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My 2007 Year in Review

December 27th, 2007 | By: Christian | 33 Comments »

Remember to leave your answers from the previous post if you haven’t already, and I’ll add up everyone’s results later.

* Best Game: Barcelona 3-3 Real Madrid - March 10th
Lionel Messi
There were several worthy candidates, but for me the 3-3 draw between Barcelona and Real Madrid was the best quality football played over 90 minutes that I saw all of last year. There was pure drama, an intense atmosphere in the Camp Nou, appearances from Higuain and Gago, and of course a hat trick from Lionel Messi, his third goal coming in the 90th minute to deny Real the win. It was the biggest derby in the world producing one of the best displays of football you will see. As far as the national team, I think Argentina’s 3-0 win over Mexico may have been their best outing of the tournament. It was as clinical a performance as you will see and one that promised great things for the squad going into tine final. Runner up: The Under-20 Championship final win against the Czech Republic.

* Most Disappointing Game: Copa America Final - July 15th
Argentina Copa America Final
Without question the 3-0 loss to Brazil in the Copa America final was the year’s most heartbreaking. Despite being the class of the tournament AND fielding a full strength squad, Argentina were simply played off the pitch by a Brazil side that showed little of the brilliance of that countries famed footballing history. It was the worst kind of loss imaginable; lousy defense, an own goal, and the disappearance of top players Riquelme, Messi and Tévez. All of Argentina would do well to sweep that disaster under the rug and focus on 2010, but like their early exit in last year’s World Cup, it was another reminder in which a Argentine squad loaded with world-class talent was unable to get it done when it really mattered. A distant second: As a River Plate fan I was appalled by their embarrassing ouster from the Copa Sudamericana by Arsenal in the semifinals. While I won’t take anything away from the club from Sarandí, River looked like 11 players who were playing together for the first time, and barely able to show any signs of life. A fitting way to end a forgettable year for the millonarios.

* Best Performances: Juan Román Riquelme and Carlos Tévez
Juan Roman Riquelme
Carlos Tevez
Without a doubt the best player I saw all of last year was Riquelme. Simply look at what he was able to accomplish with Boca Juniors and in the Copa Libertadores final, as well as his performance in the Copa America (minus the final of course), and I think it’s clear he was the world player of the year. Consider that he wasn’t even playing on a club team for much of the year and his accomplishments are even more impressive. But I would be remise if I didn’t mention Carlos Tévez’s contribution to West Ham. Under great stress he and the club were under following his questionable transfer from Corinthians, Tévez literally took a relegation bound West Ham club and saved their season from almost certain disaster. One could make the argument that Carlitos was more interested in putting himself in the shop window to save his European career than he was in endearing himself to the West Ham faithful, but you cannot deny that he singlehandedly kept the team in top flight, and ensured the East London club the millions of pounds in revenue as a result. From a club level, I’m going to pick José Sand and his 15 goals which lead surprise club Lanús to their first ever league title. Sand couldn’t get a start with River Plate just a few years ago career, and was dumped off to various clubs before landing at Lanús. The result? He takes his club to the title, while River finish 14th.
Jose Sand

* Best Goal: Lionel Messi v Getafe April 18th - Carlos Tevez v Tottenham March 4th

I know a lot of people are picking Messi’s wicked goal against Getafe in the Copa del Rey, and it’s hard not to, considering the beauty of his run past the defenders and its comparisons to Maradona. But personally, I’m going to go with Tevez’s free kick against Tottenham. Though the game ended 4-3 in favor of the Spurs, it was this game that really kick-started West Ham’s run to avoid relegation, and it was motivated by Carlitos’ long awaited first goal since joining the Hammers. Not only was it a wonder strike, but his joyous celebration after scoring it, taking off his shirt and jumping into the crowd, was pure Tevez, and injected some life and excitement into the game. Tevez announced himself as a major player in England, and it came on this goal.

* Breakout Player - Juan Juan Román Riquelme
I’m going to have to sound like a skipping record and go with Riquelme. I think many people, including myself, felt that his loan back to Boca was a sign that he was washed up, but you can’t argue with the results.

* Biggest Storylines in 2008
Looking ahead at the upcoming Clausura season, it will be interesting to see the new coaching changes at the top. Both River and Boca will enter their campaigns with new managers and it’s fair to say that uncertainty surrounds both clubs. Also, with Lanús and Arsenal claiming the league and Copa Sudamericana respectively, will smaller clubs contine to push out the traditional big 5 in Argentina? And in Europe, will Messi’s return from injury be too late to save Barcelona? And, just how far can the Argentina-loaded Inter Milan make it in Serie A and the Champions League?

