FIFA Ranking - Argentina

FIFA Ranking - February 2012

For the first time in eight years, Argentina has dropped below the top ten in FIFA rankings. The worst ranking Argentina has ever had was back in 1996 when it ranked in 24th place.




FIFA Ranking - Argentina 11th place (February 2012)
National team ranking - Argentina (February 2012)

Argentina Vs Switzerland (Friendly - February 29 2012)

The Argentine coach, Sabella has selected 18 players for the friendly against Switzerland on Feb. 29th 2012 in Berne, Switzerland. The fresh & exciting name on this latest call-up list is that of Erik Lamela, the young up-start who proved himself in the national youth teams.


Di María, Ángel (Real Madrid-Spain)
Higuaín, Gonzalo (Real Madrid - Spain)
Messi, Lionel (Barcelona - Spain)
Agüero, Sergio (Manchester City - UK)
Mascherano, Javier (Barcelona - Spain)
Palacio, Rodrigo (Genoa - Italy)
Diaz, Daniel (Getafe - Spain)
Romero, Sergio (Sampdoria - Italy)
Campagnaro, Hugo (Nápoli - Italy)
Fernández, Federico (Nápoli - Italy)
Gago, Fernando (Rome - Italy)
Lamela, Erik (Rome - Italy)
Zabaleta, Pablo (Manchester City - UK)
Rodríguez, Maximiliano (Liverpool - UK)
Monzón, Luciano (Nice- France)
Garay, Ezequiel (Benfica - Portugal)
Rojo, Marcos (Spartak Moscow - Russia)
Sosa, José (Metalist - Ukraine)

Argentina Vs USA: Line-Up

The Argentine coach, Sergio Batista, has chosen the 25 players he will bring to his two friendlies against the United States & Costa Rica. Again, no sign of Carlos Tevez

Argentina Vs U.S Results: Tie 1 (Cambiasso) - 1 (Agudelo)

See the Game Preview

USA vs Argentina: A Condensed History by Goal.com

Schedule:
Argentina Vs United States (March 26, 7:00pm ET in New Jersey, USA)
Argentina Vs Costa Rica (March 29 in Costa Rica)

Click here to see the U.S. Roster



Argentine Roster (Confirmed Starter team in Bold)

Goalie:
Mariano Andújar (Catania-Italy)
Adrián Gabbarini (Independiente-Argentina)
Agustín Marchesín (Lanús-Argentina)

Defender:
Javier Zanetti (Internazionale de Milán-Italy)
Gabriel Milito (Barcelona-Spain)
Ezequiel Garay (Real Madrid-Spain)
Nicolás Otamendi (F.C. Porto-Portugal)
Nicolás Burdisso (Roma-Italy)
Marcos Rojo (Spartak de Moscú-Russia)
Marcos Angeleri (Sunderland-UK)

Midfielder:
Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City-UK)
Federico Fazio (Sevilla-Spain)
Javier Mascherano (Barcelona-Spain)
Mario Bolatti (Internacional-Brasil)
Ever Banega (Valencia-Spain)
Fernando Belluschi (F.C. Porto-Portugal)
Esteban Cambiasso (Inter-Italy)
Lucas Biglia (Anderlecht-Bélgium)
Javier Pastore (Palermo-Italy)
Ángel Di María (Real Madrid-Spain)
José Sosa (Nápoli-Italy)

Forward/Striker:
Lionel Messi (Barcelona-Spain)
Ezequiel Lavezzi (Nápoli-Italy)
Nicolás Gaitán (Benfica - Portugal)
Eduardo Salvio (Benfica-Portugal)

Argentina Vs Venezuela: Line-up

Here is the line-up for the Argentina Vs Venezuela (friendly) on Mar 16th in San Juan, Argentina. The coach, Sergio Batista, is going to experiment with an "all domestic" team from Argentina's 1st Division to see which standouts he can eventually include to the main all-star team which includes all the top international players (Messi, lavezzi, Mascherano ....)


