol these days. Because we fans want to see greatness, not just wins (at least I do).

It should say something that the top three goals scored in the wc were argentine.

For Argentina in copa 2007, i would definetly want to see some new blood in the team…no matter what others say….for COACH..Maradona will not be a good choice..he is too great to be a coach, he will expect his players to play like him, which will be quite impossible, but he will be a great moral for the team.For coach i will go for bilardo, bianchi, valdona might be a new choice or hector cooper. But not Bati-goal, he is not ready yet to coach us.

As i was saying new player is a MUST….and we have LOTS of new talents.
TELL me PEOPLE what you think of this ARGENTINE squad:

GK:
Ustari
Lux
Mariano Barbosa

DF:
AYALA(For 1/2 years)
Paletta
Sorin(1/2 years)
Hinze
coloccini
CABRAL Gustavo**
GARAY Ezequiel**
ABRAHAM David**
**these three are chosen from 2005 youth cup, though i am not sure about their skill, my guess they are good + TALL**
beside them any new player are welcome.

MF:
MAXI
Mascherano
Aimer
D’asandro
ZABALETA Pablo(Yc 2005)
ARCHUBI Rodrigo(yc 2005)
MESSI Lionel
Riquelme

FW:
Tevez
AGUERO Sergio
CAVENAGHI Fernando
Luciano Figueroa
+ any other new talents

TIME TO forget 4-4-2…..and GO for 3-2-3-2

The young kids should def. get their chance. And the veterans should also be respected – they suffered for their team.

I will still say that the most important thing would be to center the team around a midfielder a la riquelme. I know this is difficult, and has drawbacks.

This world cup has seen very uninspriring play because of the 4-5-1 formation. This formation pretty much buried the midfielder, and isolated the forward. As a result, no midfielder really made a mark other than Zidane and Riquelme, which should say something about their talent.

Please, future Arg. coach — no 4-5-1 and european style!

Kings of Football:
1958 – 1970: The rule of Pele
1982 – 1990: Maradona
1994-2006: Zinedine Zidane, the lion

Alexa I agree with you.It was a ballet on the pitch at times.

Such balance is a joy to behold in a player like Maradona or Best allied with pace & skill.

Gago is smaller than Redondo who was a supreme player & but for injuries would have made far more of an impact in Europe.

He also was a real gentleman of the game. Gago has all his qualities box to box with quality defensively & offensively.

I think going to Real would be a bad idea.The kid would be beter off at Sevilla or Villareal.

Here his personality would not be squashed by the egos around him & he could develop in his own way.

Witness the fiasco with Riquelme & Saviola at Barca.

Cardozo is a surefire bet to enetr the squad.Abraham & Garay are solid players but nothing out of the ordinary as yet

Zabaletta has to make his mark at Espanol.I will see if he does. Its unfair to question him or others as it does take time to settle in.

Even Diego found it hard at first.Biglia at Anderlecht is a hard tackling engine in midfield & we will see how he gets on at Anderlecht who have placed a lot of faith in him to get them to the CL.

As for Figueroa ?? remains. Cavenaghi again has found it hard to settle in Russia,

He has all the attributes as a goalscorer.I have seen him play his movement is exceptional as is his finishing & work in creating oppurtunities for others.

He MUST leave Spartak Moskva & go to Spain ASAP.He is not appreciated at this club by the coach.However the fans there love & worship him.

I’d recommend a move to Betis or somesuch La Coruna.

His talent is being wasted.I’d see him as a definite to replace Crespo.In my mind he could be better as he has a more all round game.

Tuhin I have no idea on Archubi though.Paletta I will see how he gets on at Liverpool.He will be a reserve LC player for the time being but is pencilled in to replace Hypia ASAP.Lets face it he has far more ability than the old man.

Wow, AURELIUS, you really know about the players. Keep the updates and opinions coming. I’d be interested in hearing about it.

Question – why did you call redondo a “gentleman of the game”, because of his behavior off the field?

