Argentina Trash Brazil to Reach Olympic Final

ok right now

1.carrizo (g)
2.demichellis (d)
3.milito (d)
4.zenetti (d)
5.gago (m)
6.heinze (d)
7.aguero (a)
8.mascherano (m)
9.tevez (a)
10.roman (m)
11.di maria (m)
12.lavezzi (a)
13.lucho (m)
14.canvenaghi (a)
15.benega (m)
16.gutirezz (m)
17.maxi rodriquez (m)
18.messi (m/a)
19.buenanote (m)
20.garay (d)
21. colocini (d)
22.fazio (d)
23.ustari (g)

if the world cup was tommorow i think this would be our A-team

Posted from  Canada

Alexa, yes it did — Dinho in particular went to the Olympics determined to win the gold for Brazil. It would be fantastic if the Brazilian women won the gold before the men ever did. Further humiliation for Dunga and the cretins at the CBF.

Posted from  United States

And thanks, Alexa, for defending Pato. I love the Argentinian team and I understand the attitude expressed by a lot of Argie fans on this thread (and elsewhere) but I won’t accept trashing the demonstrated talents of Brazilian players like Pato just because you guys eliminated us from the Olympic gold medal. We have a crap manager who’s brought on some mediocre players into the NT (and badly wasted some fine talents). But Brazil didn’t suddenly turn into a uniformly crap football country just because you won this game.

Posted from  United States

Sandrahn–

Most people on this board know the difference between an insanely horrible system/coach at work now in Brazil, and the great players that you guys have. We are really happy because Arg. finally won against Brazil, and also because the wonderful football that they represent finally had its day.

One of my fav images of the Arg/Brazil match was when Ronadinho was consoled by some of the Arg players and coaches (Messi, Riquelme, coaches). They obviously have an enormous amount of respect for him, and they know that even though he’s having a really hard time of things now, he’s a giant in the game.

So no hard feelings! It’s great to see you back on the boards. Good luck to the women, by the way. If there is any justice, they will get the gold. They are way better than the US.

Posted from  United States

Pato is incredible. The guy is barely 18. let him grow and develop as a player. Hopefully he can avoid the injury bug but he’s got so much of Romario’s guile and movement /Ronaldo’s predatory instincts. He’s a joy to watch…

also fab.. that is some list of players. boy are we deep. although, you need a 3rd GK in that lineup so someone will have to be dropped. not to mention that list doesn’t include gonzolo rodriguez, denuis or franco di santo. There needs to be another #9 to supplement Cavenaghi. Not to mention no room for the likes of saviola, crespo, aimar.. just a stacked roster top to bottom.

If Carizzo lives up to the hype, I think we’ll be fine. Any River fans know how good Carizzo is in stopping PKs?

Posted from  Canada

*sigh* No gold for Brazil’s women, Alexa! It’s a curse for Brazil at the olympics, it seems. I can accept losing to a genuinely talented, skilled team like Argentina but the US? Blech! I know, it’s been awhile since I’ve been on this board. I often lurked, tho. Anyway, I was happy to see that Argentina came up with a great defensive game plan against Brazil and also that the referee didn’t allow Brazil to foul their way thru the game like at the CA final. And yes, for me there’s no question: Messi over Cronaldo every time!

Posted from  United States

I know– I’m a US citizen and all that — but the US winning after that crap performance just really bothers me. Brazil was better in every way, and the US just had a great goalie performance by Hope whatever her name is. Ugh. I was hoping for a gold for Brazil coming into it just because, but after seeing the game, I think that they really deserved it.

Posted from  United States

both cristiano ronaldo and messi are good and have time to develop but I do think that if cristiano ronaldo avoids the traps of fame and stops being so darn selfish he could surpass messi. he is stronger physically and he is better than messi in crosses, he is faster, he is a good free kicker, plays well with both feet and unlike messi he has more tools to pass by defenders but he is still lacking the footballing brain that will get him to the next level. messi could of course explode but with the basics of the two I would give cristiano ronaldo a slight advantage in the future unless he messes up.time will surely tell.

Posted from  United States

I just heard a rumour that Monzon is on his way to Hamburg SV….Can anyone confirm this?…

Thanks, mane. We were all waiting for your word on that.

Posted from  United States

Sad for Brazil. I never hated Brazil till they started playing the defensive game. I was 8 yrs old, but I still remember the 1982 Brazil team. Fabulous! When I saw them later and the loss to Paolo Rossi, I realized the loss of 1982 Brazil is the worst thing that happened to football.

Another reason started hating Brazil, is the favor they get from Footballing organizations and refs. Always in the easiest of the groups, officials always providing crucial penalties or man advantage. Its no fault of Brazil though. everyone wants the popular team to be around for the longest time. But why was Brazil popular and everyones favorite team, it circles back to the same point above. The reason is gone, they no longer play the game what made them popular in the first place.

