Archive: Argentina
ARG-GER lineups
GERMANY Lehmann Friedrich Mertesacker Metzelder Lahm Schneider Frings Ballack Schweinsteiger Podolski Klose...
By Steve Goff | June 30, 2006; 10:32 AM ET | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Spanish Selections
A few other notes: - Spain named a 27-man preliminary squad. The controversial omissions: Valencia's Vicente, Real Madrid's Guti and Espanyol's Ivan de la Pena. Vicente has been struggling to recover from a long-term ankle injury and has not returned to action with his club yet. Meanwhile, Guti and De la Pena have paid for inconsistent form with their clubs and appear to be out of the running. Getafe's Argentine full-back Mariano Pernia, who obtained dual nationality last month, was also not included. - Recently shaky Argentina GK Roberto Abbondanzieri says he's all better now. - Not strictly World Cup-related, but Highbury closes this weekend (Thanks to Goffer for reminding me). The BBC has a photo tribute up. Personally, I hate seeing old stadiums go in any sport -- the sports world would be richer with the Boston Garden, Tiger Stadium, the Montreal Forum, etc. still around. Of course, I...
By Jon DeNunzio | May 5, 2006; 02:40 PM ET | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)
Lunchtime Kick-About
A quick read on the news: - The BBC says England has offered its coaching job to Luiz Felipe "Big Phil" Scolari. It will be controversial to take a non-Englishman again, but not as controversial as picking Peter Scolari (bottom left). (Note: If you haven't been following this story, this is England's pick for its 2010 World Cup coach. Sven-Goran Eriksson is still in charge this year. Next week, the FA will start interviewing candidates for 2014 ...) - Argentina phenom Lionel Messi experiences a potential setback. Messi pulled up during a sprint and kicked a cone in frustration but Argentina national team sources said it was not serious, they said. It was not immediately clear whether the problem was with the same leg or the same injury. - Aussie Injury Woes Continue. This item is about MF Tim Cahill (Everton), but also reminds us: [Coach Gus] Hiddink is already...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 27, 2006; 12:40 PM ET | Comments (18) | TrackBack (0)
Mid-Afternoon Kick-About
A bit of news to digest: - Argentina's Lionel Messi is taking his time. I assume he's taking his time as far as Barcelona games are concerned, not World Cup games ... - Ronaldinho is confident. Except for this quote: "It will be hard to advance past the first stage because everyone will be aiming for us. They will all have a bit of extra motivation." - England 2002 vs. England 2006. Once you look at it on paper, there's no comparison. Danny Mills, Trevor Sinclair, Nicky Butt and Emile Heskey are all still worthy Premier League players. None of them, though, can expect to be remotely near the squad for 2006, and there is even less likelihood of strikers Darius Vassell and Teddy Sheringham being sent on in search of a last-gasp equaliser as they were against Brazil. - A meaty profile of Cesc Fabregas. "Football is like a...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 20, 2006; 02:00 PM ET | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
Lunchtime Kick-About
Picking out newsy futbol items off the Web as I pick the croutons out of my salad ... - FIFA claims to be addressing racism in the stands. Two remarkable quotes: Sepp Blatter: "At the first sign of racism there will be a deduction of three points, then we are finished with problems of discrimination." Then we are finished? It's that easy? Thanks. Moving on. It is not clear, however, how the rules will apply to the knockout stages. And neither has Blatter explained how Fifa will stop the rule being abused by fans of one nation passing themselves off as opposition supporters. "Those comments were made by our president in Dubai," a flustered Fifa spokesman told Guardian Unlimited. "He will be back this afternoon. It's impossible for us to clarify his comments until we speak to him." I love spokesmen. - Argentina's Pablo Aimar is out of the hospital....
By Jon DeNunzio | April 19, 2006; 12:24 PM ET | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
The Definitive Injury Post
Well, maybe that's too strong. But FIFAWorldCup.com does a nice job in this piece of getting us up to date on the major injury worries as June 9* (not to mention May 15**) approaches. Will they or won't they? XI on the fitness trail Oleksander Shovkovsky, Ukraine goalkeeper Gabriel Heinze, Argentina defender Sol Campbell, England defender Ledley King, England defender Ashley Cole, England defender Xavi, Spain midfielder Pablo Aimar, Argentina midfielder Lionel Messi, Argentina midfielder Francesco Totti, Italy forward Jan Koller, Czech Republic forward Michael Owen, England forward Did they miss anyone? Am I right in thinking the U.S. is fortunate not to have a major injury concern right now? * - Matchday 1 of the 2006 World Cup, as if you didn't know. ** -- FIFA's deadline for final roster submission....
By Jon DeNunzio | April 19, 2006; 11:04 AM ET | Comments (21) | TrackBack (0)
Holland's Young, Santa Cruz is Okay
Odds and ends ... Dutch Coach Marco van Basten reminds the world that his team is young. All good coaches know how to play the expectation game ... "Day-to-day reality is that we are less experienced than the so-called big countries - than Argentina, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany and England, among others. These teams are ahead of us. We only have a fair chance of a good account against these top-class teams. Everything would need to go according to plan." Bayern Munich/Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz seems to be recovering nicely. Bremen forward Nelson Haedo Valdez and Santa Cruz are the two main stars of a Paraguay team that hope to upset the formbook in FIFA World Cup Group B. Paraguay face England in their first group game in Frankfurt on 10 June and then take on Sweden and outsiders Trindad and Tobago. Well said, FIFAWorldCup.com ... who will forget...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 13, 2006; 04:40 PM ET | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Catching Up ...
I was out of pocket for a good portion of the day (although there seemed to be plenty of fodder for discussion on the blog anyway), and I just got a chance to look at the day's news. Some headlines: - Argentina injury news: defender Gabriel Heinze may be back soon for Manchester United, while Lionel Messi has a slight knock and will likely miss Barcelona's Champions League game next week. Heinze in good health would be a great addition for Argentina (thanks to The Post's Christian Swezey for tipping me off on this one, btw); Messi's injury is not enough to make anyone worry he'd miss Germany. - They're gonna use a special gold ball in the final. Geez. - Reason No. 5,687 I love BBC.com: this breakdown of England's potential roster. Including: Glen Johnson, who missed a Chelsea game after forgetting his passport, is unlikely to have such...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 11, 2006; 07:45 PM ET | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Morning Kick-About
A few headlines of note this morning: - The Guardian says Sven-Goran Eriksson has told Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole they are in his plans. - Match of the weekend? Arsenal-Manchester United. - FIFAWorldCup.com runs through Argentina's striking options. After Brazil, who looks better up top (on paper, at least) than these guys? - How often do you get to type this: Q&A with Cha-Bum Kun! Interesting to note that one of South Korea's best strikers, Lee Dong-Gook, did not play in 2002, but is expected to be there this time around. - Player wins injunction vs. German far-right party. The pamphlet pictured a white player wearing Owomoyela's jersey below the words: "White, not just a jersey color! For a real national team!" - Finally, I can't read much Italian, but I know what this quote from Carlos Alberto Parreira on Pippo Inzaghi means: E' come Paolo Rossi (He's like...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 7, 2006; 08:05 AM ET | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
Running Out of Time ...
Quick-hitters on players who are ... - Sweating out their World Cup chances for South Korea and England . (Wouldn't be an England team without Sol Campbell, would it?) - Never had much of a chance to get to Germany, but now seem definitely out for Argentina and England....
By Jon DeNunzio | April 6, 2006; 03:25 PM ET | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
