No I’m not relaxed, OK? This is the biggest match my Nacional Team has to play in a World Cup in the last 16 years!

Do you know how many things happened to me in those 16 years????

I’ve finished elementary school. High school and University. My parents got divorced. Had three long-term relationship and got married to my beautiful wife Diana. Started dreaming of becoming a professional footballer. Was convinced by the manager at one club that I better study journalism. My father died. Got a job in a big newspaper. Then resigned. Got a job in a TV channel. Then again, resigned. Went to live in England and Italy. Worked there for a while. Lost a lot of hair. Earned a lot of kilos above my belt. Came back to Buenos Aires. And still, after all those 16 years, there is one thing that’s still the same: GERMANY!

Because the Germans where our rivals in the horrible night of the 8th of July in 1990. Italy ’90. World Cup final. When the Mexican referee (CODESAL) thought it was a foul by SENSINI and decided to give Germany a penalty kick. BREHME was the scorer and we lost the World Cup. Yes, I accept our team in that tournament was rubbish. We got very lucky beating Yugoslavia and Italy on penalties…but we’re right to think we were robbed that night.

Four years before that (as The Beatles said: “It was 20 years ago today!”), again DEUTSCHLAND!

That was the first big contest between our two countries. A World Cup final! BROWN-VALDANO-BURRUCHAGA, DIEGO’s magic and a lot of suffering, before we were crowned for our second time in history.

Enough with all this time-travelling. Let’s come back to today. Because we have another final coming up. No one can deny this is like a World Cup final for us. Probably more so for Germany.

Both teams are taking it that way.

But my job is to tell you how things are taking shape in the eyes of an Argentina fan.
That’s what I’ll try to do, being totally honest:

I’M TERRIBLY SCARED! Hahahaha!

Well, not TERRIBLY, but a little bit yes. It’s normal. Don’t look at me that way. In a way, if you’re reading this, you’re feeling something similar. Don’t you?

It’s such a difficult thing to try and think how can this match be played. Two very different, yet similar teams in terms of ‘productivity’ (if you allow me the expression).

10 goals scored. 2 goals against. Group winners. The numbers suggest the two are very similar sides. Yet if you saw the way they played so far, you’ll notice Germany play a more pacy, speedy kind of football. With a lot of ‘vertigo’ and shooting from outside the area at the first chance they have.

Argentina, in contrast, play a more paused, rhythmical type of game. Passing is a commandment. Hoofing the ball is a sin. Never risk a golden chance by taking a low-percentage-shot from long range.

So I think the key for today’s match will be pretty simple: KEEP THE BALL!

If Germany can’t find the ball, they simply can’t harm Argentina.

Again, RIQUELME steps under the spot light and he looks (more than ever before) as the key figure for Argentina. He has a bad game and Argentina goes home. Quite simple. He has a good game, we might advance. He has a great game, we’re through to the semifinals. Period.

He’s the one who can slow down the whole German team and start working as a master puppeteer for Argentina.

Will he move METZELDER, MERTESACKER, LAHM, FRIEDRICH, FRINGS and company around?
Will we dance to BALLACK-SCHWENSTEIGER-SCHNEIDER-KLOSE-PODOLSKI’s music?

Whatever happens, I just hope I don’t have to sit here in 16 years time, talking about a rubbish referee or a wasted chance for our beloved team.

VAMOS ARGENTINA!

Yes, I know. Germany is coming on Friday and all our focus should be in that crucial match against them.

But I would like to write a few lines about one of football’s most intriguing players: Juan Roman RIQUELME.

I’ve been following football since as long as I can remember. I’m 29 years old and I don’t remember seeing a player as controversial as Roman in my whole life.

I don’t mean controversial in an Eric CANTONA’s way. He was either loved or hated but no one ever denied his footballing skills. And he also had a history of bad behaviour that has nothing to do with RIQUELME.

RIQUELME is controversial because if you read the Argentinean newspapers, you’ll never know if he had a good or a bad game. If you happen to go to a bar in Buenos Aires or in any other city in this country, you’ll certainly hear people sitting at a table next to yours, talking about him and you’ll see one of those guys playing the ‘defender’ part, while his friend will become the ‘prosecutor’.

It’s just like that. His performances are black or white; great or rubbish. But yet, never unnoticed.

His talent is impossible to deny. He has plenty of tricks in his bag and that’s something that is not very questioned. Even his detractors accept he has an incredible flair. A talent that was first known to the World when he was one of the key stars in PEKERMAN’s under-20 Argentina national team crowned in Malaysia 1997.

I remember him making his debut for Boca Juniors (a team I don’t support, by the way. My team is Racing Club). He was immediately criticised because he was not the type of player Boca fans wanted in their team. A Boca player is prototypically a warrior. One who never quits. One who will go for the ball like there’ll be no other, no matter what. And then, if he has time, he can also play.

