Copa América Final

It don’t get any better or bigger than this. Argentina vs Brasil in the Copa América Final.

Argentina will be looking to win a record 15th Copa and has the team and and the football form to get it done.

Basile will go with the same lineup again.

I don’t imagine that Argentina will face the same tight marking and defensive setup from Brasil as they did against Mexico but it will still be a hard fought game as all the Clásico’s always are.

Today will be Leo Messi’s first final with the Argentina shirt. Riquelme will once again play against a Brazilian team and he always seems rise to the occasion and play great when facing a Brazilian team. May that continue today.

The backline will have to be very alert and focused as they take on fast, skillful, and goal scoring threats such as Robinho and Wagner Love.

Despite Dunga’s attempts to take pressure off himself and Brasil, there is no favorite today.

There is never a favorite in el Clásico.

Argentina has played a great and memorable Copa América but it won’t mean anything unless it wins today. Argentina has improved in every game and finds itself in a fantastic moment, the individual talents and collectively. Argentina has won every game so far and has done so respecting and defending a style of play. LA NUESTRA. OUR FOOTBALL.

All that’s left is the final step.

It’s time to bring the Copa back home.

VAMOS ARGENTINA CARAJO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARGENTINA STARTING LINEUP

GK – Roberto Abbondanzieri

D – Javier Zanetti
D – Roberto Ayala
D – Gabriel Milito
D – Gabriel Heinze

M – Juan Sebastian Verón
M – Javier Mascherano
M – Esteban Cambiasso
M – Juan Roman Riquelme

F – Lionel Messi
F – Carlos Tevez

Crespo available to play against Brasil

Hernan Crespo has recovered from his injury in time for the Copa Final. The team doctor Homero Agostino has confirmed that Crespo is in good health and ready to play on Sunday if called upon by Basile.

Fuente: EFE

El delantero está listo, según dijo el médico del plantel, Homero Agostino, por lo que podrá estar a disposición del técnico Alfio Basile para la el partido del domingo por la Copa América

Hernán Crespo se había lesionado en el segundo partido de la primera fase ante Colombia, cuando sufrió un desgarro al lanzar el penal que supuso el primer gol de Argentina en el partido, y desde entonces no jugó más.

En el entrenamiento de anoche, Crespo trabajo al margen del grupo y es posible que esta tarde se integre a la práctica del equipo.

Su compañero de habitación, Esteban Cambiasso, comentó la recuperación de Crespo y dijo que era importante para el equipo tanto desde el punto de vista futbolístico como anímico.

“Es muy importante, tanto por el factor futbolístico porque sabemos lo que representa Hernán como desde el punto de vista anímico. Tengo la suerte de compartir habitación con Hernán y sé lo que ha luchado por llegar a esta final. Me alegro que pueda estar a disposición del técnico y ojalá sea un factor importante en la final y pueda disfrutar con nosotros de una victoria”, dijo Cambiasso.

Messi: “I wanted to play the Final against Brasil”

In today’s Clarín a brief interview with Leo Messi.

“I said it before; I wanted to play the Copa América final against Brasil. Fortunately, it’s happened. I’ve been eager to play against them since the 3-0 loss to them last September in Wembley. I have still not been able to forget about that game.”

Q – And what do you think of playing a game like that and in a Final?

M – To play against Brasil is always different. In the youth teams I won more than I lost, in the senior team it has not gone as well but every game against them is special.

Q – It’s clear that Argentina is in better form?

M – Maybe, but Brasil always has great players and its the same with us. All finals are different, as are all the Clásicos. And this game combines both things. Being in good form beforehand has little to do with it but I hope that we are the ones that take the Copa.

Q – What has changed since that game against Brasil in England to this Copa so that the same result does not repeat?

M – First thing is that there are alot of different players but we basically now know Basile better. We understand what he wants alot easier, no matter how he simplifies everything. We are doing well and do not want to stumble right now.

Q – Imagine that before the Brasil game you are told that the team will be champions but that you will have to deal with, like after the Peru game, another girl jumping down from the stands so that she can be close to you…….

M – Noooo, stop that. It was incredible. I made hand gestures, telling her not to jump down but she still ended up jumping anyway. I swear I did not know what to do, she almost killed herself, and on top of that, they removed her out of there in a hurry and they didn’t even check to see if she was alright or not.

Player Reactions (Argentina-Mexico)

Juan Roman Riquelme:

“This team attempts to and plays really good football. That’s why we are very happy. We have a style of play and we respect it during all 90 minutes.”

