Catalunya vs. Argentina LIVE

Albo, yes Boca was excellent in the first half at Mexico. Boca were very unlucky in this game but hopefully they will leave with a moral high and positive attitude so they can trash Flu in Rio.

Posted from  United States

One thing though - Migliore may be “The Great Butterfinger” but please dont let him play the next game.

Posted from  United States

Looks like i missed a great game, no matter, i will make sure that i watch the second leg, which i’m sure Boca will win. For some reason Boca seem to miss so many chances at home and yet when they play away from home, they put them away, maybe they feel more pressure playing at home.

Migliore is a sub for Caranta who’s injured.
and he is not as bad as it looked on the goal.
I feel for him because he’s usually a decent GK.

It was a fantastic match. This is the way a semi-final should be played, attack, attack, attack, well, if you want to win. Boca had them on their end of the pitch for 23 minutes at the beginning of the second half. Really amazing.

Check my re-cap of the match.

http://libertadores.theoffside.com/news/boca-and-flu-to-work-it-out-in-seven-days.html

Posted from  United States

When Flu open themselves up, they’ll be in great danger of Palacio’s speed in the counter strike.

The Maracana must be huge (like the camp nou?), and that will be a problem. And the historical weight of the name Maracana makes the place just seem intimidating. But Boca has made a practice of going to these places and getting results. They really are “champions” - they have that mentality.

Riquelme didn’t seem to bothered when they interviewed him after the game. He showed the interviewer his busted lip (caused in the penalty box), but other than that, he seemed annoyed but not surprised that the result ended up the way it did.

We’ll see. Either way — Boca plays in a very risky way, which can result in goals against, but they are exemplary! I absolutely love the way they attack like dive bombers throughout the entire 90 minutes. Good for them!

Posted from  United States

Lautaro Acosta is off to Sevilla…good for him.

Posted from  United States

Yes good for him. He’s had a few injuries this season making him miss some important matches but he definitely carries some of the goal-scoring weight for his squad when he’s healthy.

Posted from  United States

Looks like Inter just announced that they let Roberto Mancini go.

José Mourinho is probably out getting his suit fitted.

What happens to the Argentine contingent in Milan? Does Crespo stay for sure since he has a past with Mourinho and Ibrahimovich might transfer to Barsa?

Posted from  United States

tO: Riquelme the blogger,
Have you seen Suleman Mirza on “Britain got talents”.
I hope you get a chance to see it on you-tube. He is
awesome!

P.S Maxilopez, to be a winner you MUST also
have passion. It is very offending to pretend
that only ours fans have passion, not others.
Passion belongs to everyone.

I just have a feeling that there is going to be a huge Argentine exodus from INTER this season..Solari goin to Porto to replace Lucho who wants to go to Atletico for sure, Burdisso will be getting the kick aswell considering he’s one of Inter’s weakling in defence, Samuel will definetely stay as his contract was renewed! Cruz will also stay but his age is against him i think and mourinho isnt keen on aged players..Crespo has a good relationship with Mourinho despite people speaking negatively, infact Mourinho wanted Crespo to return to Chelsea while he was in charge!! Cambiasso might face a little dilemna coz Mourinho is going to bring in some mid-field players and he might have to fight for his place!! if Cambiasso shows the form that he did earlier in the season then no one cud displace him from his position!! Zanetti will stay coz he’s a legend at INTER but his appearances might be limited aswell!! Honestly speakin, Mourinho is the worst guy for Inter, he’s gona change them into a tactically, boring team like he did at Chelsea!! they might win CL or the scudetto again n again bt at the xpense of rubbish tactically defensive football!!!

The first move I envision Mourinho making would be to strip the perfect Zanetti of his captain arm band and hand it off to Frank Lampard. If he does that, I’ll want to vomit.

Posted from  United States

Please do not underestimate Mourinho. He
is much more decent than that and is a person of
principle though we, Argentinean fans, all detest him here because
of his purely tactical approach bent on winning at all costs.But he is a winner. Just look at his record. Avram Grant would concur…
Cheers,
KEN

I had the worry that Inter of Mourinho will make Argentines leave sooner or later. But thats all a speculation based on his tenure in Chelsea but if we see from EPL perspective he had no option but to give a physical fight in the physical league and win it in tactical approach using the physical qualities. In Serie-A he wont be applying the same tactics, he surely is a man of tactics but I think he does respect skill and wants to have skill-full players whom he can fit into his tactical system.
I might be wrong but If any coach sticks to one kind of approach sooner or later he is easily readable and possible to get a counter tactic for his style.
I hope Crespo plays , for me he has the best positioning and can deliver far better than other No. 9

On second thoughts even if Mancini has left, there is no confirmation that Mourinho has infact taken over. May be its not Mourinho but if its Frank Rijkaard Inter will have high hopes for a great football but possibly not that many wins. If Rijkaard comes surely Crespo will be shown the door as well as Cruz. Its all prediction , lets see what way the new season starts.

Posted from  Australia

Mourinho is hardly a winner by any estimation. Did he get to a CL final ? For that matter had any of those chances that hit the bar or post gone in would he now be a failure ?

The margin between sucess & failure is extremely small at the top level. Had Liverpool not conceded the own goal from Riise would they have even made the final ?

As for Lampard. Vastly over rated watercarrier without the redeeming qualities of a Mascherano. Hyped beyond measure.

Speaking of which anyone who saw the drab affair USA- England should see that Argentina should wallop these teams on a regular basis. Daystar regarding the Brazilians I think its a mental weakness when the yellow jerseys are espied.

Mental preperation would be handy & self belief. These players have got to be told they are amongst the worlds best & play like it.

