Argentina Profile

[puntu]

ARGENTINA

COACH
José PEKERMAN
Favors a slow, ball possession style of game. Is used to making lineup and tactic changes between games in short tournaments.

Favorite tactics:
1) 3-4-1-2
2) 4-3-1-2
3) 3-3-2-2

PROBABLE LINEUP: Abbondanzieri; Coloccini, Ayala, Heinze; Zanetti, Mascherano, Cambiasso, Sorín; Riquelme; Tévez, Crespo


GOALKEEPERS

Roberto ABBONDANZIERI
Boca Juniors
Very experienced. Has been playing at a high level for his club for the last few years. However, he has been terrible in the national squad. Seems nervous when playing for Argentina. Pretty good at saving penalty shots.
Chances of making final roster: 100%
Chances of starting: 90%

Germán LUX
River Plate
Young. Barely a year as starter in the league. Won the Olympics without conceding a goal. Very athletic.
Chances of making final roster: 85%
Chances of starting: 5%

Leo FRANCO
Atlético Madrid
Nothing special.
Chances of making final roster: 75%
Chances of starting: 5%


DEFENSE

Javier ZANETTI
Inter - Right back, Right midfielder
Amazing ball control from box to box but finishes every play the wrong way. Can't defend.

Fabricio COLOCCINI
Dep. La Coruña - Central defender, Right back, defensive midfielder
Tall. Very good defender. Makes good headers. Makes too many fouls.
Chances of making final roster: 100%
Chances of starting: 50%

Roberto AYALA
Valencia - Sweeper, central defender
Overrated. Great air game. Has lots of problems when left one on one with opponents.
Chances of making final roster: 100%
Chances of starting: 100%

Gabriel HEINZE
Manchester Utd - Central defender, left back
Suffered a serious injury and could miss the World Cup. If he's healthy, he'll start. Awesome defender. Great heart and guts. Can take free kicks.
Chances of making final roster: 60% (100% if healthy)
Chances of starting: 40% (100% if healthy)

Walter SAMUEL
Inter - Central defender
A few years ago might have been the best central defender in the world. The move to Real Madrid doomed him but now he seems to be recovering his previous level. Big, strong, tough, aggressive. Has good air game.
Chances of making final roster: 90%
Chances of starting: 30%

Gabriel MILITO
Zaragoza - Central defender, sweeper
Solid defender, always in good position. Right now might be better than Ayala.
Chances of making final roster: 75%
Chances of starting: 5%

Juan Pablo SORÍN
Villarreal - Left back, left midfielder
Great technique. Heart and guts. Effort. Gets to the opponents' box in almost every attack. He moves up through the wing but usually cuts toward the box, which sometimes makes him more dangerous than Roberto Carlos or Cafu. Very chaotic, though, should calm down a bit. Team captain.
Chances of making final roster: 100%
Chances of starting: 100%


MIDFIELD

Luis GONZÁLEZ
Porto - Right midfielder
Lost of talent. No heart. Tall. Finness style. Scores pretty often.
Chances of making final roster: 70%
Chances of starting: 40%

Maxi RODRÍGUEZ
Atlético Madrid - Right midfielder
Great pace. Good long shots.
Chances of making roster: 50%
Chances of starting: 10%

Mario SANTANA
Palermo - Right midfielder
Strange blend of effort, defense and technique.
Chances of making roster: 50%
Chances of starting: 10%

Javier MASCHERANO
Corinthians - Defensive midfielder
Great at recovering the ball and good technique to handle it. Is recovering from a serious injury.
Chances of making roster: 100%
Chances of starting: 90%

Esteban CAMBIASSO
Inter - Defensive midfielder
Mainly an offensive midfielder that starts from behind. Can't play all alone in the midfield. Needs to share the area with a defensive player like Mascherano.
Scores often. Has good technique and vision.
Chances of making roster: 100%
Chances of starting: 95%

