ARGENTINA vs. ECUADOR /Buenos Aires / sábado 02.06.2012 / 19.30

Have we played any friendlies since our last qualifier match? I'm getting really bad feeling we are going to get crushed in this game

 

Banguera
Achiller, Erazo, Morante, Ayovi
Noboa , Mendez
Valencia, Suarez
Caicedo, Benitez

 

The official squad list will be out Thursday. It was supposed to be out today according to Rueda, but since we know Chiriboga gives Rueda his selection of players it's gonna be post-poned til Thursday so porky can take his time filling in the list with some Chiquitos.

I'm still uncertain about how Rueda will plan to play in Buenos Aires. 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 (which he hasn't really used in previous Qualifier games). Players like Arroyo, Guagua, and Rojas might not make the cut considering how some of them have been inactive the the last few days (in Rojas case) and weeks (in Arroyo and Guagua's case). And we're only in mid-May. By the time we play the Qualifier matches some players will have been out for a month already with no action which I understand can be risky.

Seeing how Jeff Montero is doing such a great job when it comes to pulling back and defending/recovering the ball in Betis, i'm more inclined now to say that he should start. It's gonna be a tough call between him and Suarez but i think Montero can get the chance. He's grown as a player this season in what i consider important aspects of his game, although his finishing has to improve.

Another thing- i think it's time for Dominguez to start. Banguera has been awesome but he's been injured for a while and has missed out on an important part of the season and Dida has earned his chance to start with all the work he's been putting in for a while.

My guess is we should and probably will play in Buenos Aires as such (w/ a 4-4-2):
Dominguez; Achilier, Campos, Erazo, W.Ayovi; Valencia, Noboa, Castillo, Montero; J. Ayovi, C. Benitez

but it leaves me thinking, where will Reinaldo place his ALL TIME favorite Saritama in this line up? My guess is he will discard Montero and play with no left wing just to play Saritama.

 

I doubt Felipe Caicedo gets the call up now b/c he's been out for 3 games now and has some sort of back injury that he has to treat. So theres Rueda's excuse to not calling him up. Had Felipe been completely healthy at this point, he would have made his return. I think Narciso Mina will get the call up this time. It's either him or Bieler, but that will be the surprise call up for the striker positions. As far as Guerron, that's up in the air along with Renato Ibarra, Fidel Martinez, Joao Rojas. 1 out of these 3 will probably be on the list 2 at max if Rueda uses one of them as a striker.

And btw Michael Arroyo will not be called up. I heard this morning that he has some ankle injury that isn't allowing him to train.

 

The list that will be out Thursday will look something like this. In parenthesis I have who I would like to see on the list:

Dominguez, Banguera, and ???

Achillier, Erazo, Campos, Guagua, W. Ayovi, J.C Paredes, Diego Calderon (Pineida)

Valencia, Ibarra, Montero, Rojas, Castillo, Noboa, Saritama (Gaibor), A. Bolanos (P. Quinones), Mendez

Benitez, J. Ayovi, Mina, Martinez, Suarez

Guagua sneaks into the list because Morante is injured and another Rueda favorite-Cuchara Caicedo- got injured during the weekend. With F. Caicedo out, Mina gets the call up, even tho he was going to be on the list regardless. I think there's a slim chance Mendez can be left out, he hasn't been on his best form so far. In that case, Gaibor may take his place. Rueda might even go with Minda, unfortunately. In place of Alex Bolanos, I would like to see P. Quinonez, but he hasn't gotten a call up in the past and I don't see that happening that now.

 

^^
In place of Mina I wouldn't mind seeing Guerron...I don't see him as a starter because of his defensive woes but as a sub for 15-20 minutes he can turn a game around.

 

This is my line-up

------------------------------------Dominguez-------------------------------------
- J.C Paredes------------------- Achiller ---------------Erazo-----------------Walter
Valencia (Guerron)---------Noboa (Guerron)-------Castillo (Gaibor)----------Montero (Martinez)
-----------------------------------Benitez (Martinez)-----------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------Yoya------------------------------

IMO I would not call up: Guagua (WOW he was HORRIBLE in Mexico). Mendez (He is getting old, he can still play but I would go with a younger team).

If We are down we need to push up. I'd move Guerron on Valencia's side and move Valencia to Naboa's spot. I'd remove Castillo and put in Gaibor. Martinez can come in as a FW or for Montero if he doesn't produce. Also Suarez, Ibarra and/or Rojas as backups. As forwards I have NO idea who else would be good. Caicedo is hurt =( and the rest suck. I was hoping Barcos would be Ecuadorian by now =(. I have no confidence in Yoya after watching him this year. Benitez is OK to me.

Other than that I have no idea who else I would like to call up right now.

