Crespo and Sorin... 2010 bound?

With the January market soon approaching, several Argentine players could be on the move. I already mentioned SAVIOLA and while I was talking about Saviola I mentioned a player whom he used to play with... hernan CRESPO. CRESPO was doing very well with Chelsea, in comes jose MOURINHO and CRESPO leaves. This time, CRESPO was getting some playing time, in comes MOURINHO and CRESPO is relegated to the bench. Point is MOURINHO does not like CRESPO. Why, who knows. CRESPO has already expressed his desire to play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but the odds of that happening are extremely slim. He might make the bench, but that might be it. However you can never doubt CRESPO. Everytime there's a World Cup coming up, he decides to step it up a notch. For example, in the 2005-2006 Season he scored 26 goals and won the Premiership with Chelsea. In his 2 year spell with Lazio he scored 52 times in 70 matches(from 2000-2002). Can he emulate the same in 2009-2010? Maybe, but he needs to find a club. Several clubs are interested in getting him. Real Madrid wanted him but were only offering him a 6 month loan deal where-as he wanted a 2 year deal. Eventually the deal fell through. He has expressed his desire to stay in Italy.

There were rumours of him going to Palermo or Sampdoria. Going to either club has its ups and downs. The plus side is that he would get alot more playing time and chances are he would be a starter for sure unless he gets injured or something. The downside means he wouldn't get to play in the UEFA Cup and/or the UEFA Champions League since neither team will be able to crack the top 5. It's now or never for hernan who would be 35 if he's able to make it to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The next one might have have as much chance as CRESPO to make it back to the National Team but his presence is missed. He was Argentina's captain at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, yes I'm talking about juan pablo SORIN. Where do I begin? Right, his presence on the pitch. Not only was he a leader, but he's something that Argentina has been missing. Someone who can run up and down the pitch and not get tired. Someone who gives us a push when moving forward from the back. Someone who gives 100% for his country. He's a natural left back(or atleast alot better than Heinze at the moment). If you watch Argentina play in the 2006 FIFA World Cup he was a huge part of the team(aside from being the captain). As a left back, HE CREATED PLAYS! The first goal by maxi RODRIGUEZ against Serbia and Montenegro was created by him! He was injured for most of the season last year and during the summer he signed with Cruzeiro, his old club in Brazil. He has yet to play a match with them seeing as how he got fit when the season ended, but it looks promissing for SORIN if he can stay healthy. He would be 34 in 2010 but look at el capitano javier ZANETTI. If SORIN could get alot of playing time and is able to regain his form then I see no reason why he wouldn't be there in 2010. Who knows, he might end up being our only option at left back if Heinze continues like this and if we can't find a good one to fill his shoes. It's a long shot, but it's possible.

Tevez and Saviola... soon to be forgotten? Random Player Talk: Part 1

Not sure how to start with this one. He was a goal scoring machine in South America, he was a machine for West Ham and now he's warming the bench in Manchester. Unless CARLITOS wants to become the next SAVIOLA, I say get out of there as soon as possible. Ever since he took a step in England it's been all controversy. And it's no different 2 years later. Manchester United wins the League and Champions League(which TEVEZ had a huge part in, getting them crucial points and goals). They decide to reward him... by getting dimitar BERBATOV.

There's no shortage of teams who would absolutely love TEVEZ, with Real Madrid looking to be the likely candidate. Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester City, just to name a few. My advice, don't go to Milan. I know theres like a million players from Argentina, but don't. zlatan IBRAHIMOVIC, julio CRUZ, hernan CRESPO, ADRIANO, victor OBINNA and mario BALOTELLI. Thats 6 strikers, 3 regularly playing, one about to leave, one out of favor with the coach and one warming the bench. I think that's enough.

According to reports, Real Madrid will publicly announce the signing of klaas-jan HUNTELAAR tomorrow. So thats; RAUL, HIGUAIN, SAVIOLA and now HUNTELAAR. RAUL will never get benched, HIGUAIN is starting to get regular minutes(he's injured now though) and SAVIOLA is in the same boat as CRESPO. If reports are true and HUNTELAAR is their latest signing, they won't bench him.

Next on the list is Manchester City. To be honest, I just can't see him going there. If TEVEZ leaves United, I doubt he's going to stay in England, let alone join City. TEVEZ must not do the same mistake as SAVIOLA, he shouldn't let money be the reason. I guess the curse of Argentinian players in England is still going.

Up next, SAVIOLA! He joined Barcelona in 2001 from River Plate and was out on loan at 2 different teams during that stint. He spent the 2004-2005 season in Monaco(France) and the 2005-2006 season with Sevilla. Played a season in Barcelona only to realise that it wasn't going to work for him. What does he decide to do? Join Real Madrid of all teams. He proved to many people in the 2006 FIFA World Cup that he still had it. He played behind CRESPO and was a real menace. The little rabit looks to be leaving Madrid in January, question is where? Alot of Italian clubs are interested in him and why shouldn't they be? He's still fairly young(26) and has about 5-6 more years ahead of him. I truly think he can still save his National Team career. And now is the chance.

If he wants to get back in the National Team, he better move in January. Not June, January. June leaves us with exactly a year until the World Cup and unless he moves in June, gets back to his old scoring ways, gets back into the National Team and plays several matches with the National Team BEFORE May, then he can kiss his National Team career goodbye. The club season starts in September(well August 29 or something). He has until May to do all that. He also has to take into consideration that there's also: TEVEZ, AGUERO, LAVEZZI, HIGUAIN, DENIS, ZARATE and lisandro LOPEZ fighting for a spot on the team. Unless a drop of form, an injury occures or something else, AGUERO will be in 2010. So that's one spot gone. That leaves us with 6, 7 counting SAVIOLA.

