Argie Bargy : Argentina

The worst kept secret in Argentine football finally 'revealed'

Joel Richards — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:09:00 GMT

Ricky Martin’s sexuality. There were no WMDs. Santa Claus doesn’t exist. Out there are many, many poorly kept secrets that, when they finally make the light of day and are admitted, turn out to be remarkably underwhelming.

You knew the truth all along. (Perhaps Santa Claus is a bad example here. La Liga Loca is reported to have broken down during his GCSEs upon hearing the news that Father Christmas was, in fact, just daddy…)

Now, naming a national team coach may not be as transcendental as any of the above, but the appointment of Sergio ‘Checho’ Batista as the Argentina coach was surrounded in a shroud of pretend suspense nonetheless.

He had already been in charge of three Argentina matches since Diego Maradona was ousted after the World Cup. He was also Lionel Messi’s choice, and if he was Lionel Messi’s choice, then that would be good enough for most of AFA. He didn’t necessarily have the backing of General Manager Carlos Bilardo, who was tasked with recommending candidates for the job to the committee set up by the AFA to make the final decision. All the same Batista was in pole position.

The announcement filtered through via ‘sources’ days previously. From the very start, when Batista first stepped in months ago, he was 99.9% guaranteed to land the job. The official announcement wasn’t made, however, until Tuesday evening.

But now, at last, Batista is in charge. He is officially the man to take the selección to Brazil in 2014.

The decision wasn’t met with applause from all quarters. Despite AFA saying there was unanimity in the decision to appoint Batista, it soon emerged that Vélez and Lanús were not in favour of the choice.

There were other dissenting voices too. “If Checho hadn’t been the youth team coach, he wouldn’t be in charge of the national team,” said Gustavo Alfaro, coach at Arsenal. Ironically, as the more diligent readers of Argie Bargy already know, Arsenal is the team founded by Julio Grondona, whose backing of Batista was central to the decision being made.

Anyway, Alfaro didn’t stop there. “If we choose the coach because he’s friends with the players then we are in trouble. It is a mistake to think that the coach has to get on with his players.”

As Alfaro pointed out, Batista made the step up to the full national team from the Under-20 side. Back in 2008, he had been intended to work as Maradona’s right-hand man, but El Diez thought that Batista had been disloyal to him when Diego was chosen as coach. Batista ultimately stayed with the U-20s.

Checho’s link to several players in the current generation had already been formed – when Alfio Basile decided not to coach the team that went to the Beijing Olympics, Batista had his chance.

The side won gold, and players like Di María, Agüero and of course Leo Messi all responded well to Batista in the dugout.

Whether or not Batista is chummy with his players, as Alfaro suggests, or whether its more a case that they respect and listen to him, and he knows how to get them to perform, remains to be seen.

It is true that Batista does not have quite as impressive a CV as some other candidates for the job, which included Alejandro Sabella, Carlos Bianchi, Americo ‘Tolo’ Gallego and Ramón Díaz. It is also true that Batista has not coached a grande in Argentina, nor a grande abroad. Indeed, with Batista as under-20 coach, Argentina did not qualify for the U-20 World Cup.

There have been signs, however, that under Batista that there will be a more measured and rational approach to the national team in terms of tactics and formation. There are also problems with Argentine football, such as a chronic shortage of full backs, which no coach would be able to resolve immediately.

It looks likely Batista will aim to rejuvenate the side in phases. Next year Argentina host the Copa America – a good showing there is vital, so certain older players (Zanetti, Demichelis, Heinze, Cambiasso) may well stay in contention.

Riqulme is expected to return to the side. It is after that competition that the team will start building for the 2014 World Cup with a younger crop of players.

Just in case Batista needs any reminding what his real goal is – to return victorious from the World Cup in four years time - his first game since being confirmed as coach is on November 17th. Argentina face Brazil.

Little Arsenal making big waves

Joel Richards — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 10:45:00 GMT

The specialised press dedicated 21 pages to other matters before finally getting there.

The Big Five all had their story – with Independiente winning in the Sudamericana (despite the opposition keeper having blood pouring from his head after being hit by a rock thrown by fans). Boca are arguing about where they’ll spend the preseason, River have to bring in a new holding midfielder to the starting XI, San Lorenzo have the clásico against Huracán and Racing star Gio Moreno took up the centre spread.

Then came Vélez and Estudiantes, the top two, who play on Friday in a match that could decide the championship.

Only then, 22 pages in, did Arsenal get a mention. All 164 words of a mention.

Usually, the club from Sarandí only really deserve a small column hidden away in the deeper depths of the press because they are wallowing in a mid- to low-table mediocrity, with no real stars, not playing particularly well, and just getting by.

But this year it is different. This year’s league title race is a three-way between Estudiantes, top of the table on 26 points, Vélez, on 23, and Arsenal. Although they only get 164 words, Arsenal are also on 23 points.

The *rse, as they are affectionately known, are an extremely modest club. The club’s history is limited, along with its resources. The ground has a capacity of 16,000 but has a distinctly non-league feel to it. The club’s record top scorer in the first division has scored a mere 33.

In 1957, Julio, his brother and a group of friends decided to set up a club. Legend has it that it was the friend with a stutter who suggested they should name the new club after the Londoners, Ar-Ar-Ar-Arsenal.

The group of amigos looked no further than their local rivals, giants Independiente and Racing, for inspiration over what Arsenal de Sarandí’s club colours must be – hence the sky-blue shirt with the red stripe.

Julio later moved on to the presidency of Independiente, and in 1979 made the move into the role he holds to this day – president of AFA. But it wasn’t just Grondona who moved onwards and upwards, so too did the club that he founded 53 years ago.

After wallowing in the lower divisions, then gradually working their way up, Arsenal gained promotion to the top flight in 2002. Jorge Burruchaga, the clubs most successful youth team product who returned to coach the side and take them to the first division, said he shouted more when the *rse won promotion than when he won the World Cup with Argentina.

