Tuesday, February 06, 2007

STARTING ELEVEN CONFIRMED TO FACE FRANCE

Argentina will start with:

ABBONDANZIERI

BURDISSO
AYALA
Gabriel MILITO
HEINZE

ZANETTI
Lucho GONZALEZ
GAGO
CAMBIASSO

SAVIOLA
CRESPO


So it´s PUPI in midfield (I suppose he´ll play on the right hand side). GAGO and CAMBIASSO will share the centre of midfield and LUCHO will play on the left.

These are just my speculations.

22 comments:

Seba said...

Just to add to the info below, Argentina played 9 matches against France.

We won 5, drew 3 and lost the other (the 1986 friendly match listed by FIFA).

pdp said...

i think it'll be a diamond midfield with zanetti on the right, cambiasso on the left, gago at the bottom, and lucho as CAM.
Basile played 4-3-1-2 back in '94, plus his Boca that won everything was also 4-3-1-2. So i think he'll keep it the same.

just my 2 cents

Saurabh Bhattacharjee said...

I think with the injury constraints that he is facing, Basile has gone for a reasonable team.

Well, D' Alessando could have been experimented with but having read a lot about Lucho Gonzalez's performances for River Plate and having been impressed with whatever little of him in the few WC 2006 Qualifiers that I got to watch, I would like to see how he performs in the hole. Hopefully he can continue from his current form in Portugal.

I am also keen to see how Heinze shapes up as a left back. Is it the first time he is donning this role for the national team?

An attacking full back was very critical in the World Cup for the balance of the team.....and with lack of width on the left, the case shall be the same with this team too.

Hoping for a great game in which the better team wins and may the better team be the blue and white.

Saurabh

Seba said...

Welcome Risingson, thanks for your comments.

And I think you might be right. From what COCO said I thought he would use LUCHO on the right because he said he had no traditional playmaker in the team (AIMAR was supposed to cover that position but he got injured and COCO couldn´t call up a replacemente -D´ALESSANDRO was a candidate and so was Federico INSUA-).

Then COCO said he will have one of the midfield players to "occasionaly" move more freely behind the strikers.

We´ll see. I would like to see that midfield you´re talking about Risingson. I surely do.

Now, a curious note I´ve found reading the papers today (apart from DUNGA´s horrible shirt!), 9 out of the 11 starters were in the World Cup (the exceptions being Fernando GAGO and Javier ZANETTI).

What does that say to you?

Anonymous said...

Hi Seba,

I hope it says Coco doesn't wanna lose this game for the 3rd consecutive time under his return. He opted for players that know each other well from before. A win would be nice. Does Basile has anything against D'Alessandro? I thought he would at least be call to try in place of Pablito.

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Why Coco didn't invite Iguain from Real?
The guy seems to be usefull iin his first month in Spain and Basile have to give him chance.
Especialy agains blues which try to steal him.

Vadim Tel-Aviv

Seba said...

Glad to see new posters joining our blog! Welcome Vadim!

Just to answer those questions:

D´ALESSANDRO was not called up because it wasn´t agreed that a player could have been called up after the initial list was submitted. AIMAR was in the list and got injured after that so COCO couldn´t call up a replacement.

Same happened to DUNGA before last night´s match against Portugal. RONALDINHO and one defender were injured and he called up nobody to replace them.

As for HIGUAIN, Vadim, he wasn´t called up because at the moment BASILE named the list he still didn´t have the Argentine passport. He decided to play for Argentina but was not eligible for this fixture.

Now last week he was granted an Argentine passport and he´ll be eligible for future matches and I expect him to be named by COCO.

Seba said...

NEWSFLASH. Just before tonight´s game in which Roberto AYALA will become Argentina´s most capped player of all time (107), he have signed a contract to move from VALENCIA CF to VILLARREAL.

He´ll move to the Yellow Submarine next season and his contract will tie him to that club until June 2010 when he´ll be 36 years old.

Congratulations I´d say for both things.

Now...does this mean that he´ll have a chance to make it to the 2010 World Cup?

You never know! He´s playing some of his best football in years...

Seba said...

And Lionel MESSI will be back in action this weekend when Barcelona will face Racing Santander.

Hope it is with the best of luck!

Anonymous said...

I think I read somewhere before that Argentina has never lost a game when it plays both Crespo and Saviola upfront.

Hope that continues tonight!

