Blaugranas on International duty [R]

messi scores his 2nd in the 88th min to win it for argentina(i assume they will win it)

atleast he scored that penalty eh ?
The guy doesnt change his technique no matter what lol.

shoot, guess I'm watching the wrong match, fortunately there'll be clips posted soon by Barca stuff

agreed on the similarities between Messi's first (nice back pass from Kun) and Silva's goal for Spain, both scorers started hard charging runs from somewhat deep, passed it off, got the ball right back and scored

Just a friendly, but I have a feeling this is how the Euros are going to go for Spain. Everybody scoring/contributing except the striker(s).

Robben and Huntelaar both scoring within a minute against England. But could they do it on a cold night in Pamplona?

OK, this is going to take it even further off topic but where I'd really like to see Jose Mou land is coaching the English NT. If he can do something with that group then he deserves his (self-penned? or certainly self-embraced) nickname of the Special One. I know some say he'd only coach Portugual's NT but I don't think they have enough money or limelight for Jose.

what does money have to do with international football(just wondering) ?
Messis goals in GIF form for those seeking them
http://www.abload.de/img/untitled-1p8zrw.gif
http://i.minus.com/ipa50rgIKDqNZ.gif
3rd was a penalty so meh you can guess how it went in lol

Well I am hoping that either or both of Pedro or Villa can return to full health and form soon enough such that at least one if not both is on the squad and ready to score as strikers. Especially if that is not the case then I am sure Llorente gets huge PT in which case he should be good for a couple goals and his presence contributes in other ways to the non-striker goals you referred to. And I think Del Bosque would be foolish to not give Soldado some serious consideration (especially if 2 of Villa, Pedro and Torres are home). Torres on the other hand is better off staying home and seeing a shrink.

Soldado scores 2 for spain in a matter of minutes. Nice!

Money to pay Jose Mourinho's massive salary and that of the top flight staff he'd want of course. Portugal is in deep debt / austerity and it's hard to see them paying his Ego-ness what England could. Not saying it is likely but Jose talks of loving England, returning to England and we all assume he means taking over a huge EPL club with a huge budget (ManC or ManU if Ferguson ever leaves) which is more likely.

Yes, Portugal may have as much or more talent, but to lead England's NT somewhere (and get paid a mint to do it) would feed his ego (and pockets) even more - Sir Jose Mourinho if you will.

oh i see. Interesting, coaching england to any sort of cup victory even confederations cup, would be an achievement for any coach imo.

Cue a hat-trick from the striker!

I said that Soldado guy needed a long look from Del Bosque. He hasn't played for Spain internationally in 5 years (and only a couple appearances with the big squad back in 2007) despite a long and successful stint for Spain from U-15 to U-21.

Just underway Sanchez and Chile playing Ghana - Chile in a 3-5-2 with Sanchez and Suazo up front; in under an hour JDS (and GDS) play Colombia.

Tonight Alexis Sánchez received A LOT of fouls by the ghanaian defenders.

One of these fouls over him was in the box in the 2nd half, and thanks to that penalty we tied 1:1.

I think that Alexis didn't play at his real level tonight, he played in a selfish way, he didn't pass the ball to his teammates often, but at least he helped a lot in the pressing.

Does Matias always take the PKs for Chile? Looks like he and Alexis were teammates at Colo Colo for a short while.

I think so.
And yes, Sánchez and Fernández were teammates at cc during the 2nd half of 2006 (during Clausura 2006 and Sudamericana Cup). Borghi was the coach of cc at that time btw.

Generally, unless you get a special invitation or are hosting, you gotta win a major competition like the Euro to even get into the relatively meaningless Confederations Cup...

A bit off-topic but I wonder if the FA will ever consider competing as the UK like they do in the Olympics, just so they can incorporate the one or two players from Scotland and Wales that could help England win. At the moment, I think only Gareth Bale gets on an all-UK starting XI side as a non-Englishman. Maybe Darren Fletcher before his bowels started acting up.

Sometimes Suazo.

I figure I'd dig up this thread since summer is almost upon us...

Miguel Delany at Soccernet puts it all in perspective for Barça-España players ahead of Euro 2012.

Puyol to have knee surgery on May 12, will miss EURO 2012.

Yup not good. Puyol out. Villa might be out. The defense was already not as good as previous years with Pique being out of sorts but who will partner him now? Ramos? Albiol? Martinez?