Argentina is the word. Argentina is the World. Here is the place for die-hard Argentina fans to follow the Albiceleste in every possible way!
Videos, pictures, the latest scores, opinion, gossip, transfer rumours, a variety of sports and activities and anything that involves sports and Argentina will be our obsession.
First up we look at the French League from Saturday’s fixture between Olympique Lyon and Lens. The home team manage to finish the game with a hard fought 1-0 win courtesy of Cesar DELGADO. After a fine exchange passes between Sidney GOVOU and Lisandro LOPEZ, who played the decisive pass behind the defence for DELGADO to slide home the winner.
We move to Italian Serie A, where on Sunday Lazio visited Parma and came away with a 2-0 win. After absorbing much pressure from the home who were looking for a equalizer, Mauro ZARATE seal the deal for the blue half of Rome following a low cross from Sergio FLOCCARI.
In Spain’s La Liga, Pablo PIATTI scored for visiting side Almeria against Getafe in which the match finish to a 2-2 draw. His effort was parried by Jordi CORDINA but the rebound fell nicely for him to slot into the corner of the net.
With the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver just hours away(Go Russia/USA by the way!), we here at Mundo are looking forward to something else... And no, I'm not talking about Valentine's Day! On Tuesday, Diego MARADONA will announce his squad that will travel to Munich next month to play Germany.
The reason why most of us are looking forward to the list is because it should give us a clear indication as to who will make the final cut for the World Cup and who won't. In short, if you're on the Germany list, you'll likely make the World Cup list. If the likes of SAVIOLA, CAMBIASSO, BANEGA and LOPEZ are not on the list, then chances are they won't be part of the final 23.
We know that MARADONA has already chosen MASCHERANO, MESSI, VERON and recently Walter SAMUEL, but what about those in the domestic league and the rest of Europe? Are OTAMENDI, PALERMO and MONZON going to travel to Germany? What about Marcos ANGELERI who Diego seems to love? Will the MILITO brothers make the list or only one of them? Or worse, they both miss out? Will we get a little bit of redemption for that heartbreaking loss in Berlin from 2006 or will it be just a little taste of what's to come?
Tune in on Tuesday for the next episode of this wonderful Telenovela starring Diego "a man of 102 players" MARADONA, Martin "The Saint" PALERMO and Seba "Diego MILITO's cheerleader" GARCIA!
I had to watch this game. I don't know exactly why, but I thought I had to watch it. If anything, to do one of the things I love most: scream at the TV and criticize everyone who speaks or anything I see.
And I had plenty of reasons to do what I love most! It was a game that was tailor-made for that.
Then I found myself thinking and got to one conclusion: MARADONA is like a violent father.
I'm not WUI (writing under the influence). Let me explain what's my reasoning behind this.
A violent father will often say he loves his children and that he'll do anything for them. In some cases they would even go as far as to saying they are beating their children for their own good. When in reality, in every one of those cases, they know nothing about how to educate their children. In reality, they are not capable of being in that position and everything they do is wrong. Even when they don't mean to do wrong.
I have no doubts MARADONA loves our national team. He gave us enough proof of this in his playing days and also when he was a celebrity fan, but he is beating the hell out of the Albiceleste in every step he takes as a manager.
In another pathetic, almost horrifying display, Argentina defeated a VERY weak Jamaican team that included an amateur player and in order to do that, we needed more than 90 minutes to do so. As a matter of fact...Argentina were trailing until the 80th minute! Not to mention the blatant penalty that was not given to Jamaica in the first half.
Now we've got to get ready for an avalanche of idiotic journalists praising Martín PALERMO, who was awful and only scored thanks to some of the worst defensive displays I can remember and certainly because this Jamaican goalkeeper could have played without his hands and would have made no difference at all.
So-called pundits who undoubtedly have a hidden agenda and keep praising MARADONA (so Diego then gives them the exclusive interview, of course!).
Argentina scored twice in the last five minutes of the game. And the goals came after a fluky header from PALERMO and a goal-mouth scramble in which Jamaica's keeper tried to catch a butterfly in the area instead of keeping his eyes on the ball. Ignacio CANUTO the scorer.
