World

South America

Argentina

Looking Back…

December 17th, 2007 | By: Christian | 71 Comments »

Sorry for the lack of posts over the weekend, but I spent most of my Sunday digging out my car, not to mention myself, from snow for most of the day. I was finally able to catch up on what turned out to be a great weekend of football. Here are some of my thoughts on what went down:

* AC Milan 4 - 2 Boca Juniors: As a mildly entertaining diversion, FIFA’s Club World Cup is a sincere attempt to bring in the top clubs from each confederation and crown “world” champion, but within that sincerity lies the problem. For the most part, the CWC is nothing more than a glorified series of friendlies, lacking the drama and competitiveness seen in other tournaments held around the world. With the distance between clubs outside of Europe and South America in terms of quality still immense and not looking to narrow anytime soon, the legitimacy of such a title comes into question. Plus, add in the fact that the Champions League and Copa Libertadores winners get automatic entries into the semifinals reveals a huge flaw in FIFA’s strategy; that at the end of the day, the final that everyone really wants to see is basically the old Intercontinental format, and everything else is essentially filler.

I’m not saying the the CWC doesn’t mean anything; Boca fans would have paraded the streets of Buenos Aires just like they did when they defeated Real Madrid 2-1 in 2000 had they instead come out on top. But until FIFA levels the playing field by making it a true Cup competition (no more automatic seedings, 8 teams instead of 6), and until the standard of play outside of the traditional powers of Europe and S.A. improve, we’ll be seeing more of the same every winter. (On a side note, I know this has been discussed to death elsewhere, but the decision to not allow Riquelme to play was ridiculous, bordering on insulting. He practically lead his team to this competition in the first place, so why not include him? After all was said and done, was this final really a fair representation of the Boca squad that won the Libertadores?)

* Kaká “Wins” FIFA World Player of the Year Award: So let me get this straight. You can play on a supposed “big” team that does nothing in its domestic league and not even finish in the top 10. But, you score the most goals over a 15 game competition, which includes 4 against the mighty Anderlecht, and 3 penalties, and THAT is the criteria to earn you the title of best player in the world? Now of course I’m not saying that Kaká isn’t a brilliant footballer, or that winning the Champions League is insignificant, but FIFA seems to have confused Most Valuable Player with World Player. Is Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo more deserving? I guess cases can be made for or against either. But getting back to Riquelme, it still seems unbelievable to think that he wasn’t one of the 3 finalists. He takes Boca to their 6th Libertadores final almost singlehandedly, and unlike Kaká, actually goes to represent his country in the Copa America, a tournament that yes, Argentina lost, but he was still the class of the tournament. This has nothing to do with nationalities, ithas to do with what we consider makes a great footballer, and to me, it should be more than just scoring goals.

* Lionel Messi OUT of Clásico : Losing a player of Messi’s quality is never good, but to lose him 1 week before one of the biggest fixtures on the planet is even worse. We’ll find out just how Barcelona are able to cope without him this Sunday at the Camp Nou, in a must win game for the Catalan club who are currently in 2nd spot, 4 points behind Real Madrid. Barca may have Eto’o and Henry, but with Ronaldinho expected to start on the bench, this could be their undoing, so make sure to watch to see how Barca manage without their star player.

* This Sunday’s match between Manchester United and Liverpool was a prime example of the difference between an exciting game of football versus a truly great one. It certainly had it’s share of thrills, and of course a game-winning goal by Carlos Tévez, but it certainly lacked quality from both sides and overall it showed little of the intensity some expected. Liverpool look like a team that has no clue what to do on the pitch, and the frustrations are starting to show; just look at Javier Mascherano’s yellow card for slamming the ball down after earning a yellow.

Further Reading: The BBC’s Tim Vickery is one of the best journalists covering football in South America, and he has a great recap of the CWC. Also check out a similar story in the Guardian UK by Marcela Mora y Araujo who looks at what lies ahead for Boca. … Lionel Messi tries to calm down his teammates ahead of this week’s clash against Real Madrid by claiming the team can still succeed without him. Unfortunately he uses the example of their 3-0 win over a Valencia side Sunday that frankly looked like a Under-15 reserve side.