Bielsa has done a great job with the Chilean u20s seeing a couple of their games in Toulon. They should join Argentina & Brazil & Uruguay in South Africa. There are some real talents in that team a fact not escaped by many of the European giants.

AURELIUS….

Mourinho won the CL with Porto. And as much as I detest his style / team formation, Mourinho might have single handedly won them the CL that year. His tactics were superb, got the most out of his un-facncied squad, and overall just out coached and out maneuvered his counterparts that year.

and regarding Lampard, well, with all the money flowing into England, their soccer players are hyped beyond belief. Everytime I see England play, other than their Defence (perennially strong in this area), I can’t think of one MF/Attacking player that could crack the Arg/Brazil lineup. Don’t get me wrong, Rooney, Gerrard, Joe Cole are nice players but none of them have that technical quality that makes Arg/Brazil players special. Rooney before he got hurt may have fit in and Cole every once in a while goes Brazilian on us. But as a team, England are horrible yet every time a major competition comes, England are considered one of the favorites. Always boggles my mind. Take out 1966, and they’ve done nothing. But it shows you the power of the marketing dollars in the sport…

Posted from  Canada

Off topic.

Go Lakers!!!

ALEXA, KEN, ALFIO
Arsenal ONLY lost this year because of their mental. They lost concentration at the end of the year because of the medias. Arsenal is a very young team and couldn’t hold the pressure after destroying everybody in the English league. At the end, they were back but too late. And don’t forget Arsenal was knocked out of the CL because of the referees…

ALEXA,
Most of the time I am neutral when watching football. Even when my country faces another team such as Ecuador. It’s not the case when Argentines are involved. Ecuador played very well but was tired in the second half. They have a very good forward who should have easily scored after eliminating Thuram & Frey. France are very physical and won the game 2-0.
Ecuador was playing 4-3-1-2 when attacking and 4-1-4-1 when defending (what Pekerman did many times). Every team in the world defend with 9 players, of course even for positive futbol. I hope Basile will think about it…

Euro 2008. I’m sure there will be a big surprise in the group of death: France, Italy, Neterlands, Romania. Italy who always arrives in an international competition thinking they are the best, might go home early. They always have difficulties to win in group stages.

Euro 2008 is going to be so boring. Only Spain is going to try to play. The other teams such as Germany, France or Italy are unable to create.

I would prefer to see Migliore instead of Pato in our nets. At least I wouldn’t see Pato’s crying face anymore…

KEN,
A Maradona famous quote concerning passion, words that he said to Boca fans:
“We are the only people who have real passion in futbol. The others don’t”. KEN, what do you think about Argentina defending system (attacking 4-3-1-2 and defending the same way with only 7 players)?? Keep posting my friend.

Concerning Mourinho! Why the hell would he hate and fire Inter Argentine footballers? He is not stupid you know! I think it’s good news. If you want boys to get a winning habit, then be happy to see Mourinho coming at Inter (Yes you are right KEN). And even if some of our players leave, he will have nothing to do with it. Crespo & Cruz are old (Hernan should leave: he’s old and should go to Roma if they still want him, or in another Italian club (Lazio?) or River). Samuel is injured. Solari doesn’t really play since 2000 etc.

ALEXA,
I hate Mourinho too though. We’ll see. But you know, Inter fans haven’t won anything for decades. I know them by heart. They have arrived at this kind of point: they don’t care about the style. They want to win at any cost. That’s why Mourinho is the man for Moratti.

ZANETTI (il capitano!),
Burdisso is the first player Mourinho is going to praise: he’s a defender who can play everywhere in the defence. He will be his Gallas.
AURELIUS,
Keep posting my friend. Great post. The last example concerning France and their physical preferred approach. Domenech has excluded Flamini, Mexes, Trezeguet from the NT. Technical players. Things are becoming crazy in Europe. All coaches want very physical 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 to not lose. Negative football. With Trezeguet, Henry, Ribéry, Malouda, Nasri, Mexes, Flamini, Evra all together, it would have been a very nice winning team to watch.

Thanks J-ARGIE for the friendly review.

VAMOS ARGENTINA.

Albo, you’re a Lakers fan?

Posted from  United States

Benfica After Argentine Prodigy Buonanotte
According to reports Benfica have confirmed their interest in explosive River Plate attacking midfielder Diego Buonanotte.
»Comments (2) Print This Story Send To A Friend Contact Us galleria zoom The Portuguese giants are willing to dish out €10 million for the incredibly gifted 20-year-old, but recent reports from the Argentine press indicate that River expect a much greater amount for their young revelation.

Buonanotte, who stands at only 1.60 metres, has been River’s most influential player this season, and has played a key role as Los Millonarios strive to clinch their first national championship since 2004.

In recent months “The Midget” has attracted the attention of Juventus, but the Italian giants backed off after River told them that the midfielder was not for sale, and he will continue to be a River player for a couple more years.

Earlier in the year Buonanotte told reporters that he was happy at River, however, if he were to move abroad he would prefer to play in England, Spain, or Italy.

There’s no doubt Buonanotte has an extremely bright future ahead of him. The skilful dribbler promises to experience similar success to that of fellow Argentines Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, and Carlos Tevez.

Posted from  United States

Oh yeah Lakers suck Jazz fan here

Posted from  United States

DEBASISH,
Why are you so happy about Basile’s comments?

sixers!!!

Posted from  United States

Mauro, yes.
I’m in LALA Land here.

MaxiLopez, I hope you’ve read my post from a few days ago

ToddUtah, ha ha,Iknow thejazz are a nice team, but I don’t see them much on TV these days…