No more Garay? Garay just had a wonderful match against Barcelona past weekend. I want to see more Garay!
Demichelis, Gutierrez and Aguero are finally getting their chances. Now this is more like a player testing lineup.
However, we still won't see Fazio, D'Alessandro or Aimar either. Nor Ferrari,Bottinelli or Zabaleta.
Basile obviously wants to get a win. He's bringing the whole forward package including Crespo, Tevez and Aguero. The biggest disappointment here is that we still don't have a left back prospect. Basile gave Gaby Milito a try on the left in Norway friendly, it didn't work well so now we see Heinze's reenlistment.
What's with Ledesma and Insua? And shouldn't we be giving Aimar more tries at CAM?
I'll take a closer look later this week and see what strategy he's trying to play. Australia often plays 4-3-1-2. If the 2 sides ended up playing similar strategies, and if Basile loses... HOHOHO
2 weeks after Marcelo Bielsa came out of meditation, another legendary Argentine coach, César Luis Menotti, came out of retirement to coach Mexican club Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara.
In 2007 clausura of Primera División de México, Guadalajara obtained first place in group 1, but was knocked out by América in semi final of the playoff.
In 2006, Menotti briefly took charge of another Mexican powerhouse CF Pachuca, that was the last time he was seen near a dugout. In the early 90s, Menotti coached Mexico national team for around a year, when the team was at its low after being disqualified from 1990 World Cup for cheating in FIFA's youth tournament. He turned the team around, and helped establish the image of El Tri today.
Heinze was finally released by ManU, but couldn't go to Liverpool. So now he had gone to Real Madrid, and had already passed the medical exam.
Real Madrid now has Saviola, Gago, Heinze and Higuain. Rumored they were trying to land Lucho, which I couldn't care less. The funny part is, in the immediate future, none of them will be considered starter by Bernd Schuster. Sad story...
In other news. Boca's first vice president Pedro Pompilio had assured he is going to bid for Roman. Roman had promised a season without pay if Boca could buy off his contract.
Norway played a 4-3-3 focusing on rapid compression and expansion. When on defense, the formation quickly shrinked into 4-1-4-1 with just Carew staying high; on offense and counter attacks, they hold onto the ball for couple of seconds, allowing their attackers to push into positions, then move the ball through wing routes with 2 or 3 players flanking into our box from the other side.
Basile started with a strange 4-2-2-1-1 with Mascherano and Maxi both playing low to provide defensive screening and creative playmaking in lower midfield while Messi playing SS.
As expected, all the offensive supporters were too far from Diego Milito and weren't able to commute the ball to him properly. There were plenty crosses, but Norway pretty much owned the air. Our ground routes in first half all ended before getting into Norwegian box, there were some long shots but none of them could be considered threatening.
Lavezzi practically disappeared on the wings. One of the only moment for TV audiences to see him was when he pulled a bad and unnecessary tackle on the right wing before half time...
Carew is a large fella. For his statue, he's pretty technical and created disturbance in our back field all day. The other Norwegian offensive players generally stayed low and weren't supporting Carew effectively on several occasions. If they were, the score could of been even worse.
In fact, the only reason score remained 1-0 by half time was because the terrific performances of some the defenders. Zanetti and Burdisso made some life saving tackles. I liked what I saw from Burdisso, and am worrying about our future without Zanetti.
Another notable Norwegian today was Liverpool's Arne Riise. Riise is a gifted thrower, his deep throw-ins are almost like corners. Besides that, he can also hit a hard knuckleball from long range, making him quite deadly an surprise attacking element. Riise also created some dangerous moments today, and he drew Mascherano's foul which gave Norway the penalty opportunity. Carew converted that penalty, but Ustari, despite being a little shaky early on, was very close to saving it.
After the goal, Argentine attacks were chaotic and unproductive. For quite a while, Maxi was the conducting person but the ball going through him just seemed to be a step too much. On our possessions, after all the time spent in the back field, Norwegian defense became well organized and all the options were shut down. This happened again and again till eventually Mascher started looking for Messi directly, but the quality of Messi's processing were questionable at times.
Milito had several header opportunities right infront of Norwegian goal. He headed the ball high every single time. Is this the guy who we supposed to depend on after Crespo's retirement? I think this friendly could serve as a serious warning.
Lucho did nothing great either. He hit the ball couple of times from outside the box, it went nowhere near the goal every time. Lucho sucks. Can we not see his fucking face anymore, PLEASE?!
Second half, Basile made 2 initial adjustments. Saviola came on for Lavezzi who was basically doing nothing, and Insua replaced Lucho. The formation was unchanged for the majority of second half, and the team remained unproductive. The only real chance came early on, when our right wing and full back pushed the ball up front and created a mess inside Norwegian box. Insua was wide open in the center of the box, and he didn't take the shot lightly, but Norwegian goalie Jarstern pulled out a literally finger tip save and score remained 1-0.
However, Saviola looked much better than Lavezzi, and a clever move inside the box almost gave us the equalizer. He was too deep and only had a very small window to shoot, the shot missed the far post by inches, and the disappointment continued.
One other notable instance was when Messi's cross found Maxi 2 feet infront of Norwegian goal. Maxi jumped too early and didn't hit that one right...
Then the Norwegian dominance in the air paid off. Carew raised above Garay (marking him, inches infront of our goal) and headed a Norway freekick home...
Losing 2-0 and Basile was still hesitating to make any changes. Then Diego Milito had a cramp and finally Gago was switched on for him. What seemed to be a forced defensive change actually morphed the formation into exactly what I've been proposing. And guess what, the whole thing started to look different.
Backline 4 with 1 fullback actively pushing for width (in this case Zanetti); Gago+Mascher DM, one focuses on tackles, the other on distributions; Maxi and Insua out wide; Messi CAM/SS; Saviola forward.
At 80th minute, it was like a second wind had kicked into our players, and for the first time, we started to see composure on the pitch. Mascherano was freed to position himself wider and pulled some beautiful tackles, while Gago was able to distribute the ball directly to our front line. Within minutes after Gago came on, Saviola made a connection inside the box with Insua, and we almost got 1 back.
We did get 1 back, but it would take another few crucial minutes. Maxi received a short freekick and shot it at the far post from outside the box, this time Jarstern was too far to keep his cleansheet.
The defeat could be summed up into 3 points: 1. Lacked creative midfielders. Only in the last 10 minutes had this changed a little with Gago on the field. 2. Unproductive in the air, and Diego Milito was clearly NOT the answer. Even Burdisso's header was closer to the net. 3. Basile sucks.