Of course nobody will speak about how horrible this Jamaican keeper was. The first proof of this came in the very commentary of the game on TyC Sports. "PALERMO is the kind of natural born goalscorer that we don't have elsewhere in Argentina!" said one of those dinosaurs commentating the game. It doesn't matter if the guy is slow as a stoned turtle. He plays for Boca and his life has been like a movie script (HAS BEEN being the key words). That's enough to cement his place in our once very strong national team.
For the first time in my life I found myself actively rooting for an Argentina defeat. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. Why? Because I want what's best for the national team and what's best right now is to avoid any kind of validation of the mess MARADONA is doing with Argentina.
He was celebrating the goals like they were important. The look in his eye was that of a man who doesn't seem to realize what the situation is really like. A man who doesn't seem to understand that this was a VERY WEAK Jamaican side playing in Argentina and at times dominating the home side (which on a very different note showcased a very nice navy blue away shirt. Possibly the only outstanding thing about this game).
And that's all that MARADONA does during the game. 15 months since he was appointed and I NEVER (NEVER EVER EVER!) saw him or any of the members of his coaching stuff, give the players any kind of tactical direction or orders. He just stands there and says nothing other than: "Vamos, vamos" (come on, come on!).
True managers don't get excited about scoring two goals against this Jamaican side. True managers just think about how the team or some players work. That's what could have matter about this meaningless game. Apparently not to Diego, who is now talking about Fabián MONZON as if he was Ashley COLE and a young Paolo MALDINI put together, when he had NOBODY to mark and enjoyed the kind of liberties he won't enjoy against any decent opposition.
Football is not an exact science (that's one of the beauties of it), but having a (dis)organization like this will most likely complicate or even eliminate any chances we have to progress to the later stages at the World Cup.
It could happen, because I know of a guy who has been struck by lighting SEVEN TIMES in his life and survived.
If you ask me right now, the only chance we've got to win the World Cup in South Africa is if something like THIS was to happen to all the other teams in the tournament.
We are now officially doomed when it comes to knowing that Martín PALERMO is practically a certainty in the World Cup squad as the arm-band and the many hugs he shares with MARADONA show. "PALERMO is 80% guaranteed in my World Cup squad. He needs to keep his good level at Boca. PALERMO is necessary to me".
The only problem is that we won't be facing a team as weak as this Jamaican side in South Africa.
Right now, I can't take these thoughts off my head. I close my eyes and all I see MARADONA coming straight at me and forcing me to eat all my vegetables under threat of punishing me with more horrible images like those I've watched tonight.
He's coming to beat me and I'm too small to fight back...
I'm starting to think that Diego likes to do exactly the opposite to what the people want. Or certainly to what some members of the media are asking.
The main source of criticism for Diego's tenure as a manager is the outrageous number of players he seems to be calling up frantically.
Diego's response to those critics: "I don't care. I will call up 150 players if that's what I want. That's why these matches like this one against Jamaica are so important to me".
Inter Milan produced a convincing 3-0 victory over Cagliari, subsequently moving them 10 points clear at the top of Serie A over city rivals AC Milan.
Already 1-0 up, they made it two in the 20th minute when defender Walter SAMUEL out jumped Cagliari’s Michele CANINI to head the ball in. Two minutes into the second half, the match was pretty wrapped up when Goran PANDEV and Samuel ETO’O linked up well to create a chance for Inter’s man of the moment, Diego MILITO. His low right footed shot from 10 yards took his tally to 14 goals.
In another Serie A match; Catania claimed a crucial away win over Lazio thanks to new signing Maxi LOPEZ. Remember that we did actually talked a little about a possible transfer involving him in our last pod cast.
Lucas BARRIOS continues his good form in the German’s Bundeliga when he scored for Dortmund in their 2-3 defeat against Frankfurt. In the French league, Gonzalo BERGESSIO was on target for St Etienne in their 3-0 win over Monaco. While Lucho GONZALEZ also had a goal in Marseille’s 5-1 hammering over Valenciennes.
Tomas COSTA scored for FC Porto in their 3-0 win over Naval 1° Maio in the Portuguese League. Lastly in the Greek Super League, Sebastian CARRERA scored twice for Asteras Tripoli but his team went down 3-4 to Ergotelis.
From what we can say about all three La Liga fixture’s on Saturday was that there was an Albilceleste goal scorer in every matchers.
