Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Breaking news: BASILE offered the job

When everything seem to be set for next week, Julio GRONDONA already made the move and has offered the manager position for Argentina to Alfio "COCO" BASILE.

It remains to be seen whether BASILE will step out as BOCA JUNIORS manager and accept the challenge.

If he says 'yes', it'll be his second spell as Argentina manager after taking care of the national team after Carlos BILARDO left following Italy '90.

BASILE have won 2 Copa America (the last 2 major trophies won by Argentina) in Chile 1991 and Ecuador 1993.

He led the team to a run of 33 matches without defeat and was ultimately knocked out of USA '94 by Romania in eight-finals after the Diego MARADONA scandal being disqualified from the World Cup after testing positive in a drug test.

My opinion?

I'M THRILLED!

COCO BASILE is my favourite and if he accepts (his relationship with BOCA was never the best one, despite having won all 4 trophies at stake) he will have the second chance he deserves after suffering from what happened with Diego in 94.

He is a great leader and he won't be afraid of using all of our talented attacking players at the same time.

Come on, COCO! Say yes!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes! Great! I am really happy about this as well.

I thought Arg was the best team in US 94, as least before the Maradona scandle!

But, it seems he doesn't have any experience in Europe. I kind of worry if he know how to beat European teams, especially in the elimination phase.

Un argentino en California said...

Sebas,
I like Basile too, but I still think Bianchi is the one.
I hate Grondona more than ever. He thinks he is the owner of the AFA. He should listen a los argentinos.

He wants someone he can control. like he mentioned with Pekerman he felt the AFA President should be able to influence in the manager decision with respect of the team operation.
Wrong!

Bianchi showed he had the best results commanding Argentinian teams.

I hate Grondona more than ever!

Anonymous said...

I would love to see Basile as Head Coach for Argentina. It would be very sad to see him leave Boca Juniors after all he did with the team in just a short time if you think about it. El Coco is without a doubt one of the best for the job. His team in '94 should have been champion, and we all know what happened. Argentina was a winning team with the best players not names always called up, except for that time Freddy Rincon drove us all nuts in the 5-0 loss. But that was just one time I have all the respect and all my hope rides with him today due to the fact he's with Boca. Its very hard for me to say yes to Basile take over the team, and if he did I know that he will lead Argentina to the highest glory possible. Infact I hoped for Basile to be coach back when Bielsa left the team. Now whats going to happen with Boca if he leaves?

It does come down to Vamos Argentina en todas te sigo...

Anonymous said...

I don't mean to bring back dark memories, but can anyone tell me what happened in that horrible 0-5 loss to Columbia?

I didn't watch that game but I did see Columbia play in US 94, and everyone knew how 'good' they were. How could Arg lost such a huge number to a team like that in such a crucial qualification match?

Anonymous said...

Hi There,

Personally I feel that "Coco" Basile should be given another chance to manage Argentina. I'm sure things have change over the years. Back in 1994, Argentina were still in a position where they heavily depended on Diego to provide the magic.

But today as you all can see, we have proven that we can play as one solid and understanding team. And given a chance by looking at our players I'm sure any coach (even foreigner) would loved to coached us.

So by now we all know that Coco first task in a long 4 years ironically will start in South Africa itself!!! I really hope the journey will end right up to the final moment. This is definitely an interesting game, as we ALBICELESTES supporters will get a first look on what can we expect in 4 years time.(By the way just for everyone's info BAFANA BAFANA is my favourite African team.....)

Seba, back to Basketball, perhaps you may want to preview on who is in our squad for the World Championship in Japan and provides us with some comment or info on each and every player. That will be good.

I always have this feeling(correct me if I'm wrong) that Argentina seems to be the best sporting nation in South America. Football, basketball, hockey, rugby, tennis, volleyball...you named it, they are the best team representing South America. Before Michael Schumacher, the 5 times F1 world champion is an Argentinean!!!! Did anyone know that????

John
Malaysia

Anonymous said...

Good decision by the AFA. Alfio Basile is the man for the job. With the talent that we have, we don't want a defensive minded coach.

Vamos Argentina

Ingi

Anonymous said...

Everybody seems to hate defensive minded coaches so much. But I have a question here, can anyone point out which of the follwoing coaches who actually won world cups are...say, offensive minded?

Perreira of Brazil in 94?
Jacquet of France in 98?
Scolari of Brazil in 02?
Lippi of Italy in 06?

I sincerely hope one offensive-minded coach can lead his team (whichever the team might be) to glory in 2010, which is something that haven't happened in the past 20 years.

Anonymous said...

One of the most offensive and beautiful team I have ever seen is Brazil 82, and unfortunately, they were cruelly eliminated by an extremely defensive-minded Italy side.

Don't take me wrong, I am a fan of beautiful game as most of you guys. The cold fact is that beautiful teams don't always win, on the contrary, they almost always fail to win the championship. That's lesson Brazil and France taught the world in the 80s.

Seba said...

Thanks for the response!

Will try to comment on a little bit of everything you've bee saying.

BASILE not having European experience: BILARDO didn't have it when he won the World Cup in 86. MENOTTI didn't have it before 1978. I don't think it's a condition an Argentina manager should have. He knows how to beat European opposition (I will pass on the list of the teams we faced under COCO BASILE when we were undefeated for 33 games -the list includes the likes of England at Wembley -granted it was a draw, but just as an example-).

BIANCHI: Well...it's a matter of taste. I don't like him even though I agree he has plenty of credentials. Like it or not, GRONDONA is the head of the AFA and I don't think he should employ somebody who does not want that position. Because it was BIANCHI who said that as long as GRONDONA is running the AFA he won't be Argentina's manager.