Yes, we do have it live in Hong Kong by Cable TV. It will be at 4am (Thursday) though!!!

Seba said...

Nice one Allan! Didn´t know that (about SAVIOLA and CRESPO).

And let me ask you? Will you wake up at 4 AM? Or will you stay up all night?

My advice? Take a nap and wake up just before kick-off!

hahaha!

johnny said...

Didn't Crespo and Saviola start against Germany ? Or was that Crespo and Tevez ? Anyway, I like the combination. Best of both striking worlds. Let's hope the "back end" holds up.

Seba said...

SAVIOLA was left in the bench and TEVEZ started up front with CRESPO.

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/match/57/mr.html

Me too. I like the combination they make.

Would like to see Diego MILITO, Kun AGÜERO and Lisandro LOPEZ playing at some point.

Seba said...

Nothing important to say. It´s just my pure supersticious spirit!

We had 13 comments and I didn´t want to leave that number up comes kick-off time!

Now it´s 14!

Anonymous said...

Just a quick comment, do we think that the referee is a bit harsh for a friendly?

-argentinafan

Anonymous said...

So I have to say that the game was a little underwhelming. I mean I'm thrilled that we won but I think that in the grand scheme of things this match won't be all that memorable. Argentina deserved the win but we were weakened by the fact that we didn't have a proper playmaker and France missed key players in their backline. Gago did well for his debut, particularly in the second half and Saviola probably played the best out of everyone. Gabi Milito and Ayala played an excellent air game. Overall I think that everyone played well based on their individual abilities and that got us our first win. Still it would have been lovely to have a proper playmaker.
The fans were really vocal which was nice considering we were playing in Paris.
Vamos Argentina!

-argentinafan

Anonymous said...

Hi All,

Congratulations to the Argentina NT and COCO BASILE for getting their first win under his tenure.

The game was not broadcasted live in Malaysia because the TV Channel decided to show a Euro Qualifier between SAN MARINO vs Rep. Ireland. The match was broadcasted as a delayed telecast at 5.40am. I woke up to watch the game in full anticipation and at 7.30 am when i was taking my shower to head to work, I am a happy man knowing the fact that we overcame a big opponent.

As for the game itself, France looked toothless and brainless without the Maestro ZIDANE, there were glimpses of danger from RIBERY when he cut in from the left wing in the second half. It was a solid performance from the ALBICELESTE especially in central defense. PATO was also composed when called upon especially saving the TREZEGUET shot, but in actually fact FRANCE did not really test him, which shows the supreme defending done by our lads.

In Midfield, yes we did look like we needed some genuine playmaker in the middle and GAGO did have his magical moments, especially some quick feet early in the second half. The goal was a gem, it would have been better if CRESPO could have burst the net with the initial effort but then maybe it was meant for SAVIOLA to finish it off after being heavily involved with some beautiful interchanges with PUPI ZANETTI. I would have liked to see DIEGO MILITO having more playing time with no offense to CRESPO, but i think DIEGO MILITO needs these games for international experience.

As what argentinafan mentioned, I would also believe that SAVIOLA was the best argentine on the pitch and the rest did their best. We were tight and that matter the most at the back.

Congratulations to FERNANDO GAGO & JONAS GUTIERREZ for making their international debuts.

Looking forward to the next match and until then VAMOS ARGENTINA!!!

Cheers,
Alwin

Saurabh Bhattacharjee said...

Congratulations to the Argentina team and Basile for his first win in this term.

I am so relieved. For both Brazil and Spain matches, it was depressing to get up in the morning and learn about the defeats.

Alwin and Argentinafan, Thanks for your reports. As usual, the match was not broadcasted in India. Could you let me know where one can watch the highlights of the match.

Anonymous said...

How i was glad yesterday!
Argentina in a good match, nice defencive abilities, ONE fine combination and Saviola kick !!!
I WAS JUMPING and CRYING like mad
then the ball put inside of France goal.
Ajala and Milito - best players of Argentina in this match.

Vadim Tel Aviv

Anonymous said...

In Israel i have seen the game in Turkish chanal TRT.
a lot of thanks to TRT !!!

Vadim

Anonymous said...

I saw the game through stream. Congrats on the first win Coco and impressive too. Rock solid defense and a beautiful crafted goal. But we don't send the ball upfront much. I never thought I see Argentina play without a playmaker but the boys did well.

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