Posted from  United States

ajnyhc why can’t you stick to the discussion without personal insults? I have the right to my own opinion and so do you. let’s remain civil.
do you imply that messi is better than ronaldo at free kicks? the numbers so far don’t seem to support that conclusion but again things can change as messi and ronaldo are both maturing hence I wrote that time will tell. a great season does not a great player make. sustainable performance is where it is at. cristiano ronaldo comes from a technical football in portugal just like messi but I think that playing in a faster and fiercer league may give ronaldo the edge as messi is still in the more technical liga. if the trend continues as we have seen the emergence of english dominance then this could proved to be the right conclusion and will show in the performance of both players in the near future. ronaldo has now mastered the physical as well as the heading that prevails in english football. messi is perhaps better equipped for shorter spaces as he is lighter and smaller but ronaldo has learned to use his body and it has shown in his game. time will tell, shortly enough.

Posted from  United States

Every single big name in football has called Messi the best player in the world. The world of football is being promoted in English, by the Premier League, Ronaldo plays for Manchester United, in the Premier League. He’s being propped up artificially because he’s in that bloated money-machine.

Ronaldo is a fantastic athlete and a great footballer. Messi is a virtuoso. The ONLY reason that Ronaldo outperformed Messi last year was because Messi was injured during important moments in the season. Listen, if Pele is going to call an Arg the best player in the world, you know that he is.

It’s not even an argument.

Posted from  United States

alexa thanks for a thoughtful and analytical answer. you are right. messi’s injuries do play a role in the difference in results for both players and this is why I say time will tell. hopefully messi will not be injured this season and he can get to play regularly.

Posted from  United States

Why fight over Pele’s opinions…well as far as we all know his predictions and opinions have hardly come true. So in that sense the superstitious mind in me feels that his opinion for messi is ominous! Anyways, why compare with CR7…both are different players and yes great players at it…its not often that a footballing generation exist with two equals. We can look at the positives of this dual…messi can improve on his heading, deadball situations, and crosses(but i do think he is a fantastic crosser of the ball just that his teams dont need that style!)where are christiano can learn to do his fancy dribbles and move past more than one defender in tight spaces and most importantly, try to turn his game up on big games.

We all will have a slight affection for Messi because he is our boy!

But I do think Pato is the next big thing…

Christian, do you think that having the blog full of trolls like we have now, is good for the blog or the sponsors?
This place is unbearable, but it seems to me that somebody must like it like this, otherwise what are these people doing here?
You keep checking the IPs and they are always different?????
BS

Posted from  United States

well…looks like the whole of Nigeria is on the internet nowadays. I appreciate them for their passion and support for their team. But at places it is getting just too noisy and hostile with their over confidence and arrogance…I really hope we do get enough protection from reffs.
Its going to be a fight…two very passionate teams…

christian I don’t think the blog is unbearable and I do agree with you that it’s best to ignore trolls. I do object to the manner in which some people attack others who happen to have a different opinion but that is something that you cannot do anything about I mean, if people have not learned to disagree in a civilized manner at this stage in life they will never learn. alexa can get feisty but I think she is pretty fair and amenable once she realizes that others are not trolls but simply people with diverse opinions but christian our friend albo has a knack for coming out smacking everybody who dares to have the slightest deviation from his opinion and others. again, nothing you can do about it so all I can do is ignore him. not worth fighting over this.

I am supporting argentina tomorrow because they represent our continent. I have said before that I argentina is my second team in order of preference after brazil but I am not brazilian, I am actually canadian and I for one am glad that argentina won the game against brazil because I don’t think mediocrity should be rewarded and the brazilian team as of now is mediocre for a variety of reasons which discussion does not belong in this blog.

I hope everything goes well tomorrow and that argentina gets the gold. I am sure messi will be all fired up as usual and my concern as usual is whether riquelme will be present or not. tomorrow we will see.

Posted from  United States

Chelsea offered £16M for Benfica’s Di Maria
tribalfooball.com – August 21, 2008

Chelsea made a bid for Benfica ace Angel di Maria earlier this month, it has been revealed.
Portuguese sources say Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich failed with a £16 million offer for the Argentine last Tuesday, which was thrown out by Benfica.

Indications are that Benfica chief Rui Costa is prepared to sell, however, if Chelsea – or Real Madrid – are willing to pay £19 million for the left-sided winger.

Newcastle keep tabs on Liverpool’s Insua
tribalfooball.com – August 20, 2008

Newcastle are keeping tabs on Emiliano Insua’s situation at Liverpool.
The Evening Chronicle says Toon boss Kevin Keegan and Terry McDermott have tried to use their Liverpool contacts to help them lure Insua from Anfield but Rafael Benitez is not biting.

But the United pair will have noticed that Insua was not in the Liverpool 16 for Saturday’s win at Sunderland.

Camacho: Benfica’s Di Maria would be great Real Madrid signing
tribalfooball.com – August 21, 2008

Jose Antonio Camacho has backed Real Madrid’s bid for Benfica winger Angel di Maria.
Camacho, who has coached both Real and Benfica, worked with Di Maria last season and said: “He would be a good signing for Madrid.

“Di Maria, with his youth, has very good quality: he likes to learn, to train and play.

“Di Maria could do very well at Madrid because he has a very promising future.”

Valencia’s Banega welcomes Atletico Madrid “possibility”
tribalfootball.com – August 20, 2008

Valencia midfielder Ever Banega has welcomed the prospect of joining Atletico Madrid after the Beijing Olympics.
The Argentina U23 international said: “I am aware of the interest of Atletico Madrid in me and I hope in the next few days to talk with my representative on the matter.

“Of course I’m happy with the possibility of playing for Atletico, but let’s wait …”