Friday, January 18, 2008

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!