The squad (originaly) called for the two games (X Bolivia[away] and Colombia ) :

Defensores: Gonzalo Rodríguez (Villarreal, España). Juan Pablo Sorín (Villarreal, España). Gabriel Milito (Zaragoza, España). Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruña, España). Roberto Ayala (Valencia, España). Nicolás Burdisso (Internazionale, Italia). Javier Zanetti (Internazionale, Italia). Leandro Cufré (Roma, Italia). Clemente Rodríguez (Spartak de Moscú, Rusia). Gabriel Heinze (Manchester United, Inglaterra) y Diego Placente (Bayer Leverkusen, Alemania).

Mediocampistas: Leonardo Ponzio (Zaragoza, España). Juan Román Riquelme (Villarreal, España). Aldo Duscher (Deportivo La Coruña, España). Lionel Scaloni (Deportivo La Coruña, España). Maximiliano Rodríguez (Espanyol, España). Pablo Aimar (Valencia, España). Esteban Cambiasso (Internazionale, Italia) y Lucas Bernardi (Mónaco, Francia).

Delanteros: Luciano Figueroa (Villarreal, España). Luciano Galletti (Zaragoza, España). Hernán Crespo (Milan, Italia). Javier Saviola (Mónaco, Francia) y César Delgado.

notable absents: Carlitos, Samuel y Mascherano.
The absence of Tevez and Samuel isn't too surprising, since they haven't been in the best form. I LOVE both player's types of play. Samuel's defense, in years past, is just fantastic for man-to-man marking and he gives the Argentine backline some size, which it otherwise lacks. Even though he hasn't had the best year, I'd take Samuel not having a good year, over some of the others he's chosen. I hope he'll have a better year and get the spot back w/o question....
(Que lindo ver de vuelta al Chelito. Y si, que se deje de joder con Duscher y Scaloni. A Burdisso me lo banco....salvo la estupides del penal conra alemania.)

-----
from above squad el Payaso (aimar)and Chelito(Delgado) are out after the injuries.

the squad picked for the trip to BOlivia is conssited of these players:


Goalkeepers: Roberto Abbondanzieri (Boca Juniors), German Lux (River Plate)

Defenders: Gonzalo Rodríguez(Villarreal, España), Clemente Rodríguez (Spartak de Moscú Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan), Gabriel Milito (Zaragoza, España), Daniel Diaz (Colon), Leandro Cufré(AS Roma)

Midfielders: Lucas Bernardi (Monaco), Maximiliano Rodríguez (Espanyol), Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milan), Leonardo Ponzio (Zaragoza, España), Fernando Belluschi (Newell's Old Boys), Aldo Duscher (Deportivo La Coruña, España), Lionel Scaloni (Deportivo La Coruña, España)


Forwards: Rolando Zarate (Velez Sarsfield), Rodrigo Palacio (Boca Juniors), Luciano Galletti (Real Zaragoza, España), Luciano Figueroa (Villarreal, España)

----
Pupi, Ayala, Hernán, Juan Román, el Pibito (Saviola) and Lucho (González) are not picked for flight to Bolivia, instead they will stay in Argentina to concentrate on bigger game (X Colombia).

i'm happy for Palacio. he is looking a bright future for fútbol argentino + i think he is already the next Boca sensation. (may be Jorge can throw a little more light on it)Palacio es un jugadoraz es impresionante!!

no APARECE EL cabezon de alessandro! regresan ayala, román, hernán, pupi y el Pibito vs Colombia. Pero entonces me pregunto en dónde quedó tanta charla sobre el equipo alternativo con jugadores locales y qué sé yo qué sé cuánto...Bueno, mejor así.

make your own mind folks! i'm sensing a tough away game and Pekerman's priorty is home game x Colombia.

Vamos Argentina!

i'm off to Bolivia in about two hour time.

see you all after the next day to the game. Hope i see a Successful Argentine trip to Bolivia.

Vamos Argentina

Vamos Argiesss
Daryl
Ty Juan

yooooo Juan wahtazzz up.

the general squade sounds good, can't say the same thing about the one that is going to bolvia. i am so afraid.

i predict 2-0 argentina. i wish german lux startes.