Gabriel Heinze has lost his case to force through a move to Liverpool, after a Premier League arbitration panel ruled in United's favour on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old left-back claimed that he should be allowed to move to Anfield - a transfer that has not been made since Phil Chisnal left for Liverpool in 1964 - because of a letter his advisors received from United which enabled him to join another club if his asking price was met.
Heinze took legal advice after United rejected an offer from Liverpool for the Argentine international, but as the Premier League ruled on Tuesday, the letter was "unambiguous in that it envisages only an international transfer".
The Premier League announced on Tuesday afternoon: "The Premier League panel has heard submissions of evidence from both parties and has ruled to dismiss the player's case."
A United spokesman told ManUtd.com: "The Club is pleased that the panel has endorsed its case."
In a two-day hearing on Monday and Tuesday, the panel concluded that "the nature and intention of the disputed 13 June letter, especially when taken in context of verbal discussions and Manchester United's transfer policy, was unambiguous in that it envisages only an international transfer.
"Furthermore the hearing finds the letter constitutes an 'agreement to agree', and did not create an obligation or binding agreement for the club to transfer the player to any particular club.
"In other words the letter is evidence of an intention to negotiate, both between the parties and with potential buying clubs, and not evidence of any intention to create legal relations."
The Olé report yesterday seemed to be a mistake. I haven't seen any follow up on that, so expect Diego Milito there instead of Tevez.
Furthermore, Basile had confirmed the starting list for tomorrow's friendly.
Ustari will tend toal. Burdisso, Garay, Gabriel Milito and Zanetti will start on the backline. Mascherano will play holding midfielder. Lucho and Maxi will be our left and right winger. Messi will play a submerged striker role. Lavezzi and Diego Milito up front.
We lost in Copa final because our playmaker (Riquelme) and secondary playmaker (Veron) couldn't function, but eliminating playmaker options is hardly the solution... I was disappointed at Basile's player selection for this friendly, now I'm even more disappointed by his game plan.
Maxi will have to act as a playmaker. I can see him cutting into the middle, because making Messi running laterally between the 2 wings would be retarded. Lucho will always stay wide if he could, so the formation will likely compact towards Lucho's side.
Being a SS, Messi should position himself higher up if possible, but then our vertical connection in the middle will be weakened. Mascherano isn't a natural distributor. Gago could of been more suited to this situation.
Ezequiel Lavezzi is eligible for Peking Olympic. I believe this is why he's on the NT. He doesn't have the record or charisma to compete against Messi, Tevez, Saviola and Kun Aguero for the short forward spot, so he has to be incredibly overachieving to have a realistic shot.
Unless Norway wants to sent a clear negative message to Greece, they will not sit back and turtle. So again, our objective is to keep the playing at higher up, not allowing Norwegians to cut through our holding midfield screen and create deadball opportunities near our box. If they managed to attack deep into our zone, not only will we have to worry about corners and freekicks from opponents that are taller than us, but also will find ourselves unable to move the ball forward on possessions. In this case, we'll either have to long lob (counter attacks) the ball to our forwards, or we'll have to hold onto the ball and wait for the offensive to build up. Neither is very suited to the Argentine mentality.
Of the ones starting on the bench, only Ledesma, Insua and Saviola are worthy of some testing. A mediocre DM, a soso CAM and an already proven Forward. This is FUCKING HORRIBLE.
We need to test defenders, test #9s, and try to discover young prospects for the offensive midfield positions.
According to Olé, Cata Diaz is also injured and will miss the friendly. Getafe doctor reported this to Basile and the coach had agreed to Diaz's absence. Basile will not field replacements for the 3 players missing.
This should bump Gaby Milito up on the list (and drop Zanetti or Coloccini to defense if we play 3 defenders). Diaz could still get his chance in next friendly. Although Basile might concentrate on evaluating domestic players then.
Norwegian player list:
Rune Almenning Jarstein, Odd Grenland Håkon Opdal, Brann Martin Andresen, Brann Daniel Braaten, Bolton Simen Brenne, Lillestrøm John Carew, Aston Villa Brede Hangeland, FC København Thorstein Helstad, Brann Kristofer Hæstad, Start Jon Inge Høiland, Malmø FF Steffen Iversen, Rosenborg Ronny Johnsen, Vålerenga Frode Kippe, Lillestrøm Morten Gamst Pedersen, Blackburn Bjørn Helge Riise, Lillestrøm John Arne Riise, Liverpool Jan Gunnar Solli, Brann Jarl André Storbæk, Vålerenga Lars Iver Strand, Tromsø Kjetil Wæhler, Vålerenga
Starting Lineups:
Norway
Opdal, Storbæk, Ronny Johnsen, Hangeland, John Arne Riise, Bjørn Helge Riise, Andresen, Hæstad, Braaten, John Carew, and Pedersen. Manager: Aage Hareide
Argentina
Oscar Ustari, Javier Zanetti, Ezequiel Garay, Nicolas Burdisso, Gabriel Milito, Luis Gonzalez, Javier Mascherano, Maximiliano Rodriguez, Lionel Messi, Diego Milito, and Ezequiel Lavezzi. Manager: Alfio Basile
Jose Sosa is injured. Carrizo hasn't practiced for a while and is, at the moment, excluded from the team for friendly against Norway.
According to Olé, Lavezzi, Garay, Coloccini, Cata Díaz, Ustari, Lucho González and Maxi Rodríguez had already arrived at camp, while Burdisso, Zanetti, Gaby Milito, Sergio Romero, Insúa, Gago, Saviola, Tevez, Mascherano, Cristian Ledesma and Lionel Messi are on their way and will arrive today.
For those that didn't know, Ezequiel Lavezzi isn't very tall either. So now Basile has NO tall forward, or in other word, no one is an ideal target person. Due to Rooney's injury, the Tevez-Rooney duo hasn't been realized in ManU. Perhaps Basile got more experiment planned for the short-short combination? Well, if Alex Ferguson can't experiment for us, let's do it ourselves.
5 defenders, Coloccini is also a defender. Can be used as outside mid but very defensive. Garay is almost guaranteed to get pitch time, my guess is that Cata (Daniel) Diaz will also see action as a CB. Gaby Milito is also a dedicated CB, leaving Zanetti, Burdisso and Coloccini as our fullback choices.
