Thursday, July 16, 2009

Rosario stadium inspected by FIFA on Thursday

FIFA inspectors visited the Gigante de Arroyito Stadium of Rosario on Thursday to check the facilities and start the process to see if they can clear that venue for international competitions such as the World Cup Qualifiers.

They will now elevate their report to the head-quarters in Zurich and we will see then if Argentina will host Brazil in Lionel MESSI's hometown or if the venue will continue to be the Monumental Stadium of River Plate in Buenos Aires.

11 comments:

messidona19 said...

Good news is that it's in Leo's hometown but I personally would have preferred La Bonbonera because it's much more electric and frightening for rival teams to play in it when the crowd is so close to the pitch.

messidona19 said...

As for Argentina line up based on form, yesterday i was thinking about the current best line up based on form and if our coach was Dunga, he would choose this team
Andujar
Zanetti Samuel Otamendi
Mascherano Cambiasso
Pastore Veron

Messi D.Milito(Zarate) Higuain


Out: Maxi, Jonas , Demichelis Heinze,Aguero Tevez who are all out of form (based on last season's performances).

Sebastian said...

Messidona...don't tell me you like DUNGA! You're using him as an example and, frankly, if it wasn't for their incredible counter-attack pace and their elaborated set-pieces plays, I don't think I have anything to envy Brazil for (maybe their GK Julio CESAR, the best in the world right now, in my opinion).

Besides...DUNGA would never pick a 3-4-3 formation. Forget about it!

I agree with some of those names you mention, but I don't think it'd be advisable to give PASTORE his full debut in a match to be played under a horrible amount of pressure.

VERON must play (and Diego already said on the radio yesterday that VERON will be on his team). Not only because of his talent and experience, but also because of his form. The way he played on Wednesday to take his Estudiantes side to win the Libertadores was nothing short of legendary.

Being a big game, TEVEZ should also start. He thrives in this kind of situation. Yes, he has been shocking for Argentina lately, but he's got that in him. He will be rested and happy. I can't see why he wouldn't play.

I'd think Diego will use him and MESSI.

In fact, the names I think that are inked for that match against Brazil are:

MASCHERANO, VERON, MESSI, Jonas GUTIERREZ and TEVEZ (99%).

I would like to think OTAMENDI will also play and I believe GAGO will too. And given Diego's preferences, HEINZE is another possible (very likely) starter.

ANDUJAR on goal...so let me adventure a little bit and recap all my speculation here (I will put the ones I'm not so sure about starting between parenthesis):

ANDUJAR
(ZANETTI) (DEMICHELIS) OTAMENDI, HEINZE
VERON, MASCHERANO, (GAGO), Jonas GUTIERREZ.
MESSI, TEVEZ.

That is not my choice of starting XI, but the one I think Diego could be using.

messidona19 said...

I'm not 100% sure but isn't Jonas suspended for the Brazil game for a second yellow card vs. Exuador?
As for the line up you wrote in the end, It's most probably the one which we'll play with against Brazil but half of the players are not on TOP FORM. I was choosing the team with players based on top form, and it's not necessarily my favorite starting lineup.
About Dunga, Brazil fans don't really like him but I don't understand why, He won 2 on 2 FIFA tournaments with Brazil, Copa America 2007 and Confeds Cup 09 and choosing the brazil players on top form, Notice how he Excluded Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Adriano recently and notice how we're still choosing Maxi who had a horrible season, Jonas whose team got relegated from EPL and notice how AFA still desperately want Riquelme to come back to the Argentina team even though he had a terrible last 2 seasons and if you remember during the latter Basile days we were playing with 10 players as he had no impact at all! Notice how out of form Gago and King of mistakes Heinze travel to WCQ while their most in form teammate is still at home. I'm sorry but choosing players because of Bias and friendship and excluding others who more than deserve to be in it is not the way.

Sebastian said...

I don't think you can compare RONALDO, RONALDINHO and ADRIANO with Maxi, GAGO or Jonas.

Those three Brazilians excluded themselves from their national team. RONALDO suffered from injury and a long time away from football.

RONALDINHO got way over his weight and ADRIANO had troubles with alcohol and he even left Inter in the middle of a season without giving them notice.

It was hardly DUNGA's decision to be credited here.

I wonder if those three were fit and playing relatively well, what would have DUNGA done and what would have been the reaction from their fans and the media?

I said it in one of our podcasts, DUNGA is a hostage of results. Nobody likes him in Brazil, but they are putting up with him simply because results are going his way. Bet your house on that. A lot of people in Brazil (fans and journalists) are waiting for DUNGA's team to slip up so they can call for his head to roll. Mark my words.

GAGO is a funny case. I don't watch a lot of Real Money...sorry...I mean Real Madrid. But as far as the national team is concerned, to me, GAGO has always played rather well (and sometimes he was impressive).

The fact that Jonas' Newcastle got relegated really shouldn't be considered as his fault. He was barely a starter at a club that was in complete disarray. Remember TEVEZ and MASCHERANO not starting for West Ham when they were there? Managers in England don't know the Argentine players (or the players that are not from the British Isles). You can almost count that as a fact. TEVEZ told me in an interview that Alan CURBISHLEY when he took charge at West Ham, told both him and MASCHERANO that he wouldn't use them in their first match because he didn't know exactly how they played (and they were both coming from playing in a World Cup with Argentina!!!).