First up was Valencia playing at home against struggling Real Valladolid. The home side won the game 2-0 with Ever BANEGA scoring the first goal with a fierce drive which gave Valladolid goalkeeper Justo VILLAR no chance as it flew into the top corner.
Next up was Barcelona playing at home against Getafe which they won 2-1 despite finishing the game with nine men. With captain Carles PUYOL missing through suspension, Gabriel MILITO made his first start since returning from injury. It was Lionel MESSI who opened the score for Barca, lashing an unstoppable drive past Jordi CODINA in the seventh minute.
With Barcelona winning their game, Real Madrid had to keep pace with them at the top of the table. They did just that with a 3-0 win against Espanyol. Gonzalo HIGUAIN, starting from the bench, came in the 72nd minute for Karim BENZEMA. He coolly rounded up Carlos KAMENI and rolled the ball into an empty net.
In other leagues, Ancona defeated Albinoleffe 2-1 with Matias MIRAMONTES scoring the winning the goal for the home side in Serie B. While in the Greek Super League, AEK Athens defeated FC Xanthi 3-1 with two goals from Ismael BLANCO.
Our country began the year of the bicentenary festivities. On 25 May, 2010, Argentina will blow its 200th candle and there are parties being organized in every province to remember those days in 1810 when the first Argentine government (formed by Argentines) was proclaimed.
But this post is not about 'El Bicentenario de la República Argentina'. This is about a man who has lived half of his country's life! The only survivor from the first ever World Cup (Uruguay 1930), Francisco 'Pancho' VARALLO is celebrating his first century today (5 February) and Mundo pays tribute to one truly great Albiceleste icon. VARALLO made the news last year when his record as the top goalscorer in the professional history of Boca Juniors with 181 goals was shattered by Martín PALERMO and today you'll see many references about him in the media around the world (or at least that's my hope). Back when PALERMO was chasing his record, a 99-year old VARALLO joked and said: "I'm thinking of coming out of retirement to score some goals and keep the record!"
We are talking about a man who was there when the first kick of the first FIFA World Cup happened. He played in the first final (though we lost to Uruguay) and he is still alive to tell the story.
VARALLO was born in La Plata and despite having a trial with Estudiantes, he went on to play for their arch-rivals: Gimnasia y Esgrima.
In 1929 he won Gimnasia's only domestic league title to these days. Though most pundits start counting titles since 1931 when football became professional and they don't consider everything that happened in the years leading to professionalism, when players were already being paid though not officially. I DO count the titles from the Amateur Era as it was during that era that clubs earned their fame and admiration whilst they captured the nation's imagination with that new and fascinating sport we call fútbol.
When VARALLO was 20, it was time for him to join the national team and go to Montevideo for the World Cup. Believe it or not, he was there when the mythical Centenario stadium was inaugurated! To put things into perspective, let me tell you that I was there not so long ago and I was overwhelmed by that venue. We are talking about a place that oozes with history. And to think this guy was around when they first kicked a ball around there is really something.
Known for his powerful shot despite not being a very big or strong player, he earned the nickname of 'El Cañoncito' (The Little Cannon). VARALLO was then attracted by the most popular club in Argentina: Boca Juniors. And he played the rest of his career for them, scoring 181 goals in 210 matches.
He won three league titles with Boca Juniors (1931; 1934 and 1935) and then he lifted the South American Championship trophy in 1937 with Argentina (such was the name of the current Copa America).
In 1994, FIFA gave him the Order of Merit, the highest award given by football's governing body to individuals.
He is the only Argentine footballer ever to receive such an honour (although *spit* Julio GRONDONA *spit* is listed with the Order of Merit in the category: 'Football Officials' alongside legends like Jules RIMET and Santiago BERNABEU, believe it or not. But I don't want to spoil this post on VARALLO talking about the mafioso dinosaur that has ruined Argentine football and will continue to do so. But after all, we are talking about FIFA. They do one thing right for every 1500 things they do wrong!).
Back to what brings us here today. Here's my message to 'El Cañoncito':
Dear Francisco VARALLO:
Mundo Albiceleste salutes you and wishes you all the best in your birthday. You are a true legend!
