While we're at it, when you rewatch this match which I'd expect any true fan to do, watch how Roman moved off the ball and put himself in a position to receive the ball. That's a clinic on showing for the ball. He followed every one of his passes and held the ball when needed and unleased passes when we had chances. The numbers don't lie, his touches controlled the game.
Yeah, seven of the eight goals, but not really directly.. In most of them he didn't give the assist, and obviously did not score.. I guess that if he touches the ball 15 minutes before the goal now, its considered "part of the play"..
I don't really know how to respond to this. Riquelme has played exactly in the manner most Argentines were hoping. I'd give your opinion a bit more leverage if you can find someone other than the upstanding members of this forum to back you up. We can find plenty of praise all over the media and internet for how Riquelme is playing but I wonder how much negative you can find?
Riquelme is one of the most low profile and under-rated players on the planet. Nobody can control the tempo of the game the way he does. Lets end this useless debate because Riquelme is going to be the star of this tournament. P.S: El Cabezon cannot even compare to Riquelme.
No one was comparing Cabezon today to Riquelme today, instead he was comparing Cabezon at River to Riquelme today.
Did people suddenly forget what has Riquelme been doing at Boca or at Villareal for the past 2 seasons ? How about some of his majestic performances in the Confederation Cup and in the qualification ? Sorry but Cabezon has a long way to go to even compare with Riquelme. He is still young so he still migh develop into the player that he once was at River.
Lets just say that Riquelme hasn't had to be the player we are expecting to be not that he doesn't want to be but that he has not had to be.In other words Argentina scored early and had other players make a difference in the game instead of Riquelme. Lets get something straight,all eyes are on Riquelme and I dont mean just us Argentineans I mean the rivals,today Riquelme was suppose to have a man marking him through out the match but since Argentina scored early and was getting to Serbias gol they had to make other plans and thats when Riquelme became more efficient, i'm still waiting for him to show us all his potential that he is capable of.Like I said before if he doesn't bring his A game to this WC then it is time for him to step aside.We needed him to show up in the 2nd half vs Ivory Coast to hold the ball and time of the game and he was no where to be found,fine that was our first game.Its time to pick it up and I have faith he will.(hopefully) Dam it feels ********ing great today.
Forgive me locoxriver, but never mention that name Ortega again.. that guy was complete crap. Aimar and D'Alessandro I can agree with.
Hmm ... I watched the game again tonite, with the confort of the pause and rewind ... Roman has not played to his potential in the WC yet. He had a good game in both matches. Yet, he hasn't been the same as in the near past. Examples like against Brazil for WCQs, Villarreal CL or some of La Liga games. Or the Riquelme of the Intercontinental against Real Madrid. Why? It is simple ... Pekerman has been wise to surround Roman with players that are taking away the load from Roman. Today, Nadj was positioned to follow Roman. When Roman moved around, he pulled Nadj away from the CM role ... and left the space in front of the CDs for the appearance of other players by surprise ... Saviola, Maxi and Cambiasso. With his move without ball, as slow as you might have seen it, he was creating the spaces for the others. And moved the ball around at please. Roman is a genius regulating the rythm of a game. At the same time ... in a game like today, that opened up early on and that was never under risk, he also regulated his own need to run and burn, unnecesarily. There are plenty of games ahead ... and the day you will need Roman to take the load of the game as he has shown EVERYONE he is capable of doing, don't even doubt he will. Perhaps what those who are not happy with Riquelme should remember is that as in everything in life, simple = intelligence ... in football, you want to have the ball with you, having the ball moving. The ball is faster than any player. And knowing how and when, and having the ability to hurt, is left ot the trully "different" players. Unique players. When Argentina controls the ball and "kills" the game you are giving yourself time to build, this being the best defense. Watching those 25 passes in the build-up to the 2nd goal is a priviledge. Yet ... there are 2 touches that decide the outcome of a play from an exercise to an unbalancing attacking option. And those 2 touches started with Roman's flick and followed with Cambiasso/Crespo's. This was the 2-0. The goal that put Serbia out of reach of any hopes. Before the WC started, everyone's concern was that building the team around Roman would be a mistake, as if he "disappears", then the team would be screwed. The team has worked on variants. Which doesn't mean it has reached the point to find Roman's work unnecesary. After Saviola's goal, Crespo's words to Roman were: "que h de p eres". Roman can read and execute the game as no other player except Zidane and Xavi can. His time to "carry" the team will arrive ... his time to give it all has a deadline on July 9th. The tournament is 7 games ... he is regulating his energies, which means that Peker's plan is working. And even then, he still is UNTOUCHABLE. Wouldn't mind seeing Roman rested against Holland. Could be a good time to see the team without him on the field ... not to "prove" the speed at which the team plays, but to have him fresh and rested for the Round of 16 game, which is 3-4 days after. .