Sebastián BATTAGLIA
Boca Juniors - Defensive midfielder, right midfielder
Similar to Mascherano with less technique but better air game. Good long shots. Very experienced.
Chances of making roster: 50%
Chances of starting: 5%

Lucas BERNARDI
Monaco - Defensive midfielder
Very short. Doesn't do anything specially well.
Chances of making roster: 30%
Chances of starting: 0%

Martín DEMICHELIS
Bayern Munich - Defensive midfielder, central defender
Big, strong. Honestly, I haven't seen him enough.
Chances of making roster: 20%
Chances of starting: 0%

Cristian GONZÁLEZ
Inter - Left midfielder
Quick. Great pace. Passionate. Always gets in trouble with referees. Mainly an offensive option. Experienced.
Chances of making roster: 75%
Chances of starting: 15%

Daniel BILOS
Boca Juniors - Left midfielder, striker
Absolutely amazing player. Incredibly talented. Very, very tall. Awesome air game. Scores a lot. Croatia's coach wanted him to play for them.
Chances of making roster: 20%
Chances of starting: 0%

Juan Román RIQUELME
Villarreal - Attacking midfielder
World class talent. Probably the best assister in the world. Amazing at taking free kicks. Kicks penalties. Slow. Sometimes disappears from the pitch.
Chances of making roster: 100%
Chances of starting: 100%

Pablo AIMAR
Valencia - Attacking midfielder
Talented. Very brittle. He's always injured. Doesn't deliver in the national squad. Good at dribbling.
Chances of making roster: 65%
Chances of starting: 10%

Lionel MESSI
Barcelona - Attacking midfielder, forward
Very, very young and small. Huge talent. Won Youth World Cup. Can drive you crazy. Makes great assists.
Chances of making roster: 80%
Chances of starting: 20%

Andrés D'ALESSANDRO
Wolfsburg - Attacking midfielder
A few years ago he was the big hope, like Messi now. He has faded since moving to Germany. Very talented. Small. Can take free kicks.
Chances of making roster: 40%
Chances of starting: 5%

Sergio AGÜERO
Independiente - Attacking midfielder
The newest star. Very young. Similar to Messi but covers the ball much better. Scores a lot.
Chances of making roster: 15%
Chances of starting: 0%

Juan Sebastián VERÓN
Inter - Attacking midfielder, defensive midfielder, left midfielder, right midfielder
Almost every pundit wants him in the national squad but Pekerman won't call him. Talented, finnesse player. Slow. Lacks heart. The symbol of the 2002 failure.
Chances of making roster: 1%
Chances of starting: 0%


ATTACK

Hernán CRESPO
Chelsea - Striker
Great scorer. Big, strong. Good air game. All he does is score goals. Experienced.
Chances of making roster: 100%
Chances of starting: 100%

Carlos TÉVEZ
Corinthians - Forward, striker
Awesome talent. Strong. Named best player in Brazilian tournament. Great scorer.
Chances of making roster: 90%
Chances of starting: 40%

Javier SAVIOLA
Seville - Forward, striker
Overrated by Pekerman. Very small. Quick, elusive. Can dribble. Not much of a scorer.
Chances of making roster: 100%
Chances of starting: 40%

Luciano FIGUEROA
Villarreal - Striker
Good scorer but nothing special. Good air game.
Chances of making roster: 40%
Chances of starting: 0%

Julio CRUZ
Inter - Striker
A stiff. Has some good scoring streaks that defy logic.
Chances of making roster: 20%
Chances of starting: 0%

Cesar DELGADO
Cruz Azul - Forward
Very quick, usually plays on the right wing. Makes great crosses. Scores often too. Young.
Chances of making roster: 25%
Chances of starting: 5%

Luciano GALLETTI
Atlético Madrid - Forward
Small, stocky. Nothing special. He shouldn't be in the national squad.
Chance of making roster: 20%
Chances of starting: 0%

[puntu]

Hopefully, I didn't forget any players. It'd be great if we could have something like this done for every world cup squad.