Here's the comments' box with a lot of love from Argentina fans around the World!
MARADONA named four Estudiantes de La Plata players yesterday and 40 minutes later he had to change those names and call up four different footballers.
A day after he announced the list, he realized Juan Pablo PEREYRA (Atlético Tucumán) was injured and so he decided to call up Claudio BIELER.
BIELER becomes the fourth Racing Club player on this list of 18 (he joins Gabriel MERCADO, Lucas LICHT and Gabriel HAUCHE) and more importantly, he becomes the 102th player that MARADONA called up since he took over as Argentina manager in October, 2008.
What kind of a player is BIELER? A very good one! A strong striker with great off-the-ball movement and a knack for scoring. He won the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana with Liga de Quito of Ecuador.
I know a lot of you still believe we can win the World Cup and I respect that opinion/belief. Even more so, I wish I could share that and feel the same.
With the countdown clock to South Africa 2010 ticking at 126 days, 19 hours and 47 minutes as I write this, MARADONA just reached a milestone and has called-up more than 100 players for the national team.
I wish that was the only bad news I had to share with you, but there's more. Believe me. Keep writing...
For the friendly against Jamaica (10 February in Mar del Plata, Argentina), Diego announced a list today that included four players from Estudiantes de La Plata (Clemente RODRIGUEZ, Enzo PEREZ, José SOSA and Mauro BOSELLI -no VERON who has already been pointed by MARADONA as one of the three players with a spot in the World Cup squad guaranteed (the other two being Lionel MESSI and Javier MASCHERANO)-), but then, AFTER he submitted the list and made it public, he realized Estudiantes have to play for the Copa Libertadores around the same date Argentina will face Jamaica so he had to delete those four names from the list.
A few minutes later, he came up with the replacements and now we know the 18 players that will be available for the friendly against the Reggae Boys.
With players from Newell's (SCHIAVI, for example), Velez (Maxi MORALEZ? OTAMENDI, DOMINGUEZ, CUBERO?), Colón (Diego POZO, Esteban FUERTES), Banfield (ERVITI) and Lanús (Sebastián BLANCO) also in action for their clubs in the Libertadores and not available, MARADONA choose the following footballers from our local league:
Goalkeepers: Nelson IBAÑEZ (Godoy Cruz) Cristian CAMPESTRINI (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Juan MERCIER (Argentinos Juniors) Jesús MÉNDEZ (Boca Juniors) Walter ACEVEDO (Independiente)* Patricio TORANZO (Huracán)* Federico INSUA (Boca Juniors)
Forwards: Martín PALERMO (Boca Juniors) Nicolás GAITÁN (Boca Juniors) Gabriel HAUCHE (Racing Club) Juan Pablo PEREYRA (Atlético Tucumán)* Franco JARA (Arsenal)
* = First call up.
With the seven new 'international' players on this list, the tally now goes up to 101 in a little more than one year.
But do you want to hear something even 'funnier' ('pathetic' would be the most appropriate word): Juan Pablo PEREYRA (no disrespect to him but this if the first time I hear his name and I'd like to believe I'm a keen football fan) from Atlético Tucumán IS CURRENTLY INJURED! He's got a broken nose and he is expected to be back in action for his club on 14 February (four days after Argentina v. Jamaica).
Not to mention that one of the players MARADONA used for the friendly against Costa Rica (Carlos MATHEU of Independiente) suffered a serious knee injury after only two minutes into that game and you can imagine Américo GALLEGO, Independiente manager, not being in a very good mood after that. Think about this now: only a week after that episode, Diego strikes back and calls up two (key) Independiente players that, if nothing else, will risk having an injury in another meaningless game, considering that both have very slim chances of making it into the World Cup squad.
This is an absolute nightmare. To know that this man will be in charge of leading a vastly talented generation of Argentine players into a very demanding World Cup just makes me sad and I already feel disappointed.
I do believe luck is important in every big tournament, but every day that goes by it seems we are going to rely on luck more than all the other teams that are going through a proper preparation.
Something that ought to make Seba extremely happy, Diego MILITO scores again! MILITO scored the only goal in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final to give Inter a 1-0 victory over Fiorentina. Javier ZANETTI, Esteban CAMBIASSO and Diego MILITO all started the match.
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