The crowning moment in Arsenal’s history came in 2007, when the side beat Club America in the final of the Copa Sudamericana to win on away goals.

But just three points off the top, Arsenal are now in with the chance of becoming the latest ‘surprise package’ in Argentina.

In recent years, Argentinos Juniors – current holders, Banfield, Lanús, are just a few examples of ‘modest’ clubs to have won the league title. Tigre, Huracán and Godoy Cruz have all come close.

And should Estudiantes and Vélez cancel each other out on Friday, Arsenal could go joint-top of the table this weekend.

Gustavo Alfaro, who won the Sudamericana with the club in 2007, returned as coach this year and looked to build up a team that hid it's defects. “This is down to everyone,’ he said this week speaking about the side's position in the league, ‘from the players, the coaching staff and the board to the kit men.’ But Alfaro is playing the classic underdog card in the title race. ‘It is up to Vélez and Estudiantes, who have the responsibility here. We are just onlookers.’

At one stage in the season, Arsenal seemed content to do just that – look on and let things happen. Against River at the Monumental a few weeks ago, Arsenal started to kill time with less than 10 minutes on the clock. There would be no initiative. A point would do, and if we can grab one on the counter then great, seemed to be the plan.

But last weekend they showed that they could take games to their opposition too. They may have only been playing Gimnasia, deep in the relegation battle, but twice Arsenal found themselves behind, twice they pulled it back and when it counted, right at the death, they took the lead and all three points.

Working against Arsenal is the fact that with Estudiantes and Vélez out of the Sudamericana, both are now focusing solely on the league. Arsenal might push the two of them to the death, just don’t expect to hear too much about it.

Four more years for sharp suited Diego?

Joel Richards — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:22:00 GMT

Four years ago, Jose Mourinho was in charge at Chelsea, Tony Blair was British Prime Minister, Esteban Cambiasso had hair, Leo Messi was an unused substitute and Carlos Tevez was playing his club football in Brazil.

A vuvuzela, meanwhile, sounded like a rare species of antelope only seen with David Attenborough’s accompanying whispery voice.

By the time the next World Cup swings around in four years time, there will have been just as many seismic managerial and political changes, players will have changed their look, made a name for themselves and changed club allegiances several times over. And of course, there will be a fresh set of annoying plastic gimmicks to prize money from punters’ pockets.

But also come Brazil 2014, in normal circumstances we should be reminiscing about that grey suit, that greying beard, those taps on the bum, the pre-match kisses and the Pelé-baiting with nostalgia.

The Diego Maradona era as Argentina coach should be a sepia-tinged memory.

These are not normal circumstances, however, for the simple reason that AFA and Diego Maradona are involved.

Leading a chaotic, controversial and almost disastrous qualifying campaign wasn’t enough. He had time to prove everyone wrong. An eccentric squad selection, last-minute tactical dabbling and whimsical demands for creature comforts wasn’t even enough. The critics waited for the fall, which under Maradona, duly came in the form of a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Germany.

Yet despite that defeat, the fingers are not pointing at Diego. And rather than someone else taking the blame, there are simply no fingers pointing, and Maradona retains his position centre stage.

In the aftermath of the World Cup exit, first came the brazen idea of one Argentine politician, who is more often associated with human- and workers’- rights campaigning than meddling in sporting matters, to suggest that now, just weeks after the World Cup exit, was the time for a statue of Maradona.

In some years time there will, rightly and deservedly, be a bronze effigy of Diego Armando Maradona in Argentina. But after a humiliating exit from football‘s biggest stage, which doctors have had to deny has sent the coach back to the drugs, hardly seems an appropriate moment.

Next up came Julio Grondona, AFA president, who via his spokesman announced that there is a four-year contract offer on the table for Maradona. Sure, Diego will have to explain what happened in South Africa and come up with a plan for the next few years, but the offer is there to take.

Leo Messi, Sergio Romero, Martín Palermo and Gabriel Heinze all want Maradona to stay (although in the case of the last two its fairly obvious that a change in coach would signal an end to their time in blue and). Angel Di Maria was one player who admitted he didn’t feel comfortable in the role Maradona played him in at the World Cup, and Veron Snr blamed Maradona for Veron Jr failing to perform in South Africa.

While opinion is divided on whether Maradona should carry on, there will be no developments till next week. The meeting between Maradona and Grondona will happen ‘not after Wednesday and not before Tuesday’ in the strangely-chosen words of AFA.

With commitments – i.e. dollar-generating friendlies – just on the horizon, however, a deal should be brokered soon. Maradona will make fresh demands regarding the make up of his back room staff, meaning Grondona may finally have to budge over the addition of Oscar Ruggeri to the set up.

While the prospect of Maradona coaching Argentina at a World Cup in Brazil is just too tempting for the polemicists and marketing people out there, it still doesn’t address the real issues.

Germany highlighted the deficiencies in Argentine football – from the physical and tactical, to the technical.

Changing coach will change relatively little. Argentine football requires a revolution in terms of organisation, in terms of priorities, in terms of coaching and in terms of its philosophy to avoid a repeat of the 2010 World Cup performance.

Maradona is not the sole reason for the embarrassing performances in South Africa, even if he didn’t exactly help things. Maradona is, however, the perfect fall guy to deflect criticism away from AFA.

Failure at next years Copa America would be a bridge too far for him to stay on, but avoiding that, don’t be surprised to see Maradona in a sharp suit at Brazil 2014.

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Sex please, we're Argentinian

Joel Richards — Thu, 27 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT

One is the classic squad photo. Sparkling ironed kits, all smiles, the coach on the front row flanked by his main men – Messi and Tévez in this case – and the trio of keepers stood in the middle. All good.

The other looks like a group of extras from a Guy Ritchie film. Sharp suits, gelled hair, a wide boy demeanour… Given the recent debate that’s got people talking in Argentina, perhaps the cinematic reference should be Sexy Beast.