* Next big player from Argentina:
Take your pick from the Under 20 squad; Ever Banega, Angel Di Maria, and of course Sergio Agüero are the stars of tomorrow. I think the player with most impact will be Tevez, who will have a say one way or the other in Manchester United’s quest for European glory. Back home, Martín Palermo will try to keep Boca in the title race and the Copa Libertadores.

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 33 comments.

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By -a | December 27th, 2007 at 5:39 pm

Forgot all about him being at Velez! Thanks.

Posted from United States

By Daily Dose: 27.12.07 - World Football - The Offside - Soccer News and Opinion from leagues around the world | December 27th, 2007 at 6:00 pm

[...] Argentina 2007 in review. (Argentina World Cup Blog) [...]

Posted from United States

By Albo | December 27th, 2007 at 9:36 pm

Juventus made an offer of 15 million euros for Banega.
Real Madrid would have the priority if they decide to match the offer.
I hope Banega somehow can stay in Argentina for one more year.
Boca Juniors is going to be an interesting team to watch if Banega stays.

—————Caranta—————
Ibarra, Maidana, Paletta, Morel
—Battaglia, Banega, Cardozo
—————Riquelme————
———Palermo—Palacio——

I know you guys don’t care much for Argie teams but this lineup is not bad at all.
We’ll see if it’s true…
Chau

Posted from United States

By john | December 27th, 2007 at 11:12 pm

Sorry guy’s but I wont be able to post for a couple of days. I know, I know but I’ll be back.

By Asil | December 28th, 2007 at 1:33 am

Great review, Christian.

It’s a wonderful post you did picking out the best moments for us to cherish and remember. 2007 has been great year for our players and clubs. I believe again, 2008 will be great for Messi, Tevez & Aguero.

You’re right about Copa. To me, personally Copa America has been THE MOMENT to be remembered for it’s both sweet and bitter experience.

With great achievements by players and clubs, I REALLY HOPE that will translate to greater success for us at international & senior level from 2008 and onwards.

Posted from Malaysia

By Daily Dose 12.28.07 - World Cup Blog | December 28th, 2007 at 9:48 am

[...] 2007 in review (Argentina Blog) [...]

Posted from United States

By toddutah | December 28th, 2007 at 10:41 am

Het Albo i love Argy league futbol and yes Boca could have a great team plus it will be very interesting to see what happenes with River and all the upstart teams. Plus a couple of big names could be headed back there.

Posted from United States

By Rune | December 28th, 2007 at 10:49 am

Best Game: Barcelona 3-3 Real Madrid - March 10th
Most Disappointing Game: The Copa America Final, off course
Best player: Messi
Best Goal: Messi - you know which goal I am thinking of
Breakout player: Messi
Next big players from Argentina: Aguero and Banega

And the special “silly sods” awards goes to do all the Argies at Real Madrid. What a waste of their talent! I hope they’ll see the light and move to smaller clubs where they can do what we all would want them to do; play games.

Posted from Norway

By toddutah | December 28th, 2007 at 11:14 am

Upson: West Ham fans will welcome warmly Man Utd’s Tevez
tribalfooball.com - December 27, 2007

West Ham United defender Matthew Upson is confident Manchester United’s Carlos Tevez will receive a warm reception tomorrow.
Upson said: “Carlos will get a fantastic reception. All our fans respect him for what he did and he will be welcomed back for the rest of his life.

“I don’t intend to be quite so generous but I know how tough he will be to play against from being alongside him and facing him in training.

“He is quite dogged when he gets the ball. When it looks as though he has lost it, he still retains possession. You have just got to be clever - know when to get tight and when to drop off. You don’t want to give him too much space because players like him win games.”

Tevez, who scored seven goals in the last 10 games last season, finished his rescue act with the only goal of the game to tame Manchester United in their own back yard - a performance that clinched his move to join up with Sir Alex Ferguson.

But Upson admits he didn’t see that particular move coming.

“When I first saw him, If you’d asked me if I thought he would go on to play for Manchester United and do so well, I would have to be honest and say no.

“Physically, I think he surprises a few people, because to look at him you would say he did not have too much to offer.

“But he is very unpredictable, which can be a difficult thing to play against.”

Posted from United States

By -a | December 28th, 2007 at 12:33 pm

Lyon have signed ‘Chelito’ Delgado. Best of luck to the striker in Ligue.

By Debasish | December 28th, 2007 at 1:26 pm

Read this guys!!!

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/07/12/28/SOCCER_West_Ham_Nightlead.html

By Christian | December 28th, 2007 at 1:47 pm

West Ham fans are a classy bunch and I imagine they will give him a warm reception. And Carlitos knows the way things work; if he scores you know he won’t celebrate. It’s the same way in Argentina, and expect Tevez to show respect.

