Monday, July 23, 2007

Copa Amreica, U20 World Cup

Well its been a week and I'm still mourning. I cannot believe Argentina lost, let alone 3-0. Granted, it should of been 3-2. Brazil played like a European team and Dunga dosn't seem to care about the beautiful game anymore. He just wanted to win so that he can save his ass because there were rumors going around that if he would of lost he would of been fired. Basically Brazil played the cheap way. Having 3 players at all times on Riquelme, fouling from mid-field so Argentina dosn't get a good chances. And if you watch their goals they all came from counter-attacks. It's ridiculous. Brazil hasn't played the beautiful game since maybe the 94 World Cup which is quiet sad, seeing as how they made it to the finals of France 98 and won it in 2002 and won the Confederations Cup is 2005.
As usual, Argentina gets heartbreaks while playing the beautiful game. 2006 World Cup we played the nicest football and scored the top 3 goals of the tournament(Cambiasso 24 man pass versus Serbia and Montenegro, Tevez versus Serbia and Montenegro and the goal of the tournament Maxi Rodriguez versus Mexico). And what do we get? A biased ref in the Quarter Finals versus the HOST country where we would go on to lose on penalty kicks. And now the same shit happens again. We play the nicest football of Copa America and lose in the finals to a cheap Brazilian team whos lost their touch to the Beautiful Game. That's all I have to say about Copa.

And now time for the sunshine in Argentina! The Albicelestes didn't go 0-2 when it came to tournaments this summer. Argentina beat the Czech Republic 2-1 in the U20 World Cup Final yesterday! This is Argentina's 6th World Cup title and they have now won the most World Cup titles in ANY division(Brazil has 5 in the senior team where as we have 6 in the U20 team). Our backline was solid, Romero gave us something to fall back on(he made some great saves in the tournament), Moralez and up front with Aguero... Beautiful team. Crazy part is Messi could of played in this tournament. Imagine, one of the best, if not literally THE BEST player in the entire world playing in an U20 tournament. He already won it in 2005, but was instead picked for the Copa America.

Well, international football is done for the summer(if not year). The transfer deadline for Club football is approaching soon and Tevez is close to signing with EPL champions United. We already know Henry is gone to Barca, Gabriel Milito to Barca, Ayala to Zaragoza and so on. But thats for another time. Until then, VAMOS VAMOS ARGENTINA!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Copa America Finals!

The dream final... The 2004 Final... Argentina vs. Brazil in the Copa America Venezuela 2007 final. Let's take an in depth look at how these 2 teams for to the final, starting with the Quarter Final.

Brazil vs. Chile
Quarter Final
It wasn't even close of being a fair match. It was the second time these 2 teams faced off in this Copa America(first time was in the Group Stages, how the hell do they face again I have no idea). First time off was a closer game. Brazil thrashed Chile 6-1 to book their spot in the Semi-Finals.

Brazil vs. Uruguay
Semi Final
What a game. Brazil opened up the scoring in the 13th minute and 1 minute later one of the lights go out and the game is delayed for 13 minutes. In the end it's 2-2 and we're off to the dreaded Penalty Kicks. Fast forward to the last 3 shots. Uruguay with a chance to win it and a miss. Brazil to take the lead and they score! If Uruguay misses this one its over! Uruguay shoots and its saved by the goalkeeper... Controversy time! The goalkeeper was about 5 yards off his line. And the OFFICIAL FIFA Rules are that when taking a Penalty Kick the goalkeeper MUST stay on his line and cannot advance. He can jump before or after the shot is taken, but must stay on his line. In the end Brazil goes to the Final in controversy.

Now that we got those yucky yellow shirts out of the way, lets get down to the beautiful Albicelestes.

Argentina vs. Peru
Quarter Final
All Argentina. Pure domination. Excellent opening goal by Juan Roman Riquelme. Second goal for Argentina was one of the goals of the tournament, not because of the actual goal, but for the pass leading up to it. Magnificent, scientific, heavenly pass by Juan Roman Riquelme which cuts through 3-4 Peru players and little Messi scores his first of the tournament and it's 2-0! Several minutes later, Tevez with the ball, nice pass to Messi, but Messi's shot is saved... No problem, Mascherano is there for the re-bound and scores! 3-0 but we're not done there! Off a Peru free kick, Abondanzieri(goalkeeper) punches the ball out of his box, keeps running for it and kicks it to wards Carlos Tevez who is in midfield. Tevez outruns one player, dekes another and passes it to Riquelme(with Messi beside him) and Riquelme scores his second of the game to make it 4-0 Argentina!