As the World Cup nears, Argentina had two squad photos taken and, like other countries, took the opportunity to lay down a few ground rules for the coming weeks.

No jacket required - well not in this picture anyway...

Now, looking at what other countries are up to, Spain have decided that social networking is strictly off limits. ‘We’re not allowed to go online till we get back from the world cup,’ tweeted @Carles5puyol. ‘I’ll tell you about it when I’m back!’ @andresiniesta8 was typically composed and monotone. ‘We’ve been asked not to use Facebook or Twitter until the World Cup is over.’

Capello has taken the same route with the England players, but Brazil have allowed the likes of @RealKaka and @luis_fabuloso to air their thoughts… for now.

Rather than worrying what @OfficialMessi, @HiguainPipita and company are putting into 140 characters, however, Diego Maradona might be worrying what @aguerosergiokun is up to in his free time.

‘Sex is part of everyone’s social life,’ said team doctor Donato Villani yesterday on local radio. ‘The problem (for finely-tuned machines such as footballer) is not sex in itself. The problem is sex at two in the morning with a bottle of champagne, with someone who isn’t the steady partner.

After that glimpse into the lives of the young millionaires who will represent Argentina in South Africa, Villani confirmed that Argentine players will be allowed to see their girlfriends and wives during the competition, with benefits.

Carlos Bilardo (absent from the team photo as conspiracy theorists pointed out) will no doubt chip in with his opinion on the situation. He allowed his players some R&R with their señoritas in 1986 and 1990, under the strict condition that ‘the woman does the work,’ and the player doesn’t tire his legs.

Along with allowing the players moments of intimacy with their loved ones, Argentina are trying to maintain some semblance of normality during the World Cup. ‘You can’t deny the players an asado, a glass of wine or a bit of dulce de leche for a whole month,’ believes Villani.

Diego advises Aguero to ignore Doctor's orders...

There are, of course, different ways of unwinding. Fernado Signorini, the squad’s fitness coach admits ‘I like good books just as much as beautiful women.’ Signorini, who has accompanied Maradona since the 1980s, is something of a philosopher. He once argued his atheist beliefs with Heinze and Mascherano till the small hours of the morning, and then gave them both Bertrand Russel’s Why I Am Not a Christian. He regularly hands over suggested reading matter to the players.

Whether Argentina’s players use the down time during the World Cup to read the classics is, despite Signorini’s attempts, unlikely.

If Argentina crash and burn, the botineras – WAGS – will have some serious questions to answer.

But if all this pays off, then be warned. Maradona says he will run around Buenos Aires’s phallic centre piece, the Obelisk, in his birthday suit. Perhaps those team photo suits weren’t so bad after all.

More World Cup 2010 news

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The original 'Next Maradona' nears history as Palermo's ex calls in the lawyers

Joel Richards — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:27:00 GMT

Impressed by La Liga Loca’s Beginer’s Guide to La Liga’s Last Day, there seemed no reason, in much the same way as Argie Bargy’s adopted country copied the language, not to copy the idea from the motherland.

Here are the weekend’s talking points…

Title race

He of the rabona (the Joe Cole wrap-around to you and me), he who was the original 'Next Maradona', he who compared winning the title but not being the best team in the league to the best looking girl not being up to much in the sack, could become He of the Clasura ’10 champions.

Argentinos Juniors travel to Huracán on Sunday. A win, and perhaps a draw, will see the club win their first title since 1985, and add another chapter to the legend of Claudio ‘Bichi’ Borghi, the Argentinos coach.
Libertadores

Keeping an eye on how things pan out for Argentinos will be Estudiantes, still in with a shout of winning the title. A single one goal has all but dashed hopes of the double. 0-0 last Sunday with Central means they need Argentinos to lose to have a chance of winning the league.

On Thursday, they lost – undeservedly - to Internacional in the Libertadores to a late header. The result isn’t beyond reach for next week’s return leg, but it is the proverbial montaña that they have to climb.

Sudamericana watch

Everyone may see it as a rubbish Europa League, which is really saying something, and it may be concocted to attract TV money and simply fill in the non-Libertadores Cup half of the year, but the Sudamericana is in fact a fair reflection of the season’s best teams.

The traditional European season, as you all know, is broken down into the Apertura and Clausura in Argentina, allowing two champions. Together, they make up the ‘normal’ season and it is the top six from this table that provides Argentina’s entries to the competition.

So far Argentinos, Banfield, Newell’s, Estudiantes and Independiente have all qualified. Vélez and Lanús both need to win, and the other not to, to grab the final spot.

Relegation watch

Tigre fans conducted a peaceful, amicable, and in-no-way-violence-inciting pretend funeral up in the stands for their hated rivals Chacarita last weekend. The Undertakers, together with Atlético Tucumán have hogged the first two relegations spots all to themselves. Central and Gimnasia will play the relegation playoff, against sides from the second division yet to be decided.

River/Boca watch

After three spells at the club, six league titles, one Libertadores, one Supercopa, over 300 games and nearly 70 goals, Marcelo Gallardo is leaving River Plate. Wiping away the tears, the playmaker – affectionately known as ‘Chucky’ (from Child’s Play, for his looks) told the press that it was best for him to leave.

He wants to carry on playing, but with a injury record that makes Arjen Robben look like Bruce Willis in Unbreakable, we may not be seeing much more of Gallardo.

Mauro Camoranesi won’t be replacing him. Offered half of what River’s top earner takes to the bank, the Juve player’s agent walked out of the meeting after four (4) minutes. Second choice Argie Bargy also scoffed at the $400,000 offer. River clearly don’t know what journalism pays…

Riquelme, meanwhile, is injured and needs surgery. The debate about him not going to the World Cup is now officially null and void, because it doesn’t matter that he is a genius but also refers to himself as Riquleme, and that he fell out with Maradona. The debate is over. He wouldn’t have made it.