In the midfield, we have Mascherano, Gago and Ledesma all defensive midfielders. One of them, or 2, will occupy the holding midfielder position(s). Since Sosa is injured, Lucho, Maxi and Lavezzi are our 3 outside midfielder choices. Lavezzi's natural position is alien to Albicelestes. This guy isn't a typical outside support midfielder we generally deploy within the 4-3-1-2. He's more of an attacking winger or submerged striker type of players. In other words, he usually plays wider than even Lucho...
If Basile brings out his 4-3-1-2 again, the positions should be filled like:
GK: Ustari, Romero
CB: Garay, Diaz, Milito FB: Burdisso, Zanetti, Coloccini
Without a target person, it's hard to say whether our forwards will be effective against the height of the Norwegians. Notable current Norwegian internationals include: Arne Riise, Martin Andresen, John Carew, Morten Pedersen, Daniel Braaten and Steffen Iversen.
Norwegian coach Åge Hareide had club success in all 3 scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark and Sweden). When he was coaching Rosenborg B.K, their CL matches were almost all played with 4-3-3. The attacking mentality is in their blood, remember Sweden 3 up against Denmark and kept on attacking till it became 3-3?
For Euro 2008 qualifiers, Norway plays away against Moldova on 8 September, and then home against Greece 4 days later.
The following came from Wiki: Norway had a successful start to to the Euro 2008 qualifiers, breaking a run of eight games without victory. Norway won 4-1 in Hungary, their largest away win in a qualifier since October 2001 after a string of "amateurish mistakes" by the hosts, before beating Moldova 2-0 at home to top the group after two games. However on 7 October, Norway were beaten away 1-0 by Greece, making their group closer again, and with a 1-2 loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team and a 2-2 tie with Turkey in the two first qualifying matches in 2007, Norway lost important points. The team improved with two home ground 4-0 wins in a row, against Malta and Hungary in early June, and is now on fourth place in its group, five points behind first place Greece and with the same number of points as second and third places Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey.
If we get shut down in the air (which probably will happen), we'll have to depend on ground touching football to break down the Norwegian defense. In 4-3-1-2, the CAM is the only playmaker. We saw how Brazil contained our forwards to shut down Roman, the same might happen again, except Insua is probably much easier to shut down. Keep in mind, they don't need to actually contain the CAM. They just need to contain the forwards and press on the CAM, then it becomes very difficult to move the ball.
Since there are 2 dedicated attacking wingers on the list, and 3 DM, I'm letting my hope rise again to see 4-2-3-1... we could go like this:
GK: Ustari, Romero
CB: Garay, Diaz, Milito FB: Burdisso, Zanetti, Coloccini
Then of course, it could also be 3-4-1-2. In which case, the 3 defenders should all be able to play more central roles and the 2 wingers must retract to defensive positions when opponent has possession.
Another possible strategy is 4-4-2. If Basile isn't sured of using the CAM-OM setup or the wingers setup, he might go to 4-4-2 so he could evaluate each player at their natural positions. 4-4-2 is pretty defensive, especially without clearly defining attacking elements.
Last, we should also consider the possibility of Messi being tested at a midfield position.
Juan Pablo Carrizo haven't been able to obtain his Italian passport due to insufficient paperworks, and he cannot play for Lazio unless the situation is resolved.
S.S.Lazio cannot incorporate Carrizo because they had already met their international player quota. According to Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, Lazio had already started the search for replacement, and their targets include Leo Franco, Mariano Andujar and Marco Amelia.
Carrizo was purchased from River for 5 million GBP. He'll likely get loaned out if playing for Lazio isn't an immediate possibility. As mentioned in previous article, Carrizo was signed by Lazio to become their starting keeper. That would had given him plenty experience from serieA, and an advantage over Ustari when they compete for starting spot in the NT (the later is a backup for Pato in Gatefe ATM).
Now, if carrizo gets loaned out, the situation would had been reversed. Loaned players, especially loaned goalies, need some serious luck to start (Scott Carson). On other hand, Ustari is guaranteed pitch time since Getafe had planned him to become Pato's replacement. It's no surprise that Basile immediately took Carrizo off the friendly list. Not only that, we should also be seeing Ustari infront of the arc in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
First notable offer came from, well you probably have guessed it, Atletico... 3 year contract. Roman gets 4 million Euro per year, which is quite a bit higher than what Villarreal was paying him. Atletico starts from bottom of the table in UEFA Cup, they need some help to gain position in both UEFA Cup and La Liga this season. There are three Argentine internationals on los Rojiblancos first team. Maxi, Aguero and Leo Franco.
Many Argentine coaches had their stints in Atletico, notably Helenio Herrera, Juan Carlos Lorenzo, Cesar Luis Menotti, Alfio Basile and Carlos Bianchi. Ironically, it was under Basile's short stint that Atletico last obtained the Spanish title (95-96 season), and they gained the Copa del Rey that year as well. Atletico's last major European trophy was 1962 European Cup Winners' Cup (competition no longer exist). They were relegated to Spanish Segunda Division for the 2001-02 season.
According to Olé, Tottenham Hotspurs had put down a 15 million Euro bid for Riquelme.
The team from White Hart Lane started the season with some surprising struggles. After the promising signing of Gareth Bale and Darren Bent, Spurs managed a 1-0 lost at newly promoted Sunderland in their opening match, followed by a 1-3 defeat at home to Everton. For a team threatens to break into top 4 of premiership, that was unacceptable, even considering the fact some of their key players hadn't been fit.
Aaron Lennon's speed had been a key element in Martin Jol's attack. To utilize assets like that, he usually deploys 4-4-2, but had gone with 4-3-1-2 before. Tottenham has many versatile midfielders such as Zokora, Jenas and Tainio. If they managed to acquire Roman, these players will probably shoulder more supporting duties because Riquelme is a conductor type midfielder and natural to being supported. In the mean time, Spurs could certainly use Roman's help to overcome their injury crisis (Bale, Lennon, Berbatov...).
Just like Atletico, Lilywhites are in UEFA Cup first round. In term of opportunity in European competitions, the 2 sides are similar, and should be equally attractive to Roman. However, for Villarreal's sake, they wouldn't have to worry about Riquelme becoming a domestic competition if he went to White Hart Lane, although the sales price would also takes a dive.
Carrizo continued to have passport problems and hasn't practiced with Lazio. Due to his lack of training and match condition, he will not start against Norway.