Tags: Copa America, player watch

Argentina World Cup RSS Feed

Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 71 comments.

Read the rest of the comments

By Debasish | December 19th, 2007 at 9:14 am

http://www.football.co.uk/news/getafe_seek_ustari_exit_255686.shtml

I know lot of you guys have high regards about Oscar Ustari, but whatever little I have seen, here is my observation

1. He seems to make severe mistakes
2. He is yet to have a clean sheet

I do not think he is the answer for our goal keeper. Off course I could be wrong as I have not seen too much, as he does not play much (which he is responsible for).

Posted from United States

By AURELIUS | December 19th, 2007 at 9:17 am

Interesting article. Have seen all of thse barring much of Alejandro Gomez. Should they develop to their full potential the Argentine midfield will be in a healthy state for many years to come.

Piatti is eerily similar to Messi both in playing style & build almost a doppelganger.

Just listened to Tim Vickery here on the radio. He is very disappointed by the linking of di Santo to Chelsea & fears he could end up as yet another promising talent that withered for lack of a proper development path. He would prefer that he remains in Chile & competes for Audax in the Liberatadores as he hasn’t got the physique for Premiership football yet.

The closest model to di Santo is Roque Santa Cruz but with more foot skill.

Chau.

Posted from United States

By Luciano from Brazil | December 19th, 2007 at 10:07 am

RIQUELME IS MUCH BETTER THAN KAKÁ (LIKE 10 TIMES BETTER).
Who cares about Kaká? He does not have team spirit. He plays for himself. He is selfish, etc.
Riquelme is a MAESTRO. He has CLASS. He plays for his team. He makes the team WORK, he uses his LEGS as much as his BRAIN.
VIVA RIQUELME!!!!!!!!!

By moe | December 19th, 2007 at 10:17 am

JA! Luciano de BRasil? Que cuento es ese? DEja de hacerte pasar po lo que no eres.

Posted from United States

By Albo | December 19th, 2007 at 11:36 am

I’m not sure it’s the right idea for a free market, but it seems to me there should be some type of regulation on the age of players exported to European teams.
What do you guys think?

By toddutah | December 19th, 2007 at 11:59 am

hey you cant blame a guy for taking the money but what he shold do is get into trainng with Chelsea and then go out on a loan deal to a smaller club that is what the problem is . Di santo could collect his check from Chelsea but then develope with a smaller club this year and only when he canm play a lot of minutes should he be with them. That is what Higuain shold have done as well although I still hear that they love him at Real.

Posted from United States

By MaxiLopez | December 19th, 2007 at 12:07 pm

Friends,

I am gonna stop posting on our blog and take some distance with it. A bit like Ken, but for different reasons.

2 years ago, the people on the blog had different points of views but were going in the same direction: WC06. There were discussions too. The new direction is almost the same today: WC10, only in 2 years in a half.

The fact that the Basile era seems so boring (obvious and easy problems never solved) maybe doesn’t enable us to have the kind of discussions we had before. You all know what I believe in: how we were playing in 2006 under Pekerman. I think I posted the same words 30 times: a 4-4-2 that switches to a 3-5-2 in order to perfectly fit with our players and play the beautiful game, bla bla. Maxi the parrott. That’s enough.

I don’t care about Messi’s gols on youtube. I don’t care about who should win the Ballon d’or. All I am interested in is the WC10. I love Argentina too much to talk about something else than our the problems we need to solve for 2010. Sorry, I am just like this.

I am honest, I prefer to tell you this.

I have now nobody to share my passion for Argentina. It’s like this in Europe. Maybe I should learn Spanish?

I wanna wish merry Christmas and happy year to my friends & veterans of the site: AURELIUS, ALBO, ALEXA, ALFIO, AIMAR10, RUNE, ASIL, KEN, WAMDIEGO, GOLAZO and co.

Vamos Argentina. Vamos Pekerman

By Christian | December 19th, 2007 at 12:49 pm

It’s a shame that you’re leaving MaxiLopez, that’s your decision and I respect that. Since I am new to this blog I’m still feeling my way through it, as far as what I personally want to talk about and the discussion that that may lead to. I was not here of course 2 years ago so I can’t comment as to what the discussion was; all I can do is focus on the now.