If Arsenal drop points against Everton which is likely, and Man. United win (again, likely), it’ll be a happy new year indeed for the mancs.

By Albo | December 28th, 2007 at 9:00 pm

Absolutely, like Christian says, if Tevez scores on the hammers, he is not going to celebrate.
That’s the connection certain players have with their fans. He’s in their hearts, but they are in his heart too.

Posted from United States

By john | December 29th, 2007 at 12:42 am

Everything with Argentina NT is summed up in the coppa America tournament, brilliant play up unto the finals. This is the dilemma of Argentine football.

The inability to adapt and change during a game will continue to haunt. It’s fine to beat the US et all, but the problem still remains at crunch time. They cannot play the same game against the top five countries. If Basile thinks (which is the problem) that he can come out all guns a blazing against Brazil, Italy Germany………get use to disappointment.

Not every game is the same, and regardless what some think Arhgentina is not the only country with the ability to play the BEAUTIFUL game.

Regards from a Euro perspective. Please discuss and I can comment later.

Forza Ducati

By john | December 29th, 2007 at 12:49 am

ps: it brings me only mild joy to have to point these things out to the faithfull, however lets disuss honestly and mature ………ly

By -a | December 29th, 2007 at 10:47 am

I don’t think anyone here has ever said that Argentina is the only national team that plays beautiful football, John. Ultimately, it comes down to results. Everyone wants to win with a bit of style– there’s nothing wrong with craving that. Realistically, it doesn’t happen all of the time.

There are 4 years to improve and tweak the team for the World Cup. Fortunately, there’s a large enough talent pool to choose from; spoilt for choice.

Saludos.

By Rune | December 29th, 2007 at 12:22 pm

Disapointing performance from Tevez today, but it was a very moving moment before kick off when the West Ham fans showed their love for Carlitos.

Posted from Norway

By -a | December 29th, 2007 at 1:10 pm

Yes, better luck next time for Tevez. He really never found his rhythm in the game.

By john | December 29th, 2007 at 2:07 pm

-a

Your right, I erred in saying that people on this blog believe that only Argentina “play the beautiful game”.

Despite what some may think I actually am a fan of Argentina though they are not my first team of choice. I get frustrated as a fan hearing that when Arg. loose they lost to a team that played ugly ect….Comments like that are not helpful and do more harm than good.

You are right again that Arg. has a huge pool of talent to call upon, and will no doubt be formidable (as always) in 2010. I really think were they must change is in management style and their selection of players. Sometimes the best player at a position must be left behind for the sake of team chemistry.

I am not as expert on the Arg. NT as most of you so I await your input. If I am way off base please let me know.

Regards

By Albo | December 29th, 2007 at 2:39 pm

>>>…I am not as expert on the Arg. NT…>>> bla bla bla…

John, nobody cares for your line of expertise
You are an unbearable troll who said you were going to leave us alone for a while but never did.
This is a time of the year when everybody spends time with family and friends.
Don’t you have any of that?

Why don’t you take a hike, buddy?

Posted from United States

By john | December 29th, 2007 at 3:11 pm

Someone has anger management problems plus the audacity to thinks he speaks for everyone. (god complex?)

If your assuming I have no family or friends simply because I post on over the holiday’s, what does that say about you Albo? Be nice.

I am trying to discuss important issues, and create intelligent dialogue. Please feel free to disregard my posts as I do the vast majority of yours.

Sorry about the interruption everyone.

By Albo | December 29th, 2007 at 5:09 pm

Ha ha ha…
I have a god complex … How big is that?
Keep in mind you can’t have a god complex because you are “an antitheist along with Hawkins, Hitchens, Nietzsche, Jefferson and Einstein, to name a few”.
Now that’s what I call a humble reflexion.
And it took place on December 25th while the rest of us were wishing each other a merry Christmas.
You sicko…

Posted from United States

By -a | December 29th, 2007 at 10:45 pm

Banega is now linked with Valencia.

I can’t wait for the transfer window to open already!

By Argentina » Blog Archive » My 2007 Year in Review | December 30th, 2007 at 4:07 am

[...] how to use your own subconscious energies for health, prosperity and personal achievement! My 2007 Year in ReviewAs far as the national team, I think Argentina’s 3-0 win over Mexico may have been their best [...]

By Silent AFA Lover (SAL) | December 30th, 2007 at 7:24 am

hi everyone,

hi “ken” oops.. sorry i mean “john”..

i love this blog and i read it regularly.. it just came in my mind to ask christian “how about a thread on the best/worst blogger 2007″

u all are great keep it up