World Cup squad watch

Ariel Garcé is going to South Africa, yes or yes (as the Argentines would say it). “I booked the flights with my mates months ago,” said the defender. He, like most of us, clearly wasn’t expecting Diego to offer him the chance to play while he was there.

Martín Palermo, meanwhile, may have his chances of making the final 23 scuppered by his ex-wife, Lorena Barrichi. Lorena has filed a lawsuit against Palermo, citing tax evasion and money laundering. No hard feelings after the split, then.

Final Day Fixtures
Arsenal-Godoy Cruz
San Lorenzo-Newell’s
Banfield-Boca
Chacarita/Palermo Dead-Racing
Gimnasia – Atlético Tucumán
River-Tigre
Independiente-Lanús
Central – Vélez
Huracán – Argentinos
Colón - Estudiantes

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Argentinos' amazing comeback keeps title hopes alive

Joel Richards — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:28:00 GMT

“Muerde,” says the 40-something up in the stands at the Argentinos Juniors game on Sunday afternoon.

“Put him under” would be the rough translation of what he wanted his team’s player to do, but the literal translation would simply be ’bite.’

Two seats along, granddad could see that his granddaughter, sat in between him and his 40 something son, was a bit bored and not too happy. The abuelo leant over, and in her ear let go a quiet ’woof’.

She managed a smile. Things weren’t going to plan for Argentinos, and light-hearted jokes from the older generation - who have seen things not go to plan for over two decades - were needed.

Even though Argentinos had packed out their stadium, there was silence in the stands. No singing and no jumping, just some nail-biting. Opposite, several thousand Independiente supporters were basking in the sun and basking in their glory.

The Rojo were 3-1 up, ruining their opponent’s chances of winning the title and were still in with a chance of winning the championship themselves.

What happened next quickly surpassed by any of the other stories of the weekend. Not even River Plate’s Gabriel Funes Mori hitting his first goal of the season after not finding the net in 14 matches (and then hitting two more for a 23-minute hattrick) would steal the limelight.

Nor would Hernan Lopez hitting a 28-minute hattrick of headers against Chacarita, only to then find a fourth in the second half. Huracán beating Boca at the Bombonera for the first time in 30 years would also fail to take front page.

Not even Newell’s thrashing Gimnasia 6-0 - going top of the 2009/10 table on Saturday night – and becoming the best side in the land would be the weekend’s top story. Sunday’s events at Argentinos would trump them all.

Diego Maradona took his seat in the stands and was sat next to his son, who the Argentinos stadium is now named after. So while the two Diego’s watched on, Estudiantes were taking on Central. The title race had come down to a two-horse race between Argentinos and Estudiantes, and both played at the same time on Sunday.

Despite taking the lead, things soon looked grim for Argentinos.

Lionel Núñez took the corner for Independiente, and saw his cross swing all the way round and over substitute keeper Ojeda and into the top corner. Núñez appeared to be apologising for his fluke, but was in fact apologising for scoring against the club he started out at.

After a goal from Darío Gandín, Núñez then repeated his hands-together head-bowed gesture after hitting his second, which took Independiente to a 3-1 lead.

Estudiantes may have had Juan Sebastián Verón sent off and were struggling with a 0-0 draw, but the dream of the title seemed over for the Bicho. Up in the stands, a grandfather woofed.

Núñez was soon taken off as Independiente looked to tighten up at the back and win all three points. He trudged off with his now-familiar hands-together head-down apology to the home fans, which was lucky because if he had held his head high, the full bottle of water that hurtled towards him from the stands would probably have knocked him unconscious.

Núñez survived, but Independiente did not. Tolo Gallego’s plan to shut up shop and defend a 3-1 lead chronically back-fired.

Argentinos bombarded the Rojo’s area, and pulled back a goal. Independiente wasted two remarkable chances to kill the game off, but then, two minutes from time, amidst the rubble of fallen bodies in the 6-yard area, the ball fell for defender Juan Sabia to blast in the equaliser.

Argentinos would go into the final day of the season a point behind Estudiantes, who had ended their game with Central 0-0.

That was until the 93rd minute, when Independiente ridiculously tried to pass the ball out of defence, only to lose it and allow Argentinos to grab the winner via a deflected shot from captain Matías Caruzzo.

The pile-on that ensued included one of the photographers stood nearby, who missed his best photo opportunity in 25 years of covering Argentinos.

Maybe he, and the team, will keep their composure next weekend and get the shot of Argentinos lifting the league trophy.

RESULTS Vélez 4-1 Chacarita, Newell’s 6-0 Gimnasia, Racing 0-3 River Plate, Argentinos Juniors 4-3 Independiente, Estudiantes 0-0 Central, Tigre 1-2 Banfield, Boca Juniors 1-2 Huracán, Atlético Tucumán 1-1 Arsenal

'Bomb' in the face may help Palermo earn another crack of the whip

Joel Richards — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:49:00 GMT

It is hard to know exactly what Wednesday night’s friendly between Argentina and Haiti was for.

Most Argentines will tell you that it was so that AFA could drum up the money to pay Maradona’s contract. If we take this logic – that a national team plays friendlies to cover their coach’s wages – then England would have had to play 88 friendlies since Capello took over as coach, because the FA pay Don Fabio eight times as much as Don Diego receives from AFA.

Another reason was solidarity with the people of Haiti. After the devastating earthquake that, killed tens – if not hundreds – of thousands of Haitians, the game organisers promised to send part of the gate to the country.

For Maradona, it was another chance to kick up a storm, this time over a warm-up game ahead of the World Cup that has been cancelled last minute.

For most of the Haiti players, substitutes and coaches, and entourage, it was the opportunity of a lifetime to get a photo with Maradona.

It was also the final adios to Ariel Ortega in the national team.

