NBA News - Magical Manu Fires 27 For Spurs

Houston Rockets 100 Dallas Mavericks 94

The Rockets must have felt about their chances to turns thing around in the Texas derby.

First is of course is the return of Tracy McGRADY from injury and the second has to be Luis SCOLA back to back 20 points performance from the two previous game.

In the end, good old Rick has decided to his usual game plan on which SCOLA was given limited time play as result he posted no point except for 2 rebounds.

When would they ever learn? This is the Rockets third straight defeat.

Charlotte Bobcats 111 Washington Wizards 114

Not exciting night for another Tall Albiceleste. Walter HERRMANN was only in action for less then 13 minutes but still contributed 6 points, 2 rebounds & a assist.

Memphis Grizzlies 89 Toronto Raptors 95

The Raptors ended their two game losing streaks with a win over Pau GASOL’s Grizzlies.

Carlos DELFINO continues to improve his game since he made the move to Toronto as he receives more time play and gets more opportunity than he was in Detroit.

Coming from the bench, he finished off the game with 13 points, 4 rebounds & 1 assist.

San Antonio Spurs 128 Orlando Magic 110

The good news in the NBA never stops there, as it was another fantastic performance from Manu GINOBILI.

Coming from the bench, he had plenty to cheer about. MANU has already been touted as the leading candidate to win this season 6th Man Award.
Once again he could do no wrong in strengthening that statement as he posted 27 points plus 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

OBERTO too had a pretty god night for himself as posted 6 points, 8 rebounds plus 3 assists.

Messi's latest gem

Colombia 2-1 Argentina (0-1 Messi)
Video sent by MoreGoals

Despite losing the match, we've got a new gem to look at. What a goal from Lionel!

So long perfect record

We've lost. That's the quick analysis. The undeniable fact.

Behind that defeat there were many stories. Many moments that have changed and conditioned the match. The first that comes to my mind is TEVEZ seeing the red card with only 25 minutes gone.

He showed his usual movement and he had a couple of efforts before making that rookie mistake (one stopped by the keeper, the other one went wide).

But before we had time to suffer that impact, RIQUELME played a quick ball to MESSI and Lionel did the rest. Four players in the way and a shot to the far post to put Argentina 1-0 up in Bogota.

It could have been two in the final minutes with a couple of moves from IBARRA and then RIQUELME but none of them were able to take a shot.

I was surprised to see Argentina coming back to play the second half without making substitutions. The plan was to hold on to the 1-0 result and it started working.

GAGO sent a beautiful long pass to MESSI who got to the box with only one defender and the keeper to beat. He started moving to the left, trying to get a good angle and when he took the shot, I thought it was in. That near miss could have changed the game. But it didn't.

Soon after that, DEMICHELIS had no option but to foul Wason "What kind of name is that?" RENTERIA after RIQUELME was fouled but the referee ignored it.

Ruben Dario BUSTOS, a free-kick specialist, gave us a taste of our own medicine and had no problems to curled the ball over the wall and out of the reach of Pato ABBONDANZIERI. 1-1 and the home crowd started singing again.

Only after Colombia equalised, Coco pointed to the bench and called Maxi to take CAMBIASSO's place. That didn't change a whole lot. We were harmless up-front because when MESSI received the ball, he was always on his own and he was sometimes stopped with fouls. He needed someone to join him and make his life easier. Roman did OK, but both of them needed support from the moment TEVEZ saw the red card.

The worst came near the end. MORENO ran from a very dubious position and after a combination with RENTERIA he put Colombia 2-1 up.

Seven minutes to go and yet no substitutions made by Coco. I was hoping CRESPO could come in and replace IBARRA (for example), so we could have a shot at scoring an equalizer.

It wasn't to be. Ironically, in my opinion, this was our best performance in the World Cup Qualifiers so far. We will shake this off and build for the future.

Argentina looking to get fourth straight win

I'm writing this with less than three hours to kick-off in Bogota and I still have no idea on how will our starting lineup look like.

The weather could change a little bit, but right now, a heavy rain is falling on Bogota and despite the pitch being covered with plastic protection, we could be facing the prospect of playing on a really wet surface.

The important thing is that Argentina will be looking to close 2007 in style. A year in which we played tremendously well sometimes, yet we fell short when we had to jump our highest hurdle: Brazil in the Copa America final.

Because after tonight's match in Colombia, there will be no more official fixtures in the remainder of the year and the next World Cup Qualifying match will be in mid-june 2008, when we'll host Ecuador, three days before travelling to Brazil.

Now I think a win tonight is crucial. The best thing that could happen to Argentina is to get to Brazil with a good cushion and put the pressure on them.