Personally, I prefer Ustari. He's a little younger, so more time to gain experience and better his positioning. He might of been a little shorter than Carrizo, but has incredible stretch and he's got the amazing ability to hold onto the ball. Carrizo is reliable enough to back up, but I want to see Ustari starting. Just feel safer with him under the arc, and I don't know why. Statistically, Carrizo has better consistency.
According to the Lounsbury correlation, Mayan calendar started August 13th, 3114 BC.
Tomorrow 6:00pm local (noon EST), Villarreal president Fernando Roig will hold a press conference regarding Riquelme's future.
Will Roman sit on the bench for the remainder of his contract? Will he be auctioned? Will Boca loan or buy him back? Where do you want him to be? Atletico? Real Madrid? Milan? Or back in Boca finishing up Club World Cup?
The shattered relationship between Roman and Villarreal management might of been too much to repair, and it's sale or nothing now. The transfer deadline is last day of August, and Riquelme is out on the open market.
If Roman still wants to play for Boca, he'll have to be prepared to take a significant pay cut since the highest paid player in Argentina doesn't even make a quarter of what he had been getting in Villarreal. On top of that, will Boca be willing to shell out that much transfer fee?
Or Riquelme might have to start evaluating his European options seriously. ____________________________________________________________
Rooney broke his foot again. To my great disappointments, there won't be a short people striker duo for at least another 2 month. On other hand, Tevez will get his chance ahead of schedule.
ManU and Reading had a 0-0 draw past weekend. Next stop will be the 15th at Portsmouth (right next to Reading in standing last season), who also suffered a draw (2-2) in their opening match, against newly promoted Derby county. With Saha also injured, we should be seeing Carlito on the pitch Wednesday.
Tevez played yesterday, and ManU suffered another draw. One red card for each side when C.Ronaldo ended up getting send off for a head butt.
Tevez had an assist and almost a goal, David James' impressive stretch saved Portsmouth from a home lost. However, Tevez didn't seem very in sync with his teammates, and several missed chances indicated that he wasn't at the top of his form yet. Paul Scholes' goal
Carlito's buddy Mascherano also played on Wednesday, with Liverpool in Champions League match against Toulouse. Rafael Benítez was yelling at Mascherano all day, telling him where to play and what to do.
Mascher followed the directions and played excellently. Throughout the 90 minutes, Javier was pulling out tackles and disrupting almost all the Toulouse attacks. He also drew 2 yellow cards by initiating attacks from the rear and producing explosive forward runs. I was quite upset to see Mascherano not on the pitch the past weekend, and Liverpool barely managed to win at Villa Park. In the match yesterday, Javier seemed rested and ready, I think we'll see him again this weekend against Chelsea. ____________________________________________________________
Also missing from ManU's squad in the 0-0 tie was Heinze. The court hearing about Heinze's future is set to take place on Monday, Aug 20th. Can Rafa Benitez's US$13.2million secure him an EPL title?
If the deal falls out, Liverpool will have to either look for another LB, or start integrating Emiliano Insua into their equation.
In Barcelona's training match today, Messi was omitted from the starters' team, although he scored a goal and won the match with the substitutes.
Even though he hasn't really played all that much with Barça (50 games since '04), Messi' position there is quite secured. I would worry more about Gaby Milito. In order for Milito to have hope for a starting spot in FR's 4-3-3, he needs to at least move pass Rafael Marquez in the pack.
The flea hit a wonder volley and propelled Barcelona to a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in Franz Beckenbauer cup friendly. Messi goal
Pekerman was crucified because he didn't play Messi. Hopefully FR isn't about to make the same mistake this season. God willing, let Messi play! The boy is healthy and in top form.
Milito was substituted in at 60th minute for Thuram, after Marquez had been subbed in for Zambrotta at the beginning of second half... ____________________________________________________________
With the Diego Forlan purchase, Aguero's starting spot in Atletico Madrid also appeared in doubt. However, Forlan's consistency can only ensure little over 10 goals per season. It's when he gets the fluke, he'll get a couple extras and make his record look nicer. And he just had a fluke before leaving Villarreal...
Without Torres, Atletico will have to rely on Forlan if they planned to keep Aguero on the bench. Even if Maxi stayed healthy, they'll need more than that to progress in both UEFA Cup and La Liga.
Despite Javier Aguirre's (Atletico Madrid coach) claim of not planning to start Aguero, he unleashed El Kun in UEFA Cup home match against Vojvodina Novi Sad yesterday.
At 37th minute, an Aguero cross found Maxi, and the Atletico captain touched it in. The Serbians lost Milutinovic to second yellow soon after the restart, and more chances were created by Atletico. At 60th minute, Forlan finally picked up a garbage goal and made it 2-0. Aguero then volleyed in Forlan's cross towards the end to finish the game 3-0. ____________________________________________________________
This article by APM was published on Goal.com before Copa America. With Roman's return, perhaps the author's wishes will be granted? We could only hope. The final of the Copa Libertadores 2007 (Liberators Cup) has confirmed what many had expected, but many had also doubted, as the Argentine ace celebrated renewed success. Riquelme pulled off yet another classic commanding performance and led Boca Juniors to their sixth conquest of the most prestigious South American Cup – half of which have been hoisted with the Xeneize number 10 in a starring role.
The triumphant return of the player to centre stage in world football is the latest peak to be reached by a Román whose career has been a real rollercoaster ride. Now he’s ready to hog the limelight at national level again as he returns to Albiceleste duties for the upcoming Copa América. Can he keep it up or is the Román empire destined for another decline…?
While few doubt that Juan Román – the name he prefers to have on his shirt – Riquelme is a player of rare class, only the most diehard Boca Juniors fan isn’t aware that the number 10 has struggled through ups and downs. While in South America the midfielder has prowled pitches with almost clockwork class, his European experiences have been fraught with difficulties.
Riquelme has everything to be remembered as one of the greatest playmakers in any of the top European clubs, yet at the age of 29 (this Sunday) the facts don’t reflect such a standing. After all Riquelme was loaned out to Boca Juniors not by one of the Old World greats, but by Spanish minnows Villarreal. It all seems oddly illogical given his self-evident star status.
His path towards stardom had been blazed before by none other than Diego Armando Maradona, Riquelme attracting attention at Argentinos Juniors and being signed by a Boca Juniors where he would be worshipped in a number 10 jersey. Both coincided at Boca Juniors for a short time; the start of Maradona’s classy ceaseless support of Riquelme through thick and thin.