First win for Argentina in La Paz since 1973. Couldn't have asked for anything better for a week end trip. That used formation made more sense, for a Peckerman coached team. The previous formation was more like something Bielsa might have tried. But really before the game i thought it will come done to how the players react to the altitude, because talent-wise this group should overcome Bolivia, with either formation. After wqatching the game I'm happy with this one given the conditions they have to endure.

Taking in account the circumsatnces, was avery good first half, is really near impossible to find players that adjust to this altitude, second half was near hillarious from moments, like corners were only was our only forward expecting it, players like nail to the floor, incredible passing errors, but anyway the first half they managed to play better thna Bolivia, and even we have more clear ocassions than them.

We really played a good match, I am saying this according to the team that Pekerman used, he seems asked the players to do it simple, only using Galletti and Lucho in our attack and they created the most chances against Bolivia, I think we should score at least 3 goals in the 1st half but all of them missed by Galletti, Millito had the best match ever under the 1st team colors, Cuchu (Cambiasso) was the best player.. always calm and knowing when to play fast and when to slow down the match, also Galletti, which proved that he can a useful bench option for us in the future when we have all the big names back, Maxi was the only attacking midfielder and I would like to see him again, Lucho with only one clear chance he scored the goal for us.

I didnt like Duscher, I really didn't, i think the guy is very fortunate to be part of team albiceleste. I know that Pekerman can use (any player) as much as he wants to make sure that we have a good bench but please NO room for this guy, I dont know what he was doing, he seemed not knowing to do or Pekerman didnt use him in a good way (which I doubt), he can have, good/bad/ mediocre games, not uselles, but I want him far from the NT, he is in zone/role I have tons of choices ahead of him. Personally, I, think its enough for us having Cambiasso, Mascherano and Lucho (González).. he can add Batta when he recovers.

Cufré and Scaloni both of them had bad match, I see and I hear alot about them in their clubs but the don't show it here, I saw Scaloni doing everything right in la liga and I always say he can be a good replacement for Zanetti and when the match comes I feel really sad. I like a lot the person/determination of Scaloni, and he can fill various roles, I'm kind of fanatic of his attitude, his necessary hotblooded (not dumb) ingredient, maybe will bother me if areally way better i the technical aspect is let down because of him, but still I like him

I cant blame Burdisso becauze didnt play that much, el pato had a good match as well.

Galletti is the type of surprise I won't make the slighter complain, I always like him, he dribbles, makes great crosses, has a great shot, very god attitude, and in NT the few times great, in Yoouth one..simply no words. he was excellent, some players are like born for the NT, him looks like one of them. BTW not because this game, he isn't as flashy as Chelito can be, but hard to see him playing bad at club or NT level, and no few crackers in his career.

But I guess Pekerman is everyday sending the message that he likes the way this TEAM interact, is really a group with good terms of competence, very rare at this level, and the seed he planted years ago with them is noticeable still tghere, they understand him, and the players know how to deal between them in a very pro way. This will be the essential ingredient I think will leave no few of many players I like out of the final list.

he fact that we won with our third strength side at such a hard place ( because of the altitude) says a lot about our talent and depth in the squad. we are on top of standings, doesn't matter if Brasil win easy home game X Peru. wait a sec .... Lets hope peru do us a favour and the delight will be even more.

I am looking forward to the next match against Colombia. Bring on the pecho frio (Colombia).

FINAL NOTE's,

1- hope to see alot of Palacios in future, the kid has good control on the ball and he entered in the last 8 mins but did a great things with the ball.

PD:I will like to see if Palacio can have some minutes against Colombia.


2- Who's mad on Pekerman's after this result with the young team??
------------------------------------------

Game Pictures : -

Juan, whats it like in bolivia? im from the u.k and have a lot of trouble imagining a country like this. how high is la paz? what is the atmosphere like among the people? what is the city like?

i went thorugh train through the Villazón Argentinean border). i stayed at the El Rey Palace Hotel. it was a nice stay. the city is nice and the people were so optimistic (about their fútbol chances against us) although they acknowledge they're not a super fútbol nation.