The main reason was that come Monday, Maradona will have whittled the 108 players he has called up down to a provisional squad of 30. That group will be slimmed down to the official 23-man world cup squad just days later.

The idea of the Haiti friendly was to try out a few players based in Argentina. But if we cut to the chase, while most of us wondered just why on earth these two sides were playing, the real reason was to find another excuse to take Martin Palermo to the World Cup.

Sure enough, that excuse came. The match stats will suggest that the reason came in the 42nd minute, when Palermo scored (yes, it was a header). But the real reason came in the second minute. After the game Maradona called it a bomb. Palermo called it a banger.

Whatever it was, Boca’s barra brava, La Doce, threw an explosive device onto the pitch at the very beginning of the match, which landed a few steps from the striker cut Palermo’s face. Blood poured from his chin. Everyone nodded sagely about how lucky it was not to catch him in the eye. Everyone agreed how disgraceful it was that it happened. The TV commentators commendably criticised the idiots who threw it. But nobody will do anything about it.

The point is the banger/bomb added further drama to the Palermo story. It was another ingredient for the biography that has created an aura around the striker, and convinces vast sectors of the media and supporters that he is a charmed being, and therefore must go to the World Cup to help Argentina conquer the world.

No, nobody talks about those three penalties against Colombia anymore.

For all the goals that Palermo has scored for Boca, and for all the triumphs over adversity, it remains hard to look beyond a basic issue.

Palermo is going as the player to be thrown on with three minutes left when Argentina need a goal. With Milito, Tevez, Messi and Higuain, not to mention Di Maria, Pastore, Veron and so on, shouldn’t they be developing a system to simply score more than everyone at the World Cup?

Barring drastic last-minute changes, Palermo will be on the flight to South Africa. In all probability there will be no Lisandro Lopez. There will also be no Pablo Aimar. For other reasons there will be no Juan Roman Riquleme. But there will also be no Esteban Cambiasso. No Lucho Gonzalez. No Fernando Gago. No Gabi Milito. No Ever Banega. No Javier Zanetti!

Instead, the talk in Argentina is what a shame Rodrigo Brana is injured. Or that Juan Mercier could provide back up for Mascherano. If you haven’t heard of them, which is completely understandable, they are both excellent midfielders plying their trade in Argentina. But playing for Estudiantes or Argentinos Juniors is not the same as playing for Inter, Valencia, or Marseille.

The friendly with Haiti kept a debate going about certain home-based players deserving to go to the World Cup, which was, in normal situations, a non-starter from day one.

From Leo Messi to Cristian Villagra, Maradona has given a fair crack of the whip to Argentine footballers - 108 of them have had their chance to earn a place in the World Cup squad.

The problem is that some have been given a fairer, and longer, crack at it than others.

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The gutter-chucking, hose-tugging weekend round-up

Joel Richards — Tue, 04 May 2010 09:12:00 GMT

Much like rules and any window in the vicinity of a school playground, records are there to be broken, and round 17 of the Clausura saw two new records established.

First up were Boca and Independiente, who resumed play for the second half of their clásico a lazy 24 minutes after the first half had ended.

While this particular record can perhaps be blamed on absent-mindedness, the 20 (yes, twenty) minutes time added on in the Chacarita-Estudiantes clash – also another record - cannot.

And given the way in which it took place, it is not just another stat for the anoraks amongst us, but the weekend’s main talking point.

Everything else - from Racing’s fourth consecutive win to (almost) guarantee safety, to Martin Palermo’s impossible header, to Mouche’s ridiculous goal-and-red-card after coming on as a sub, to Banfield-Huracán kicking off at 11 on Sunday morning, to Pablo Migliore trying to break Ismael Sosa’s legs outside the box and then recriminating the striker for celebrating after scoring to keep Argentinos in the title race, to Central derailing Godoy Cruz’s title challenge in time added on – was by the bye.

Rather than extended bouts of time-wasting, feigning injury, prolonged substitutions and arguing with the ref, there was a different reason altogether that the second half between the Undertakers and the Students lasted over an hour.

That reason was a hose pipe.

Lisandro López (Chacarita’s 20 year old centre-back, not Lyon’s free-scoring striker) was given his marching orders on the half hour mark. Despite his best efforts to move his arm out of the ball’s way and watch Gastón ‘The Cat’ Fernández’s shot go wide, there was contact. The match referee awarded a penalty, ignoring the word ‘deliberate’ in Law 12, and sent López off to boot.

“It showed that Estudiantes had to win this game,” said the conspiratorially-minded defender afterwards.

López would soon be joined in his suspicions by Estudiantes old boy and legend José Luis Calderón. Just a few months shy of his 40th birthday, Calderón should be thinking about putting his feet up without a pair of boots in sight, but instead he is still doing the business up front for Argentinos Juniors – the side who happen to be the only team within spitting distance of Estudiantes in the title run in. ‘If they keep giving Estudiantes penalties,’ said Calderón, ‘they’ll be champions.’

Back to Sunday’s game, the penalty allowed the Students to draw level and ultimately take the win, but the spot kick unleashed the fury of the most furious set of fans around.

The first half stopped for eight minutes after ‘supporters’ threw various objects at hand onto the pitch. One such object looked suspiciously like a metre length of guttering.

These scenes, which usually provoke justified censure in the media, then veered from outright violence to comedy in the second half.

Somehow the Chacarita fans managed to get a hold of the fire brigade’s hose.

An almighty tug of war ensued – the ‘fans’ versus the firemen – but within seconds it was clear that it wasn’t going to be the men in yellow hats’ day. The hose ended up in the custody of the ‘supporters’.

Having had their cake, they then proceeded to eat it, opening the valve and spraying the police and the firemen in front of them. The hose, that at first had been pointed at the cheated and angry ‘fans’ to ‘cool down’ the atmosphere after the penalty decision, was now directed back at them.

By this stage, there were several red faces under the yellow hats.