They played under Hector Bambino Veira and almost jointly celebrated the 1997 Apertura (Opening Tournament – half of the Argentine league), although the side faltered and the trophy ended up at cross-town arch-rivals River Plate. The same hated enemy (after doing a Guarana commercial in which he donned a Brazil shirt Maradona said that the only shirt he would never wear was a River one) also marked Maradona almost literally passing the baton on to Riquelme.
On the 25th of October 1997 River and Boca met at the formers Monumental stadium for a historic date – Diego Armando Maradona played his last match. Veira brought Riquelme on for Maradona to the chagrin of many, but Román spearheaded the comeback and carved an immediate place in Xeneize hearts as well as the front pages of sports papers everywhere.
Although the parallels are there, the differences between the two are crystal clear. One is that Riquelme spent a year being groomed in the youth ranks at Boca whereas Maradona arrived as an established crack player, although strangely enough the difference in transfer fees was just $200,000 (evidently not taking into account inflation). Other key differences can perhaps explain why Maradona succeeded in Europe while Riquelme has yet to taste glory abroad.
The first is speed – velocity, not the drug – and the second is personality. Maradona was able to pull off his trademark sprints and weave through tightly-knit defences with almost insulting ease while Riquelme has been labelled as a tortoise to Maradona’s hare. The second is that Maradona (even before the chemical boosts) oozed a never-say-die attitude and an ability to bulldoze through adversities, sometimes to his physical cost.
Riquelme’s speed has never been his strongpoint, although only those reading this in Braille aren’t aware that his strengths lie in other areas. This muddied him with a stain that is still tough to remove just as he crossed the pond for the first time to FC Barcelona. Part of the blame lies with Madrid-based daily AS (Ace), notorious for its muck-raking and rabble-rousing headlines and love of PhotoShop.
Originally the paper went head-over-heels about Riquelme after the number 10 led Boca Juniors to beat Vicente Del Bosque’s Real Madrid, hoisting the 2000 Intercontinental Cup (now FIFA CWC Japan) in Tokyo. Although both goals were scored by Martín Palermo (within three minutes) in the 2-1 win over the Galacticos, it was the Xeneize number 10 who starred in the conquest.
Although sadly demeaned in Europe the Intercontinental Cup is seen as highly prestigious in South America and no South American team had won the match since 1994, when Velez Sarsfield beat AC Milan 2-0, ironically enough under the command of a Carlos Bianchi who squeezed the best out of Riquelme at Boca over a decade later.
Riquelme's clinical eye for a perfect pass was evident in the second goal as he telegraphed a 70-metre pass for Palermo to bang past Casillas. He also stood out for his infuriatingly effective protection of possession as Real Madrid tried to come back (one goal scored, two disallowed) but were foiled as Riquelme led whipped the Merengues into peaks of exasperation with a slow tango.
The next day the AS front page blared "¡Florentino, Fíchalo!" (Florentino, Sign Him!) in a direct appeal for the-then President to bring Riquelme to Madrid as the next Galactico. When this didn’t happen and Barça brought him in to solve the incipient trophy drought at Camp Nou, the stance was fiercely hostile and spattered the Argentine with a clear insult.
"¡Timo Al Barça!" (Barça Have Been Conned!) screamed the headline at AS, claiming that the Catalans had been ripped off by Boca Juniors for paying 2,000 million Pesetas (12 million Euros) for a sluggish 24 year-old. This wasn’t helped by his landing in a tough time and with hardhead Coach Louis Van Gaal not wanting Riquelme - and saying so.
With the terse tactician sidelining him in a way that was repeated recently by fellow Dutch Coach Co Adriaanse at FC Porto with Diego (Werder Bremen), Riquelme was given few chances to shine, only glowing with brilliance in the Champions League against Anderlecht. Played out of position in an absurd way that minimised his strengths and maximised his weaknesses, Riquelme was soon unhappy bench fodder and then loaned to Villarreal.
His appearance didn’t exactly help, Riquelme seeming sad and slow in interviews and with a stooping posture and furrowed brow that many mistook for a slacker-like losing mentality. It was a deeply unfair damning judgement that was passed on the player, but he has shown a tendency towards melancholia both before and since that hasn’t served his cause well.
Rather than battle for his way of playing and convincing Coaches that he would be more useful if he played in X or Y way, Riquelme tended to appear to be moping and shrinking away from making his point on the pitch or even loudly complaining to the press. This apparent throwing-in of the towel when things were going wrong has seen the player bob up and down with club and country success.
There have been mitigating circumstances that explain the blues (the kidnapping of brother Cristian that ended up with Riquelme giving in and paying the thugs off, Boca President Macri seeing him as a commodity for sale rather than upping his wages, the Gaspart years at Barça that led him to be identified with failure, Pellegrini recently scapegoating him at Villarreal) but the fact is that many see him as too irregular and soft.
Announcing his premature (and now overturned) decision to quit the Albiceleste after being eliminated at the World Cup 2006 was also seen as weak by some, his claims that he was hanging up his international boots for the good of his mother labelled as a poor excuse in some quarters, although Maradona backed him up to the hilt and his mother was hospitalised twice.
Tellingly some see him as not able to handle pressure despite his myriad successes at Boca Juniors – great in South America or as the star of a small team (with a pronounced South American accent) like Villarreal but not up to scratch for the giants. Once again he was pigeonholed and labelled as great as a big fish in a small pool but unable to jostle with the big boys.
Nevertheless interest continued as he shone in Europe and in April 2006 the Daily Mirror claimed that Manchester United had made a 13 million Euro bid for the player but Villarreal wanted more and the deal stalled – starting his disenchanted phase at Villarreal along with that poor penalty kick against Arsenal in the last minute of the 2005-6 Champions League semi-final.
Back in Argentina with a more comforting blue-and-yellow shirt and number on his back, Riquelme has returned to greatness, also laying waste to certain rumours of his softness as he overcame initial re-adaptation difficulties to shine as brightly as ever at Boca. The five-month loan was crowned with global hat-trick across the two-leg Libertadores final.
Now he faces a crossroads yet again. He is back in the spotlight as arguably the best player in South America and has revived his fortunes after leaving through the Villarreal back door. He still has two years left on the contract he signed at the end of the 2004-5 season, but few can see him hugging and making up with President Roig and Coach Pellegrini.
If he can command Argentina to glory in Venezuela next week Riquelme could well be this summer’s star signing for one of the European giants. Some may still pooh-pooh the potential achievement as being in a prestige-free South American tournament, but that would be yet another unkind assessment.