La Paz is a vibrant city, growing and expanding in all directions. La Paz has a population of more than a million inhabitants. La Paz is the official government site. La Paz has different climate environments according to each zone's altitude. While the center of town is at 3,650 meters above sea level, the zone of Aranjuez is at 3,300 m. El Alto (where the international airport is located) is at 4,082 m. The average temperature in winter is 15C (59F) and 22C (72F) in summer. In the summer, rain falls on most afternoons, In the winter, days are slightly cooler, but the sky is mostly clear and sunny.

the tourist attractions are:
Churches: San Francisco, Santo Domingo
Museo Costumbrista: Displays amazing ceramic dolls wearing traditional customs that show how was life in the early 1800's. Also displays are photos of old La Paz.
Museo Nacional de Arqueología: Depicts a collection of artifacts of the Tiahuanacu culture.
Museo del Litoral: Displays objects from the 1879 war in which Bolivia lost its sea coast to Chile.
Museo del Oro: Depicts pre-Conquest works made of gold, silver and copper.
Titikaka Lake: The highest lake in the world offers a wonderful view of magical surroundings and enchanted waters.

i wish to visit that place again on some other time. some pictures from La Paz.









enough said ?

WOW... sounds like you had a great weekend, Juan!

So the match v Columbia is on.... this Wednesday???

oh yes, the weekend was perfect. the (recharging the batteries) trip made to La Paz was a sweet memorable time. winning that evening made it better than many other evenings and if that was not enough i ended up drinking rum and shraring jokes with my recently made Bolivian amigos. icing on the cake.

It sounds, indeed.... perfect, Juan!

Talking of 'perfect'.... here's the table before Weds match!

Team MP W D L GF GA Pts
Argentina 12 7 4 1 23 12 25
Brazil 12 6 5 1 20 11 23
Ecuador 12 6 1 5 17 13 19
Paraguay 12 4 4 4 14 16 16
Uruguay 12 4 3 5 17 24 15
Venezuela 12 4 2 6 13 17 14
Colombia 12 3 5 4 12 11 14
Chile 12 3 5 4 11 12 14
Peru 12 3 4 5 13 14 13
Bolivia 12 3 1 8 12 22 10

Colombia game, all tickets sold out. it will be some atmosphere on the night.

Last time they visited us, Colombia surprised us and beat us 5-0 in a qualifier in Buenos Aires in 2003. Everything to play for, the revenge, the top spot and the general domination over this opponent.

They have their share of probelms. Since Reinaldo Rueda replaced Francisco Maturana as coach, Colombia have played eight qualifying matches, kept a clean sheet in five of them and conceded only three goals. On the other hand, they have scored only 10 goals, five coming in a single game against Uruguay. Probably, there not in their best shot this time around but we should be wary of them.

Pekerman announced the list of 20 players:

Roberto Ayala, Gabriel Heinze, Juan Pablo Sorín, Javier Zanetti, Juan Román Riquelme, Hernán Crespo, Javier Saviola, Fabricio Coloccini, Diego Placente, Leonardo Franco, Roberto Abbondanzieri, Luis González, Javier Mascherano, Luciano Galletti, Rodrigo Palacio, Luciano Figueroa, Esteban Cambiasso, Lionel Scaloni, Maximiliano Rodríguez y Gabriel Milito.


Probable team according to local press:


*****************Abbondanzieri***********

******Zanetti******Roberto Ayala****Gabriel Heinze****Placente*****

******************Mascherano***************

*****González*******Riquelme******Cambiasso

*******Saviola********Hernán*********


i, personally, would prefer Sorín over Placente.

a very strong strong team otherwise. the bench strenght is enermous. IMO, we should be able to win it.

Brasil X Uruguay is the other fixture today. the south américan derby. I hate to expect and accept favours from Picho Frio, but today i'm a bit tilted towards Uruguayans. I was asked, "juan, who do you support when brasil play uruguay, my answer was i support the water boys, the refree" lol

Chevanton, Forlan and El chino can bamboozle the yellow party guys who are visiting their arch LOVERS uruguay. they will say to brasil, "welcome to the hell". well i hope Uruguay beat the arrogants + we beat the Colombians. Our lead at the top should be safe tonight.

Vamos Argentina Siempre!!!!

