Argentina-Germany friendly

As part of next year’s World Cup preparations, Argentina will play against Germany on March 3rd. The game will take place in Munich.

Será una cita de grandes

Argentina jugará un amistoso contra Alemania, el próximo 3 de marzo en Münich

DYN

BUENOS AIRES — El seleccionado argentino de fútbol jugará un amistoso preparatorio para la Copa del Mundo de Sudáfrica 2010 ante Alemania, en la ciudad de Munich, el próximo 3 de marzo de 2010.

Este partido será el segundo cotejo que tiene confirmado Argentina antes del Mundial; el primero será el 14 de noviembre frente a España, en Madrid.

Desde la AFA se están haciendo gestiones para que cuatro días más tarde del amistoso con los españoles, el seleccionado albiceleste tenga otro compromiso en Europa.

La última vez que Argentina jugó con Alemania fue en la Copa del Mundo 2006 disputada en el país germano. La instancia fue la de los cuartos de final y Alemania se quedó con la clasificación por penales, luego de empatar el tiempo regular 1 a 1.

Argentina-Ghana Highlights

Argentina-Ghana Goals

Martin Palermo scored both goals in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Ghana.

Toulon Tournament

Argentina made its debut yesterday in the Toulon tournament of U-21 players.

Despite not counting on all the best U-21 players that were available and not having organized the team and training sessions in the best possible manner, Argentina did make an impressive start in the tournament with a 4-0 win over Holland.

The goals were scored by Arsenal forward Franco Jara, Sevilla forward Diego Perotti, Valencia midfielder Ever Banega and River Plate midfielder Diego Buonanotte.

Callup list for Egypt game announced

The biggest news on this callup, which is not a surprise because it’s been discussed in the media for the past week, is the return of Fernando Cavenaghi to the national team. And to a lesser degree Lisandro Lopez, who is currently the top goal scorer in Portugal.

Somewhat of a surprise to me is Julio Cruz getting a callup. It’s hard to argue against it because of Cruz’ consistent goal scoring with Inter but it seems kind of pointless to me when you consider his age and long term possibilities with the national team.

Goalkeepers

Roberto Abbondanzieri
Oscar Ustari
Sergio Romero

Defenders

Javier Zanetti
Martín Demichelis
Gabriel Milito
Gabriel Heinze
Nicolás Burdisso
Fabricio Coloccini

Midfielders

Pablo Zabaleta
Javier Mascherano
Fernando Gago
Esteban Cambiasso
Maxi Rodríguez
Luis González

Forwards

Sergio Agüero
Julio Cruz
Ezequiel Lavezzi
Fernando Cavenaghi
Lisandro López

Starting lineup against Australia

 
The starting eleven for tomorrow’s friendly against Australia:

GK – Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe)

D – Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan)
D – Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich)
D – Gabriel Milito (Barcelona)
D – Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid)

M – Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan)
M – Javier Mascherano (Liverpool)
M – Jonas Gutiérrez (Mallorca)
M – Federico Insúa (America)

F – Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
F – Carlos Tevez (Manchester United)

Demichelis will make his debut under Basile and he will be playing in his old position of center back. Jonas Gutierrez will also make his debut with the national team.

This will be the last international game before the start of the WC qualifying campaign next month. A win is always nice of course but hopefully we’ll get to see a good performance from the team with no serious injuries to report afterwards.

Argentina vs Australia – Player List

Basile announced the list of 21 players called up for the next international friendly against Australia taking place on September 11th.

Official List

GK – Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe)
GK – Oscar Ustari (Getafe)
GK – Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar)

D – Daniel Díaz (Getafe)
D – Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid)
D – Gabriel Milito (Barcelona)
D – Nicolás Burdisso (Inter Milan)
D – Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan)
D – Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruña)
D – Jonás Gutiérrez (Mallorca)

M – Fernando Gago (Real Madrid)
M – Maximiliano Rodríguez (Atlético de Madrid)
M – Javier Mascherano (Liverpool)
M – Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich)
M – Cristian Ledesma (Olympiakos)
M – Federico Insúa (América)

F – Javier Saviola (Real Madrid)
F – Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
F – Sergio Agüero (Atlético de Madrid)
F – Hernan Crespo (Inter Milan)
F – Carlos Tevez (Manchester United)

Basile has decided to bring back Abbondanzieri. Will he be the GK for the WC Qualifiers?

Also Crespo is back with the team.

Demichelis and Aguero are calledup for the first time by Basile. How will Basile use Demichelis? There really isn’t, at least in theory, a spot for him in the central midfield position so will he be used in his old position of central defender?

Insua called up again. Are there really no other playmakers available besides Insua?

Starting lineup against Norway

Basile announced the starting eleven for tomorrow’s friendly against Norway.

Starting Lineup

GK – Oscar Ustari (Getafe)

D – Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan)
D – Ezequiel Garay (Racing de Santander)
D – Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan)
D – Gabriel Milito (Barcelona)

M – Luis Gonzalez (Porto)
M – Javier Mascherano (Liverpool)
M – Maxi Rodriguez (Atletico de Madrid)

F – Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
F – Diego Milito (Real Zaragoza)
F – Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli)

Carrizo out of Norway game

Basile has removed Juan Pablo Carrizo from the squad for next week’s friendly against Norway. Carrizo has not been a part of Lazio’s preseason training. The inactivity is due to Carrizo not having an EU passport yet because he has not provided all the documents required showing proof of his family’s Italian descent.

Argentina vs Norway – Player List

Basile just announced the player list for the upcoming friendly against Norway.

GK – Juan Pablo Carrizo (Lazio)

GK – Oscar Ustari (Getafe)

GK – Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar)

D – Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruna)

D – Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan)

D – Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan)

D – Gabriel Milito (Barcelona)

D – Ezequiel Garay (Racing de Santander)

D – Daniel Diaz (Getafe)

M – Luis Gonzalez (Porto)

M – Javier Mascherano (Liverpool)

M – Maxi Rodriguez (Atletico de Madrid)

M – Cristian Ledesma (Olympiakos)

M – Federico Insua (America)

M – Jose Sosa (Bayern Munich)

M – Fernando Gago (Real Madrid)

F – Javier Saviola (Real Madrid)

F – Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

F – Diego Milito (Real Zaragoza)

F – Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli)

Among the surprise callups is the recent U-20 WC GK Sergio Romero, Ledesma, and Lavezzi.

Insua? The only rationale, if any, is that he played for Basile in Boca. Otherwise, it’s hard to explain how an average player who is playing in Mexico receives a callup to the national team.

Good news from the list? The return of Maxi Rodriguez and Saviola to the national team and Lavezzi getting an opportunity to play for the first time under Basile.