Players' ratings by Dave P.

Dave is an American follower of Mundo Albiceleste and he has a passion for rating players (and in my opinion, a great eye in doing that).

He has posted his players' ratings after our win over Venezuela in a comments' box, but I'm deciding, without even asking him permission, to post those ratings here.

They may not reflect my views or the ones from John and Roy, but we're all together in this and if we have some differences in our opinions, we'll discuss them in the comments' box. That's what we love doing, isn't it?

Without further intro, here are Dave's players' ratings. Please, I encourage you to share your opinions with us.

Dave starts by saying:

"Wow, great victory. So much talk and speculation with Maradona and the 3-4-3 line up and coming home to Argentina. Exceeded the expectations from the Albiceleste fans and then some. I’ll be it Venezuela is one of the more weak teams, which tweaks some of my ratings, but still pure domination by Argentina."

CARRIZO: 7- What can I say nothing really going on but when he was called upon to make a save did so with confidence. One sketchy clearance but made up for it in quick reactions to Heinze’s dumb chest back. Bad form at Lazio, but still Argentina’s #1

ZANETTI: 7.5- Not really tested in the defense all night, Venezuela was content with sitting back and rarely had possession to attack our defense. That being said Zanetti the 20 year old 30+ year old made great runs all night including the one Maradona like run from our box to over half that started our first gol. Very smooth, calm, typical performance from Zanetti; Let him play forever.

ANGELERI: 7- Good first start for the Estudiantes defender. Not really tested at all but when there was a push from Venezuela was always in good position, and again confidant and no hesitation.

HEINZE: 6.5+?- Like Angeleri good performance confident in everything that he did EXCEPT for that one trademark dumb casual defending move that we hate Heinze for. What was he thinking with that chest back to Carrizo from the PK spot with a man on his back??? Just boot it out. Glad that Demi will be back next game.

Maxi RODRIGUEZ: 7.5- Some good runs in the first half putting pressure on the wings and combining with Messi well. Unlike the France game where he did nothing, his head was in the game all the time, played well, and smart in possession. In the 2nd half had a very breath taking run off a Carrizo save which allowed him to score our 3rd GOL. Great work back on defense to help out the back 3. Happy to see Maxi in good form.

MASCHERANO: 8- Great hustle all game as usual, great tackles in the midfield, and was one of the main reasons why our back 3 was never under any immediate pressure. Truly taking on the role as captain very well. Also, smooth on the ball, what else is there to say a typical gritty performance by Masche.

GAGO: 6.5- Sort of a quiet game for Gago. Took a little bit of time to settle down in the first half, had a few arrant passes. Like Masche tracked back and helped the back 3, great defensive play with Masche, probably two of the most hard working defensive mids in the world right now. In the second half was a lot smarter on the ball and had a few cheeky touches that set up Messi and started some counter attacks.

Jonas GUTIERREZ: 8- Wow! impressed by this man’s ability to run at defenders and at the same time sprint back to play defense for the entire game each and every game. Great calmness on the ball, another reason why the back 3 had no pressure because of his incredible work rate. Him combined with Gago n Masche are incredible hard workers that deserve to start every game. Took on two defenders and had a nice pass to assist Kun in his GOL.

TEVEZ: 8-As usual the workhorse up front, pressuring defenders and making runs from the left side to the right and vice versa. Showed great skill on the ball and played well with Messi n Aguero. Especially with his pinpoint pass to Messi to grab our first gol. Then, great finish at the start of the 2nd half that put Venezuela way out of it, great body control to volley the ball home with power, a true scorer at heart. Should have had another gol but was called offside which was BS. Was apart of 2 of our gols, I have been saying that Tevez needs to be a permanent starter for our team and proved it tonight. CARLITOS.

AGÜERO: 6.5- Of the three up top played the worst. Quiet game with two blatant missed chances that definitely should have been gols. If you are the center forward for Argentina those must be finishes. Two positives from El Kun though. One, his cross to Maxi was immaculate, perfect placement to him on the top of the box, and the other, his gol, it was lucky that it deflected but it was a great run at the defender and a strong cut to the center. His replacement, Milito had no impact on the game at all.

MESSI: 9- Wow great game from the electric Messi. Scored the first goal with an excellent run and placed shot. In the first half was a threat every single time he touched the ball running at defenders looking for one two passes and combination. Always active. In the second half came right out and smoked past two defenders to place a ball into the box for Tevez to finish. Truly is a joy to watch, at times I thought the Venezuela defenders were hypnotized by him. Quieted down in the middle of the second half, but out of nowhere within the last 10 mins he deiced to treat the fans to his magical skill. Two runs in which he took on pretty much the entire Venezuelan team with ease. Unlucky to not have scored twice.

Substitutes:

VERON: 7: Came on with around 20 mins left, played well, had a calming affect on the game which added more stability to Argentina. At times it felt like it was just him and Messi on the field, enjoyed passing it around and holding possession. Good work, did nothing wrong.

DI MARIA: 7: Came on a couple mins after Veron. Played well in the attack but lacked the defensive presence on the left that Jonas/Maxi had on the wings. More of the flash and flare than the workhorse mentality. That being said played well and beat defenders, had a couple of chances go wide.

Diego MILITO: N/A: came on with around 10 mins left. Did nothing bad or nothing tremendously good.