Perhaps the following extract from a South American sports paper hits the nail on the head. "It’s not necessary to say how important and differentiated Riquelme as “Román” dug the Grêmio grave and nailed the lid shut. First he maintained possession and made Grêmio run all over the place,'' began the review.
"After that he lured the Gaúchos into attack and killed them with a counter-attack. He made every cent of his $ 500,000 monthly salary at Boca count. A better farewell would be impossible." Glowing praise indeed…especially coming from a Brazilian paper. Everything is in his favour, so perhaps we will see Román finally conquer Europe – it's about time.
“I will immediately get myself ready for manager Manuel Pellegrini, who I plan to only have a player and manager relationship with, and only that”
“I’ve always been a Boca fan, and when I play for Villarreal and watch Boca on the television and see one of my teammates wearing the number ten jersey, I will feel like I am lending it to him, until the day when I put it on again”
“Perhaps I will put on the Boca jersey again in June, 2009, when my Villarreal contract expires”
I want to put the Copa lost behind and start thinking about the big thing in 2010. After all, first qualifier match is just 2 month away.
First, let me finish up where I left off with an interview by Kaveh Mahjoob from Last Kick. The interviewee was Brazilian football manager Edson Araujo Tavares. I picked this one because it's from a professional point of view, and it gives us insight instead of brochures.
The 2007 version of Copa-America was exiting, displayed fantastic attacking football and at the end predictive. Brazil and Argentina have been the top two teams of South America continent for many decades and not surprisingly, these two teams made it to the finals. Although Brazil football has been world number one for many years, in this tournament, we witnessed the great class of Argentina and looking through the entire tournament, Argentineans demonstrated the most exciting style of play that have been witnessed for many years. At the end though, it was Brazil that once again for the third time over the last eight years defeated Argentina and won the championship.
At the end, it was Brazil that was victorious once more although most fans were satisfied with how Argentina played all the way until the final match.
Brazilian Edson Tavarez has been coaching for a long time and Iranian football fans remember him from his days two years ago at Sepahan. I had an opportunity to ask Mr. Tavarez a few questions about Copa-America.
Kaveh – Once again we found the two South America powerhouses in Copa-America’s final. Your thoughts?
Edson - During the last few years Argentina and Brazil have been the dominant teams in South- America and especially in Copa America. This was the 4th time in five Copa America that Brazil and Argentina faced each other in the finalists. Once again we witnessed Brazil against Argentina and once again we saw the Tango dancers of Argentina came out short against the Samba dancers of Brazil and this time, the Venezuelans were the host for the final dance. Also note that no matter where these two countries face each other, the rivalry is alive on the field.
Kaveh – Fans love to watch Brazil and Argentina perform. This time around though, overall the playing style of Argentina seemed more in sync than Brazilians. What is the current state of football at these two countries and do you agree with this observation?
Edson - EL TANGO of Argentineans Zaneti, Cambiasso, Veron, Riquelme and MESSI is really a well orchestrated dance. Their coordination between the lines is just tactically perfect. Also the quality of the new generation’s TANGO is unbelievable.
In this group of players from Argentina we can see exiting players such as Lucho Gomzales (FC Porto), Gago (Real Madrid), C. Tevez, Palacio (Boca Juniors) and Aimar (Zaragoza). Think about it, they are all of reserve players…
Can you imagine that? Can you imagine such quality of human being on the bench?
This team was based on Argentina’s U 21 Champions and many of them moved to abroad for club play for better financial conditions.
The SAMBA of Brazil on the other hand actually has many problems. First the President of CBF ( Brazilian Federation ), Ricardo Teixeira, appointed `Dunga ` and Jorginho as coaches of the Brazilian team, despite all complains in Brazil Coaches Association, Union of Coaches, Ministry of Sports.
Even the President of Brazil LULA tried to interfere in CBF but since the football federation is a private organization, the decision was stood.
Kaveh – Dunga is another one of great Brazilian players turning quickly to a head coach. At least in this one example, it seems like Brazilians are following Klinseman and Germans.
Edson - DUNGA never worked as a coach before this tournament and has not even coached in U15 (Under 15 years of age).
Jorginho had only 3 months of experience as a coach.
In 1991, we made the very same mistake when in 1991 when FALCAO coached and led the Brazil National Team with a Titanic like experience.
Many of the current Brazilian players in the National Team have no qualification to dance our SAMBA with our yellow shirts. More than 9 players are not in this team for different reasons but we all know the true.
Ronaldo, Ricardo Oliveira, Julio Cesar (Inter-Milan), Ronaldinho, Edmilson (Barcelona), Lucio, Ze Roberto ( Bayern Munich ), Kaka ( Milan ), Lucar ( Liverpool and U21 Brazil), Cicinho (Real Madrid) and others should not have refused to play.
Kaveh – Why did these players refuse to play?
Edson – Ronaldo is from the south of Brazil and his former team Gremio is the enemy of Internacional club where Dunga played.
In the end of Dunga’s playing career, Ronaldinho played against him and humiliated Dunga in the front of more them 90,000 people. Dunga then went on to finish his playing career with Internacional.
This event is vital in the south of Brazil. When Dunga becomes coach of Brazil natioan team, he could not shake these memories. As a result, he has benched Ronaldinho many times. Dunga’s excuse is that "Ronaldinho has to earn his spot in the national team. It is therefore easy to undersant why Ronaldo doesn´t want play for the national team.
As far as Ka Ka is concerned, the problem is tactical. In Milan Ka Ka plays as a free player but in Brazil he can’t have that role. So he chose to get some rest and watch the matches and wait for the results.
As for other players who didn’t join the team, they had different reasons but the common thread was their differences with the coach.
Kaveh – How do you evaluate Brazilians’ performance?
Edson – In this tournament, Dunga’s team was lucky. They lost the first game against Mexico, and then defeated Ecuador with a penalty kick. Then Brazil faced Chile that was already qualified.
By Luck Brazil faced Chile once more. Based on the way Chileans played, I guess they got drunk before the match otherwise how do you justify a 6 – 1 result.
As you heard, several key players went drinking the night before the match. Check the Chilean Football Federation’s site. They banned 8 players including Valdivia who was one of their better players.
In the second round we played Uruguay and we won in the penalty stage after a 2-2 regulation result. The results are not as important. What’s important is how we played and what system we used.
Kaveh – In terms of style of play, how different are these two countries?
