I like Saviola and I hope he does well, but I think Tevez should start. If he doesn't start, at least I'd like to see him come off the bench in the second half. My guess is Tevez will be starting by the time we get to the final.
I've got no problem with Saviola, I think he is an excellent player. But Tevez is better, in my opinion, and is a key member of the squad who, alongside Messi, is a player who will be instrumental in Argentina winning the world cup if they do go all the way.
I have no problem with Saviola starting but as many of you i prefer Tevez. but i think when Messi returns back to our starting 11, Tevez will be starting alongside Messi and Crespo.
Hopefully, this will be a meaningless piece of info, but FIFA assigned the refs for the 1st game against Ivory Coast. It is a Belgian trio: Ref: Frank De Bleeckere Linesmen: Peter Hermans & Walter Vromans De Bleeckere speaks French, Dutch, German and English.Hopefully Crespo can communicate with him. He was the ref for the final of the U-17 between Mexico and Brazil ... and in CL last year's Liverpool v Juventus. He also was originally appointed for the Australia v Uruguay play-off, but was changed because he was close to Hiddink. Source - Ole PS: Argentinian Elizondo will ref the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica. .
Question is : are Belgians supporting their Netherlands neighbours or not From experience, I think countries usually hate their neighbours' NT, specially when they are stronger...
hmm interesting, hopefully this is useless as you say VIP, but why would they not have sum1 who speaks spanish? Ivorians will have all the convos they want. Maybe its a good thing our players wont be able to communicate. Btw, Heinze speaks spot on english.
Non spanish speaking ref, eh? Sounds like the controversies of 2006 have begun! and we're only 6 more days away.
The Albiceleste have been honing their tactical nous and technical skills in the last few sessions that José Nestor Pekerman has been overseeing in a closed Herzogenaurach sports stadium. With next Saturday's World Cup debut against Didier Drogba's Ivory Coast looming closer by the minute, the Albiclestes were split into two groups to practise working at close quarters. A potential change to the first eleven was leaked by observers, although the majority of the team was the same that played against Angola, Leonardo Franco was between the sticks and Fabricio Coloccini was in central defense. source : Goal.com as far as i'm aware, colo was in place of masche franco instead of pato? we can but hope however, i think it's too early to read too much into this, i would have thought masche was a certain starter.
IDS, Masche is a certain starter and i am sure Pekerman won't bench him. as far as Franco, Pekerman might use him as a starter and finger crossed for that. and don't worry Colo can never replace either Ayala or Heinze if they are fit.
Don't get me wrong, Pato certainly earned a place on the bench with his performance against Angola...but I really can not see Pekerman making a change like this at the beginning of a World Cup.
I could see Pekerman doing something like this as he can be a tinkering fool. My guess though is that it was more a wake up call for El Pato to get his focus back.
As much as I'd like to see Pato dropped to the subs bench it would be surprise if after playing him in all the pre-world cup matehs he was suddenly to be dropped. However, with Peker you never quite know.
Who's criticizing Pekerman? I did call him a tinkering fool but that is imho the quality that makes him such a fine coach. I myself don't see any reason why Pato wont start on Saturday. Heck for all we know, Colo and Franco were more decoys to get the press talking and other group coaches thinking. I woke up in a conspiracy frame of mind
No worries. To me a coach that can adjust on the fly usually does well in short tourneys. Look at Pekermans youth teams and you'll see he did this all the time and to very good success. Hows the weather in Switzerland, my best mate has been living in Bern for a couple of years and enjoys it. He has a hard time cheering for a team called "Young Boys" though
Yes, that's the one. I have always failed to get interested in the Swiss league, though... I just followed a few matches of Basel at some point, as they had 4-5 Argies playing. Weather is very fresh for the season, but getting warmer day by day...
Cheers BSAS, he said the skiing has been really good this past season. He's actually enjoyed watching Swiss futbol. We just love taking the piss out of a pro sports club with such a cheeky name. We're both filthy pervs also
any word on who will be the starting fowards? im asuming it will be Tevez and Crespo but i could be wrong