Argentina coach wary of Colombia threat

Argentina coach Jose Pekerman has given few clues about his line-up for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Colombia and has warned his players to be wary of their opponents.
Argentina sent what was effectively a second-string team for the weekend's match away to Bolivia at high altitude in La Paz and gave Pekerman a pleasant dilemma by winning 2-1.

Pekerman was expected to revert to his first team to face the Colombians although he might now include at least two or three of the team who gave Argentina their first win in the Bolivian capital since 1973.

"I can only confirm (goalkeeper Roberto) Abbondanzieri in the team," Pekerman told reporters.

Argentina lead the 10-nation South American group with 25 points from 12 games while Colombia are sixth with 14.

The top four teams qualify directly for Germany in 2006 and the fifth plays off against the winners of the Oceania region.

Colombia famously beat Argentina 5-0 in a qualifier in Buenos Aires in 2003. This time, however, the hosts will be more worried about breaking through the visitors' defence rather than stopping them scoring.

Since Reinaldo Rueda replaced Francisco Maturana as coach, Colombia have played eight qualifying matches, kept a clean sheet in five of them and conceded only three goals.

On the other hand, they have scored only 10 goals, five coming in a single game against Uruguay.

The Colombians, still missing Aston Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel because of an ankle injury, have several players based in Argentina including midfielders Fabian Vargas and Giovanny Hernandez. A number of others have played there in the past.

This has put Pekerman on his guard against over-confidence.

"Colombia have got great potential and are always dangerous," he said. "They've got what matters most in this game: technical quality and good control of the ball.

"I always consider Colombia to be a very dangerous rival."

Possible teams:

Argentina: Roberto Abbondanzieri; Javier Zanetti, Roberto Ayala, Gabriel Heinze, Diego Placente; Luis Gonzalez, Javier Mascherano, Juan Roman Riquelme, Esteban Cambiasso; Javier Saviola, Hernan Crespo

Colombia: Miguel Calero; Andres Orozco, Ivan Cordoba, Mario Yepes, Gerardo Bedoya; John Viafara, Fabian Vargas, Frankie Oviedo, Giovanny Hernandez; Jairo Castillo, Edixon Perea

Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay)

www.fifa.com
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/050329/7/3dj9.html
Daryl



Good football can overcome adversity, says Pekerman
Argentina coach Jose Pekerman says that Saturday's memorable high altitude win in Bolivia was proof that good football can triumph in the most adverse conditions.
Argentina won in La Paz, which lies at a dizzy 3,600 metres above sea level, for the first time since 1973 after Pekerman picked a youthful, second-string team for the unusual conditions.

Pekerman said that in the run-up to the game, he barely mentioned the altitude factor, instead preferring to emphasise the importance of playing a simple, intelligent possession game.

After spending Friday night in lowland Santa Cruz, Argentina's players had a lunch of pasta and pizza, flew the short hop to La Paz on a charter flight and went straight from the airport to the stadium.

"This is football, you can have difficulties such as heat, cold, snow, rain, wind, a bad pitch or high altitude, but the most important thing is to play better than the opposition and if you play better, you have a better chance of winning," Pekerman told the Clarin newspaper on Sunday.

"I insist that you must not forget the football, which is the most important thing," he said after a win which kept Argentina top of the 10-nation South American FIFA World Cup qualifying group.

Captain and goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri added: "We were well-positioned, we played intelligently and we were always superior to Bolivia. That's why we took the three points."

Back in 1973 Argentina sent a squad of club players to spend a month training at high altitude in the Argentinian Andes before a qualifier for the 1974 World Cup. They were joined days before by a handful of regular internationals.

Oscar Fornari scored the only goal of the game and, like several of the so-called Ghost Team, he was overlooked for the trip to West Germany for the finals the following year.


THORNY ISSUE

In three visits to La Paz since then, Argentina have sent their regular teams and failed to win.

The subject of high altitude has become a thorny issue for Bolivians and the former Argentina coach Daniel Passarella sparked outrage before a World Cup qualifier in 1997 when he described conditions in La Paz as inhumane.

Argentina went on to lose 2-1 in a match marred by a huge brawl.

Bolivia have stood by their right to use La Paz as a venue, although it seems to becoming less effective.