Edson - Brazil and Argentina play a similar system on the field and play a 4-4-2 game.
However, the TANGO’s team placement of players is different them SAMBA’s team.
Argentina’s midfielders, Mascherano, Veron and Cambiasso, have more quality to build-up from behind the offensive situation. Their passing quality is better and in fact is much better.
Brazil´s Gilberto Silva, Josue and Mineiro, are 3 permanent defenders. For Brazilians, the key of the strategy in Losango system approach is the one of the strikers… in the TANGOS team this job is for Riquelme and Brazil has not found yet player to do this job.
Kaveh – Please explain the Losango system.
Edson - Losango is the disposition of the players inside the field and the 4-4-2 is the system, but the 4 players in the Midfield are used in different ways or dispositions. For example, we may have two defensive midfielders and 2 offensive ones. Arsenal plays the same system. We call it QUADRADO or QUADRATE. If you remember in last World Cup, Brazil played with Magic Quadrado (quadrant).
Losango in its traditional way has 1 defensive midfielder, 1 midfielder on the right side, 1 on the left side and 1 as the offensive midfielder. That is Losango.
Kaveh – Thanks. Now let’s go back to your comparison of Argentina and Brazil.
Edson - Defensively, Argentina plays with libero in the diagonal of the ball position, like I did in Sepahan, sometimes with Ayala and sometimes with Milito. Brazil also plays with the line approach in defense.
Offensively, Argentina without Crespo (out due to injury), plays with Messi in the sides and also as MD offensive sometimes and Tevez or Palacio between the 2 opposite defenders… Brazil with Robinho moving in the sides and comes from behind is the only option for creative movements… W. LOVE is not ready to be the key striker for Brazil team.
TANGO’s team has more coordination meaning that when they have the ball they all attack and when they don’t have the ball they all defend.
In TANGO, Alfio Basile gave to Argentina the look of his mentor CARLOS GARDEL
Despite Brazil not playing well in several games, no tactical organization, Physically bad we all knows that when Brazil reaches the final it would become the same Brazil we have known … and Argentina trembles when they face Brazil as they did. We Brazilians prefer to play against Argentina in final … better then Mexico, in my opinion the surprise team in Copa- America.
Kaveh – Last thoughts on Copa-America?
Edson – I believe that the level of competition still remains good … just good … but tactically only Brazil and Argentina have shown improvement. The performance of Mexico was a big surprise, especially if we consider that Mexico played the Copa America without 6 or 7 key players. Castillo was the best scorer. He in only 21 years old and is a very talented player.
The final was especially good for the Venezuela organization. Can you imagine if Venezuela had played in the final?
In the last few finals, Brazil has never lost to Argentina and this time was no exception.
In the interview, Edson mentioned Carlos Gardel, making it the 3rd time that name had appeared on this blog. There had been a request from last time I posted Gardel's music, so here's the most famous Gardel piece, Por Una Cabeza. This song is about losing a bet by a head (of the horse).
Losing by a head, of a noble horse, who slackens just down the stretch. And when it comes back, it seemed to say: don't forget brother, You know, you shouldn't have bet.
Losing by a head, instant violent love, of that flirtatious and cheerful woman. who, swearing with a smile, a love she's lying about, burns in a blaze, all my love.
Losing by a head, there was all that madness; her mouth in a kiss, wipes out the sadness, it soothes the bitterness.
Losing by a head, if she forgets me, no matter to lose, my life a thousand times; what to live for?
Many deceptions, loosing by a head... I swore a thousand times not to insist again. But if a look sways me on passing by, her lips of fire, I want to kiss once more.
Enough of race tracks, no more gambling, a photo-finish I'm not watching again. But if a pony looks like a sure thing on Sunday, I'll bet everything again, what can I do?
Some videos I saw on Youtube, teaches you how to make a smoke grenade.
The recipe basically ignites Potassium Nitrate (Legal to buy, but be cautious if you live in the US. Buying very small amount shouldn't of been a problem) to produce the heat, which burns the sugar and produces the smoke. Baking soda retards the burning process and allows the grenade to sustain smoke production for a period of time. The smoke is harmless, but not colorless, so be aware of the dye choice since the end product is a mixture of colors.
Also, try not to cook the mixture indoor because the mixture could ignite inside the pan (ie. a spark jumped in). The cooking process is hazardous, although not dangerous if done properly.
Argentina went into 2002 World Cup with a FIFA world rank of 3 (behind defending champion France and '98 runner up Brazil), and was hailed tournament favorite by media. With a lineup including Batistuta, Crespo, Aimar, Ortega, Veron, Ayala, Zanetti, Samuel, Simeone, Sorin and Caniggia, "stacked" was an understatement, and quite possibly no one had questioned the trouble-free qualifying journey.
Why should they? In the 18 qualifiers, Argentina won 13, drew 4 and obtained an average of 2.4 points per match. Besides the goal leader Hernan Crespo with 9, we also had Claudio Lopez, Batistuta and Veron in the top 10 scorer list of CONMEBOL qualifying stage. Marcelo Bielsa's European style 4-4-1-1 emphasizing on lobs and crosses practically steamrolled our South America opponents. Every Argentine had a smile on the face...
They wouldn't have been so confident if they had known the inflexibility and arrogance of Marcelo Bielsa.
In Japan, Bielsa started out with Batistuta as target person supported by Claudio Lopez (later replaced by Kily Gonzalez) and Ortega from the flanks, while veron playing pivot so the formation looked like a 3-3-1-3 on the pitch.
There were some personnel problems with Bielsa's schematic. To name a few: 1.Veron had been out of favor in ManU for 1/2 a year and had just came out of an achilles tendon injury. 2.Exclusion of Riquelme and Saviola from the team 3.Bielsa's reluctance to play Crespo and Batistuta together. 4.Simeone was not completely fit and occupied too important a position. 5.35 year old Claudio Cannigia did nothing more than getting a red card while sitting on the bench. 6.Ortega likes cutting through the center so he was playing out of position. 7.Kily Gonzalez was similar to Ortega and was forced to play too wide on the wing. 8.Veron wasn't able to cope with Sorin and Zanetti's pace and wasn't effectively supported by those 2.
However, all of these problems were side dishes compared to Bielsa's stubbornness in the general approach. Regardless who we played and where we played, he always wanted to take the initiative, always forcing the issue and always pressing. Opportunistic approach was not an option, the risks involved in pure attacking football with the same strategy over and over was happily accepted.
