OK, I think this ranking is rubbish. That’s the first thing I want to make perfectly clear.

BUT. Here’s where I’ve got a mixed feeling about it.

For years, we’ve been in the Top 3 of that list. WC Qualy and probably Copa America and Confederations Cup helped us scored points in that questionable rank.

Call it inaccurate, biased or commercial, it was the FIFA Ranking who allowed us to be one of the seeded teams in the last World Cup and based on the way FIFA select the head of each group after every 4 years I think we should give this ranking the importance FIFA want us to give it.

Because they calculate the final position of every team in the last 3 World Cups plus the FIFA Ranking points to determine if a team is seeded or not and if it wasn’t for our position in that table we would have been unseeded. Despite that priviledge we had, we still ended up playing two European teams (Holland + Serbia & Montenegro) and the strongest of the African representatives (Ivory Coast) but in order to avoid another unpleasant surprise in the draw for South Africa 2010 we need to keep our status high and stay as close as the Top 3 as we possibly can.

Now we’ve slipped to the 4th position in a rank still owned by Brazil who are followed by World Champions Italy and runners-up France.

Here are the Top 10 nations in the latest FIFA Rankings:

1. Brazil 1560
2. Italy 1540
3. France 1483
4. Argentina 1446
5. England 1370
6. Germany 1339
7. Netherlands 1313
8. Czech Republic 1253
9. Portugal 1224
10. Spain 1198

As you know, I’m on the road these days so I don’t have much time online, but the interaction I’ve seen in our blog after my previous postings, really motivated me to stop by and start another discussion.

Another glory-less World Cup has come and go and Argentina are now 13 years without a major trophy in football (Copa America 93 in Ecuador).

We’ve enjoyed a few promising campaigns such as the USA 94 World Cup (before the Diego-gate) and the qualifying tournament for Korea/Japan 2002 with BIELSA when we were arguably one of the 2 or 3 best teams in the World.

But for one reason or another, we seem to be missing the killer instinct any team need to go all the way.

PEKERMAN is gone. BASILE is back at the helm and his fresh start couldn’t have started worse.

The truth is he virtually had no time to work with the team (only 4 training sessions combined before losing to Brazil and Spain).

But is also true that most of the players he selected worked together in the build up for the World Cup and they know each other very well.

In several occassions BASILE said that he wants to form a group of players still competing in Argentina and train with them on a regular basis during the Apertura or Clausura tournaments. He said that we have to wait for him to be able to pick the local league’s stars for us to see his real Argentina.

Now there is a public debate in Argentina because historically, our best players are bought by European teams and that kind of gives them a different status. Like if they belong to another category, while those who remain (for being too young to emigrate or for not being suitable for the European market) are looked with other eyes, like if they were not good enough to be picked for Argentina.

So the big question is: Are the Argentine playing in Europe better than those who still compete in our local league?

Wouldn’t the local stars eventually emigrate to Europe lured by millionaire contracts and the prospect of securing a better life for them and their families?

Which side of the debate are you?

Do you prefer to see the big guns from Europe getting together for a couple of days before a friendly or a WC Qualifier? Or would you like to see a less experienced group working weekly and very closely with BASILE?

The answer to these questions will surely represent our chances of success or failure in the next few years. I hope COCO gets it right this time.

Another edition of the famous Superclasico as every clash between River Plate and Boca Juniors is billed as in Argentina.

It is indeed the biggest and most popular fixture in this part of the World.

I left my grandma’s house after I watched on the television my beloved Racing defeat Colon 2-1 to earn our third straight win and I felt alone in this World! Nobody on the streets. Nobody in the buses or trains around the city. It was the fastest, easiest trip back home from Avellaneda and there was a reason: River was playing against Boca.

It wasn’t just quite when Argentina plays a World Cup match because that’s even bigger. But I felt something similar today.

River won 3-1 (Gonzalo HIGUAIN –pictured here- scoring twice and Ernesto FARIAS adding the third, while World Cup player Rodrigo PALACIO had equalise for Boca in the first half) and now the Torneo Apertura is open again with Boca leading River by one point and a host of other teams (Racing amongst them) chasing the two big guns.

Now I would like to ask you:
Where do you think El Superclasico ranks amongst the biggest derby matches in the World?

I’m sure there are plenty of other choices in the menu with Real Madrid-Barcelona, Inter-Juventus or Inter-Milan, Celtic-Rangers or Manchester United-Liverpool receiving votes. But where do you rank El Superclasico?