The absurd situation and tug of war dominated the news from the weekend. This blog had hoped to analyse the merits of both camps in a battle that sprung up between Juan Sebastián Verón and River’s coach Ángel Cappa from the previous weekend. The old Menotti vs Bilardo, purist vs. resultadista argument was up and running again.

Estudiantes had scored a ‘lucky’ goal and played bad football against River, said Cappa, a man who should be quiet, according to Verón, as ‘he has won nothing.’

The argument between Verón and Cappa delved into the arena of a personal attack. But after seeing River beat Vélez at the weekend with such flair, comparing Cappa’s style with Estudiantes table-topping football seemed a fair subject to write about.

The Undertakers put paid to that. The circus took over. Analyzing the Pincha on a game in which the fire brigade were robbed and where they played an hour against a side, already relegated, with ten men, is impossible.

Given that Estudiantes are marching confidently on to win their fifth league title win, hopefully there’ll be the opportunity to talk about football, rather than hose pipes, in a week or two’s time.

Results
Arsenal 0-2 Newell’s
Gimnasia 0-0 Lanús
Tigre 1-2 Racing
Central 1-0 Godoy Cruz
River 2-1 Vélez
Banfield 1-0 Huracán
Colón 0-0 Atlético Tucumán
San Lorenzo 1-2 Argentinos
Chacaritca 1-2 Estudiantes
Indpendiente 2-3 Boca

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Home is where the points are as Ortega loses his cool

Joel Richards — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:13:00 GMT

If there was any weekend when you wanted to be playing at home rather than away, it was matchday 16.

Eight home sides won, and the other two hosts ended up sharing the points. It was a bad day for an away day.

In the case of Chacarita/Palermo Dead, this was very bad news. They travelled to Mendoza, lost to Godoy Cruz, and were the first side relegated this season.

In the case of Atlético Tucumán, it was also pretty bad news, because although they were at home, they were one of the sides that drew, a result which also condemned the northerners to life in the second division next season.

For Boca it was great news. They won the clásico with San Lorenzo 2-0 with the second goal from Martín Palermo - a goal that virtually guarantees his place at the World Cup and also brought on a photo opportunity with Riquelme - suggesting that all is well in the state of La Boca, but proving that pictures can tell a thousand lies.

For Lanús and Newell's, it was great news. Thumping home wins moved them closer to qualifying for the Sudamericana and brushed over disappointing seasons.

For Argentinos it was fantastic news, as Bichi Borghi's smooth passing side also took all three points and stayed in the title hunt.

For Independiente it wasnt such good news as they were away, and dropped two points at Huracán as their dip continues.

For Estudiantes, however, it was the best possible news.

The 1-0 win over River Plate was a modest scoreline for the country mile that separates these two clubs right now. One of River's defenders putting the ball past his own keeper also doesn't quite tell the story.

Unfortunately, the main story to come from the game was the battle between Leandro Desábato and Ariel Ortega. Some classic chest puffing, pushing and growling between the two was followed by insults.

The Estudiantes centre back called Ortega a drunk. The River Plate forward then called Desábato a cuckold. Only the first was caught by the cameras.

The following incident - a knee-high stamp by Ortega - was caught by several cameras, several thousand people in the stadium, and several tens of thousands of TV viewers, but not the lineman, stood three metres away, nor the refereee.

Ortega escaped Villalva and Cabral's fate, leaving River with nine players on the pitch at the end of the 90 minutes rather than eight, but the damage was done. The weekend's scandal was dished up the second Ortega wasn't given his marching orders.

In the aftermath, we have been reminded that Desábato spent a night in jail in Brazil after calling the striker Grafite a 'monkey.' Ortega, meanwhile, crashed his car in the small hours of Sunday night.. Perhaps the incident shouldn't have surprised us that much.

The real story, however, beyond the insults and horror challenges, is that Estudiantes are on for a historic double. They are top of the table in Argentina, and as the current Libertadores champions, are feared across the continent in the week that the South American Champions League enters the knock out phase.

Whispers had it that the Pincha would be focusing on challenging for a repeat of last years Libertadores win. Vélez are said to have the best squad. Independiente started strongly.

Yet Vélez have not got going in the league, which may or may not have to do with external factors. The Rojo, meanwhile, have suffered a major dip in form.

And while Godoy Cruz and Argentinos quietly go about their business staying within spitting distance of the top spot, everyone agrees that the best starting XI in the country is the one that Alejandro Sabella picks for Estudiantes.

Yet for the first leg against San Luis de Potosí in Mexico this week, Sabella has left six of those first teamers in Argentina. Juan Sebasián Verón, Mauro Boselli, Rodrigo Braña, Marcos Angeleri, José Sosa and Leandro Desábato have all stayed at home, to rest for next weeks league game with Chacarita/Palermo Dead.

It is hard to imagine Inter travelling to a vital Champions League game without Diego Milito, Sammy Eto'o, Wesley Sneijder, Esteban Cambiasso, Lucio and Maicon, but it is also hard to imagine José Mourinho opting to fly 14 hours in tourist class to allow his players to go first class and rest.

This, however, is exactly what Sabella has done. Leaving so many first teamers at home is a calculated risk. The Libertadores final will be played after, that's right, after the World Cup.

Estudiantes can focus on home matters first, and as long as they keep afloat in the Libertadores, can set themselves up to win a historic back-to-back Libertadores trophy, and an even more historic league and Libertadores double.

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Matchday 15 round-up: Nine-a-side matches and days in court

Joel Richards — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:49:00 GMT

River Plate

Some fans claimed the atmosphere was like a Libertadores Cup final, an observation which points to a decent memory because the last time the Millonarios played one of those was in 1996.

All the same, after a promising start but then going a goal down, Ángel ‘tiki tiki’ Cappa’s debut saw River score two goals in 90 seconds - having not scored in the previous 534 minutes of ‘action’.