Even though I am a huge Tevez fan and I want him to start I can't really imagine Pekerman changing the forwards especially Saviola. El conejito has had two amazing games. He's been MOTM in both games imo.
the movement of roman, was key, here in england, the experts showed the movement of Masche and Riquelme, and compared it to Geard and Lampard, and mentioned Grard and Lampard need to learn from the arentines. It is one thing being overrated, and another being idolised by your arch rivals. Can some1 tell me why River fans wear river shirts to argentina matches and not argentina tops? Every step of the way I feel this club and their supporters put themselves above the national side, its a disgrace in my opinion.
I see nothing wrong with that. River are the greatest champion of Argentina through sheer number of titles, and they aren't actually too far away from Boca in terms of total titles either. River and Boca are big enough worldwide so as to represent the country as well, so wearing the River jersey is perfectly fine.
I hope people just stop hammering at Riquelme. If you are not happy with Riquelme then there is no player in this world that could make you happy. as for the game, we played beautiful game but we are going to have toguher games with tougher opponents. I believe Maradona is having influence in the team. i have read that Maradona talks with players before the game and i am sure it is helping and motivating our players. i am so happy for Maradona and for Argentina's shake that Diego is there to support the NT. The second goal is one of the best goals in the history of the WC. it was pure class and it showed how important every players are and how well they can communicate with their teamates. Saviola was man of the match. I am pleased to see Pato playing wonderful and i am happy for Tevez and Messi scoring in their WC debut and they both had 1 assist each too. what a game. but let's not miss focus. At last, we must win this group. If we win the group then we will not face teams like Portugal, England, Brazil before final and it is very likely for Germany to get 2nd place in their group.
My favorute football team iss Fc Inter my fav player i Cambiasso he is a geniuss a denensive MF that scores goals pass good the best allaround player in the world. Forza Inter
!za That is a very well-thought and expressed idea, vipnerd. Which is not something I can say for those bashing Romy. WHY is this guy getting bashed after such a performance by the team? The albiceleste is a team, and the glory of the team is the glory of all its players, even those who played bad. Not to say that Romy played bad at all. This man has not played up to his potential, IMO. But to me, that has more to do with the quality of our team than anything else. At Villarreal, he's not surrounded by great talent and the team utterly depends on him. Case in point, the team lost 10 of 12 games he did not play last season (I'm not sure on the exact stat). Wearing the blue and white, he's still the central figure but he does not have to be dominant. Believe you me, Romy had himself a good game yesterday. The casual fan may not have to capacity to realize that but the opponents' main focus is Riquelme so they have to game plan for him. By taking a CM to spy him, he may not be dominant on the ball but he will create the spacing on the wings especially so that guys like Maxi and Savi can shine. People are stuck on the idea of Ronaldinho and want our guy to play like that. They see highlight packages of Ronny flashing through defenders and they think that's how a playmaker is supposed to play ALL THE TIME. THAT IS NOT WHAT ROMY DOES! Yes, individual flash and pizzaz may be entertaining and effective but that is not what this team needs from Romy. As Tevez' goal might indicate to you, we have plenty of that on the team and Romy provides some of that also. But this team does not play like a heavy metal band. It's an orchestra composed of many styles of instruments. At its best, it plays a sweet symphony that lulls defenses to sleep and Juan Roman Riquelme is the undeniable master of that orchestra.