After enjoying a 20-year unbeaten record in the city in World Cup qualifiers between 1981 and 2001, during which they handed Brazil their first-ever qualifying defeat, Bolivia came badly unstuck when they lost 5-1 to Ecuador.

In the current campaign, they have already lost 2-0 against Chile at their once impregnable Hernando Siles stadium and been held 0-0 by Uruguay.

On the other hand, their form at sea level remains as dismal as ever and they have yet to pick up a point away from home in the current qualifiers.

Saturday's defeat, which came as Ovidio Messa took over as their third coach of the campaign, left Bolivia rooted to the bottom of the table with 10 points.

Messa, whose predecessor Ramiro Blacut resigned last January in exasperation after repeated problems with the clubs over the release of players, admitted he had a huge job on his hands.

"There's a huge gap between the Argentine players who play in Europe and our players who play here," he said.


http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/050327/7/3d39.html
Daryl

fifa made a mistake, that 5-0 defeat was in 1993 not 2003.
Regards
Daryl

it was indeed 1993.

with colombia we're unbeaten since 1999.

GO Argentina!!!!!

Can someone please post match comments at the end??
I'm gonna be in bed when it starts!

i won't be able to post today, i will be there at el Monumental. tomorrow, ja, i'll definitely post.

......::::::: V A M O S :::::::......

......::::::: A R G E N T I N A :::::::.......

......::::::::::::::.......

THANKS Juan .... have a great time! Finger's crossed!

Argentina 1-0 Colombia

I watched this game late tonight on the internet, and was well pleased. The starting line-up was as Juan menioned, but with Sorin fit to play, he replaced Placente.

Argentina didnt have the brightest of starts, but everyone played well. Mascherano looked rock solid sitting in front of the defence. Gabby was his usual self, Ayala maybe was a bit rusty after his long absence, but still world class. Pato had hardly anything to do all game, but made an excellent save in the first half.

To no ones surprise, Zanetti had a fab game, but I wasnt too happy with Sorins showing to be honest. Lucho and Cambiasso played in wide areas of midfield, with Roman doing what he does best, the playmaking. Upfront, Crespo and Saviola both had good games, particularly Saviola in the 2nd half.

Argentina attacked and attacked, and had all the play in the first half, 2-3 close chances and a bar hit and a fab save right at the death, unlucky not to go into the break with a 2/3 goal margin.

Second half and Argentina still dominated possession and attacked, but never managed to get the final ball in, until Pekerman stepped in, he replaced MAscherano with Galetti. Cambiasso dropped to the defensive role, Lucho shifted to the left of midfield and Galetti was a gem in the right flank. Soon after he was on, he latched onto Riquelme's excellent through ball and made an inch-perfect pass for Crespo to tap in the winner.

All in all, I am extremely pleased with the result, as Colombia was extremely physical and defensive, I must say we ground out a win.

Midnight kickoff time here in the UK didnt help much, I will be heading back to work this morning abt 3-4 hours short of sleep, and might fall asleep on my workstation, but who cares, we won and guess wut, as I am typing this, Brazil have drawn, and yes, we now have a 4 point lead at the top.

I'm really glad for Argentina!
Forza to it!
It's the best team among the national ones (exacpt Ukraine )

Shaf, you said that you watched the game on the internet. Which site were you able to watch the game from?

Poor first half until the -stupid- red card for Vargaz after that Argentina pressed but couldn't get a goal. I really didn't like the way Argentina played in the first half but credit to Colombia, they really closed the players down well and didn't give Román much space to create anything. Lucho was disappointing in first half, with Román well marked, I was expecting Lucho to take over but he didn't done much.

Good second half, owned the ball and totally outplayed Colombia with Román running the show. Lucho came to his usual self in second half and his home crowd (River Tifosi) really backed him in particular. Lucho switched wings from right to left was a fun to watch.

I don't like the way Argentina played before the sending off but after the sending off it was really one way traffic. Román, Saviola, Cambiasso, Lucho and Heinze were the best players. Saviola played a great game. Crespo was disappointing, he scored a match winning goal though. I really want Pekerman should try Apache again. possesion was there but not many scoring chances. i wanna see román take some shots out of the 18 but it was hard last night cause of the packed middle.

