No HIGUAIN and no ZARATE in the list for Russia

It's not official yet, but I'm posting the names that are widely regarded as those who will travel to Moscow to face Russia in a friendly match to be played on 12 August.

I'm doing this (publishing the squad list before it's official) for two reasons:

1. Because the sources are rather strong and trusted.
2. Because I don't know if I'll have the time to post it later on Tuesday (when the list is announced officially).

So...here are the names and you can start discussing right away.

Goalkeepers:
Juan Pablo CARRIZO (Real Zaragoza, Spain)
Mariano ANDÚJAR (Catania, Italy)

Defenders:
Daniel DIAZ (Getafe, Spain)
Emiliano PAPA (Velez, Argentina)
Nicolás OTAMENDI (Velez, Argentina)
Gabriel HEINZE (Real Madrid, Spain)
Martín DEMICHELIS (Bayern Munich, Germany)
Nicolás BURDISSO (Inter, Italy)
Javier ZANETTI (Inter, Italy)

Midfielders:
Fernando GAGO (Real Madrid, Spain)
Mario BOLATTI (Huracán, Argentina)
Javier MASCHERANO (Liverpool, England)
Maximiliano RODRIGUEZ (Atlético Madrid, Spain)
Sebastián BATTAGLIA (Boca Juniors, Argentina)
Jonás GUTIERREZ (Newcastle United, England)
Jesús DÁTOLO (Napoli, Italy)
Juan Sebastián VERÓN (Estudiantes de La Plata, Argentina)

Forwards:
Lionel MESSI (Barcelona, Spain)
Sergio AGÜERO (Atlético Madrid, Spain)
Carlos TEVEZ (Manchester City, England)
Lisandro LOPEZ (Olympique Lyon, France)
Diego MILITO (Inter, Italy)
Ezequiel LAVEZZI (Napoli, Italy)

OK, here are my initial thoughts.

Good to see OTAMENDI confirmed and starting to get a regular spot whenever MARADONA has to call up a squad.

A couple of new boys. The excellent Mario BOLATTI gets in the picture after a great season at Huracán. He was regarded, together with OTAMENDI and PASTORE, as the best players in the last Clausura tournament. A central midfielder with great ball control and distribution but who can also stop and break the opposition's attacking plays in the centre of the park. Great header of the ball too and he also has a powerful and accurate shot from outside the box.

The other new boy...I'm not so happy about. It's Jesús DÁTOLO. Not a bad player, by any means, but not one that intrigues me or excites me. He used to play for Boca Juniors and now he is at Napoli, which will prompt many of you to think Diego is calling him because of the shirts he wore and he wears. The reason MARADONA gave in an interview with Olé to justify DÁTOLO's call-up was the absence of Angel DI MARIA. Diego said he needs to have an option with a midfielder that can play wide open on the left. I doubt he'll start the friendly match in Moscow, though.

No HIGUAIN and no CAMBIASSO. This disappoints me, I can't deny it. Especially the absence of HIGUAIN and the presence of Ezequiel LAVEZZI. Yes, they probably play different roles in the attack, but based on form and on recent developments for both players, I'd pick HIGUAIN every day. Another name is Mauro ZARATE. But I tend to think MARADONA believes LAVEZZI can offer him a threat on the wing, rather than a forward who would play more in the middle (like HIGUAIN or ZARATE). For that, he already has AGÜERO, TEVEZ, MILITO and Lisandro LOPEZ.

LAVEZZI, by the way, is in the middle of a crisis at Napoli. The President of the Italian club criticized LAVEZZI publicly and I don't know if this is the best moment to call him up.

Same goes for Carlos TEVEZ. He is injured to this day. I doubt he had the chance to run and train since last season ended. This was a perfect opportunity to leave him out and let him concentrate on adapting himself to a new club. By calling TEVEZ, MARADONA is complicating his pre-season (especially when the player is injured) and he is wasting the chance of having a look at HIGUAIN.

But at the same time, it really goes to show that Diego doesn't want HIGUAIN in his set-up. If he doesn't call him now, I don't see him calling him at a later stage (if nobody gets seriously injured, but even if that was the case, I wouldn't think MARADONA will call HIGUAIN). This is obviously a sign that those rumours about HIGUAIN not seeing eye-to-eye with some of his team-mates at Real Madrid and the national team surely make sense.

A real shame.

Regarding CAMBIASSO. I don't know if Diego has an personal agenda there too. It could be a case of him thinking that player is not one that can adapt to what he wants. I don't know.

As I always say, there are many examples of players enjoying a great run of form and yet being ignored by their national team managers. MARADONA himself suffered from that when MENOTTI left him out of the 1978 World Cup or RIQUELME and SAVIOLA in 2002.

Maxi and Jonas are getting another vote of confidence from MARADONA and in their cases, I hope it helps them gain in confidence. Especially Maxi as he really needs to recover his best form.

I have to say I'm not happy with this list. I do think some players deserve to be back with the team, but overall, Diego is missing a great chance to rotate a little bit and most importantly, test and observe new players that will give him more options.

Again...this list is still unofficial, but I doubt we'll see many changes (if any) when it comes out.

In the meantime...let's hear from you and see what do you think of these names.