Argentina Squad Announced

—————ustari—————
Zabaleta—-Fazio—Demichlis—Garay
————–mascherano————
Lavezzi——-riquelme———-di maria
——-Higuian———-Aguero——-

With garay and Zabaleta attacking threw the wings and also have Di maria and Lavezii play as wingers.

Remember, this is a real fifa friendly our ranking is at stake here.

Can’t wait. The only thing I can’t understand is why they’re taking Marco Ruben. Talented player, but he’s shown nothing at River.

Does this mean no Messi? I will be there !!

YEah, where is MESSI??????

nope no messi at least for this friendly remember he just came back from injury.

Wow finally a sensible line-up. I would like to see Sosa pull the strings instead of Riquelme. I’m glad Messi was left out as well. Good game to try these new players out.

I know it’s early, but anyone have any idea what channel this game might be on? Sadly I live in a dorm at UT in Austin and we don’t get goltv so I might have to go somewhere to watch this.

I like the line-up and am particularly psyched about the Aguero/Higuain forwards setup. No room for Gago in the starting 11?

Mfgt2

Download Sopcast and you can watch the game for free online.

Telemundo or Telefutura would normally show it, but it falls on the same day as the USA v Mexico game, and you KNOW they’re going give that priority.

Can’t wait to see Zabaleta in action. Same goes for Ansaldi, but mostly because I’ve never seen him play.

Di María won me over during the U-20’s in Canada, so look forward to seeing how far he has come as a player.

Hopefully everyone will be given some time.

Golazo, I like your lineup but I doubt that Checho is going to have only one defensive midfielder.
(Mascherano).

mannnnnn, i am going to this game, and i was really hoping Messi was gonna be there. I am gonna do all that i can to make sure i get a picture with these guys.

Is this an official fifa friendly? I thought this was a training match with our olympic team (with Batista) ….Or is this an official match, but AFA decided to send Batista and his olympic team so they can build up to the olympics?…

That’s 18 players, so we’re not taking a full squad. Am glad Messi is not going, we can’t have him getting a resurgence of the injury he’s just shaken off.

Rube, this is an official FIFA date, but the AFA is using this match as a warmup for the Olympics.

Marco Ruben, included in the swuad, has just been sold to Villarreal for 7 million.

http://goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=558011

Spurs aim to trump Liverpool for £10M Garay
tribalfootball.com – January 23, 2008

Tottenham are making a £10 million play for Racing Santander defender Ezequiel Garay.
The Sun says Kop boss Rafa Benitez has been tracking Garay for months but Ramos hopes to cash in on the turbulent times at Anfield and complete a dramatic swoop.

Garay is a set-piece wizard and scored nine goals last season from deadball moves.

http://tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=75262

Just bought my ticket!! And of course I know it is smart to rest Messi but since I am going I would love to see him play. This is going to be great.

We are sending our Olympic team but Gautemala is sending its full team.

Boca Juniors confirm Ledesma sale to Lazio
tribalfooball.com – January 22, 2008

Boca Juniors have announced midfielder Pablo Ledesma is moving to Lazio.
Boca chief Pedro Pompilio said: “We have already reached a financial agreement with Lazio for Ledesma. Now it’s a very important period as the boy is waiting for a European passport. Should he receive it before the 31st, then he will move to Rome.”

Pompilio also revealed the deal would include a collaboration agreement, which would see Lazio working with Boca’s youth teams.

Roma push quick deal for Deportivo La Coruna’s Coloccini
tribalfooball.com – January 22, 2008

Roma are chasing Deportivo La Coruna defender Fabricio Coloccini.
Roma chiefs are seeking a quickfire deal for the Argentina international, who would swap a relegation battle in Spain for a title tilt and Champions League football with the Giallorossi.

Coloccini isn’t Cup-tied from Europe, which has convinced Roma to push through a January deal for the centre-half.

Garay-to-Spurs link makes sense since they have defence troubles.

Can I just say that this is one of the better blogs hosted by theoffside. We might have our arguments from time to time, but overall, it’s always a place to find good info and whatnot. Cheers to all of you.