To try to get my soccer fix, i’m actually considering driving up to New York to see Messi play with Barcelona in Giants stadium (I think) in August. I can’t wait to see the kid in action.

When I saw this I peed my pants.

Good post and crazy funny games…

Cheers from Elza

http://zeljo.com/blog/zidane-the-game/

Hey Aurelius,

Thanks for the info…it would be great if you could continue to share with us your analysis of the evolution of our young players…I had no idea Cavenaghi was in Russia. Since when? Any idea what Peckerman now thinks about him?

Cavenaghi is in Russia for a long time now… from River, since 2003? A very bad choice. Actually, I heard he was top scorer with 6 goals.

I remember Pekerman selected him against a Spanish team in an exhibition match. I think it was at Nou camp. Maybe ARG – BARCELONA.

AURELIUS,

good lord man!!! you know a lot about the team..wow. Thank you for your thoughtful post.

i saw Figueroa, he is quite good, all he needs some good training & therapy to recover from the injury.
As for CAVENAGHI, i agree with you..he need to move from Russia.

about argentine midfield….. it should not be focused around riquelme. we have many talented midfielders, they all should be given proper priority.

Riquelme should pair up with Aimer, along with Mascherano and Maxi. for substitution, D’leasandro should be included with other new talents.Messi should play in the midfield just behind the striker to create opportunity.

With 3-2-3-2 argentina will be able to outplay th eopposition and use their talent in best way.

The day of gloom for me was the day Argentina left this WC. They play so beautifully —I say this even though deep inside I am a Brazil fan…but its the truth, you can’t help but admire the style these two countries bring to football (I also consider France to play elegant football)..
So to these three nations:
Brazil, Argentina, and France —Thank you for making us Love this Game

Can’t someone start a new thread where we can discuss the future of Argentine football? I mean, Zizou is great, but we’re all here because of Argentine football, right?

Yes Nick. Haha.

Check this out–from Sports Illustaretd — top ten contenders for WC2010. Argentina is 3rd, behind Brazil and Spain.

Here’s what they say–

Argentina
Leo Messi, Carlos Tévez, Sergio Agüero, Pablo Aimar, maybe even Juan Román Riquelme — are you kidding me? Plus, Javier Mascherano will have another four years’ experience under his belt, which means he’ll have definitively supplanted France’s Claude Makélélé as the king of the unsung heroes. The loss of Roberto Ayala (and possibly Juan Pablo Sorín) at the back should be manageable if Gonzalo Rodríguez returns to full strength and Gabriel Heinze sticks around. The only question mark is whether Argentina can find a big center forward to replace Hernán Crespo.

What do you all think? My first imppression is that the guy vastly inderestimates the future of Messi. I think that Messi has every chance to become the dominant player in the next four years. Like to the level of overwhelming. But I do wonder about his remark about Crespo. DO you Argentina experts know of a good tall striker a la Crespo in the young ranks. Someone like that is def. needed.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/gabriele_marcotti/07/11/2010.contenders/index.html

more zidane games herehttp://noseas.com/?cat=24

Cavenaghi or Figueroa. Then there are also Maxi Lopez (4 years to improve, he belongs to the Tevez-Generation-winner but he’s not really a striker) and Ernesto Farias of River Plate (not that tall though).

Me hopes are on Maxi and Cavenaghi. Two very promising players.

Maxi is heavy, frightens defenders because he’s powerful, he doesn’t score much but he’s always good in great events like against Boca in the past, when he was at River. Remember also against Chelsea! He does good teamwork and that is what we need.

Cavenaghi? He was a monster at River: http://www.youtube.com/results?search=cavenaghi&search_type=search_videos. Nothing to add. He has 4 years to improve in a good European team.

Figueroa is qualified with his headings and showed it at Confederation Cup 05.

We also have Tevez!

Argentina have obviously lots of time to born good forwards. Don’t worry guys, each year a phenomenon is “created” by our football schools. Last year: Messi. This year: Aguero. We have time, too much to wait.