Honestly, I don't think Brazil or Argentina will ever be under pressure playing the Qualifiers with this format (home and away fixtures against every rival in South America). There is no way these two giants could ever be placed under the fourth place in the standings. And if they do, they still have a shot by finishing fifth and facing a play-off with a team from CONCACAF.

It's always a good thing to be on top of your rivals in ANY standings, but we are a long way from that match against Brazil and we need to focus on today's game in Bogota.

Who will start?

From what I've seen in the first couple of fixtures (Chile at home and Venezuela away) Coco didn't use the same starting XI. One obvious reason is that he doesn't want to burn them out.

So I expect some changes tonight.

Pato will be the keeper and the back line could remain unchanged: IBARRA-DEMICHELIS-Gabriel MILITO-ZANETTI.

MASCHERANO, RIQUELME and MESSI are guaranteed but there is no way we will use the three-strikers formation that we used against Bolivia. AGÜERO looks to be the one that's going to be replaced, with Maxi RODRIGUEZ being the favourite to take his place in the starting lineup.

CAMBIASSO and CRESPO were doubts with injuries, but they both responded well in training and Cuchu looks on his way to play from the start. If he is not ready, then Fernando GAGO will take his place.

The other doubt lies on who will join MESSI upfront. TEVEZ and CRESPO will fight for that position.

Not long till we find the answers to all these questions.

But who's your pick as striker?

Are you happy with the rest of the team so far?

Any forecast on what will be the score? Remember...both teams are still to allow a goal in the World Cup Qualifiers...hope we don't share that priviledge with nobody after tonight!

VAMOS ARGENTINA!

Some News Round Up

Golf – 2007 Mission Hills World Cup

Also known as the 2007 World Cup of Golf, which will take place at the Mission Hills Golf Club in China from the 22nd –25th of November.

For the record, Argentina has not won the World Cup of Golf since winning the inaugural tournament held in Canada in 1953, when the legendary Roberto DE VICENZO teamed up with Antonio CERDA.

In last year’s tourney held in Barbados, Angel CABRERA together with Andres ROMERO finished off the competition tied in 5th place after a strong start in the first two day of the competition.

Much to my surprise for this year campaign is that CABRERA; this years US Open winner is not in the team to partner with ROMERO, who finished third in the British Open this year. Instead ROMERO will partner with Ricardo GONZALEZ, who has played with PATO on three previous occasions (1996,1998 & 2005).

PATO withdrawal must have left a huge gap in the team as both he and ROMERO were having a fantastic year. Furthermore some big name such as Colin MONTGOMERIE (Scotland), Retief GOOSEN & Trevor IMMELMAN (both South Africa), Miguel Angel JIMENEZ (Spain) and other whom will be lining up for their respective nations.

Nevertheless, let’s hope that both ROMERO and GONZALEZ will rise to the occasions and end Argentina’s 54 years of waiting for another glory at the World Cup. Good luck to both of them.

Volleyball – 2007 FIVB Men’s World Cup

The volleyball’s world Cup, held in Japan, will also serve as a qualification for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, with the top 3 three getting direct entry to the games.

Argentina’s campaign suffered a defeat on the opening day (18t of November) against Russia, going down 0-3 (16-25, 22-25 & 17-25). However the team recovered to defeat Tunisia 3-1 (25-19, 25-21, 23-25 & 25-23).

Later on today, they will take on South Korea.

Classy Roman leads Argentina to third win in a row

We knew we had great chances of winning it before it even started. How big a result we could get was the big question. Granted it was 3-0. But I also like to have in consideration how we played as a team and how we got that result. And I'm not that happy about the way we played.

The first thing I'd like to say is that you have to consider Argentina didn't try all that hard for the full 90 minutes because they knew they have a long trip to Bogota to face Colombia on Tuesday. Same as the first match against Chile, the Albicelestes got a 2-goal cushion and the last half-an-hour was a surplus. Totally unnecessary because nothing important was really going to happen.

Coco knew Bolivia was not going to give his team a real battle in midfield and so he choose to field just two men that had the ball recovery as their main task (MASCHERANO and CAMBIASSO).

MESSI was deployed on the right (just as he does for Barcelona) and for much that I wanted him to, he couldn't quite shine in Buenos Aires (something he has declared he is desperate to do). It's very evident that he is putting some extra pressure on his shoulders because he tries to do too much everytime he is on the ball. The pitch was horrible. A massive Argentine rock/pop band (Soda Stereo) made its comeback after a decade or so and they played 6 concerts at River leaving tragical consecuences to the grass. That didn't help Lionel, a player that always keep the ball on the surface and depends on a good soil to really step up his game. Not a 100% valid excuse to explain his performance. That run before Argentina's third goal was a classic though.

Defensively, we were not really tested. These are tricky games, however, as the opposition may only get to scoring position once or twice in the whole match and you can never rule surprises out. Are back like is yet to be really pushed to the limit, but so far, so good: 3 matches, no goals allowed. It can't be a bad sign.