“We’ve been clearly superior to all the opponents we’ve had until now. That’s why I’m sure that we reached the Final deservedly.”

“Lionel’s goal was really beautiful, besides that great goal he is playing better every day. We are here to help him and it makes us happy to see how his form continues to rise.”

Gabriel Heinze:

“Argentina always plays the same way, in the first half and in the second half. We always want to be the protagonist in every game, although in the second half’s the lack of energy that we’ve imposed on our opponents is more noticeable but we always maintain a high rhythm.”

Joya Argentina

Argentina vs Mexico

Argentina will take on Mexico tonight in the second Semifinal game of the Copa. Mexico is an opponent that Argentina has become real familiar with in the last 8-10 years and Mexico has been a tough team to play against for Argentina.

There’s already been comparisons with the last game the teams played, in the 2006 World Cup, but those were different circumstances and as far as Argentina, it is a different team that will play against Mexico tonight.

Basile has confirmed 10 of the 11 starters, which will be the ones that have been in the starting lineup from the start of the Copa. The only spot not confirmed yet is the second forward position but it’ll be a shocker if Basile does not have Tevez in the starting eleven tonight. The general consensus at least in the media is that Tevez will play right from the start against Mexico. Also, Basile hasn’t confirmed Milito as of yet. That is surely a sign that he will go with Tevez.

Mexico will very likely be the first team in the Copa that will not sit back and defend with a wall of players against Argentina. That should make for a wide open, exciting game. In theory.

The biggest question with Mexico is whether their goal scorer and Copa revelation Nery Castillo will be able to recover from his injury and play tonight. It would be a significant loss for Mexico if Castillo is out of their lineup.

The game tonight could very well be the best game of the Copa, at least on paper and because of the good level of football that both teams have displayed.

I think whoever wins tonight will go on to win the Copa. Let that be Argentina.

The biggest key for Argentina tonight will be Riquelme. If he continues to play as he did in the last 45 minutes of the Peru game then the team will have a great shot at winning. Also, the talent and explosiveness of Tevez and Messi will be important. If they as well as Riquelme are able to link up and create good scoring chances the team will have a good night.

VAMOS ARGENTINA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Messi Mania

A female fan jumped from the stands down to the locker room entrance so that she could get a hug and kiss from Leo Messi after last night’s game.

Messi Mania is in full effect in Venezuela !!!!

Player Reactions (Argentina-Peru)

The player’s comments after last night’s game.

Javier Mascherano:

“Having patience is fundamental when you face opponents that come out to defend with alot of players and because Argentina also has plenty of patience, it becomes a matter of time. To play and wait for the first goal to arrive so that afterwards we can control the game.

“Peru finished tired, they couldn’t overcome the energy spent running so much but without finding the ball and because we have some great players from the midfield on up, the result ended in a wide margin that makes us very happy.”

Juan Roman Riquelme:

“Argentina played a great second half. We reached a really good level of football, we had alot of scoring chances and rounded out a very important victory that allows us to move on to another round. I think the team is demonstrating that we want continue to advance in the Copa America.”

“We were able to control the ball at our will in the first half. But we didn’t create danger inside the box. Peru is a tough opponent, they marked well, and closed all the roads to the goal for us. It was necessary to score that first goal so that the spaces could open and for things to become easier for us and that’s what happened after the first goal.”

“We all have the same hope from the first day we arrived in Venezuela. We hope to improve and continue advancing, so that we can be in the Final.”

Carlos Tevez:

“The first half was very difficult. Peru set themselves well in the back. I wasn’t able to score but came close. After the group stage they are all finals.”

“The important thing is to be in good form and help from outside. I always want to play but Basile is the one who decides and if he has alot of options, it’s good for his decision making. I think it’s a nice problem for a manager to have.”

Argentina vs Peru

Who will it be today against Peru?

The elimination stage of the Copa gets under way for Argentina today as they take on Peru.

Basile did not confirm the starting lineup in yesterday’s press conference stating that he still had a doubt on offense. That doubt is Aimar or Cambiasso. Basile hasn’t decided which midfielder he will use at the start of the game. If he chooses Aimar the team’s playmaking and attacking options are improved and it will take away some of the marking from Riquelme as the Peruvians will have to chase down Aimar and it will obviously give Riquelme more open space to maneuver in.

It also appears that Basile will go with Milito upfront instead of Tevez. Basile has always stated that he likes having a traditional in the box, physically strong and proven goal scorer, type of forward in the lineup so it’s very likely that Tevez will be back on the bench.

The rest of the lineup will be the same one that played the first 2 games of the Copa.

