93 days after "tragedy" against Brazil in the Copa America final, Argentina return to Maracaibo to face Venezuela in the South American World Cup Qualifier's second round.
According to the latest information I got, Argentina will jump to the field with an unchanged team from our 2-0 victory against Chile. That means:
ABBONDANZIERI
ZANETTI (captain), DEMICHELIS, Gabriel MILITO, HEINZE
Maxi RODRIGUEZ, MASCHERANO, CAMBIASSO, RIQUELME
MESSI and TEVEZ
Javier ZANETTI will play his 115th cap and will reach Roberto AYALA at the top of the list of most capped Albicelestes players. Congratulations to "Il Capitano" and here's hoping he celebrates his achievement with three points.
Venezuela defeated Ecuador in Quito for the first time in history and will hope to upset Argentina to continue with good step towards what could be their first ever participation in a World Cup.
Their probable starting eleven will look like this:
VEGA
VALLENILLA, REY, CICHERO, ROUGA
VERA, MEA VITALI, R. PAEZ, ROJAS, ARANGO
MALDONADO
It looks like a 4-5-1 but ARANGO and ROJAS (sometimes PAEZ as well) can join in MALDONADO in attack.
Our friend Roy, from Canada, gives us the following link for those of you that are familiar with The Dish (online broadcast):
http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/whats_on_dish/pay_per_view/sports/soccer/SAWCQ_schedule/index.shtml
I would advice to check at: http://www.rojadirecta.com/. You'll see a cartoon of former referee Pierliugi COLLINA and below there's a list with the TV listings. Argentina-Venezuela is the last item in that list and there is an option to watch Chile's Channel 13 by using REAL PLAYER.
Good luck in getting online broadcast and hope you can enjoy the match!
VAMOS ARGENTINA!
Now as I watch the TV pregame show, they say ZANETTI could be moved to play in midfield with Hugo IBARRA playing as a right back and Nicolás BURDISSO could be used as left back, replacing HEINZE (who sustained an injury against Chile).
ReplyDeleteThis is not official yet. So we'll see.
So MAXI is out. Apparentely is to preserve him as, even if he is playing regularely for Atletico Madrid and played on Saturday, they don't want to risk him too much after recovering from such a complicated injury (knee ligaments).
ReplyDeleteThis is a big blow as MAXI was outstanding in the Chile match.
ReplyDeleteBut we need him longer and thats more important. Without him, my guess is COCO will go for GAGO as his replacement.
2-0. Half-time.
ReplyDeleteGabriel MILITO headed home a great chip by RIQUELME to score his first goal with the Albiceleste and then MESSI rifled the ball from outside the area to score his first ever goal in World Cup Qualifiers.
Today MESSI is celebrating 3 years since he made his absolute debut for Barcelona against Espanyol in La Liga.
I want to see 4-0!!!!!!, and lets please do not let them score a goal.
ReplyDelete,Jack.
Beautiful goals. 0-2
ReplyDeleteBoth goals were beautiful. Too bad nerves got the better of Denis. We could have won 4-0. Still I'm proud of the players. Everyone did an excellent job :) The ball handling among the Albicelestes was so smooth. Like silk. Hopefully Burdisso is ok
ReplyDeleteVamos Argentina!!!
-argentinafan
Messi is a god.
ReplyDeleteHopefully burdisso is ok. I was just thinking "weak link" then he got the hit... Feel back about it now :-(
needless to say, we need a left wing back, NOW! This is our archilles' heel.
Messi was on fire. Tevez missed 2 golden opportunities. Denis should get more time on the pitch.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, great result. 2 wins, not conceding any goals.
Important thing is that we got 6 points from 2 games, now that's good start. A further note to this is the defense looks very tight with zero goals conceded.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I was not able to watch the game as I was at work. But from the looks of it, the only thing that needs further improvement has to be the finishing part.
I do echo some of the comments, that German DENIS should be given more play time. His statistic for club level don’t lie and the only thing probably he lacks is the exposure to play on the international scene.
Rio: having to use Burdisso as Heinze's backup didn't sit well with me either. Frankly, our defensive options down both wings are a bit worrying.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, though, can't ask for much more than 6 points and no goals conceded. (Well, there are always those who are saying how bad we are and how we'd get thrashed by Brazil, etc, but hey.)