The game sucked. OK, Italy won, kudos, there was last Zidane Game drama etc. But, we have to agree, football is less fun today than five years ago…

Hey, has anybody heard that Ricardo Lavolpe might be interested in coaching Argentina?

Cavenaghi, please get the hell out of Russia… Go to La Liga, please…

I hate Zidane!
Forza Italia, Forza Juve!!!

@Agi

Down with italia you stupid dog!! You’re an ignorant bastard, who cares if you hate zidane? honestly tell me who the hell cares about what you think?

Um… can we quit this silly Zidane fighting and talk about Argentine football again?

I heard about Lavolpe also. I wasn’t impressed with Mexico at all in this WC, except for what they showed against Argentina. They were great in that game.

Is the idea of Peckerman as coach really dead in the water?

Dear blogger
I like Zidane too, but can we get a topic discussing Argentina.

btw, I am really glad this blog is staying active. Some of the information posted here about the players and the Argentine future is really great. Keep the good stuff coming

Yes blogger, could you please change the topic? The Zidane thing is over, nobody is talking about the WC anymore. Sad how it comes and goes isn’t it?

I’m not very happy that River Plate lost today against Libertad. What’s going on??? Though Farias did score-somebody mentioned this guy for the national team. In my opinion he is not good enough. Figueroa is much better, and I can’t wait to see him back in action with River, i got a feeling he will have a great season.

Nobody has mentioned the news about el Pato on GETAFE of LA LIGA…what’s going on guys???? I can’t wait to see what he does there…he do you guys think he will be okay to play in 4 years for us again? I’m thinking if Lehmann and Kahn are good enough at there age, Pato should be good still too no?

Anyways, take care all the best!

Pato did a great job in this WC. I’m still left wondering abot his injury in the Germany game. What really happened? WHy didn’t Klose get a foul called on him? Maradona completely criticized Pato for leaving the game, but if he was injured he wouldn’t have been any good there.

I also read an interview with Veron, and he really criticized Pekerman for the Subs in the Ger. game. I know the guy is controversial, and he seems to be a real problem, but his comments were quite honest and accurate, i thought.

I saw that Villarreal lost without the mundialistas, no riquelme or sorin or senna, etc. Does anyone know when those guys will be back with the team?

Probably heard this, but…

Saviola will not be going to Arsenal, so says Arsene Wegner or whatever that guy’s name is. I’m shocked to see that Saviola is only 24. I feel like I’ve heard about him all my life. Might go to Eidenhoven.

InterMilan is very happy with Julio Cruz, and they don’t want to lose him.

Heinze is perfectly happy at Man United. I can just imagine that locker room this season…Rooney, C.ROnaldo, Heinze. ?!??!

I think the riquelme move to man united is pretty much dead in the water, which is good, because I can’t imagine him being comfortable in that nuthouse.

Sorin is on his way out of Villareal, apparently he didn’t get along with the coach. Some are saying he’ll go to Stuttgart.

That’s all I know. I’ll post anything I find…

Julian, i just said Farias could progress even if i don’t expected as much as for Cavenaghi…

Come on, i finally like El Pato, but Lux and Ustari are the future!

Do you folks think el pato will play any role in 2010? The fellow’s already 33 years old…

Alexa, can you tell us a little bit more about Veron’s comments on the game with Germany?

As for Maradona saying that nobody should leave the field unless they have a bone broken, that’s just stupid…

I hope Riquelme doesn’t go to ManU either. It’s a pity Saviola isn’t going to Arsenal though. It would have been fantastic experience for him to play alongside Henry.

Hallo again everyone. Thanks alexa Nick Tuhin maxilopez & co for your kind words.

First of all about Redondo. Why is the guy a gentleman ? His conduct on the pitch was to play tough but fair.

His vision on the pitch was exceptional. This blog title mentions Zizou.Does anyone remember the CL final between Juve & Real Madrid ? Redondo completely outplayed Zizou at his peak.

Its such a shame because of injuries his career was stop start or else he would be mentioned in the same breath as even the legendary di Stefano.

