A list that doesn't do justice to Argentine football

I'm on the same page as many of you who have been venting out your frustrations at seeing the names Diego included on his list, but most importantly, those who he left out.

There is no guarantee for some of the 30 players named in this list that they will play in the World Cup because they can be cut before June 1.

What we know for sure is what really infuriates me and many fans in Argentina and around the world.

That said, and without going into much detail about the big names that were ignored, I have to give some credit to Diego.

Let's keep aside the fact that his list doesn't look anything like the list of my dreams, you have to dig deeper before having a real go at MARADONA.

Here's how I read the situation.

Diego knew, maybe for a long time, that he wasn't going to use ZANETTI, CAMBIASSO, BANEGA, GAGO, Lisandro LOPEZ, AIMAR, Lucho GONZALEZ (insert your next favourite player that got axed). So what he did was to just kill any slim hope those players (and their fans) had on their prospects to make it to South Africa, even before the next cut that will see the list shortened to 23 names.

Instead, in another brilliant move, he picked a few players that wouldn't complain too much if they don't make the next cut, because they didn't even expect to be in the list of 30.

If anything, they get to be mentioned everywhere. They get exposure. They get to be known worldwide (by Argentina fans at the very least) and consequently, their market value will go through the roof.

I would be shocked (even more than I am now) if Ariel GARCÉ, Juan Manuel INSAURRALDE, Sebastián BLANCO and Fabricio COLOCCINI make it to the World Cup squad. They would be closely followed by Juan MERCIER (though there are no other important options at the true defensive midfielder role, because Mario BOLATTI who could play there is more of an organizer rather than a marker); Jesús DÁTOLO and one from Maxi RODRIGUEZ, Ezequiel LAVEZZI and (I'm still afraid) Diego MILITO (who could be falling behind Gonzalo HIGUAIN and Martín PALERMO -believe it or not- in the striker pecking order).

Diego is sticking to his guns but is he really?

Where is Rolando SCHIAVI? One of Diego's warriors in Uruguay the night we booked our place in South Africa? Was Diego not relying on the men that fought with him in the WCQ all the way?

Not to mention ZANETTI was the third player with more minutes played (after MESSI and MASCHERANO) and now he gets the boot, just like PEKERMAN did to him in 2006.

I feel extremely sorry for Pupi and I'm sad that we will certainly not see him ever again at a World Cup with Argentina and I'd like to thank him for his superb and loyal service to the team.

But as I said, I don't want to go into too much detail for each particular case.

I just wanted to share with you my views and the reasoning behind some of Diego's call-ups for a list that, at a first glance, doesn't reflect how deep and impressive our talent pool is.

After the list goes down to 23, if he thinks those players are the ones that better suit his proposed style, then he is entitled to his decisions, but he should point the finger at nobody else if things go horribly wrong.

That said, I'm sure everyone here, come June, will give Diego and his team our complete and loyal support.