Peru? Their coach already announced that they will defend with 5 players and that their focus will be on marking as tightly as possible.

The real Copa América begins today for Argentina. A win and the team will move on to the semifinals to face the winner of the Mexico/Paraguay game.

VAMOS ARGENTINA!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE – 6:30pm EDT

Cambiasso & Diego Milito will be in the starting lineup. Aimar & Tevez will be on the bench.

ARGENTINA STARTING LINEUP

GK – Roberto Abbondanzieri

D – Javier Zanetti
D – Roberto Ayala
D – Gabriel Milito
D – Gabriel Heinze

M – Juan Sebastian Verón
M – Javier Mascherano
M – Esteban Cambiasso
M – Juan Roman Riquelme

F – Lionel Messi
F – Diego Milito

Valuable Bench

It’s another look from a different angle at the recent story about the transfer value of the players currently on the national team.

In this case, the value of the players that did not start last night’s game in today’s transfer market.

How many national teams have the luxury of leaving on the bench players worth millions upon millions of dollars? There aren’t too many teams.

It’s an impressive list of players that is clearly a reflection on the great moment that Argentine football is going through right now.

Argentina throughout its history has produced countless number of talented players and that tradition continues to this day and it has exported players all over the world but not in the numbers that it does today, with so many having such high price tags.

As we saw last night, the 150 million dollar man Leo Messi watching most of the game on the bench, one of the top goal scorers in Europe Diego Milito, whose transfer is valued near 30 million dollars, not even used by Basile despite Crespo’s injury. The best midfielder in all of South America whose transfer is worth 18 million dollars, Juan Roman Riquelme, also a spectator last night.

infobae.com

Banco de valores

Sólo con el banco argentino en el encuentro ante Paraguay, por el Grupo C de la Copa América, se puede armar un seleccionado paralelo. Y a un costo tal vez incalculable para los tiempos que corren

Juan Pablo Carrizo, Gabriel Heinze, Juan Román Riquelme, Agustín Orión, Juan Sebastián Verón, Diego Milito, Roberto Ayala, Javier Mascherano y Lionel Messi fueron los suplentes del seleccionado argentino que se impuso 1 a 0 a Paraguay por la Copa América, en Venezuela.

Se trata de 9 nombres que cualquiera envidia y todos quisieran tener en sus equipos.

Sólo la presencia de Juan Pablo Carrizo, la gran joya de River por estos tiempos, habla a las claras de que se puede armar con ellos un equipo multimillonario.

A punto de pasar al fútbol europeo, River quiere por él mucho más que los cinco millones de dólares que ofreció la Lazio, de Italia. Los dirigentes millonarios saben que, si esperan, pueden sacar mucho más, sobre todo porque sobra la demanda: Manchester United, Milan y West Ham también están interesados en conseguir sus servicios.

Agustín Orión, arquero titular del San Lorenzo campeón, no tiene precio de mercado, pero se intuye que, todavía, estaría muy por debajo del precio en que puede colocarse en el mercado actual a su colega riverplatense.

Gabriel Heinze, de 29 años e idolatrado por los hinchas del Manchester de Inglaterra, es pretendido por el Liverpool inglés y el Juventus italiano. El primero amenazó con superar la oferta de 10 millones de dólares realizada por el club de Italia.

Sobre Juan Román Riquelme está todo dicho: el Villlarreal español, dueño de su pase, no lo quiere. Como contrapartida, Boca está más que interesado en que siga, al menos hasta fin de año. Hay varios clubes europeos interesados en contratarlo. Su cotización es de 18 millones de dólares.

Por Juan Sebastián Verón, y tal como adelantó este medio, un club de liga norteamericana estaría en condiciones de abonar 20 millones de dólares. Su presencia garantizaría un nombre de peso para la comunidad sudamericana.

El pase de Diego Milito cuesta, para el Zaragoza, cerca de 30 millones de dólares. Y sabe que esa cifra se puede pedir porque hay muchas instituciones interesadas en contratarlo.

El defensor Roberto Ayala, del Villarreal de España, está cotizado en la actualidad en 7 millones de dólares.

Liverpool pagó por el préstamo de un año de Javier Mascherano tres millones de dólares, y además tiene la opción de compra.

Por último, la joya de la abuela y de toda la familia también. En el caso de Lionel Messi, el Barcelona estableció una cláusula para cederlo en 150 millones de euros. Esto, por si solo, hace que lo suyo sea prácticamente impagable.

Como se ve, el banco de suplentes del equipo argentino parece, más que un banco de fútbol, una verdadera banca de la fortuna.