YO Im sorry little argentinos but im a brazil fan and our squad is much more strong then your little one if you leave it like this you will get another 3-0 whooping like we have been giving you all year last year emirates friendly, copa america, we may just do it again BRAZIL HATERS DONT REPLY CAUSE YOU HAVE NOTHING TO SAY WE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well….Samuel, the only ting i can say to u is: “L’avenir dira le reste”

gente fina e outra coisa…

Tissone played great today stopping pirlo ronaldo and pato easily and he even scored the winning goal against AC milan.

Tissone is suely being watching by baptistia for the olypmics.

John where are you now???????

My thoughts exactly Golazo, where is the crow now?

So, i just got my tickets, I am row #1 seat #1 lol. Mannn i wish Messi was there.

I bought 4 tickets yesterday, not long after they went on sale. I am in section GA1.

Either way, in the Coliseum you can sit pretty much wherever you want, regardless of what your ticket says. If I had an option to take the best seats, or the “alright” ones with the Argentina fans, I’d go with the second one. Being with the main group of fans is half of the importance to the game, in my opinion.

- Gonzalo

Please play a 4-3-3 Batista, you have al the right players for it.

A really good idea for Garay to move to Tottenham. I would love to see him in that team, I have always had a soft spot for Tottenham. Pablo Ledesma to Lazio…Isn’t there anothere argentine Ledesma in Lazio already? Coloccini will not make the team in Roma…he will be a sub. Who is this Tissone guy?

Rune thats Cristian Ledesma at Lazio. Tissone is a fairly unknown midfielder. He didnt really have a successful spell for Lanus – and was scouted by Udinese and then now at Atalanta.

I also got my GA ticket, but haven’t heard anything about the so-called practice session the day before. If have anyone in the LA area can recommend some dirt cheap accommodations please let me know.

Thanks for the info, ajNYHC!

German Denis keeps scoring for Independiente.
“El Tanque” is becoming a lethal # 9.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge announced that Bayern Munich are NOT going to let their players take part in the Olympic related matches, since they understand it’s not an official FIFA event.
Martin Demichelis and Jose Sosa for Argentina, and Lucio and Breno for Brasil, are now a question mark for their respective coaches.
Go figure…

i think this will be a huge blow for argentina not to have de’mechilis. he has been an outstandaing defender for argetina recently. when ayala retired i was worried who would be our next rock solid central defender but de’mechilis anwered that. now, what if other clubs follow bayern munich, i read liverpool were furious that macherano was given a call up.

http://www.goal.com/es/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=559653

Are Inter short on forwards? I know they might lose Crespo…

Aimar10, I agee with you.
Looks to me like Checho Batista wanted to reinforce the cetral nerve of the team, the same way Pekerman did in WC06.
Demichelis-Mascherano-Riquelme.
Demichelis replacing Ayala.
The experience, in the center of the field. Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it.

Fernando Cavenaghi scored again. This time against Saint Ettiene.
His 4th goal in 5 matches.
Olé/Clarín featured an article on page one about Cavegol yesterday.
Its title (translated) would be something like: “Check it out, Coco…”

My good friend MaxiLopez must be smiling now.
Basile will give him a chance, you’ll see…

albo, i pray that would be the case. I was never a river fan, but Aimar gave me a soft heart for it, and once he left i was back to just watching boca, then came cavigol. Aimar and cavenaghi were my favorite players in the world till messi came. I hope cavigol gets a chance. I was so frustrated by his dicission to go to russia. i just hope and hope he comes back to life and give us his potential. everytime i see him play, i think of Batistuta.

Yes Albo, I’m smiling but also laughing.

I watched the game yesterday. Cavenaghi scored the only gol of the game. 3 points for Bordeaux, ONLY thanks to him. How? Because of his PURE INSTINCT. This guy smells the ball like Trezeguet. He’s excellent. Forget about Tevez or Aguero for the #9 spot. They are not a fox like him. They don’t have the instinct. The man is Cavenaghi. He is starting to finally develop.

TO ALEXA,
if you are interested in attending any games
in California let me know. The only conditions
is that ALBO should not be part of your plan. Any boyfriend of yours is
welcome as well.
Ken
San Diego, CA

TO GOnzalo,
I see you are very active on our blog.
Please, please make EDUCATION a priority
before investing your energy
in football or soccer interests.
First become INDEPENDENT. the rest
will follow. For being only 14 years
old you are quite mature….