[CONMEARG]

brilliant idea but i think figueroa is a special talent as lisandro lopez,
lucho is great too,also i think well be seeing much of aguero and messi in the WC,
also Maradona as a new member of argentina's body as u can say...
he said that he is gonna get pekerman to giv messi the number 10 as he was in the 82' world cup in spain.

[Xeneize12]

I agree with almost everything you posted, with a few exceptions.

Zanetti - I can't believe you say he can't defend. While I do so he has a lot of problems in the air - look at the last England game. I do believe he is good at defending players that are on the ball.

Ayala - I don't think he is overrated at all. I think he is the libero for this team.

Crespo- He's such a mixed bag for me. While I recognize his talent (Milan - last season, River before) I just don't see him playing well with the rest of the team. He's often not part of the concert play. He has had some good games with the NT, however...and did score 2 goals against Brazil. Also, there is no other "tank" style player for that role (aside from Cruz - but I agree 100% with you analysis there).

Samuel - your analysis is spot on. I think he'll be fine by the WC.

Heinze & Mascherano - I am so concerned these players will not be fit by WC time. I think these two players make such an impact on the team, just by way of the guts (huevos) that they put down when they play. With the rise of Milito and return of Samuel, I don't worry too much about the left defense. Also, Battaglia seems to be doing a good job as central DM (though Mascherano at his prime was better).

Diego Placente - I think old faithful has a good chance of making the squad - though he didn;t impress when I saw him play with NT - in his last appearance. He usually doesn't make many mistakes and can play LB or LCB or even a LM position.

[leonidas]

I think Tevez is a definite starter. No doubt in my mind. Saviola isnt even playing that well for Sevilla at the moment.

It kind of frustrates me sometimes because I feel that Argentine and Brazilian coaches tend to be a bit prejudiced towards their home-based players, or those at least playing in South America...or in the middle of nowhere like in Russia or Turkey.

Tevez had one of the best seasons in recent memory in Brazil and I think he's better than Crespo. Even Crespo isnt having an amazing season.

Mascherano only starts if he recovers from his injury. I'm not so sure now, especially since the Brazilian league only re-starts in like February with the Paulista championship...and that in general, is a pretty lame competition in my opinion.

And Messi. I'm not even sure he will come close to starting...although a lot could change in the next few months. This all depends on whether he starts regularly for Barcelona. A club substitute player has no business starting for Argentina. With that being said, I think you can expect to see Messi play a Michael Owen role like in 98. An energizing substitute who can maybe score 2 or 3 goals off the bench.

[Autogolazo]

You guys need an experienced back-up keeper.

I'm not always a big fan of Pato, either, but if he goes down....

I think the world needs to see the balding mullet of Navarro Montoya on display in Germany. On the bench, at least. I know his skills have diminished with age, but he wouldn't be afraid or intimidated, at least. Seems like a good stabilizing influence for the group, especially with so many youngsters on the team.

The guys on Fox Sports were talking about El Mono for Germany just the other day.

[spencercs]

It'd be great if we could have something like this done for every world cup squad.

Ive made an england profle, check it out.

[argentine soccer fan]

Nice work. It would be have been difficult not to leave out any legitimate candidate to make the list, and you almost pulled it off.

But I expect that Gonzalo Rodriguez (Villareal) will be one of our defenders, and possibly even a starter in Germany instead of Coloccini. In my opinion, he should be, and especially if they go with a three man back line. Milito also would be a better alternative to Coloccini as a starter.

Obviously there are others I'd like to see considered, (Solari, Palacio) and I'm sure other fans have their favorites who are not there, but as far as players Pekerman seems to have in mind, I think that was your only omission. You did include some who probably have no chance, though. (Veron and Bernardi for example, although for different reasons.)

Your projected starting lineup seems rather conservative for the taste of most Argentine fans, but it would definitely seem capable of controlling the midfield against most opposition. Really it is hard at this point to read Pekerman as to which formation he will use.

[puntu]

You're right, I should add Rodríguez and Placente. Unfortunately, I don't know why I can't edit the original post.