The thing is that Argentina was too much predictable, because one thing is to play asfe, to have the ball, another to have it and not use it properly, when I see four consecutive passes where the players almost turn, look at the face of the mate, make a sign, printed in newsapers, and finally pass the ball to that player. a blind man knows he is going to pass it = **** possesion. That is something to bework, and to find players that provide that. The worse fault of Román today was precisly that, very few times he did what nobody expected, more than being awuful was that from someone of his class. the problem was the middle was too bunched up. it might of been mainly do to colombia playing everyone back.

Galleti came in for Mascherano who had excellent game. Galletti didn't do much other then that pass for goal which was a great thru ball from román. Perfect pass to Hernán who generally don't deny such oppertunities and again he didn't.

You can always count on Pupi and Sorín making some plays down the flank on both sides of the ball. Pupi did his part, he played a good game. Sorín had an okey game, just okey game, nothing much to talk about. he was quite in best part of the game.

Ayala made his comeback last night. His first game for Argentina since Olymopic finale game X Paraguay. He (like always) was concrete, very solid.

I will take it easy because we have to classify first and are three really important points, but again: the crossing machine, again players that can't dribble, again many def mids and defenders in the middle, and better Pekerman goes back to his old philosophy. Finally boring, but important points. When Vargas receive his second yellow I was sure Colombia would have just sat back with 10 players defending and waiting to counter attack and it is always much harder to break down a team like that. Bottom line is that we are almost qualified for the WC and lead the table now by 4 points, this cushion is only healthy for us.

El Pato tuvo un abuena atajada.

Lo menosprecio menos que ayer.

jeje no fue siquiera tan buena, la dejo bollando en el diome...viste jeton que hace hacia falta un Palacio, Galletti frente a la ausencia de Pablito, Delgado, Tevez u otros.

an article from ole and its translation to english
================================================

Francotirador
Hoy: Walter Vargas/ Ole

Optimismo sin belleza

Si se admite que clasificar sin apremios es un mérito, admitido, la clasificación está a un paso, a nada. Si se admite que ganar jugando mal, o sin jugar bien, distingue a los grandes equipos, se marcha por la buena senda. Y si añadimos que se sumaron tres puntos ante un rival que vino a buscar el 0 a 0, que planteó un partido sin arcos, el balance es satisfactorio. Sin embargo, no cabe embellecer una actuación apenas aceptable, sin altas cumbres colectivas ni individuales. Algo anda mal cuando se genera una sola situación de gol en 45 minutos y el tipo que queda para definir tira un centro. Algo anda mal cuando Román se pasa muchos minutos acomodado a la pachorra que proponen los rivales y Saviola tiene que andar como bola sin manija entre la procesión y la campana. Algo anda mal cuando el ataque se reduce a las célebres trepadas de Zanetti, con desenlace de choque y ruido a huesos o centro de trayectoria infecunda. Algo anda mal si se confunde pausa y paciencia con siesta nocturna. Y si se puntúa lo que anda mal es porque la Selección da para más, el Mundial no está tan lejos y es deseable que el moderado optimismo devenga en un cierto entusiasmo. ¿O no?



Well here comes the translation, of course in the more rudimentary way as possible since I'm lazy, but he resumes what I'm feeling right now:

--
Optimism without beauty

If it is admitted that qualifying without urgencies is a merit, well it is admitted, we are one step forward to qualify. If it is admitted
that winning playing badly or better without playing good, is the mark of great teams, we are in the good path. Also if we add that we have
three more points against a rival that came here to seek a 0 - 0, that played a match without nets, the balance is satisfactory.
However, is not right to beautify a display just acceptable, without any high level team performance or individual ones. Something is wrong when one single real danger situation is generated in 45 minutes and the guy there to define, sent a cross. Something is wrong when Roman
passed many minutes letting the rival accomodate to the low rythim they wanted to imposee and Saviola has to run without destiny, alternating good with bad moves. Something is wrong when the attack is reduce to the faumous attacks by Zanetti, ending in clashes and the noise of broken bones or crosses to nowhere. Something is wrong if if pause and patience is confused with evening naps. And if it is pointed here what is wrong, is because this NT has much more to offer, the WC is not that far in the horizon and is desirable that the moderate optimism should end in certain enthusiasm. Or not?