Only Basile appreciated his gifts. Passarella was & is a fool. I’m sorry but he was an okay defender .His selfishness denied us the services of this great player at WC98.

Redondo may be his own man.He is erudite & educated & alwaysb had spare time for fans. At Real Madrid they rioted when they sold him.

And who would do this ? At AC Milan he missed almost 2 whole seasons with the knee injury that ended his career. He refused payment during the whole 2 years ! This in the era when players greed is out of control.

Gago as I said is smaller.This is what differentiates many European clubs.Small players are automatically given the cold shoulder as physicality is given first emphasis v-v skill.

Hence the number of what would be regarded as undersize players in the NT.

His work rate & passing ability & to read the opposition ae growing.

Then comes the question of where to go.Saviola would fit in at PSV.At the large clubs it depends on the players personality.A bad move could kill or stunt a players development.

So choice of club is vital & also the style they play.One might say a great player ought to be able to play in any team any where but that isnt true if the service to that player isnt forthcoming.

Such an example is Figueroas badly timed move to Birmingham City.This club play a long ball aerial game with very little passing or ingenuity.

Not at all suited to his game.It knocked his confidence which is coming back.

As for Cavenaghi the reason he wasnt picked by JP is lack of games at the top level. JP picked most of his squad from proven clubs who had been competing at the top level domestically & Europe wide (aside from Samuel/Zanetti which was mystifying Javier probably because he wasa strong supporter of that troublemaker Veron).

The Russian League isnt a good enough test & Cavenaghi though he scored in the CL for Spartak didnt play enough.

Coming back to Redondo I like Heinze decision as a man. T

Sorry computer glitch ??

Heinze stuck with the club that looked after his rehabilitation despite the lucrative offer from Real Madrid.

As to goalkeepers its Lux & Ustari we should be focused on. Both are young with superb reflexes & for once good in the air(more so Ustari than Lux).El Pato should be thanked & retired internationally.

Same goes for the likes of Placente Bernardi(unlucky not to get in as well considering his great season with Monaco).

This just illustrates the wealth of talent in the team. He would have got into many other NTs with no problems.

2 young players to look out for are Mario Santana.He could if he keeps progressing as he has done be in for 2010 aged 28.5.

His future is uncertain at present though with Fiorentina where he has moved to from Palermo being relegated to serie B.

Also Leonardo Ponzio if he could work on his concentration which seems to go walkabout at time as with German Lux is a possibility to move up in the defensive pairings.

Other players still in with a chance are his team mate Galletti. If only he could recapture his form of 2004/5 he’d be back in contention with or as Maxis backup in 2010.

This is of course assuming that all the players eligible for this WC are on form or injury free in 2010.

As Alexa mentioned Gonzalo Rodriguez is he keeps progressing at Villareal ought to be there & thereabouts.Nice & relaxed on the ball & a hard tackler I’d pair him with Heinze whos more rough & tumble & Mascherano infront would be a tough nut to crack so long as the full backs are awake !

Then either Gago or Biglia with him infront.I’d prefer Gago as hes far better with the ball at feet than Biglia.

And finally do we need Maxi Lopez ? Hes quite good at times in an old fashioned sense as a ball winner & distributor.But at other times he can be vry bad.I think we’re better off with 2 paced midfielders infront of a Gago/Mascherano pairing.

One to step up the play & stretch the opposition the other to just find the space this stretching creates. Messi would be the runner & someone else the passer into space.

Maxi Lopez could be used upfront to hold the ball & help compete for it for his fellow striker but he must improve his consistency.Too many bad games & just a handful where he has contributed

Like Biglia his loan to Mallorca is just what is needed. Away from the big club he can stamp himself as the leader get proper playing time & hopefully the responsibility placed upon him will boost his game .

I think the price tag has weighed him down & the pressure too.