But here comes this skinny young fellow, trying to make that impossible pass or maybe keeping the ball too much before being dispossessed and then, tragedy for Boca fans: HE DIDN’T COME BACK TO DEFEND AND GET THAT BALL BACK! LET ALONE A SLIDING TACKLE!

Yet, he started producing. He became irreplaceable, vital, needed in a team that started winning everything under manager Carlos BIANCHI.

Juan Roman RIQUELME started to conquer ‘La 12’ (the name of Boca’s supporters group, nicknamed as ‘Player number 12’ because his influence in a game by the way the vocally support their team makes them virtually become that extra player).

That was when ROMAN definitely conquered me. He won my respect a little bit before he won over Boca’s fans. Because he never gave up. He never pretended to change his style in order to win a standing ovation from La 12 while at the same time he never stopped trying to hit that perfect back-heel pass. That takes an incredible amount of courage, I’m not exaggerating and those of you who have been fortunate enough to attend a Boca match at La Bombonera, will agree with me.

League titles came, Copa Libertadores followed (with an unforgettable performance away at Palmeiras, Brazil) and finally he was playing against ROBERTO CARLOS, FIGO, RAUL, CASILLAS, HIERRO and all of Real Madrid’s super stars in the European-South American Cup in Tokyo.

What did he do? He had a memorable match, an assist included, and he totally controlled the game. No surprise FC Barcelona was watching and immediately after that, RIQUELME was bought.

All of that time, he was neglected by Marcelo BIELSA. Obviously, Juan Roman was not the kind of fast, first-run-then-think type of player preferred by our former national team manager. So he missed the trip to the Korea-Japan 2002 World Cup while he never got to shine at the Camp Nou as he did at La Bombonera.

‘So he started changing the way he plays, right?’ could be one of the question somebody, who doesn’t know how the story continues, may ask about him. Of course not! He went to Villarreal and he helped them to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.

Yes, he failed that crucial penalty against Arsenal in the semifinals, but he’ll step up to take another penalty if it’s needed. He failed because he took the risk and the responsibility that comes with it.

Reading some blogs around the internet and taking a look at some local newspapers in Argentina at that time, I remember feeling sorry for ROMAN after that miss against Arsenal. All of his detractors fell harshly on his back and started a silly witch hunt against him.

Yet, PEKERMAN confirmed RIQUELME’s place in our national team while he gave him the mythical shirt with the number 10 in its back.
The World Cup came hand in hand with controversy. While he is being looked at as one of the biggest stars in this tournament by the British media (to give just one example) and chased by Inter Milan, he is being very criticised back home. And that’s what I found controversial.

Some people blame him because he has a tendency to pass the ball backwards. Some others say that’s a sign of a great player who knows when to go forward and when to secure possession and start the play once again from behind.

A fair number of critics say he is too slow for international football. Fans and neutrals find his style and the way he keeps possession while waiting for the perfect space to place the next pass as something absolutely beautiful.

I guess that if you’ve been reading so far, you’ll notice that I’m one of those who like the way RIQUELME plays. And here’s my opinion on ROMAN’s World Cup performances so far.

While he had his moments of brilliance (a perfect assist for SAVIOLA against Ivory Coast a total dominance of midfield against Serbia & Montenegro with 77 good passes and only 2 bad ones, a couple of nice tries against Holland and another assist from the corner flag for CRESPO against Mexico and one pass to SAVIOLA that should’ve ended in the back of the net), he also had his moments of insignificant play.

The positive aspect of this whole thing is clear: RIQUELME IS YET TO PLAY HIS BEST FOOTBALL IN GERMANY 2006.

He had a private conversation with PEKERMAN two days ago and the manager gave him all of his confidence for the match against Germany. RIQUELME was feeling bad about his performances and his morale was a little low.

Now he has the perfect stage for the next captivating show in his career. In fact, the stage was never bigger. We are talking about a man who always stepped up to the biggest challenges.

We are talking about a man who might not demonstrate what’s going on inside of him.

And most importantly, we are talking about a tremendous football player who has thirst for revenge and wants to laugh last.

LEHMANN will again be the goalkeeper, like when Arsenal knocked Villarreal out of the Champions League. If I was LEHMANN, I would be very very very scared of this still skinny fellow.

Thank God this is not a radio show, because my voice has gone completely.

I don’t remember shouting and screaming like crazy as I did when MAXI scored that sensational goal in extra-time. Oh man! What a moment!