COLOMBIA and the 0-5 in Buenos Aires: What happened? EVERYTHING HAPPENED! I've got a Colombian friend and he told me that was the "WORST" result they could get that night. Because that incredibly talented Colombian team went over the clouds and they thought they have won the World Cup before it started. That 5-0 made them believe they were the hottest team on Earth and that eventually killed them. So the performances they showed in USA 94 were not the reflection of their true ability. That night in Buenos Aires they really showed it and in contrast, Argentina played terribly. It was just one of those nights when nothing seems to work and it gets worst every minute.

John: Thanks for your words about Argentina being a strong sporting nation. I would add boxing to that list. We had great champions in the past and a couple these days.

We've got strong competition from Brazil. They are better historically in football, volleyball and basketball. No question about that. But they are non-existent in hockey or rugby. At the moment we are balanced in many sports and you can see that in the Olympics where they still have a couple of medals more than us.

About the defensive managers winning the last few World Cups: I don't think the way to go is to hire a defensive manager. I think we should be loyal to our way of playing and try to overcome the defensive minds. We can do it. And if we do, the beautiful game will be happy again!

Anonymous said...

even bilardo wasnt an offensive minded coach.. yet Arg won the cup and even reached the finals of '90 . About Basile i dont know much but its encouraging to hear good things about him.
I hope he makes the correct team selections and make Arg play beautiful attractive fast attacking football.
The key is the midfield and the wings. I feel strongly messi shud be played in the wings or in an attacking midfield position to give him more space to weave his magic. with the present team, the quality of Crespo will invariably fulfill a goal even there r any decent attacks and passes into the D.
Vamos Argentina ... way to go...
win the copa america 1st. That shud be the 1st objective now.

Seba said...

Spot on Subh!

I'll post a profile on BASILE very soon (hopefully tonight).

By the way, I forgot to comment on basketball. John was asking for a guide or a profile on every player that will be representing Argentina in the World Championships in Japan and I will do it in the next few days.

And finally, I'm watching ESTUDIANTES DE LA PLATA (managed by Diego SIMEONE). They are playing Sao Paulo (Brazil) for the second leg of their quarterfinal match in the Copa Libertadores.

At the moment they are behind (0-1) and they are holding on for dear life as they won by the same score in the first leg.

70 minutes gone and if it stays the same, we'll have a penalty shoot-out.

Yes, before anybody asks, Estudiantes is the team where Juan Sebastian VERON is playing now. But since his signing came after the deadline for the Copa Libertadores, he can't be involved at this stage.

Estudiantes is also the team who defeated Manchester United (sorry Cantona) in 1968 at Old Trafford to win the European-South American Cup. The scorer? Juan VERON! The father!

What a story!

Estudiantes have also won the Copa Libertadores 3 times in the 60's. With Carlos BILARDO amongst their defenders. That was a very tough team and it was intimidating to play against them.

One of their players (AGUIRRE SUAREZ) was taken to the Police Station after a brutal tackle in one Copa Libertadores match!

Can you imagine how hard was that tackle??????

He almost stayed in prison! Brillant stuff!

Anonymous said...

The Albiceleste can defend alright. It's just that we want a coach who can utilise our incredible attacking talent so that we always score more goals than the opposition.

I liked Pekerman's approach to the game where his job was to figure out a system and select the players to execute it.

And in Basile I think we have the perfect replacement.

Ingi
Papua New Guinea.

Anonymous said...

Another 'sport' argentina excel at is golf.

Well only time and results will tell if this appointment will bear fruit.

From what i've seen and read i think Basile will do a grear job with such a talented squad. I think the most interesting thing will be which formation he decides to play and who will be in his starting eleven.
Any thoughts guys?

Anonymous said...

BIANCHI was my top choice but I know he won't coach so long as GRONDONA is there.

I am really tired to see that fat face of GRONDONA. How long has he been around? 20, 30 years? Is there any chance that he will leave?

Anonymous said...

Hi, Seba, thank you for the information for the 5-0 disaster against Columbia. I have been confused by that score for a long time. So you mean Columbia 93 is a world-class team, which is hard for me to imagine. When I finally had the chance to watch them in US 94, they were mediocre to say the least. And I don't believe you can build a world-class team from nowhere. Anywasy, I will take your words for that.

Seba said...

Yeah Joey, believe me! They had the likes of VALDERRAMA, Freddy RINCON, Adolfo VALENCIA, Faustino ASPRILLA, Lionel ALVAREZ and all of them playing at the very top of their game.

It was more a matter of over-confidence. That led them to disaster in USA '94. Here in Argentina when we saw them playing in that World Cup, nobody believed their eyes because those performances were absolutely no reflection of their real potential.

Cantona: It's still pretty early to start thinking of the players BASILE will have in his squad. One thing is for sure and Fernando GAGO will be featured. He had him at BOCA and GAGO became one of his favourite players.

But what I can tell you for sure is the thing BASILE have always said: "I want my teams to be easy to remember for the people. I want the people to be able to memorise the starting eleven like what happened in the old times when eleven men represented a club for many years with little changes in the lineup. That's also the best way for a team to play as a team."

So expect a solid base of players.

Anonymous said...

Well, I belive columbia did have a great squad in 93 (even though I have never seen it), But 0-5 is still too much. After all, it is only Columbia. If you lost to Brazil I will understand.

Seba, do you want to write an article just about that game? When words go around that Basile is going to take charge again, Chinese fans are already debating whether he is the best choice, and the controversy cenered around that game.

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