So good to read that Cavenaghi is finally re-finding his form. It sounds like this is the season he will get his career back on track.

I’m just a normal fan, I’m no different then any other 15 year old sports fan.

Sorry Golazo,

Sorry, I thought you were above average,
not normal!

This is why I love watching Roman play so much: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uUR6t41f9A[/url]

Mercado: El Benfica ofrece 10 millones de euros más un jugador por Denis El goleador del Torneo Apertura 2007 de Argentina podría emigrar sobre el cierre del mercado de fichajes. Hay interés desde Turquía y Portugal, donde los de Camacho proponen un trueque interesante para Independiente de Avellaneda.
Mercado: El Benfica ofrece 10 millones de euros más un jugador por Denis
zoom – galleria
Siguen llegando a Avellaneda ofertas por Germán Denis, goleador del torneo Apertura 2007. Desde Turquía aparecen varios interesados (Galatasaray y Fenerbahçe) pero la propuesta más tentadora llegó desde Portugal.

El Benfica estaría dispuesto a desembolsar 10 millones de dólares y además ofrecería el pase del delantero ex Racing, Gonzalo Bergessio, que es del agrado del técnico Pedro Troglio. De esta manera Independiente no tendría que salir al mercado a último momento para buscarle un sustituto a su número ‘9′.

De todas formas, no hay que descartar una oferta de último momento de alguno de los clubes que en algún momento se interesaron en el artillero, como el Atlético de Madrid, la Lazio, el Rubin de Rusia, el Marsella y el Besiktas turco.

Ken: “TO GOnzalo,
I see you are very active on our blog.
Please, please make EDUCATION a priority
before investing your energy
in football or soccer interests.
First become INDEPENDENT. the rest
will follow. For being only 14 years
old you are quite mature….”

Was this message directed towards me? If so, where did you get the fact that I am supposedly 14 from?

- Gonzalo

No he might me Golazo

James, that’s the play I was talking about somewhere above.
See the gestures Román makes with his hands after he gets fouled?
He was teasing Ramón Diaz, former River coach with whom Riquelme has a nice and innocent personal duel.
So he was like telling Díaz: “they can’t stop me, Pelado, only with a foul…”

Here’s again in case someone missed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uUR6t41f9A

Riquelme is from another world

Albo,

The video is incredible. The way Riquelme protects the ball is amazing. I love this.

Watch this one now, you are gonna laugh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2m107IMUOk&NR=1

Aimar to Liverpool????

This really looks like its going to happen in the next few days.

If Aimar leaves Zaragoza it looks like Diego Milito will too.

http://www.goal.com/en/articolo.aspx?contenutoid=561513

Machester City wants Diego Milito

Diego Milito is really underated he is the joint top scorer in La Liga along side Fabiano.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhWQMh5qTd8

Look at that video and say he isnt a world class number 9.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtmlview=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/01/24/ufncity124.xml

MaxiLopez, I know…
It can happen to anyone, I guess.
I watched that game on TV, it was a lot of fun.
Placente also “ate a nutmeg” from Ledesma, a couple of minutes into the 1st half.

Tonight at 7 pm ET Boca-River on Fox Sports.
chau ché…

Benfica have offered 10 million for Denis. No word yet.

There’s a proper clasico going on in Mar del Plata, with Boca leading River 1-0 at the half. Neither team is at full strength, but it’s a heated and fast-paced match with an electric atmosphere. Certainly better than anything we’ve seen so far in the Copa de Verano as of yet.

Make sure to catch it on FSE if you can.

Intense match, so far.

Haha that was Placente giving Riquelme a taste of his own medicine.

Anyway, here is one of the best Riquelme compilations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSWxsRHHRgE&feature=related

Godly kick by Riquelme.

2-0 to Boca. A great game to watch, and as heated a “friendly” as you will see.

Boca 2-0 River. The way I saw it.
The second goal was an illegal grab of the cross-bar, it shouldn’t have counted.
But River disappeared during the second half and Boca clearly deserved the win.
For River, Ortega was great during the first half, Ponzio was awesome the whole 90 min.
For Boca, Cáceres, Riquelme (in great form), Battaglia and Dátolo were excellent.

