No. I don't have many answers to that question.
The best I can do is to give you some general information about the tournament and some of the names that will travel to Toulon, France, with Sergio BATISTA to participate in an U22 Youth Festival to be played from 3 till 12 June, 2009.
Argentina will participate in Group A and will face Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Netherlands, whilst Chile, France, Portugal and Qatar will take part in Group B.
Speaking of Argentina, the first thing to know is that some Argentine clubs will not release some of the guys BATISTA called up.
The problem is the timing of this tournament. A few clubs are going to be playing decisive matches (some fighting for the title, some trying to avoid relegation) and since it is not an official FIFA tournament, I think the clubs have a point. It's not like they are not willing to release a player ahead of a Youth World Cup or a major tournament.
Big names - familiar faces playing in Europe?
Emiliano INSUA (Liverpool) was being considered but he should miss out on the tournament because of injury.
Ever BANEGA (Atl. Madrid)
Lautaro ACOSTA (Sevilla)
Argentine First Division established players?
Diego BUONANOTTE (River Plate - not confirmed, but with great chances to feature-).
Alejandro GOMEZ (San Lorenzo -former Arsenal de Sarandí-)
Exciting prospects?
Germán PACHECO (Atlético Madrid youth teams. He is 17 years old and he is scoring many goals in Spain. He left Velez Sarsfield when he was 15 and has been playing in Spain since then).
Guillermo BURDISSO (Nicolás' brother, playing at Rosario Central -doubtful because his team is struggling in the relegation fight and could not be released-).
Lucas TRECARICHI (Leganés -Spain-. A lot of great things are said about this youngster).
Other names:
Diego PEROTTI (Sevilla)
Gerardo BRUNA (Liverpool)
Matías MARTINEZ (Racing Club) was called up by BATISTA but Racing already told him they won't release him because MARTINEZ (top-scorer for Racing despite being a central defender) would miss a crucial match against Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata.
Boca Juniors have already communicate they won't release Facundo RONCAGLIA and Nicolás GAITAN but they have no problem with goalkeeper Josué AYALA joining BATISTA's team.
I guess we should keep an eye on this and see how the list finally shapes up. BATISTA said the list will be completed with players from the U18 and the U17. Remember the U17 just secured their ticket for the World Cup when they reached the final (lost on penalties to Brazil) in the South American tournament played in Chile.
This won't be the first time Argentina take places in this Toulon tournament. In 1975, under the guidance of César Luis MENOTTI, Argentina defeated France 1-0 in the final. Amongst our players were Daniel PASSARELLA, Américo GALLEGO and Jorge VALDANO.
In 1998, Argentina obtained their second title (beating France 2-0 in the final with goals from Francisco GUERRERO and Walter SAMUEL). Juan Román RIQUELME was elected best player of the tournament.
Here's the list of first round fixtures with dates and kick-off times (local time)
Wednesday, 3 June:
20:45 - Argentina v. Netherlands.
Friday, 5 June:
20:45 - Argentina v. Egypt
Sunday, 7 June:
19:00 - Argentina v. United Arab Emirates
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3 comments:
Quality stuff as usual Seba. I think Bruna who is dubbed Messi of Madrid(but now is with Liverpool) may turn down the invite because I have read some place he has decided to play for Spain instead of Argentina. I would love to see Buonanotte and maybe Di Santo. I also hope Lucas Trecarichi gets a call up as well. A left footed player just like Leo and Diego. I also have heard many many good things about him. Also maybe calling up Lamela or Noir from Boca but I think he just misses the age cut. But I will also like to see a lot of unknown youngsters. It is a small tourney and are played at a beautiful part of France which has very small stadiums which for me is quite unique.
Jack!
Thanks Jack.
NOIR won't be able to go. He fracture a bone in his leg a couple of weeks ago (either tibia or fibula, I never remember the names in English! haha!).
Souns like BUONANOTTE will be on the team, same as TRECARICHI.
Regarding LAMELA, he stands a chance. He's probably too young for this tournament and he could struggle playing against 21 or 20 year-old players. Perhaps BATISTA will take a few U17s just for them to gain experience.
Don't know about DI SANTO, though. His name wasn't mentioned in the reports I read.
Some news on the upcoming friendly against Panamá.
Maxi MORALEZ (Velez Sarsfield) and Mauro FORMICA (Newell's Old Boys) have been withdrawn from the squad list because they failed to recover from injury.
No replacements have been named. A few days back, Milton CARAGLIO (Rosario Central) suffered a serious knee injury and was also cut out from the list (in that case, Esteban FUERTES was named to make up the numbers).
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