I don’t want to hear a word about Mexico. I’ll shake a leaf next time I see a green shirt near me. What an effort by them! What a performance! What a way to suffer for 120 minutes (and all those minutes in-between, they’re even worst than those minutes in which the ball is rolling!).

Let me be the first to say it: WE PLAYED TERRIBLY! HORRIBLE FOOTBALL AT TIMES!

I remember reading one of your e-mails, and it pointed out a thing: ‘What will happen if Argentina are behind in the score? Will they have what it takes to comeback and win it?’

I think that one of the things we did have was LUCK! It’s not as simple as that. We didn’t win because of luck, I’ll be a fool to think we did. But we did have that brief moment of everything going our way and MAXI sent us to the quarter finals!

We’ve won and that’s something to celebrate. The way we’ve won, could serve us to build up some momentum again and to give our players the belief needed to go far in the World Cup.

I’m not happy with the way we played and I hope against Germany we don’t repeat any of the mistakes we made.

And before I finish, I want to have a word with you Mr. MAXI RODRIGUEZ:

If against Germany you want to repeat any of the things you did today, please, make yourself at home and be my guest!

GRACIAS MAXI!

Argentina vs. Mexico

It’s raining heavily in Buenos Aires as I write these lines a couple of hours before Argentina face Mexico for a place in the quarter finals to play against Germany.

The first images live from the Leipzig stadium are coming through every TV channel in Argentina and up there is warm and sunny.

Which side of the coin will our team show to the world today?
The chaos of the last 20-25 minutes against Ivory Coast? The brilliant passing game that captured the attention of everybody while we defeated Serbia & Montenegro 6-0? The inability to find the back of the net we showed against Holland? Or the incredible goal-rate of the first two matches with 13 shots on goal and 8 of those going in?

This game is different than the previous three. It’s bigger, more important and much more difficult. And one of the reasons is the rival itself: Mexico.
They might not be playing as good as they can. They might have escaped the group stage by defeating only Iran (and doing it in the last 15 minutes of the game thanks to an incredible mistake by defender REZAEI). They might have been unable to score against humble Angola and they might have played a horrible first half against Portugal. But they are really dangerous for Argentina.

I’m confident in our team once again. I’m confident after seeing our players singing inside the bus that took them to the stadium. Letting all the adrenaline go. Losing it. Enjoying the moment as they prepare to play the most important football match of their lives.

They look focused. They don’t look like they are underestimating anybody (like they seemed to do in 2002!) and that’s the spirit I want to see coming from them.

The last time we won a knock out match in a World Cup was 16 years ago! Even though we advanced to the quarter finals in France ’98, we did so by beating England in a penalty shoot-out, after drawing 2-2.
In USA ’94 we lost against Romania in the second round and in Korea-Japan 2002 we went home in the first round. So if you’re looking for our last victory in a game like the one we have today, you’ve got to go all the way to Turin in Italy ’90 when we defeated Brazil thanks to a wonderful assist by MARADONA for CANIGGIA to score after rounding TAFFAREL.

These group of players have the chance to make a little history by winning today and to get the better out of a tough rival that kept us at bay in the last Confederations Cup’s semifinal when we had to go all the way to the penalty shoot-out.

They’ve got an Argentinean manager (Ricardo LAVOLPE) and a striker who was also born in our country (Guillermo FRANCO). They know us to the very last detail and they know how to play against us.

But today, we’ve got to birthday boys! Juan Roman RIQUELME is celebrating his 28th birthday today and he’ll try everything to have plenty of things to remember in the future.

And talking about the future, Lionel MESSI is also blowing the candles today. 19 years old for the best young player in the world, who will again start the match sitting on the bench, waiting for the second half to come, to have another chance to shine.

Our line-up for today sends me good vibes. I like our starting 11 and here they are for you to have it before the match begins:

1. ABBONDANZIERI
2. AYALA
3. SORIN (captain)
6. HEINZE
13. SCALONI (thank you PEKERMAN for not using COLOCCINI today!)
5. CAMBIASSO
8. MASCHERANO
18. Maxi RODRIGUEZ
10. RIQUELME
7. SAVIOLA
9. CRESPO

So a back line of SCALONI-AYALA-HEINZE-SORIN (with SORIN going forward everytime Mexico allow him to and SCALONI allways staying back, like BURDISSO did in our first three matches before he got injured).
The same midfield that started against Ivory Coast and Holland and the striking partnership of the first two matches.

The key to this game for Argentina?

Pass the ball around. Don’t get into Mexico’s rhythm and try to give RIQUELME the ball. Win the midfield battle through CAMBIASSO and MASCHERANO and use MAXI’s runs from the right and SORIN’s from the left to surprise Mexico if they are on the attack.

And if we manage to score first, don’t forget what we love to see the most: ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK and most importantly: KEEP ON ATTACKING!