MASCHERANO and CAMBIASSO (here's hoping his ankle injury is not that bad. He is doubtful for the match in Colombia) played well in midfield. I could say the same I said when talking about the defence. I guess that when they go unnoticed it means we really controlled the match and that was what happened.

I didn't really like the way the team played upfront. The combination of the "midgets' army" is not something that we'll see everyday, and if that was going to be the case, then they really need to work in a lot of aspects.

I don't think they link up well very naturally. A couple of arguments between TEVEZ and MESSI were proof to that and I've seen AGÜERO fighting for a ball all by himself way too often. The reason is that the three of them play a similar type of game and seeing them trying to cross the ball in more than one ocassion to feed one of the other two was an indication that something was wrong. How will you try and cross the ball for one of them to head it in the box? They are midgets! They should play with the ball at their feet, dribbling opponents, playing one-twos.

Unhappy at Villarreal where he is not playing, RIQUELME really thrives in Albiceleste. BASILE really put himself under a lot of pressure when he decided to call up an inactive player (the only one in his team without regular first team football) and Roman is really paying dividends to the boss. Two goals in each qualifying match played in Buenos Aires. Three from free-kicks. Top-scorer in the South American World Cup Qualifiers. And the real owner of the ball. He is like a corrupt customs officer: Everything goes through him! Good to know he is delivering the goods for Argentina and here's hoping he keeps on smiling when he plays for us.

A couple of milestones

Javier ZANETTI, who played left-back, became the all-time leader in matches played for Argentina. He was tied with former captain Roberto Fabián AYALA but now Pupi owns the record all for himself. You have to feel good for him as he is an example of professionalism, dedication and durability. Not losing a single drop of talent in the process. Congratulations to him for playing his 116th match for Argentina.

A special day for Sergio Kun AGÜERO as he scored his first ever international goal (of course we are not considering the U20 national team). He had an easy header after DEMICHELIS sent the ball his way before the end of first half.

Up next is Colombia away. A win there will mean we head to a very easy qualification to South Africa 2010. It's not very easy to most of the teams in our group to get 12 points in a blink of an eye. I would love to see Argentina opening a huge gap at the top of the table so we can use the second half of the qualifying round as a fine-tune period, playing without pressures and trying to develop a solid style to bring it to the next World Cup.

Argentina 3-0 Bolivia (3-0 Riquelme)

Argentina 3-0 Bolivia (3-0 Riquelme)
Video sent by MoreGoals

http://www.golestv.com

Argentina 3-0 Bolivia (2-0 Riquelme)

Argentina 3-0 Bolivia (2-0 Riquelme)
Video sent by MoreGoals

http://www.golestv.com

Argentina 3-0 Bolivia (1-0 Aguero)

Argentina 3-0 Bolivia (1-0 Aguero)
Video sent by MoreGoals

http://www.golestv.com

All set for Argentina - Bolivia

Ladies and gentlemen...hello again!

Did you miss me? I did miss you and this blog, but I decided to get away for a while. I needed some rest after working and relocating a number of times in the last few months.

I've been reading and I have to congratulate John one more time because he did a great job and I enjoyed his articles and updates.

Today we won't be at the stadium with Johnny (like we did against Chile -I still owe you the pictures from that day-) , but I'll be watching and following the match here with those of you with a computer handy.

Argentina look set to field their "army of midgets" today as Juan Roman RIQUELME will be the play-maker sitting behind an unprecedent striking force formed by Carlos TEVEZ, Lionel MESSI and Sergio AGÜERO.

Hernán CRESPO was called up again, but a slight injury will keep him out of today's match. However, those who love Hernán, might see him back in the starting line-up as soon as this Tuesday, when Argentina travel to Bogotá to face Colombia.

Just as we've seen in the first two matches, Coco made changes in between the game against Chile and the away contest v Venezuela. Maxi RODRIGUEZ later confessed that Coco told him when he called him up for the first two qualifying matches, that he was only going to use him against Chile and preserve him versus Venezuela.

Now I'm thinking Coco might do the same and use AGÜERO and TEVEZ tonight and maybe keep CRESPO fresh to play with two forwards (MESSI will be the other one) ahead of the enganche RIQUELME.

But enough with this futurology. The present is Bolivia and we have to take this game very seriously. Play accordingly to our history and our potential and make it 9 points out of 9 possible.

Here's our very offensive starting lineup for today:

ABBONDANZIERI

IBARRA, DEMICHELIS, Gabriel MILITO, ZANETTI

MASCHERANO, CAMBIASSO

RIQUELME

MESSI, TEVEZ, AGÜERO

National anthems are being played and we are using a new model of shirt. The Monumental is packed and I'm all fired up for this match!

VAMOS ARGENTINA!