As for transfers Sorin who fell out with Pellegrini is also being chased by Tottenham & Ayala is being hunted by Villareal! Villareal seem intent on being an all South American team asthey are also hunting Colo Colos Matiaz Fernandez.And of course Mariano Barbosa is a candidate to the no.1 jersey with Lux & Ustari.

He seems pretty competent in the matches I saw him play in the CL.Excellent kicker & distributor of the ball too better than Lux in this regard .

Nice post Aurelius.

Some of our players will obviously have lot of time to improve. What a fantastic team we could have!

I just wanted to say that i was a bit sad for Placente. I believe he is still the most constructive LSW of the world. Football that i love. The Argentine one. short passes. Never loses a ball. What a player. And a great tackler! I like the way Pekerman led hes team but he made mistakes with not taking him to the WC. It wasn’t Lux’s or Placente’s fault against Brazil at Confederation Cup! Well it’s old stuff now.

By the way, Grondona confirmed today that Pek would not change his mind. I hope he won’t do bad choices.

Alexa, are you sure Diego said this concerning the Pato sentence?

What Diego says is always manipulated in newspapers. I still believe we need this guy for or team. Diego is heart. It would have been essential against Germany. Heart with Aimar, Messi, Tevez destroying Germans.

And he could also have the role of a Mourinho: always saying shit and let his players work with no pressure.

Vamos Argentina.

Hey guys-

Here is a link to Veron’s radio interview about the World Cup. He’s a true troublemaker, but he stuck up for my Riquelme….

http://www.radiosalta.com/noticia.php?idn=56360

I can’t find that Maradona interview, but basically he said that, as Nick commented, that a player shouldn’t leave the field , even if he’s basically dying, or something really extreme like that (this was in regards to Pato)

Thanks Aurelious, great info., as always.

Redondo sounds like a real old time gentleman.

Italia… campioni del mondo!!! woohoo!!

pp-

Go back to your parents’ basement.

Where is redondo now? is he retired?

Redendo was a “classy” player bad luck for him passerella told him to cut short his hair & he refused in 1998

yo man italy dominated the first half, so i dont understand why everyone is saying france dominated the game. FRance was lucky becuase the first goal was bulll materazlli did not foul the french player. Toni’s goal sould have been a goal in overtime, he was clearlly not offsides, But i do give it to zidane great carrer, jsut dont say italy was dominated the whole game

this is specialy 4 AGI,quite clearly u have no taste nor do u nw much bout football…thts y u have made tht statement…jst by the way ZIDANE ROX N MATERAZI IS A CHUT(wht v call a pussy)…totaly agree with u LMAO…ZIDANE ALL THE WAY!!

ermin fazli hahahah hahaha hahah

First of all Zidane is a retard for doing what he did. It doesnt matter what anyone says on the soccer field you dont go and attack them. If you want you take them out with a slide tackle but what he did was unbelievably retarted. Not only did he embarass himself, but he also embarassed his country and his team. Thats the worst way to end what was a GREAT career. And dont get me wrong, Zidane is a great player but he made a stuiped choice and got what he deserved. A red card and a World Cup Final loss.

LikeZidane.com displays the act of the World Cup of Soccer Headbutt heard around the world by French player Zinedine Zidane on Italian player Macro Materazzi.
The site contains comical and real media, videos, files, games, and more on the event.

LikeZidane.com displays the act of the World Cup of Soccer Headbutt heard around the world by French player Zinedine Zidane on Italian player Macro Materazzi.
The site contains comical and real media, videos, files, games, and more on the event.

Soft! Only here!
Adobe-Photoshop-CS2

Oh i love You Zizou . i want to tell the people of whole world that ZINEDINE ZIDANE is one of the greatest Footballer in 100 years of Football world . he is a magician . I think he should be the World Footballer of the year 2006 because his great game in worldcup 2006 in Germany . I hope that Zizou must play for France in future .

i saws a million times your headbutt video. a good lesson for mettarazi.

i saws a million times your headbutt video. a good lesson for mettarazi.

talijani su zakon…
francuzi su… well… luzeri

Studio Glamour

hey great stuff