Ariel Ortega hit the equaliser while Diego Buonanotte played his first game since his horrendous car crash in January. Three points, some decent football and smiles all round.

Ortega (right) battles as River beat Godoy Cruz

Rosario Central versus Newell’s Old Boys

The Rosario derby had everything you’d expect from heated parochial affairs such as these.

Elbows, late tackles, penalties, and red cards – three of those before half time.

There was one more sending off after the break, making things at a fair nine-a-side, and the game ended all square at 1-1, a result which most favoured Central’s hopes of climbing out of the dreaded relegation playoff zone.

Racing

‘We’re paying the price for winning the title,’ believes Vélez coach Ricardo Gareca after losing to Racing.

‘You can’t just send off a kid who’s played five games,’ was his defence of Ricky Alvarez, who followed up a booking for dissent with a red card for dissent.

Gareca feels his side are being victimised after the referees decision effectively won them the championship a year ago, something that would require consistency from the nation’s refs, so it’s probably not the case.

Racing, meanwhile, took advantage of the numerical advantage to score three in five minutes and move out of the position they are fighting Central not to occupy.

Marco Pérez

This week’s Boca slayer goes by the name of Marco Pérez. Or, if you are the local press, make that Ebony Arrow, or the Colombian Samuel Eto’o.

David Cameron would probably just say it straight and call him a black man.

Pérez out-bicycle-kicked fellow striker and commentators’ nightmare Denis Stracqualursi to grab his eighth of the campaign, and like Central and Racing, Gimnasia are still in the fight to stay up.

Perez has never met David Cameron in Plymouth

Chacarita

The Undertakers clearly haven’t heard what six pointers are, or else they surely would have approached the clash with Atlético Tucumán differently.

They lost, and the board are already making plans for life in the second division, a life they see without 10 of the current squad.

Readers will remember that this is the same board which ‘suggested’ that the coach up until five games ago, Fernando Gamboa, rethink his team selection. He refused, left, and in came Mauro Navas.

Just 450 minutes of football later, Navas was doing the same as his predecessor. The Chacarita barra pressure the players and coach because of the poor results, but perhaps they need to look upstairs for the real problems at the club.

The Twelth Man and The Drunks

Speaking of barras bravas, La Doce and Los Borrachos made their voice heard this weekend, and rather than just the inane ‘come on lads we’re going win we want to see you champions’ that they usually churn out all game, they brought out special banners to actually say something.

‘Palermo – my only hero in this mess’ wrote Boca’s ‘fans’, while their counterparts up in Núñez declared Marcelo Gallardo a killjoy, and that he started the coup.

La Doce have sided with Palermo and not Riquelme in that particular battle, while Gallardo was criticised for supposedly having a part in Leo Astrada being fired last week.

Juan Román Riquelme

Riquelme, in the meantime, has been called up to declare in court about his press conference last Friday – not the part where he denied chatting up a teammate’s girlfriend, but the part where he suggested the barra brava had threatened the players.

Curiously, Román has been invited for this chat after speaking out about the barra, but he wasn’t invited when he was the star at one of the barra’s fund-raising events in December 2008. How bizarre.

"Hey, I think I got the wrong day for the match..."

Title Race

To end up, the title is still up for grabs. Godoy Cruz lost, Argentinos drew, Independiente beat Banfield (wonder goal from Gracián included) and Estudiantes won to make it two points that separate the four contenders.

Results
Chacarita 1-2 Atlético Tucumán
Tigre 1-2 Estudiantes
Banfield 1-3 Independiente
River 2-1 Godoy Cruz
San Lorenzo 3-0 Huracán
Gimnasia 1-0 Boca
Rosario Central 1-1 Newell’s
Racing 3-1 Vélez
Arsenal 2-2 Argentinos
Colón 1-1 Lanús

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The luckless, mother-insulting, ball-busting weekend preview

Joel Richards — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 08:45:00 GMT

STOP PRESS: Literally moments after sending this to HQ, Abel Alves quit as Boca coach. His record as Boca coach is P13 W2 D5 L6 F18 A27. He leaves them 19th. That's adiós, not hasta luego...

‘Look how happy you all are!’ beamed Tolo Gallego after his Independiente side lost to Gimnasia. ‘Who was the lucky one, then? Look, the luck’s over, so don’t bust my balls about it anymore.’

If you listen to the local media, Independiente topping the charts in Argentina is a fluke.

Everyone has been saying, writing, shouting and dissecting evidence to prove just how lucky the Reds coach is.

Look how many trophies he’s won! Both as a player and a coach! Look at how many saves his keeper made last weekend! Look how his team rides its luck! He’s blessed from upon high!

Eduardo Coudet, one of Tolo’s players from his days at River, eloquently phrased the general feeling with the following charm. ‘When your A-hole opens up, Tolo, there’s nothing to give it to you with.’

Coming from a man who plays for Colón, that’s a bit rich. The literal translation of what the midfielder said to his former boss, is, however, a back handed compliment. Apparently.

For those believing that Señora Suerte is smiling on Tolo, Godoy Cruz somehow failed to beat Racing, and failed to draw level at the top of the table.

There is one slight hitch to all this championship talk - the sponsor.

The last two runners up in the league – Huracán and Newell’s – were sponsored by Motomel, the largest motorbike manufacturers in the country. Worryingly for the rojo fans, this year it’s Independiente they are paying to promote their mopeds and quads.

Next up to test their luck levels is San Lorenzo, whose coach Sebastián Méndez debuted in midweek with a defeat to the side he captained to the title just three months ago. The merry-go-round continues…

River and Boca crisis watch

While Independiente’s fate may be written in the stars, River Plate’s destiny is starting to become clearer and clearer with every passing game, after the fourth defeat in a row.

A falling-back scraped toe-poke of a shot from Achucarro (‘qué orto!!!!’ – again, it was lucky) won the game for Newell’s on Wednesday. The win rewarded Roberto Sensini with some breathing space, but it makes this weekend’s trip up north to Tucumán do or die for River coach Leo Astrada.