As for what you mention that we are veering off of the topic of the national team and the WC in 2010, that’s your opinion but I would disagree. What happens on the club level affects very much what happens on the national squad. I don’t think that we are avoiding that topic at all; yes there is little going on now in terms of qualifiers, but there is so much news going on elsewhere that I think merits discussion. My bringing up the World Player of the Year award and how it should have gone to Riquelme speaks to his importance to the team moving forward and the role he may play.

At the end of the day, this blog is yours so whatever you want to talk about we can. I love Argentine football as well, and I think it’s great that we can discuss the game from the top to the bottom. The ultimate goal in mind is for the WC, but there’s so much to talk about, why shouldn’t we?

Let me know your thoughts…

By toddutah | December 19th, 2007 at 1:45 pm

maxi dont be a baby i respnded to your post with a comment and arguement and you never said anythiing back ! of course we are going to discuss all things that pertain to this NT and the players and the future. You are acting like a five year old .

Posted from United States

By toddutah | December 19th, 2007 at 1:47 pm

Argentina ends the year ranked No. 1 in the world, swept both South American club competitions in 2007 and may boast the most balanced domestic league in the world. So why does it feel like the year is ending on such a down note?

At the club level, 2007 couldn’t have been better. Not only did Argentine clubs win both the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, but also the upbeat trend of smaller clubs rising to prominence continued.

What was particularly impressive was the determination of Argentina’s less fashionable clubs: Lanús shocked the nation by winning the Apertura Championship, while Arsenal went a step further by lifting the Copa Sudamericana.

Lanús’ incredible title run could be considered one of the greatest campaigns in recent history. The cash-strapped club, which had never won a domestic title in 92 years of existence, went undefeated in its final 10 league matches and clinched a title that seemed to be out of its reach.

Not only did Lanús play a very attractive style of soccer under Spanish-born coach Ramón Cabrero, but it also ended up as the league’s highest-scoring team with 34 goals, an achievement usually achieved by the likes of Boca Juniors, River Plate or Independiente.

In the Clausura Championship, San Lorenzo, which hadn’t come close to challenging for the title in a number of years (14 short seasons), won 14 of its 19 league matches and ended the season as huge six-point winners. El Ciclón went undefeated in its four clásicos against the major Buenos Aires clubs, including a historic 3-0 victory over Boca at the Bombonera.

But internationally, it was surprise package Arsenal that made a stand with the Sudamericana title. The tiny club from Sarandí, which had no right to even make a claim in the competition, swept away a number of higher-profile teams, including San Lorenzo, Chivas de Guadalajara, River and Club América, before winning its first-ever title.

Many boil Arsenal’s success down to the fighting spirit of the side, its determination and aggressiveness on the field. That was exactly the manner in which Arsenal won the title, as it came from behind to beat América on the away-goals rule with a late strike in the title decider in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires. Arsenal proved that no matter the circumstances, smaller clubs are more than capable of defying the odds if they set their minds to it.

Then again, it was one of Argentina’s major clubs that won South America’s ultimate club competition, the Copa Libertadores. Boca Juniors brushed aside all opposition on the way to their sixth title, capping it off with an emphatic 5-0 aggregate victory over Brazilian side Grêmio of Porto Alegre in the finals last June.

It was a hugely important victory for Argentine soccer in general, as its clubs hadn’t lifted the Libertadores title since Boca beat Santos in the decider back in 2003. Over the past couple of years, Argentine clubs had to put up with watching two consecutive all-Brazilian finals (São Paulo vs. Atlético Paranaense in ‘05 and São Paulo vs. Internacional in ‘06).

Posted from United States

By toddutah | December 19th, 2007 at 1:48 pm

But despite all these steps forward, the year didn’t end in the best possible way for Argentine clubs. Boca, whose Libertadores title gave it the right to participate in the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, reached the final of the competition, but suffered a painful 4-2 defeat to European champion AC Milan in Yokohama on Sunday.

Had Boca not sold the backbone of its Libertadores-winning side, it could have been a different story. But the absences of Daniel Díaz, Clemente Rodríguez and, in particular, essential playmaker Juan Román Riquelme (who returned to the club, but wasn’t short-listed in time for the competition) had a huge effect on the team.