Was there no warning? There were. During the qualifiers, a 3-1 away defeat against Brazil was the first sign. Then we managed to win at home but Ayala also put in an international own goal. We also saw problem against Uruguay but Claudio Lopez's equalizer just before half time calmed us down again... The best warning was perhaps Bielsa's unsuccessful stint at Espanyol, but that was 3 years ago and largely forgotten after the qualifier triumphs.
In Japan, our first group match was against the 2nd place African qualifier Nigeria (sounds dangerous doesn't it?). With Kanu injured and substituted out soon after the half time break, Nigeria turned out to be nothing more than another team that was incapable of handling the European style long lob attacks (they eventually left Japan with just 1 point). Argentina dominated possession, and with 11 to 4 corner ratio and 19 to 9 shot ratio, Nigeria was lucky to walk out with just -1 goal differential. Even though the defense lacked confidence without Ayala, the win was convincing, and fans started thinking about knockout stages after the victory.
Then the lost against England. England wasn't embarrassed to stick one man in the front and sit the rest behind the ball. As their manager Sven-Göran Eriksson put it, they were happy to "play on the break and hope to get one off a set piece". Why not? They were against a South American team trying to play their own style of attacking football. These guys knew exactly what to look for and all they needed was playing good defense till opportunity arises. In this kind of crossing football, midfield dominance and extreme percentage of possession means nothing if the finisher(s) cannot convert in the box. Bielsa's decision to stick with 1 target person on the field reduced our chance to make that connection by 50%. In a match where Argentina had absolute dominance in possession, we only managed 12 shots and 5 on target. England sat 10 men in their box almost the entire match and ended up with 15 shots and 8 on target! Football is about creating opportunities. It doesn't matter how they were created, whether from composed assaults or counter attacks, whoever gets more total chances will likely become the victor. Owens' counter attack earned (there's no point arguing over this anymore, the outcome is what mattered) England a PK just before half time, and Dave Beckham converted it. In second half, Bielsa subbed in Aimar for Veron (who was playing at his natural position but chose to cross the ball in more from the flanks), later Crespo for Batistuta and Claudio for Gonzalez. These substitutions increased movements on the field, but failed to break down the defensive umbrella England had put up around and over their box. The basic approach of Argentine attack was unchanged, and it remained ineffective against England for the rest of the match.
Whoever made this picture had obviously very limited understanding of the game
The lost hit hard. Argentina went from tournament favorite to a position where we didn't even know if second round appearance would be possible. Since England-Nigeria game would go on the same time as the confrontation between Sweden and Argentina, the final group match was a MUST WIN for us (Sweden and England had 4 points each, Argentina 3 and Nigeria 0).
Sweden had been undefeated for eleven matches before meeting Argentina, and they had come back from behind to tie England 1-1 in their opening match. Marcelo Bielsa chose to retained the same strategy with some personnel adjustments, namely Almeyda for Simeone, Aimar for Veron, and Chamot for Diego Placente in defense. Again, Argentina totally dominated the midfield, but was unable to make that crucial connection between our midfielders and the striker. The first half went by without even one successful delivery to Batistuta, and our best chances came when Sorin, flanking on the left, saw crosses from the wings. Some long shots also missed the target, and we kept pressing looking for the go ahead goal. The second half saw more fruitless pressing from Argentina and more narrow escapes from Swedish counter attacks. At this point, England was of course still tied 0-0 with Nigeria, as that turned out to be the final score. Towards 60th minute, Gabriel failed to reach what could of been a critical header, and Bielsa's nerves finally cracked. He took out Batistuta and put on Hernan Crespo. Bielsa had been criticized for 5 years for this substitution, many believed he should of used the two target players simultaneously. My question is, would that had changed our fate? IMHO, the fundamental problem in Bielsa's campaign was the willingness to take all the risks by employing attacking philosophy at all times. Anyroad, at 59th minute (seconds after the substitution), Sweden made an explosive counter attack run with their midfielder Svensson who was wide open just pass the half way mark. Matias Almeyda was forced to foul him to prevent a breakaway, and Sweden was awarded a freekick from the perfect position (2 feet in front of the arc, off center, 3 feet to the left). Svensson took that freekick beautifully, bending over the wall into the top left corner. Cavallero had no chance. If Bielsa had already cracked when he took out Batistuta, he completely lost it after this goal. It was 60 minute into the game, and we must win to move on. He took out 2 defensive players (sorin and Almeyda), and put on 2 more crossers (Gonzalez and Veron) to make a last ditch struggle with his strategy. Bielsa's desperation did not pay off. Instead, we almost conceded another goal on couple occasions. A questionable call gave us a PK at 88th minute. Even though Crespo was able to rebound the ball in after the Swedish goalie had blocked Ortega's initial kick, and saved Argentina from another embarrassing 0-1 defeat. It was too little, and too late.
When we had absolute superiority over our opponents, Bielsa was able to not only win, but also win with electrifying performances and class. However, when against competent oppositions who were willing to sit back and patiently absorb our assaults, Bielsa failed to produce result even when we desperately needed the points. On top of that, he was severally punished by counter attacks.
That same statement could also be applied to many Argentine coaches and several generations of our National team, because it is a lesson that, to this day, we still have not learned.
Alfio Basile is the same type of DT as Marcelo Bielsa. Unlike Bielsa, Basile would make tactical changes to utilize both air and ground routes. However, from a more fundamental point of view, these 2 take on their campaigns with the exact same approach. An approach that could produce fantastic results against overmatched opponents, but lacks the necessary flexibility and adaptability to win competitive tournaments.
What had recently happened, and what's happening before our eyes, are all parts of the requiem for a bad dream.
Albiceleste : White and Light Blue. Colors from the triband flag of Argentina. Some say it's the sky and clouds. Some say it symbolizes Río de la Plata - River of silver... What really matter is: These are the colors of Argentina National Football Team An extraordinary representative of Offensive Football, Attractive Football and Positive Football. This Blog is about the Tactics, Strategies and Player Selection of Argentina National Football Team - Los Albicelestes.
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Argentines have so much to love. Gorgeous sceneries in the Andes; Fair wind grazing through Río de la Plata; Juicy beef from the Pampas; Beautiful tango dancers on Buenos Aires streets... But nothing the Argies hold closer to their hearts than FOOTBALL. Because it's the football pitch where dim light from the ancient Diaguita and Guarani fire still glittering; It's the football match where Argentines are still displaying their determination and fierceness in resistances ever so proudly.