========================================

very well written, that one from ole. i feell the same.

in the other south américan derby uruguay were unlucky (again) to not beat Brasil at estadio Centenario. I have not seen that game, neither the highlights as yet, but as expected it proved a real hot blooded game as these two always play head to head.

standings looks like this:

Team MP W D L GF GA Pts

Argentina 13 8 4 1 24 12 28
Brazil 13 6 6 1 21 12 24
Ecuador 13 6 2 5 19 15 20
Paraguay 13 5 4 4 16 17 19
Uruguay 13 4 4 5 18 25 16
Venezuela 13 4 2 7 14 20 14
Colombia 13 3 5 5 12 12 14
Peru 13 3 5 5 15 16 14
Chile 13 3 5 5 12 14 14
Bolivia 13 4 1 8 15 23 13

aguante argentina

I thought that Galletti was very impressive and a much needed change although Mascherano did his job well.

The midfield lacked real width and wing play especially down the right. Peckerman needs to integrate Aimar in with Riquelme because the quartet yesterday didnt give him anyone to play with because Cambiasso and Mascherano were very deep and Lucho just didnt know his position.

When Galletti came on, he did not loose the ball once and looked extremely dangerous, well done man!

Saviola, Zanetti and Riquelme i thought were both Man of the match, what a terrific deft through ball from Roman to set up the goal!

Why is it that all teams that play Argentina look to defend and fustrate them!!!

Juan, why was Sorin the Captain??? Surely Zanetti and Ayala are ahead of him.

Anyway, the scoreline should have been 6-0, the woodwork and lady luck were saving columbia.

Vamo Argentina

If i were to guess, I'd say he was one of Pekermans' prodigies at youth level and Pekerman has always liked him and his leadership style. I stand to be corrected though.
Thinks Zanetti or Ayala should have the armband.
Daryl
Forza Argies!!

Going by tomoro's performance, I would not only like to see someone else the captain, I would also like to see the like of Solari play in that role instead of Sorin, because with this formation, the role doesnt demand much defending, and I think Santi is a better attacking player overall. All due respect to sorin though, he has been fab throughout his career as a full back, but the role he played in yesterday demanded a bit of dribbling etc and less defending if you know what i mean.

Ok im back. Hello to everyone on the board. I seen the game yesterday and my father and I (as we always do) saw it again today and disected what we liked and disliked. I have a new opinion of the game today then yesterday. The "doble cinco) of mache and cambiasso is just not working as intended. Jose is gonna have to choose one or the other. Mache looked lost in parts of the game. I dont see a point to having them both ESPECIALLY if a team is just out to defend with two lines of 4. Also i think some better tactics should be set for when we have a freekick. These are chances we cannot let go by. Especially when we have the amount of talent we have. There was one freekick Romy kicked as a center in the area and a show on a Argentina station (tyc sports) paused it and it showed crespo, ayala all outside of the area waiting to recieve the ball. C'mon guys whats that all about. They should be inside the area. I think some more practice needs to be put on corners and freekicks. Overall the guys played a good game. Its very difficult to show how good when a team just goes to defend. Important thing is that we won and we are 4 ahead of Brazil. Crespo barely touched the ball but when he touched it...it counted. Thats the goalscorer I used to watch in Lazio and Parma. Im glad hes returning to form. Saviola played a good game, Romy's pass was his highlight. Now time to see what minor adjustments we can make before the match. I would like to see Tevez and Alessandro get a shot though. But good game. Always fun to beat Columbia (nuestro hijos). Let them live in the past with that 5-0. We'll see who goes to Germany.
Viva Argentina!

Hi everyone! It's great to see our team leading the pack once more in South America.

This particular thread I feel is a great one because a lot of good observations on players and tactics.

I agree that Mascherano&Cambiasso can't be on the field at the same time. Mascherano more talent, but will suffer when playing European teams in WC as he's too small for defensive midfied...unless he goes for bodybuilding to reach Maklele's size!