VAMOS ARGENTINA!

Argentina 0 – Holland 0

Last Friday, after Argentina produced the best performance of this World Cup, my question was: How can I keep the cool? The match against Holland provided me with the perfect answer.

In a way, I’m happy with that. Somehow, I was feeling notoriously uncomfortable being in that position. I hated to hear everybody talking about Argentina being the new main candidate to win the World Cup, taking the pressure out of Brazil and, like my colleague Rodrigo FRESTON said in his blog at Soccernet, we were helping the World Champions by encouraging them to play more relaxed and giving them the right motivation to face every match.

But before I keep on talking about Brazil and who is favourite and who is not, there was an intense football match last night and I would like to share my thoughts with you.

Respect was present all over the field. Two teams with a great rivalry and a rich footballing history. Defeat would have been hard to take. Qualification to the second round was already in the bag. There were a lot of factors indicating that a 0-0 draw was a ‘happy’ result for both Argentina and Holland.

It’s hard to make an in-depth analysis with both teams playing with a lot of substitutes. Key players like CRESPO, SAVIOLA, SORIN and HEINZE (ARG) and ROBBEN, VAN BRONCKHORST, HEITINGA, MATHIJSEN and VAN BOMMEL (NED) were all missing, so if both teams advance and meet up again in the final (it could happen) I don’t think the match we will see will be similar and will serve as a valid precedent. It’ll be a whole different movie, with plenty of other actors taking part.

PEKERMAN played with the idea of replacing CRESPO with CRUZ and SAVIOLA with TEVEZ. But in the end, and just minutes before the match, he decided it was a good opportunity to give Lionel MESSI the first of the many World Cup starts he will have in his career.

It looked like a good idea, but for it to be a brilliant idea, we would have needed a goal coming in the first half. That would’ve been the key to open up the Dutch defense, because if they were behind in the score, they would have come forward a little bit more, letting MESSI and TEVEZ to play their best game, with lots of spaces to go forward.

The first 20 minutes were dominated by Holland. The Oranje had more possession and they controlled the flow of the game, but they were not creating chances. Argentina never felt the pressure and when we did, ABBONDANZIERI showed the security people were questioning him about before the World Cup.

After those initial moments, RIQUELME started putting the ball underneath his right shoe and we saw a couple of flashing appearances by MESSI while TEVEZ was always dangerous but ‘messy’ (oh…yeah…the irony!), and that was not enough to beat Edwin VAN DER SAR.

The most dangerous action of that first half almost ended in an own goal by Holland’s number 3, Khalid BOULAHROUZ, after a free kick by RIQUELME when TEVEZ was charging towards the near post.

Maxi RODRIGUEZ had an effort that went just wide and little else.

To tell you the truth, I think the most important thing that happened in the first half (if not in the whole match) was Nicolas BURDISSO’s injury. He has a sprain in his right knee and he is out of the Mexico match.

During the second half it was more of the same. None of the teams showed a real ambition to win it.

TEVEZ showed a lot of movement going forward, but sometimes he was a little bit selfish and, in my opinion, he and MESSI were sometimes isolated against the Dutch defense.

I thought, at that point, the best thing would have been to start with Julio CRUZ along with TEVEZ, to give the team a legit big striker who could keep the orange defense busy. And then replace him with MESSI midway through the second half.

Then again, if we scored in the first half, MESSI and TEVEZ on the field would have been lethal in counter attacks and with plenty of room to run, so it was a worthy bet by PEKERMAN. Besides, to give MESSI and TEVEZ the chance to play 90 minutes and show what they can do, while give SAVIOLA and CRESPO the chance to rest and forget about the yellow card they saw in the first round.

MESSI started to lose his explosion and his breath so he was replaced and we didn’t have the chance to see him playing alongside Pablo AIMAR.
It was good to see him taking on the field, but he had little time to show his ability.

I’m glad the Group C was left behind. After crashing dramatically in another version of the Group of Death in 2002, it’s a fantastic feeling to advance in the World Cup and to have no suspensions and only two injured players (sensible injuries, but none of them irreplaceable and both can comeback before the final –if we reach it, please, let’s reach it!-).

Right now, I’m keeping the cool and that’s superb, because it was too much pressure piling up inside me and I think amongst our players too.
Now their confidence remains intact, they are still undefeated, they will be respected but they are not the favourites to win it all. Let’s leave that privilege to our brilliant neighbours. But we know, deep inside, we know that in any given day, we are capable of coming up with another perfect performance.

Let’s do it against Mexico now and don’t think of who will come next. That’s a mistake I’m making everyday. You’re welcome to do it with me, I won’t mind, even if I have a lot of company…yeah…you know…almost 38 million people!