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Our talent from across the Atlantic

Roy Nemer
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We know now the 22 players called by COCO from our local league. We also know that he wants to take to the Copa America Venezuela 2007 a mix of those players and the best talents we´ve got playing in the European leagues.

OK, now here are the names that are almost certain for the upcoming Copa America:

Roberto ABBONDANZIERI
Roberto AYALA (captain)
Gabriel MILITO (COCO is really a fan of him and he didn´t disappoint against France)
Fernando GAGO (BASILE had him in Boca and he was a key part in that successful team)
Javier SAVIOLA
Lionel MESSI

One step behind this group are:

Gabriel HEINZE
Esteban CAMBIASSO
Carlos TEVEZ
Javier MASCHERANO (the duo of CARLITOS and MASCHE will depend on whether they are able to get a decent form by playing more minutes because if it wasn´t because they were in trouble at West Ham not playing that much, COCO would love to have them on board).

The big question mark remains on whether he picks Hernan CRESPO to opt for experience and a recognised striker or if he gambles with Mariano PAVONE to start building up for the future and try and find a new BATISTUTA in him.

RIQUELME: Is he a Prima-Donna?

Roy Nemer
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It’s well-known that Juan Román RIQUELME is not exactly an easy-going guy. He has always been impossible to talk with for the local press when he first came to the scene playing for Boca.

He would score a hat-trick and yet refuse to talk with the journalist after the match.

Some think he is special and once you get to know him and become his friend he is a great guy. Some think he always have the same face, the same look in his eyes. It doesn´t matter if he scores a crucial goal or he miss an all-important penalty kick. He´ll always have the same expression.

But the most controversial side of RIQUELME seem to take place in the kitchen of football: the dressing room.

The Chilean newspaper “La Tercera” have published an article about the rift between RIQUELME and Villarreal manager Manuel PELLEGRINI who have decided to exclude ROMÁN from his squad and sent him on loan to Boca Juniors.

Now the details that La Tercera have unveiled are shocking (to say the least).

Arguably, RIQUELME was guilty of the following acts of misconduct while at Villarreal:

• Complained about the weight of the ball

• Refused to participate in some volunteer team training

• Include family members on the team´s travelling buses

• Arrange a press conference to announce his retirement from international football at Villarreal without the consent of the club´s authorities

• Listen to music on his MP4 player while PELLEGRINI was giving the pre-match talk to the team.

Granted these are rumours or versions published in Chile, but knowing RIQUELME I have little doubts they are true.

Here´s the list with VERON confirmed and some (more) surprises

Roy Nemer
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Alfio BASILE made public his first list formed by Argentine footballers from our local league.

They will start training next Monday.

Here´s the list:

Goalkeepers:
Juan Pablo CARRIZO (River Plate)
Oscar USTARI (Independiente)

Defenders:
Paulo FERRARI (River Plate)
Daniel DÍAZ (Boca Juniors)
Eduardo TUZZIO (River Plate)
Hugo IBARRA (Boca Juniors)
Hernán PELLERANO (Vélez Sársfield)
Germán RÉ (Newell´s Old Boys)
Jonathan BOTTINELLI (San Lorenzo)

Midfielders:
Leonardo PONZIO (River Plate)
Fernando BELLUSCHI (River Plate)
Juan Sebastián VERÓN (Estudiantes)
Neri CARDOZO (Boca Juniors)
Agustín PELLETIERI (Lanús)
Sebastián LETO (Lanús)
Daniel MONTENEGRO (Independiente)
Cristian LEDESMA (San Lorenzo)
José SOSA (Estudiantes)

Forwards:
Mariano PAVONE (Estudiantes)
Ezequiel LAVEZZI (San Lorenzo)
Rodrigo PALACIO (Boca Juniors)
Mauro ZÁRATE (Vélez Sársfield)

Instead of 20 or 21 players that were mentioned, the list contains 22.

The difference from the list I´ve published the day before the official announcement are:

The inclussion of José SOSA (Estudiantes) and the San Lorenzo pair of: Jonathan BOTTINELLI and Cristian LEDESMA.

Also Mario BOLATTI (Belgrano) was in my list but now he wasn´t called up by COCO.

VERON wants to come back

Roy Nemer
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I´ve been doing the math and the numbers are not lying. Juan Sebastián VERÓN will be 34 years-old come South Africa 2010.

Is he as old as we tend to think? Or will he be able to get to the next World Cup as an impact player?

We are moments away from the moment in which COCO will name his first 20-21 players from the local league to start building up a team with the focus on the Copa America Venezuela 2007 (starting in June).

When all the main newspapers and websites from Argentina start to talk about a name, it´s almost certain that some piece of info have leaked out from the AFA and it´s just a matter of time until we can confirm the rumours.

Now Juan Sebastián VERÓN talked with the media (Olé.com.ar) and he´s saying he is anxiously waiting for the list to be officialised and is dreaming of seeing his name on it.

He said:

“The desire I’ve got, leads me to feel that I could be on the list, but nothing is official yet, there are rumours, but so far they´re only that: just rumours.

“I would love to be in the next World Cup. The only thing standing in my way (to South Africa 2010) could be my age, but I still feel plenty of will to play and to be in our national team. Even though I consider that I had a good career, it´ll be like closing something very important.”

In that very last sentence, I don´t think it´s clear if he means he wants to finish his career playing “something very important” as a World Cup or if he means that it´ll be “closing something very important” referring to the very hard period he had after the 2002 World Cup in which he was blame by the entire public opinion for Argentina´s quick elimination.

He added:

“I went through different phases, anger, frustration and I was asking my self “why?”. Then I calmed down and started to live with it (being away from the National Team). Even if football is very important for me, it never stops being just a sport and sometimes we create a big drama around it. It was not a nice sporting moment for me, because when you play football you always have a number of goals and to be a part of our national team is always one of them.”

A star coming back amongst 20 local names

Roy Nemer
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It has been rumoured that Coco BASILE will name a list of players from the Argentine league as early as this week.

The return of Juan Sebastián VERÓN is something that should not surprise anybody.

COCO wants to work with this group of players for the Copa America (Venezuela 2007 in June) but for that tournament, he will also call-up some big names from Europe.

In the meantime, he´ll have the time to work more time with his players than any regular big country national team and he can only benefit from that. Especially knowing that very soon, most of the players in the list will eventually move to Europe as well.

Now, before he makes that list public, here are the names that has been sounding strongly:

Goalkeepers:
Juan Pablo CARRIZO (River Plate)
Oscar USTARI (Independiente)

Defenders:
Paulo FERRARI (River Plate)
Daniel DÍAZ (Boca Juniors)
Eduardo TUZZIO (River Plate)
Hugo IBARRA (Boca Juniors)
Hernán PELLERANO (Vélez Sársfield)
Germán RÉ (Newell´s Old Boys)

Midfielders:
Mario BOLATTI (Belgrano)
Leonardo PONZIO (River Plate)
Fernando BELLUSCHI (River Plate)
Juan Sebastián VERÓN (Estudiantes)
Neri CARDOZO (Boca Juniors)
Agustín PELLETIERI (Lanús)
Sebastián LETO (Lanús)
Daniel MONTENEGRO (Independiente)

Forwards:
Mariano PAVONE (Estudiantes)
Ezequiel LAVEZZI (San Lorenzo)
Rodrigo PALACIO (Boca Juniors)
Mauro ZÁRATE (Vélez Sársfield)

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