Argentina vs. Mexico
Semi Final
Repeat of the 2004 Copa America in the group stage where Mexico won 1-0, 2005 Confederations Cup Semi Final where Argentina won on penalty kicks and the Round of 16 of the 2006 World Cup where Argentina eliminated Mexico 2-1 with a fantastic goal by Maxi Rodrigues! Now, onto the match. Very close first half with some back and forth action. 45th minute, Argentina free kick. Riquelme takes it from about 45 yards out, towards the defender Gabriel Heinze and Heinze does a KARATE KICK! and kicks the ball into the net and it's 1-0! Second half, Tevez with the ball flicks it back to Messi and Messi with the goal of the tournament so far, raises it over Sanchez and in! 2-0 for Argentina! A few minutes later Tevez in the box gets taken down by Marquez. Penalty kick for Argentina! Riquelme steps in for Argentina to take it. Sanchez jumps to his right and Riquelme with a beautiful flick raises it and into the net and it's 3-0 Argentina!

And now for the Final on Sunday. It was 2004, Copa America finals. Argentina vs. Brazil. 1-1 in the 90th minute(injury time) Argentina scores! It's 2-1 Argentina! 93rd and last minute of injury time, Brazil ties it up! It's 2-2 and we're headed to penalty kicks. Brazil ends up winning on penalty kicks, because as well all know it's a sin for Brazil to lose on penalty kicks. And that sets up the Final on Sunday!

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Copa America Secound Round Group Matches

"Ladies and Gentlemen... We are... REEEEADYYYY TOOOOO TTTALLK SOCCCCCCER!" Ok, so I needed some cool introduction. Yes, I found it cool. Now that I have your attention, lets talk soccer! Since this month is Copa America and FIFA U20 World Cup month, I thought we'd talk about those. Starting with Copa America and U20 in the next article. We're in the second round of the group stage and let's see the current standings for Group A.

1. Venezuela - 4 Points.(Was 2nd place last stage).
2. Peru - 3 Points.(Was 1st place last stage).
3. Uruguay - 3 Points.(Was 4th place last stage).
4. Bolivia - 1 Point.(Was 3rd place last stage).

Here's what happened this week with this Group. Uruguay defeated Bolivia 1-0 and Venezuela defeated Peru 2-0. If Uruguay can get a good scoreline(anywhere from a draw to a victory) versus Venezuela, then they are through to the next round. However, if Uruguay loses and Bolivia wins, then Bolivia is probably going on to the next round(depending on the resutls in the other groups).

Onto the next Group that is Group B. Here are the current standings for Group B.

1. Mexico - 6 Points.(Was 1st place last stage).
2. Brazil - 3 Points.(Was 4th place last stage).
3. Chile - 3 Points.(Was 2nd place last stage).
4. Ecuador - 0 Points.(Was 3rd place last stage).

Mexico pulled out another victory, this time versus Ecuador 2-1 and Brazil(shall I say Robinho) finally decided to show up as they thrashed Chile with 3 goals from Robinho.

And finally the last Group, that is Group C.

1. Paraguay - 6 Points.(Was in 1st place last stage).
2. Argentina - 6 Points.(Was in 2nd place last stage).
3. USA - 0 Points.(was in 3rd place last stage).
4. Colombia - 0 Points.(Was in 4th place last stage).

As we can see, nothing changed in this group. Paraguay defeated USA 3-1 as Argentina defeated Colombia 4-2. Argentina lost Crespo as he got injured while taking a penalty kick(he kicked it with full power), which means that Diego Milito will probably replace Crespo. Tevez was subbed in for Messi once again and Lucho came on for Veron. No Aimar this time.

That's all for the second round of group matches. Thursday is the last day of group stages and we will find out who will face who in the Quarter Finals and who will be sent home. That's all for now folks.