Do you think SHEARER had any idea of what Jonas could bring to a team?

He simply kept him on the bench in the last few games of the season. And what I saw of him playing last season wasn't bad at all.

I'd have to check, but I think Jonas is not suspended for the Brazil game. I think he got a suspension before and he collected his third yellow vs. Ecuador. So if he gets booked vs. Brazil, he'll miss out on the Paraguay game. Again...I haven't checked so I could be very wrong here.

Maxi is having a bad run of form, yes. But I want him on my team.

Who would you pick to play wide right in his place? I don't know exactly who could be the man to step up there.

I understand the concept of picking form players, but as the saying goes...form is temporary, class is permanent.

There's no doubt Maxi has a lot to offer (I'm already thinking of THAT goal against Mexico!) and I'm confident he'll help the team in the future.

Also...picking a team only on form, carries a danger of playing with different players every game and failing to build up a chemistry between your footballers.

Would you exclude an out-of-form MESSI? Or MASCHERANO? That's another difficult question to answer.

messidona19 said...

Maxi hasn't done anything for Argentina in a very long time, and THAt goal vs. Mexico was 3 years ago, a lot has changed since 3 years, back then Cannavaro was the best defender in the world, now he's finished! Btw we all must have been wondering what would have been the outcome had Maxi scored that open goal oppportunity before Tevez missed his penalty vs. Ecuador.
As for our midfield, only Mascherano deserves to be there, the rest is not NT material. Between Cambiasso and Gago in one season, there is about 6 to 10 goals to Cambiasso to Gago's 0. I would really prefer to opt for Cambiasso who is also better defensively.

messidona19 said...

If you see Jonas' goalscoring statistics with his club you realize that most of our defenders have better goalscoring that him!
As for Maxi, I know you want him to be in the team but the fact that Athletico Madrid are trying their best to sell their CAPTAIN says it all.
As for your question on who should I pick instead of Maxi on the right flank, it's true we don't have current options but that doesn't mean that we should choose Maxi just to fill the right midfield gap, tactics should be changed to put the best possible team of players in their most favoured position. In the last few matches we have been playing horribly defensively but it all goes down to the midfield to control the possession and this is what we're been failing to do, to complete more than 5 passes on the field!!

Sebastian said...

Maybe you're right about Maxi. See...when I played a little bit with what would be my lineup to face Brazil, I didn't count him in as a starter.

Regarding Jonas, I think it's unfair you judge him on his goalscoring. He is not there to score goals. He does have one goal playing with Diego (the one against France), but again...it's not his job to score goals.

I would understand what you say comparing CAMBIASSO with GAGO, but I don't know what it is with Argentina fans and midfielders, because I remember when CAMBIASSO was on the team, the majority of fans wanted him out. Now most of them want him in...

Personally, I'd be happy to keep seeing GAGO on the team and I'd also be happy to see CAMBIASSO.

messidona19 said...

You're right about Cambiasso, everyone wanted him out but since then, he's been performing admirably for Inter , and he has a very good shot from outside the penalty area and that's what we actually need when the opposing team is parking the bus while Gago on the other hand has no power nor accuracy in his shot but I have to admit that he's not our weakest link in the team... There's just better in his position.
As for Jonas, I maybe can compare his position to Juan Pablo Sorin. I have to say that as a left back/midfielder Sorin was a real goalscoring threat in every game! 12 goals in 76 matches is pretty amazing for a left back! I'm not putting the scoring blame on Jonas, but if he was creative enough, that would still be good enough but unfortunately he's no Claudio Caniggia. Maybe a certain Andres D'Alessandro could at least occupy one of Maxi or Jonas's positions but he's not for the long term though. But between Jonas and Maxi, I currently prefer Jonas as he works hard on the pitch while Maxi simply dissapears.

Anonymous said...

My fellow "hermanos Argentinos" as a Brazilian fan I wanted to share my input on next months match, Dunga, my respect for the Albiceleste.

For starters, it is true that the majority of Brazilian fans do not like Dunga. Personally I am not a huge Dunga fan, but as someone here has mentioned, you cannot deny his accomplishments thus far. I also credit his assistant Jorginho former right back, from the 1994 Tetra team to some of the success they have had as coach and assistance. I like his decision to leave DIVA Ronaldinho out of Brazil. He is done! No longer deserves to wear our shirt. That are just too many young players who are good, never mind Adriano (out of field conduct issues) and Ronaldo (fat and old). The decision to leave these guys out were bold and I like bold decisions. If anything he reminds of Felipao or Big Phil. See 2002 WC Championship Team.

As far as the Albiceleste. I think that Maradona is way over his head and he is not a good coach for the obvious thus far. He plays favorites and needs to leave all bias aside in order for the Albiceleste to succeed. They have alot of players that are good that need to be given consideration during such an important match for them. Where in the world is Gonzalo Higuaín?? Pipita? A combination of him and Messi would be flat out disgusting for defenders to bear.

As for the match, the Albiceleste have a tough road ahead of them. Messi has put alot of unnecessary weight on his shoulders by promising not just a win, but one against Brazil. Make no mistake about it, Dunga and the rest of Brazil are using those exact words as motivation and the Brazilian players are aware of that coming in to Rosario. I simply cannot wait!! It should be tons of fun to watch. May the best team win!

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