At the national-team level, it could be considered a bad year for Argentina after its disappointing Copa América campaign in Venezuela. Alfio Basile’s team won its first five matches as it advanced to the final of the competition (scoring an unmatched total of 16 goals) before being crushed 3-0 by a superior Brazil squad in the decider.

The likes of Riquelme, Lionel Messi and Carlos Tévez didn’t show up in the title match in Maracaibo, and Argentina failed to win its second consecutive final against the Brazilians, and its first international trophy in 14 years.

There’s no doubt times have been extremely tough for the national team. It started off its 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign in style, winning its first three matches (with seven goals in favor and none against). But when it faced its first real test, a visit to Bogotá to face Colombia in late November, it suffered a 2-1 defeat.

It’s often hard to reconcile why Argentina keeps letting down the fans while it boasts arguably the most talented squad of players on the planet. Just ask soccer’s governing body: According to the official FIFA World Rankings, Argentina ends the year as the No. 1 team in the world. Some consolation for its efforts, but the truth is that Argentina has to improve a great deal if it wants to win a title of some significance in the near future.

Even so, Argentine soccer has experienced a relatively good year in terms of overall improvement. The national team may have failed at the final hurdle once again, but it could be just a matter of time before it wins a major title.

On the local front, the level of competition in the Argentina first division was of the highest order. That internal quality has allowed for the emergence of new powers, both on the local and international scene. One can’t help but hope the laundry list of positives during this past year will translate to even bigger things for Argentina in ‘08 and beyond.

Posted from United States

By toddutah | December 19th, 2007 at 1:48 pm

please comment on the story . Do you agree? Maxi is this ok or should we not discuss this or it might offend you ?

Posted from United States

By Christian | December 19th, 2007 at 1:58 pm

Can you post a link to the original?

By day1star | December 19th, 2007 at 2:56 pm

Thanks for the article Toddutah, i enjoyed reading it. It’s good to see some positives out of what has been a mixed year for Argentina fans.
It will be quite sad if you leave Maxilopez i like reading your posts and everyone else’s with the exception of the trolls.
What happens outside of the NT is important for the make up of the national team, and how our players perform domestically as well as nationally and how they are regarded abroad is also worth discussing.

By Christian | December 19th, 2007 at 3:01 pm

As far as the trolls go, we’ve issued a warning so any future posts will be immediately deleted.

By day1star | December 19th, 2007 at 3:08 pm

Albo, i don’t think any players under the age of 20 should be allowed to leave to play in a league in another country. It’s not good for our domestic leagues to always have to try to produce more new players to sell off to keep the clubs going. It’s not good for the fans. Also there should be a stop on players getting nationalities from other countries and then being eligible to play for their new nationalities teams.

By day1star | December 19th, 2007 at 3:15 pm

What’s happened in the past is gone, all you can address now is the future and try not to repeat the mistakes of the past. The more good players we have the more competition for places in the NT, can only be a good thing.

By MaxiLopez | December 19th, 2007 at 3:17 pm

Christian,

I know my English isn’t perfect but when i read “people” saying that I am acting like a kid makes me laugh. I am not at all the kind of person that needs love on a website, I am happy with what I have in my life. Some “people” take things very personaly and try to change what others say.

I am not angry and offended at all. People are free to talk on whatever they like, hey, no problem.

I am a scientist. In my life, I love solving problems so when it concerns Argentina, it becomes the football first topic for me. It’s my personality. I’m not saying people should talk about only one single topic, never at all.

Then, the fact that there isn’t a lot of action for Argentina at NT level doesn’t bring a lot to talk about, for me. The next important (?) event for Argentina NT could be next year (not sure) so I won’t say again and again the things that could solve our tactical problems. We’ve also talked about it many times. I don’t think this is difficult to understand.

Of course I am interested in all other football topics, but for me, one is more important than ohers. I was not going to write 50 lines on Messi’s last gol, for example.

I wanna thank poeple like LINDA or CHRISTIAN who make this site evolving. It’s nice to have people who can make people talk and DISCUSS. I think it’s even essential to the blog.

To the people i mentioned on my post before (”co” included), you are nice and clever persons. Here is my messenger address if you wanna talk about Argentina tactics