Thursday, June 21, 2007

Countdown to THE LIST: Who's the last passenger?

We are a couple of hours away from the announcement. 22 players will be named by Coco BASILE to represent Argentina in Venezuela 2007, but with so little time to go, there is still a big question mark as to who will be the last passenger?

I'll anticipate here the 21 names that are pretty much set in stone:

Goalkeepers:

Roberto ABBONDANZIERI, Juan Pablo CARRIZO, Agustín ORIÓN

Defenders:

Roberto AYALA, Javier ZANETTI, Gabriel MILITO, Gabriel HEINZE, Nicolás BURDISSO

And after the Copa Libertadores final, Daniel DIAZ and Hugo IBARRA (both from Boca Juniors) will join the team.

Midfielders:

Lucho GONZALEZ, Javier MASCHERANO, Esteban CAMBIASSO, Fernando GAGO, Pablo AIMAR, Juan Sebastián VERÓN and of course the open secret is that Juan Román RIQUELME will be the last midfielder to join in.

Forwards:

Lionel MESSI, Hernán CRESPO, Diego MILITO and Carlos TEVEZ


So that makes 21, with two clear-cut candidates to fight for the last spot. Both play for Boca Juniors. One is a midfielder and the other one is a forward.

Pablo LEDESMA and Rodrigo PALACIO.

So who’ll be Coco’s pick?

Who’s your pick between these two?

We’ll start talking more about the 22 and what the team should look like, once the list is announced later today (it is thought that the announcement will come at around noon in Buenos Aires (4 PM London time, 10 AM New York, 5 PM Madrid, Rome, Paris, 10:30 PM New Dehli and of course, midnight in Tokyo!).

10 comments:

johnny said...

Thanks for the update Seba. Hmm... Palacio or Ledesma ? Two very different players. Palacio, the very fast, light delantero with nice footwork and a history of being very dangerous. But not at the top of his game recently. Ledesma, tireless working, always running, retrieving balls and a bit of a distributor at times. I would say he doesn't do any one thing fantastically, but many things very well. No ego problems, doesn't whine or complain. A great teammate. I go Ledesma. Coco has more than enough scoring firepower. I think adding Palacio is just overkill. Again, my two cents.

Seba said...

I kind of disagree with that. I think we are, somehow, short in depth in attack (not in quality, thank God!).

You have to think of many alternatives that could happen in tournament or a game at any time.

If injuries struck us and there are possible suspensions and so on...I think PALACIO could become a great asset coming from the bench.

AND, if a game is closed and we need to use speed instead of power, or open up the whole field by attacking on the wings, he could be a key!

Nothing against LEDESMA, but our midfield players are adaptable to cover many roles and positions and the team will do without him.

Seba said...

Attention all regular posters: johnny, argentinafan, soyderiver, alwin, john, saurabh (and whoever is reading, actually!)

I need you to send me an e-mail to argentina.correspondent@gmail.com

I've got a good thing coming!

johnny said...

Seba-I see your point about injuries regarding Palacio. I think he needs a nickname. Maybe, the Whippet or Greyhound.

Seba said...

PALACIO needs a nickname?

He's got PLENTY!

He is known as:

LA JOYA (THE JEWELL)

EL RAYO (THE RAY - before the release of the animated movie CARS and the famouse Ray McQueen! hahahah!)

I like the Jewell, even though it is the same nickname Australian Harry "The Jewell" KEWELL has!

johnny said...

Wow ! I had no idea ! Thanks ! The Ray ! Hmmm..too generic. Ok, The Jewell.

Anonymous said...

List is as follows:
1 - Abbondanzieri, Roberto
2 - Ayala, Roberto
3 - Diaz, Daniel
4 - Ibarra, Hugo
5 - Gago, Fernando
6 - Heinze, Gabriel
7 - Palacio, Rodrigo
8 - Zanetti, Javier
9 - Crespo, hernan
10 - Riquelme, Juan
11 - Tevez, Carlos
12 - Carrizo, Juan Pablo
13 - Gonzalez, Luis
14 - Mascherano, Javier
15 - Milito, Gabriel
16 - Aimar, Pablo
17 - Burdisso, Nicolas
18 - Messi, Lionel
19 - Cambiasso, Esteban
20 - Veron, Juan
21 - Milito, Diego
22 - Orion, Agustin

Anonymous said...

Palacio got picked but I haven't seen the actually FULL list yet

-argentinafan

Anonymous said...

Hehe, never mind. Thanks soyderiver!

-argentinfan

Anonymous said...

No problem, argentinafan. glad to help!