Reaction: Argentina World Cup squad announced
| 9
|
By Bobo
Argentina have put together one of their biggest and best teams in several years. There's no reason why they can't outdo their 2002 performance, and frankly it would be pretty impossible to think they would do anything other than outperform themselves. This and the fact that their team is even stronger than the year they finished in the Quarterfinals, before losing to the Netherlands, in 1998. The most southerly team in the tournament have one of the best chances to overturn their misfortune.
Having finished as runners up in the most recent Copa America, they are looking for some good results this year in the World Cup to strengthen their scouting system.
Roberto Abbondanzieri is the main goalkeeper for the Argentinean squad, and the oldest of the members of the squad. With 17 years of international experience, he has recently become the first choice goalkeeper over countryman Pablo Cavallero. With lots of international experience at the strongest Argentinean team, Boca Juniors, he was voted South American goalkeeper of the year in 2003, and is one of the best goalkeepers selected for any country in the whole tournament.
Roberto Ayala received his first cap twelve years ago, and despite the disadvantage earlier in his career of competing against names such as Diego Maradona and Gabriel Batistuta, has come out shining after seeing his early years go down as those in which he felt second-best. An undeserved accolade, Ayala later finished out of the tournament in Korea/Japan after suffering a muscle injury. Now could well be his last chance to shine, having not scored internationally for eleven years.
Juan Sorin, who plays in Spain for top side Villarreal, was both a FIFA World Youth Championship winner and within the ranks of a European superpower by the age of 19. The current team captain, as he was very early in his international career, for the first time against Qatar in 1995, he is a versatile midfielder, and a good enough player to have escaped the shackles of the press following Argentina's shock exit four years ago.
Fabricio Coloccini is pacy and full of international experience, having won the FIFA World Youth Championship along with Sorin and others back in 2001, and playing in the 2004 Olympic gold-medal winning team. He currently plays for Deportivo la Coruna and played later in the year at the Confederations Cup.
To coin a phrase, Esteban Cambiasso must be one of the winningest players for the young Argentinean side, having captured the Under-17 World Championships as well as the World Youth Championships of 1997 in Malaysia. He had already signed for Real Madrid, and was another of those players in the 2005 Confederations Cup team.
Gabriel Heinze is a left-sided defender, who last season suffered from a nasty cruciate ligament injury which kept him out of the side for most of the year. Thankfully having enough time to recover from this, he has now safely made it into the squad, and he will relish the chance at international football after such a disabling injury.
Javier Saviola, otherwise known as “The Rabbit”, was the winner of the golden boot at the 2001 FIFA World Championships and had previously won the 1999 Youth Player of the Year award in South America. Now with his club affiliation at Barcelona, but having gone out on loan twice in the last two seasons, he still continues to impress at international level.
Javier Mascherano holds the same property in himself, having not appeared for his team at the occasion of his first international appearance, of a certain Theo Walcott. Several years on, he is now at Brazilian side Corinthians, having joined in the middle of 2005 and celebrated in his first season with a league victory.
Hernán Crespo, who, like Ayala, suffered early in his career, having spent most of his early years chasing after and sacrificing his squad place thanks to Batistuta, has been a great achiever for his representative clubs, including River Plate and AC Milan. Crespo is now at Chelsea, and had previously been a part of the 1996 Silver Medal winning Argentina side at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Juan Riquelme, an intelligent midfielder with exceptional form, was also part of the FIFA World Championship winning side back in Malaysia, and his international career dates back to 1998 where he played in the final World Cup qualifier against Argentina. Two tournaments followed, including the 2002 World Cup, in which he failed to deliver to his true potential, but this should not be the case this time around.
Carlos Tevez most recently won a surprise transfer to Corinthians, having helped Boca Juniors win the Copa Libertadores in 2003. He was the top scorer at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and a member of the Argentinean 2005 Confederations Cup side. He made a surprise move to Brazil, where his career, at Corinthians, flourished, and he was named the South American Footballer of the Year for the third time in three years.
Leonardo Franco is still only the second choice tender for Argentina, despite being the first choice goalkeeper at his club, Atlético de Madrid, when he arrived in 2004. Now at Brazilian side Corinthians, he guided the Brazilians to another league title in 2005, and was named South American Player of the Year for the third time, representative of that individual calendar year.
Leonel Scaloni, one of the few English-based players in the Argentinean team (along with only a few others) entered Pekerman’s final squad list at the last minute, and is one of the team’s more important players this year. It will be interesting to see how much, and whether, a last-minute decision to include him impinges unhelpfully upon his position within the squad list.
Rodrigo Palacio is a very recent addition to the Argentinean national squad, having achieved only two international caps up until the outset of this World Cup campaign. With his debut coming in a World Cup qualifier against South American side Bolivia, in La Paz, one of the hardest cities in which to play football in the whole world, he has since found good form with his team, Boca Juniors, just in time to catch Pekerman’s eye for this tournament.
Gabriel Milito, who plays in Spain for Real Zaragoza, is a former Argentinean footballer of the year, having secured that accolade in 2002. Having snubbed an offer by Real Madrid when his knee was playing up, back when he was on the transfer market at Independiente, he moved to Zaragoza and subsequently won the Spanish Cup.
Pablo Aimar is another player with many league titles to his credit, having also aided Valencia to the UEFA Cup in 2004. Having first played in the third-placed finishing 1995 Under-17 World Championship first team, he has since played in the 2002 World Cup and the Confederations Cup from Germany.
Having previously lined up for Argentinean side Gimnasia La Plata, Leandro Cufre is another player with previous personal experience of Pekerman, having won the South American Youth Championship and the World Youth Championship with Pekerman a dominant force in both.
Maxi Rodriguez started his career at Newell’s Old Boys, and later appeared in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship. Having moved to Spain, he can play as both an attacker and a midfielder. He moved to Atletico Madrid after participating in the 2005 Confederations Cup.
Lionel Messi, who, mere days after his eighteenth birthday, led his country’s youth team to an Under 20s World Youth Championship victory, as well as finishing as top scorer of the tournament, has impeccable vision and skill, and yet not only is he a classic watcher of the game, and a neat midfield player, he also has one of the keenest eyes for goal of any young Argentinean player.
Julio Cruz, who has achieved a place in the Argentinean side merely thanks to an astonishing season for Internazionale, has represented his country ever since 1997, although he never made it to the World Cup of France 1998. He later appeared against Qatar, and most recently beat Roma in the Italian Cup final before securing his slot in the team.
Nicolas Burdisso made his senior debut at Boca at the age of 17, and moved at the age of 23 to Internazionale. He was part of the Argentinean team which won the 2001 FIFA World Championship, and he has also won the Intercontinental Cup.
Luis Gonzalez was one of the stars of Copa America 2004, having made his international debut two years previously. He helped Argentina reach the final, before losing to Brazil, and was also part of the gold medal winning Olympic team in the same year. He moved to FC Porto in 2005, and won the Portuguese league and cup double in 2006.
Oscar Ustari is truly one of the up and coming talents of Argentinean football, a goalkeeper for domestic side Independiente, and with one of the safest hands in the business. His inclusion in the team, however, comes as something of a surprise, especially given the absence of fellow ‘tender Germán Lux, whose absence is most telling, having helped his team win the Olympic football tournament of two years ago.
In all, save for a few choice omissions from the squad (the most telling of which is probably Lux), this is a very strong Argentinean side, with one of the most definite chances in years to pull of a few shocks in the tournament.
<pageTools></pageTools>