Ayala Scores! Demichelis Scores! Injuries and more!

Time for some weekend news.

Spain
Real Zaragoza vs. SD Eibar
In Spain's second division, "El Raton" roberto AYALA scored for Real Zaragoza in the 73rd minute as they beat SD Eibar 3-0.

Villarreal vs. Real Valladolid
In Spain's first division, gonzalo RODRIGUEZ's side lost 3-0 at home to Real Valladolid. RODRIGUEZ picked up a yellow in the 64th minute, but did play the full 90 minutes.

Real Madrid vs. Recreativo Huelva
Another match in Spain took place in Madrid. Two players born in Argentina and one in France as fernando GAGO, gonzalo HIGUAIN and javier SAVIOLA all played, while the latter was brought on as a substitute for an injured gonzalo HIGUAIN in th 79th minute. Teammate fernando GAGO played the full 90 minutes while gabriel HEINZE served a suspension after having gotten a red card last week. Real Madrid won the match 1-0.

England
Chelsea vs. Newcastle United
The only Argentinian pair in England, jonas GUTIERREZ and fabricio COLOCCINI started the match against Chelsea. COLOCCINI played the full 90 minutes where as GUTIERREZ was substituted in the 77th minute. The match ended 0-0.

Liverpool vs. Fulham
Argentina captain, javier MASCHERANO played 65 minutes before being substituted off against Fulham. The match also ended 0-0.

Manchester City vs. Arsenal
2008 Olympic Gold Medalist, pablo ZABALETA played the full 90 minutes as City beat Arsenal 3-0.

Middlesbrough vs. Bolton
Former Argentina U21 captain julio ARCA was brought on as a substitute in the 76th minute for Middlesbrough as Bolton beat Middlesbrough 3-1.

Aston Villa vs. Manchester United
Unsure about his future in Manchester, carlos TEVEZ started for Manchester United and played 71 minutes before being brought off as Manchester United drew 0-0 with Aston Villa.

Germany/Italy
FC Bayern Munchen vs. Energie Cottbus
Even after playing 90 minutes on Wednesday for Argentina, defender martin DEMICHELIS still had the energy to score in the 38th minute before being substituted in the 46th minute as Bayern won 4-1.

Inter Milan vs. Juventus
Built as the match of the weekend, "El Capitano" javier ZANETTI, esteban CAMBIASSO and "the Wall" walter SAMUEL all started the match as Inter Milan beat Juventus 1-0 at the San Siro. However 2 other Argentinians played in the match as julio CRUZ was brought on as a substitute in the 83rd minute and nicolas BURDISSO was brought on as well 2 minutes later in the 85th minute.

Olympics, Friendlies, more!

First off, I would just like to say how sorry I am(to the 2 or 3 people that read this blog) that I haven't posted much. What with Christmas and New Year and all... Enough excuses.

Zarate to Manchester City
Mauro Zárate(U20 World Cup Champion), has signed a 6 month loan deal with Manchester City. Mauro signed a deal to play in Qatar for 2 years(a contract worth 20 million dollars), but I guess City needs him more. It will be his chance to show what he's able to do in the "Big Leagues". I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the Olympic team this summer.

Olympic Team
Speaking of the Olympic team, the AFA has appointed Sergio Batista(U23 Coach) as the Olympic Coach for this summer. Does this mean that Basile's future is in doubt? Well chances are if we get another Copa America Final repeat in June versus Brazil, yes. He's probably gone. Batista recently hinted that he has decided to use Juan Roman Riquelme(Boca Juniors), Javier Mascherano(Liverpool) and Martin Demichelis(Bayern Munich) as his choice for the 3 over-aged players who will represent Argentina in Beijing. Basically what that means is we won't see Crespo(who I wish would of made the team), Zanetti and even Abbondanzieri. Sad to see that happen really, because they truly deserve a gold medal for their efforts with the Argentina National Team. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Ustari is going to get the call for first choice goalkeeper. Sergio Romero(another U20 World Cup Champion) will probably get the call for back-up goalkeeper. Other players I can imagine on the team are Banega, Moralez, Aguero and Insua. I really have no idea who else Batista will pick. It will be interesting though.

Messi-Tevez-Aguero
I can't wait to see how these guys play together. We got a glimps of it in the World Cup Qualifiers, but it wasn't enough. With Messi being Messi, Tevez finding his form and Aguero scoring goals left and right, I think it's fair to say that the future is now with Argentina. If only we can get Messi to play his natural position(like he is at Barcelona), maybe he might start playing better for Argentina. Just imagine Tevez and Aguero up front... absolutely mouth watering. The only problem I can see is the height difference. Because let's be honest, with Tevez and Aguero both under 5"8(Tevez is 5"7 and Aguero 5"7 1⁄2), corners and free kicks will be difficult for us. All we have to do is watch the Copa America final versus Brazil where Brazil literally had it easy when it came to corners. The only solution is keep playing Crespo(who I still think should keep playing), call up Julio Cruz(who has 11 goals in 17 games and is supposed to be a substitute) or call up Diego Milito and hope he finds his form for the National Team.

Friendlies
It looks like we have a friendly versus Guatemala in February in Los Angeles, one versus Italy and Germany in May(If I'm not mistaken) and one versus Mexico. But only the Guatemala one is confirmed(February 6 to be exact). The Italy, Germany and Mexico ones are still up in the air.

That's it for now. Until next time, Vamos Vamos Argentina!