 

------------------------------------Dominguez-------------------------------------
- Achiller------------------- Erazo ---------------Campos-----------------Walter
Valencia ---------Noboa ------Castillo ----------Montero
-----------------------------------Benitez -----------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------Yoya(Caicedo , if hes healthy)------------------------------

 

Mendez is just as good/bad (however you believe it to be) as he was a few months ago when we played Peru. I think he shouldn't start but should STILL be on the NT. There's something about leadership that younger players can't bring to the table that he still does. He'll play his heart out for the NT. I'd disregard his performances in Liga lately and call him up if i were Rueda. just sayin. Mendez is Mendez.

And as far as Yoya, he's not a player that shines at club level. I don't see him having an amazing blow out career in a top league seeing how he screwed up in Mexico. But again, don't let that fool you. I have a feeling that he'll come through when needed for the NT, he's just that kind of player. He blends in well and is fit for the way Ecuadorian NT's are used to playing.

 

Alexander Domínguez; Adrián Bone y Máximo Banguera.

Jairo Campos, Frickson Erazo, Gabriel Achilie, Giovanny Espinoza, Walter Ayoví, Diego Calderón, Jorge Guagua y Juan Carlos Paredes

Segundo Castillo, Cristhian Noboa, Pedro Quiñónez, LF Saritama, Oswaldo Minda, Toño Valencia, Jefferson Montero, Édison Méndez y Renato Ibarra

Jaime Ayoví, Cristian Suárez, Cristian Benítez y Joao Rojas.

No Fidel Martinez, Felipao, Guerron, M. Arroyo, Gaibor o MJ Quiñonez. And thank God no Checa o Alex Bolaños.

 

omg i called it! Geovanny Espinoza back on the NT. F******CKK!! slow as freakin sh*t. And even Guagua made it surprisingly. I'm guessing both these moves are due to Eduardo Morante's injury. Great. I hope neither play and won't be required in either game or else we're screwed.

Glad Renato Ibarra made it as well as Pedro Quinonez who surprisingly made it. I hope Rueda said EXACTLY a year ago for Copa America that he doesnt want to call up Pedro Quinonez nor Fernando Hidalgo b/c they accumulate too many yellows throughout the season and it's a risk putting them on the field. If Renato gets any playing time I hope he can play as well as he did back in the U-20 NT. Rueda is making a risky move calling up someone who has never played for the NT in two important Qualifier games. good luck to Ibarra!

Unforunately Rueda continues to think Oswaldo Minda (one of his favorites along with Saritama) is a NT player. That guy is taking up Fernando Gaibors position.

No Felipe Caicedo as predicted due to injury. No Narciso Mina who i thought Rueda was going to call up but THANK GOD he didn't make the cut. And no Fidel Martinez who I think should have made the cut simply b/c we are playing with only 2 strikers. Suarez and Rojas haven't play as strikers in forever. And Fidel has been scoring a good number of goals as a second forward/winger.

Anyways we have ENOUGH material to go and get 4 points just like we did last time.

 

LOL! With that defense I wouldn't be surprised if Argentina wins by A LOT! Messi is going to have a field day with that terrible Ecuadorian defense. Same with Falcao will own that defense like its nothing.

Yoya is wack even on the NT level. He hasn't done anything except beat crappy teams in friendlies. Once he scores against big teams in important matches like Caicedo has then I'll believe in him. From what I saw in Mexico he sucks big time. We are going to need to score a lot and Benitez misses like no one else, and Yoya hasn't IMO played high enough level to have any confidence in him. Valencia hardly scores and Montero isn't known for his scoring either. We needed to call up people who can score because for sure we will be down by a lot in the 1st have of each game. That is why I'm sad that Guerron and Martinez did not get called up because they can both score.

Another problem is that couple of the players have yellow cards if I'm not wrong. Including Benites and Yoya both have yellows I believe. I wouldn't be surprised if Ecuador ends up playing with 10 or 9 men by the end of the Argentina match.

With this line up my prediction of the scores in both games will be.
Argentina 5 - 1 Ecuador
Ecuador 1 - Colombia 3

 

oswaldo minda?? come on.I would like to see Fidel a couple of minutes to see if he can hang with the big boys.I wont fault him for the Libertadores fiasco because everyone sucked, especially the coach.get ready to suffer with la sombra, this guy is slow and makes childish mistakes.people forgot that yoya scored one on Peru last time,so I'l give him another chance, because he and Benitez understand each other better than Caicedo/benitez.mixed feelings with Mendez ,but if the miedfield starts playing scared ,he's one to have to hold the reins..my only concern , as usual ,is the defence.

 

Yoya did not score against Peru. It was Mendez and Benitez.

 

my bad it was the Venezuela game.