[argentine soccer fan]

You're right, I should add Rodríguez and Placente. Unfortunately, I don't know why I can't edit the original post.


They only allow you a limited time to edit your posts on these boards.

[dooodoool]

is messi in the starting lineup for argentina nowadays??

!barcafan!

[argentine soccer fan]

is messi in the starting lineup for argentina nowadays??

!barcafan!

My guess is, he'll be coming off the bench. But if Barca gives him playing time, and he plays well, he may just earn a starting spot. He certainly has the talent.

[cordobesenUS]

I think Messi definitely needs to be a starting player. He adds speed to the game, like Rooney does in England. Age to me is not that important, experience didn't seem to help Ayala at all these years and just look at the fiasco in 2002. Zanetti is a shadow of his former self, definitely not the same speed as when he was younger. We need players that fight , that believe, guys like tevez and Messi who get up and keep fighting and feel the shirt, that risk it all without thinking about the millions of dollars they are going to loose if injury appears.Oldes players, closer to retirement think about where and what they are going to do so they play afraid because they can get injured easier than young guys..

[Xeneize12]

That's funny, I'd think quite the opposite - An older player has made his money - he's got nothing to lose. While younger players have their entire career to think about. Let's stop this nonsense about players not feeling the shirt or playing with guts. Every player to dress the albiceleste will give his all to play (certainly some stand out more than other - El Cholo Simeone, for example).

[jbgeach]

I think Messi definitely needs to be a starting player. He adds speed to the game, like Rooney does in England. Age to me is not that important, experience didn't seem to help Ayala at all these years and just look at the fiasco in 2002. Zanetti is a shadow of his former self, definitely not the same speed as when he was younger. We need players that fight , that believe, guys like tevez and Messi who get up and keep fighting and feel the shirt, that risk it all without thinking about the millions of dollars they are going to loose if injury appears.Oldes players, closer to retirement think about where and what they are going to do so they play afraid because they can get injured easier than young guys..
Ayala was hurt in 2002 and didn't play. He is the cornerstone of the Defense, with Heize out, he will be the key for Argentina

[Futballer]

I think Messi really needs to play!
I have never seen him play for the NT, but whenever he plays for Barca he causes alot of problems for the other team's defence, and opens things up.

[megamac20817]

The thing about Argentina is that I can really see what Pekerman is trying to do. I may not like his style sometimes, but Pekerman is doing something Bielsa never did: he's sending a team with BALANCE. In 2002, our team relied on the oldies, more precisely a Batistuta who was well past it, and a Veron who was more worried about his own damn career than Argentina. Pekerman on the other hand is sending in our vital and experienced players (Zanetti, Ayala, Sorin, Crespo, Pato, and to a lesser extent Riquelme (Not getting on in age as the others)), along with our young and VERY good players (Tevez, Messi, Mascherano, Gonzalo). This is something that all the countries do, and did in 2002, yet Bielsa missed it.

[Moishe]

I don't like Crespo as a starter. I'd prefer seeing Tevez and Messi being fed balls by Riquelme all day long. Thats the ticket right there. Crespo is a stiff, more of a aireal target guy and imho only worth anything at set pieces. Tevez/Riquelme/Messi........thats a scary attack. Messi has played well for Barca so far. Think about it?

[megamac20817]

A Tevez/Messi/Riquelme combo is about as scary as it can get for Argentina, but it won't happen. Not that they're not good players, they are, but Messi and Tevez are too similiar, the supposed reason Crespo and Batigol never played together. I also don't think Messi is ready to start for Argentina, but I can see it, the last 15 minutes of the game, take off Crespo and have that triangle, and have Messi's speed and skill run circles around the opposition

[cordobesenUS]

Did you guys see that kid palacios? he is the best player for Boca right now, scores, centers, runs, challenges everything, Ibarra also runs his butt off up and down the field non stop. Crespo,. all he does is basically fish, and put himself strategically around defenders but doesn't participate in the game at all, he is just a target.