I agree dat Argentina's play is too predictable at times, n Riquelme's passing also a little predicatble. That's Y I actually have a preference for Aimar, D'Alessandro, and Tevez as they have quicker thinking on the ball, and sometimes know wat to do with it (one touch passing) even before the ball reaches them!

Also, I hope there're more friendlies with European teams. I notice that Argentina are kings in South America, but they've been knocked out by European teams every WC because they're not used to European style...Euro teams are much more physical, and stronger in the air as well, so even though they lose to Argentina a lot in technical, they still survive and outmuscle them...I am really worried whenever Argentina meet Euro teams. Honestly. Hopefully Pekerman is aware of this n will devise tactics to counter this Achilles heel!

Cheers all,
JJ

THANKS for all the info, pics and reports!


Here's one from FIFA!.....

Argentina almost there
1 April 2005
by FIFAworldcup.com

After the intensely fought battles of this week’s South American qualifiers, only one side managed to emerge unscathed: Argentina. With maximum points gleaned from their two games, Jose Pekerman’s men extended their lead at the top of the table and took a huge step towards confirming their place at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™.
The team’s back-to-back wins over Bolivia and Colombia confirmed Argentina’s current pre-eminence in South American football. Still unbeaten under Pekerman, the team are gradually winning back the support and confidence of their public, and growing in determination to make up for the crushing disappointments of Korea/Japan in 2002.

After the team’s triumph against Colombia, the message emerging from the Argentine camp was unanimous. “We’ve taken a very important step towards qualifying,” said Pekerman “but we still need to secure our passage in the coming games”. The president of Argentina’s Football Federation (AFA), Julio Grondona, was another taking nothing for granted: “We’ve already got one foot in Germany. Now we need to put the other”. Coincidentally, Argentina could make sure of qualification against Ecuador in June, just as they did in the last qualifying round four years ago.

A large squad
Although it is often said that having too big a squad can be a problem for coaches, Pekerman proved that the opposite can also be true after naming a party of 31 players for this week’s double-header. In the team’s first game, a strength-sapping encounter in the high altitude of La Paz, Pekerman fielded many of his squad players and still came away with a rare victory. In fact, the last time Argentina won in the Bolivian capital was in 1973 in a qualifier for Germany 1974. Three decades on, with another date in Germany on the horizon, goals from Luciano Figueroa and Luciano Galletti, not normally first-team starters, gave the Albiceleste victory once again.

Four days later, the team that took on Colombia in Buenos Aires consisted almost entirely of first-team regulars and they too emerged victorious after a second-half strike from Hernan Crespo. “We’re thrilled with the win, but now we have to go on and secure qualification. The team is getting stronger all the time and we’re definitely on the right track. From a personal point of view, I’m relieved to be back among the goals,” said the AC Milan striker who is something of a bête noire for the Cafeteros after scoring four goals against them in as many games.

Argentina now have an impressive 28 points from 13 games after eight wins, four draws and a solitary defeat. They are also the continent’s top scorers with 24 goals and, alongside Brazil and Colombia, have conceded the fewest (12). Carlos Alberto Parreira’s Brazil now trail them by four points, while fifth-placed Uruguay are fully 12 points back. With just five games left to play, it looks odds-on that June will be a month to remember in Argentina.

Repercussions… and caution
With Germany now within touching distance, the country’s media were loudly singing the praises of Pekerman’s all conquering heroes on Thursday. The sports daily Ole hailed the team’s march towards the finals with the headline "Matthaus, here we come" – a reference to one of Germany’s all-time great players. Clarin, one of the country’s best-selling dailies, led with “Argentina take a giant step towards World Cup”. However, it did add, on a more cautious note, that “the result was better than the performance” although “it would suffice until the team were faced with stiffer competition”.

Another newspaper that echoed this sentiment was Pagina 12. They chose the headline “Close to Germany, far from perfect”, adding that Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Saviola were “both contenders for man of the match”.

Finally, La Nación splashed a photo of the celebrating players on its front page beneath the headline, “World Cup in our sights”. On the inside pages, the paper said: “Pekerman’s side did not excel but they showed great patience to extend their unbeaten run to eight games.”

FIFA

the game video. 11 mb sized .wmv file

http://www.angelfire.com/ak5/xfa1/g/argntinavscomlombia3-2008.wmv