This is just pre-season.
Both teams will be very strong.
River have Abréu who will score many for the gallinas, also the kid Alexis Sánchez is just coming back from a long injury.
Boca is a very deep team.
Paraguayan Julio César Cáceres (CD), Riquelme, Gracián and Castromán, are all first class additions to the Xeneixes.

I would like Gracian and Riquelme to play together but I think Gracian will be played as a substitute.

You can read my thoughts on River’s performance here:
http://riverplate.theoffside.com/team-news/copa-de-verano-river-plate-0-2-boca-juniors.html

As for the game as a whole, I thought Boca looked very impressive, and the addition of Cáceres should pay off very well. River meanwhile have some very good players, but they have yet to get in sync as a team.

Should make for an interesting revancha.

Great, great game, that. Glad I caught it live.

looks like a done deal as aimiar is set to join liverpool.

tevez scored against tottenham in the FA cup.

Really? Aimar to liverpool? The physical requirements of the premier league will cripple him…

Gago had a great game against Villarreal today, made an assist for Sneijder’s goal too.

Hey Guy’s……..sorry I have been unable to post lately, I know most of you rely on my weekly Serie A reports.

MILAN 2 Genoa 0 …..this game was all about PATO PATO PATO. 2 goals and now 3 goals in four games. hopefully most of you had a chance to watch.

lowly inter 0 – Udinese 0 …..things are not looking good for Inter

Roma 1 Palermo 0 …. big win for Roma now only five points shy of Inter.

have to go……

regards,

Agreed with James. I don’t think a move to Liverpool would be a good idea for Aimar.

When I heard the Aimar move I thought it was a joke. I love Aimar, but Liverpool? Then again, Rafa Benitez does have what it takes to give his career a boost. Assuming he stays there much longer.

Yeah, that too. Liverpool’s past two seasons have been largely disappointing. I wouldn’t be surprised if Benitez was sacked at the end of this season. Maybe they’ll keep him if the team manage to win something (FA Cup, Champions)…I honestly don’t think that’ll happen though.

Mascherano’s move hasn’t even been made permanent. At least not yet.

In a poll conducted by FIFA, the argy League came out 3rd, after the Premiership and La Liga, and ahead of Calcio.
Source: Ole/Clarin.

Alexa,
please say the truth. You are 32 years old
and that Albo is on his 50 yrs…Ken loved you.
Say the truth…..

Hey Ken, what’s wrong with you?
You know what happens when you get personal with me, so don’t push it buddy.
This is a football blog.

Where is everyone? Wow what a dead specailist is Riquelme . That right there is why we need him on the NT. Nodody takes corners like Roman.

Fernando Gago is settling down as Real Madrid’s starter #5.
And he is starting to show some of his stylish game.
Madrid’s “Marca” shows RM fans happy with Gago’s game these days.
It’s a difficult club to be successful, but right now RM is probably the best team of all.

This is what I am talking about: our boys are tired, even the pitbull. Grondona is gonna injure our boys
http://www.ole.clarin.com/notas/2008/01/29/01595709.html

Where are the people who were saying that football players were robots? Pfff.

———

Gago is excellent.

Riquelme was great in the game. His dead ball accuracy was amazing, always a great subplot in any game.

Good to see Gago play well for Real, although i HATE that team.

Feel bad for Messi – Barcelona is such a mess, and Dinho and Deco need to grow up.

maxi–i’m sending you a message when i get the chance at work….

Maradona helps Di Santo celebrate Chelsea move
tribalfooball.com – January 28, 2008

There was a surprise visitor to Chelsea’s Cobham training complex on Monday, when Argentina legend Diego Maradona paid an unexpected visit.

The 47-year-old – whose infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal knocked England out of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico – spent some time chatting to Blues manager Avram Grant as well as Michael Ballack, striker Andriy Shevchenko and Chelsea’s new Argentinian youngster Franco Di Santo.

“In the world of football he is a hero for every player, he is an incredible player,” said Shevchenko, who has returned to training following a back problem.

“He is a legend, a hero for everyone, and a fantastic player. He has had a difficult life, but he is doing well now. His look is good and it’s important for him.

“He has lost a lot of weight, and feels much better.”

wheres porta australia trying to poach him