Going down, going down, going down!

In the meantime, the seat-kicking red-faced mother-insulting River Plate fans took to abusing their own players, only letting off Ariel Ortega, who was playing his first game in two months.

River being relegated (in a year’s time) is now a reality rather than a possibility, yet apparently berating their 19 and 18 year old strikers is the answer. It is clearly their fault that the most successful club in Argentine league history is facing the drop, therefore the burden of rescuing the club must weigh down on their teenage shoulders.

Bad luck didn’t really have too much to do with Boca ending their midweeker against Colón with ten men – the Colombian centre back Breyna Bonilla’s two-footed lunge was, in common parlance, criminal.

Neither was there any bad luck in Boca losing again, this time to a modest three goal difference.

Simple footballing concepts such as passing, running, and counter attacking were all that Colón needed to open up a 2-0 scoreline at half time, a lead which they were never in any danger of letting go of.

Also down on their luck were Chacarita when they faced Lanús on Wednesday. 1-0 with six minutes remaining, mired in the relegation zone, you’d think that you were looking at three vital points to avoid the drop. You were wrong. In two minutes – the 89th and the 90th to be precise - Gonzalo Castillejos hit two for Zubeldía’s men.

Chacarita’s naughty fans, the barra brava, thought that all the players needed afterwards was a clear threat of violence to turn things around.

Mauro Navas, who took over the Undertakers an Alex Ferguson-esque 11 days ago, threatened to quit because of the intimidation.

Chacarita now need to win all their games till the end of the season to have any chance of staying up. With four wins from 13, it is perhaps time to start writing the will.

Weekend fixtures
Newell’s v Chacarita
Huracán v Gimnasia
Independiente v San Lorenzo
Lanús v Central
Vélez v Banfield
Atlético Tucumán v River Plate
Godoy Cruz v Tigre
Estudiantes v Racing
Boca v Arsenal
Argentinos v Cólon

If anyone can uncover the next Messi, it's Zinedine Zidane

Joel Richards — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:00:00 GMT

If you think that Lio had a lot to live up to in his father’s eyes when Mr. Messi named his son after his favourite singer, then spare a thought for Enzo Zidane.

With a surname like that he was already going to be first choice in the playground kick about, but Zizou senior thought that junior needed a bit more motivation to become a footballer.

So it was that Enzo was named after one of papa’s idol, Francescoli - the Prince - the Uruguayan striker considered one of River Plate’s finest players ever.

And so it is that the 15 year old, who is on Real Madrid’s books, has one hell of a job living up to the expectation that comes with having a name drawn from two seperate legends rolled into one.

Judging by the roulettes, goals, technique and way he carries the team, he might, just might, be up to it.

But while Enzo Fernández works his way up the youth ranks (as with Michael Laudrup’s son, Madrid dropped the attention-grabbing surname), Zidane and his idol have got together and are looking for the next world superstar.

After four brilliant goals against Arsenal, it is fair to say they are looking for the next Messi.

Preparation is afoot for Football Cracks - a reality show, not an X-rated Footballers Wives - to take place in Spain, where a group of 50 hopefuls will be whittled down to one winner.

He who wins will take the prize of a guaranteed pre-season with a yet-to-be-named first division side and the chance to earn a contract.

The idea, however, is that several players emerge from the show, not just the winner. "Don’t forget that David Bisbal didn’t win Operación Trifunfo," one of the organisers said during the trials held in Buenos Aires this week.

Argie Bargy knew what point he was trying to make and nodded in agreement, but then shuddered at the flashback of Ave María.

Around 2,000 17-22 years olds tried to impress scouts this week in Argentina, while in total 50,000 are expected to enter the competition with players from China, USA, Mexico, all over Latin America and Europe.

For players in countries such as Argentina, a competition like this is the opportunity of a lifetime – a chance to play professional football, and to do so abroad.

One psychologist who worked with the Argentina youth team players once asked the youngsters to make a list of priorities. Moving to Europe was at the top of every list.

The exodus of young players from Argentina is a major problem for the league, and is bringing the standard of football down as a result.

Agents and clubs are desperate to cash in on their wunderkid, while players themselves are keen to earn in euros and play in the Champions League.

This is ‘national hypocrisy,’ as one magazine’s front page recently put it, pointing to the example of Messi.

Argentines demand everything from Lionel Messi, ran the gist of the story, when clubs refused to pay his medical treatment when he was young and really, really little, and the country failed to provide a job for his father.

Desperate, the Messis moved to Spain. They made a new life. Barcelona didn’t think twice about paying the £650 monthly medical bill for little Lio, and he soon became Messi. Mr. Messi found a job, but soon wouldn’t need one.

Yet while Messi has developed into a ‘Playstation’ player, his own coach says he is extraordinary, fans agree he is the best player in the world, and sports journalists try to tease out the inner-Garcia Marquez in them to do justice to what they have seen, there are still some Argentines he has yet to convince.

He doesn’t sing the national anthem. He’s Catalan. He’s Spanish. He doesn’t give it all with the national team. In fact, he doesn’t give anything. He saves his legs and energy for his employers. He hates Argentina.

The World Cup is one chance, perhaps the chance, for him to prove the last of the critics wrong, although as the national team fitness coach Fernando Signorini recently pointed out to Argie Bargy, they mustn’t expect so much of him.

“In 1982 there was another brilliant 22 year old, someone called Diego, who was a failure at the World Cup in Spain.”

On Wednesday, one columnist had to point out to its Argentine readers that succeeding abroad doesn’t make them anti-Argentine. Another implored its readers to stop attacking him.

The expectation of what Messi could do at the World Cup will be unbearable come June, but his performances this season, and his personality, suggest that it won’t be the expectation that stops him.

In the meantime, goodluck Zidane and Enzo in finding another player like Messi…

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