This is too much fun to let go of Let's move beyond what the three players mentioned above as well as Roman accomplished in Argentina (BOCA/river) and look at what they've done since leaving. Aimar is the only of the three that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Riquelme. Even with Aimar it's questionable as to what kind of impact he's had on Valencia. No doubt he is an awesome player and yes one of my favorites. Are they a better team with him? No doubt but with all his injury problems, Valencia still manage to field a more than competitive side. Riquelme sits out a match and Villarreal look lost. El Cabezon again is a talented player beyond a shadow of a doubt but again what are his braggs since leaving river? A role on the Olympic team and one beautiful goal. Ortega? El Gaucho said it best in his contribution. Ortega had some talent but he was nothing more than a joke when it was all said and done. So again, what are your reasons for feeling Riquelme is overrated and please be factual and specific? Better yet, answer as to why Aimar should be on the pitch over him. Provide us with some facts based on accomplishment and not what he did at river. Leave Ortega and Andres out of this because neither can touch Roman or Aimar. Cheers and good morning guys.
What a nice day in Gelsenkirchen. Enjoy the whole match from the N.T. of Argentina. Saviola, Maxi, Sorin, Riquelme. The ball circulation. This was awesome to watch. Also the crowd, with many banderas and the camisetas of their clubteams what where in the stadium. Diego, who celebrated, and the biggest footbal player, ever, in the world who was happy to see Messi, 18 years old, come into the game. Servie was nothing more then a sparringpartner and was poor, not the big team they send before to the World Cups (remember 1990). After the qualification for the second round the tournamant will begin for Argentina. Keep up the good work, and would be great if they come home with the Copa Mundial. Cambiasso came into the game and play much better then the opening game against Ivory Coast. See the game on tv from them against Holland, and they deserve more this time, but fail to score goals. Argentina had the same problem at the Copa America final 2004, did not kill the game but lose after a late equalizer from Brasil. and penalties How is Lucho ? Everybody would forgot his injury because of this great result.
The critics of Roman cannot have it both ways. They say A) that this team depends too much on Roman, and B) that Roman played a poor game. If the team depended so much on Roman and he played poorly, they wouldn't have won 6-0. Either the team doesn't depend on him or he didn't play poorly. Actually the answer is neither. He played a smart game, and the team doesn't depend too much on him. He is one of the pieces in the puzzle, albeight an important one. that's all. Lets get beyond bashing Boca players, guys, this is the world cup. I want to win it with players from Boca, River and every other team. We can go back to our rivalries when this is over.
Not all River fans wear their jerseys to the game, else you would see half the stadium full of them.. The thing is, that those are "Los Borrachos del Tablon", and that's the way you know it's them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuvkJ4XuGr8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0qVGAXty2k&search=d'alessandro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r5Fg_Qpkf4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKiFaVkQhzE&search=d'alessandro "Period."
I came over here intending to write something like this. Argentina looks incredible. It's ridiculous to think that, imo and with all due respect to Riquelme who is also excellent, the two most purely talented players have only played a marginal role so far. The game against Holland will be really interesting, and as a Dutch fan I'm very glad that the match won't mean that much.
Nice videos, no doubt. Based on my question reposted below, what has he done since leaving river? I saw some old river videos, once nice move for Pompey, one incredible goal for Pompey and one nice goal for Wolfsburg. So all he's done since leaving river is two goals and a touchline move. Of course had Pompey won the EPL or Wolfsburg the Bundesliga, I wouldn't even dream of arguing with you. ************, it's like talking to my viejo. He's also a gallina Go figure? Originally Posted by Moishe El Cabezon again is a talented player beyond a shadow of a doubt but again what are his braggs since leaving river? A role on the Olympic team and one beautiful goal.
He was a key part in saving Pompey from Relegation, face it. Redknap himself said that, and he's even willing to break the bank for him (Well, not so much break the bank anymore). Cabezon is a great player, and he will shine next season with Pompey, since in Germany he was misused and mistreated by Wolfsburg.