Argentina trio to return against Spain
Reuters - Tuesday 07 September 2010, 00:39
BUENOS AIRES - Esteban Cambiasso, Javier
Zanetti and Gabriel Milito will make their Argentina comebacks
against world champions Spain in a friendly at the River Plate
stadium on Tuesday.
The trio were overlooked by Diego Maradona for the recent
World Cup finals in South Africa, where Argentina crashed out
in a 4-0 quarter-final defeat by Germany.
"Gabriel has shown me can bring the ball out well from
defence, he has good left foot with good touch," Sergio
Batista, Maradona's successor, said of Barcelona centre-back
Milito.
"Javier is a player of great experience who moves into
attack with conviction," Batista told a news conference on
Monday speaking of the return at right back of Zanetti, who has
an Argentine record 136 caps.
"Cambiasso is a coach on the pitch," he added of the
midfielder, a key player in the Inter Milan side that won the
European Champions League in May.
Batista took over on a temporary basis after Maradona was
not retained as coach and will be hoping to be confirmed in the
job when the Argentine Football Association make their decision
on who should steer the team towards the 2014 World Cup in
Brazil.
"The idea is to maintain a playing identity. We have
players capable of that," said Batista, a commanding central
midfielder in the Argentine side led to the world title by
Maradona in 1986.
Batista has, however, retained Maradona's attacking trident
of Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Carlos Tevez.
He has given the midfield greater substance, however, after
captain Javier Mascherano found himself almost alone against a
packed German midfield in the June debacle in Cape Town.
"Mache will have to be beyond the halfway line to play
more," Batista said.
Mascherano will be flanked by Cambiasso to his left and on
the right by Ever Banega, who was also overlooked for the World
Cup but returned for Batista's first match in charge, a 1-0
friendly win over Ireland in Dublin last month.
Batista said he would like his Argentina side to emulate
the Spanish possession and passing game but it would take time.
"It's six years of work against six days," he said.
Argentina: Sergio Romero; Javier Zanetti, Martin Demichelis,
Gabriel Milito, Gabriel Heinze; Ever Banega, Javier Mascherano,
Esteban Cambiasso; Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez.
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