Game Results: Arg 4 - Ven 1
Goals by: Mouche (2), Chávez, Aued

See Video Highlights

The confirmed players for today's game are in Bold letters

Goalie:
Agustín Marchesín (Lanús)
Javier García (Boca Juniors)

Defenders:
Ismae Quilez (Colón de Santa Fe)
Julián Velázquez (Independiente)
Jonathan Maidana (River Plate)
Fernando Tobio (Vélez Sarsfield)
Luciano Monzón (Boca Juniors)
Lisando López (Arsenal F.C.)
Iván Pillud (Racing Club)
Gastón Díaz (Vélez Sarsfield)

Midfielders:
Diego Valeri (Lanús)
Cristian Chávez Boca Juniors)
Luciano Aued (Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata)
Fabián Rinaudo (Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata)
Claudio Jacob (Racing Club)
Ariel Rojas (Godoy Cruz)
Franco Razzotti (Vélez Sarsfield)
Mauricio Sperdutti (Newell's Old Boys)
Maximiliano Moralez (Vélez Sarsfield)

Forward/Strikers:
Pablo Mouche (Boca Juniors)
Juan Manuel Martínez (Vélez Sarsfield)
Matías De Federico (Independiente)

Carlos Tevez: Bio

Carlos Tevez Profile & Bio:

Name: Carlos Alberto Tevez
Nick Name: El Apache
Birthday: Feb 5, 1984
Birth Place: Ciudadela, Buenos Aires
Height: 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Primary Position: Striker/Forward
Current Team: Manchester City, Argentine National
Youth Team: Boca Juniors
Previous Teams: Corinthians,
West Ham United, Manchester United

Bio & Stats Sources:
Manchester City's Bio
Soccernet's Bio
Wikipedia Bio
Goal.com's Bio


Social Media:
Facebook Page - Twitter


SoccerPlayerTracker Postings


Player Compilations:
Compilation 1
Compilation 2: Manchester City goals 2009/2010


Latest News on Carlos Tevez:

Javier Pastore: Bio

Javier Pastore Profile & Bio:

Name: Javier Matías Pastore
Birthday: June 20 1989
Birth Place: Córdoba, Argentina
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.87 m)
Primary Position: Midfielder (Attacking)
Current Team: Paris Saint-Germain, Argentine National
Youth Team: Talleres
Previous Teams: Palermo, Talleres, Huracan


Bio Sources:
Paris St.-Germain Bio Page
Soccernet's Bio Page
Wikipedia Bio Page
Goal.com's Bio Page
Bleacher Report

Social Media:
Facebook Page - Twitter - Blog

SoccerPlayerTracker Postings


Latest News on Javier Pastore:

Possible Line-up for Argentina in World Cup

Based on what the Argentine media is saying - Maradona's selections seem to be coming together. Below is a very likely scenerio


Goalie
Sergio Romero
Mariano Andújar
Diego Pozo

Defense
Nicolás Otamendi
Martín Demichelis
Walter Samuel
Gabriel Heinze
Nicolás Burdisso
Clemente Rodríguez
Marcos Angeleri or Javier Zanetti or Nicolás Pareja

Mid-Field
Jonás Gutiérrez
Javier Mascherano
Juan Sebastián Verón
Angel Di María
José Sosa
Javier Pastore
Mario Bolatti or Rodrigo Braña or Jesús Dátolo or Maximiliano Rodríguez or Juan Mercier

Stiker/Fowards
Lionel Messi
Gonzalo Higuaín
Carlos Tevez
Sergio Agüero
Diego Milito
Martín Palermo or Ezequiel Lavezzi

Messi, Tevez, & Aguero will be most likely play against Colombia

It appears Maradona will play the wonder trio of Messi, Tevez & Aguero against Colombia this Saturday. For one, they were seen playing together in today's practice session at their Ezieza airport training center in Buenos Aires. Another clue is Messi stating to the media that he loves to play along side Aguero & Tevez.

On the defensive end, there is a major change in the net - Maradona chose Mariano Andújar from Argentina's local team Estudiantes to be the goalie. It will be his first start as the national goalie.


Played in Today's Practice Session
Mariano Andújar (Estudiantes, Arg )
Daniel Díaz (Getafe, Spain)
Martín Demichelis (Bayern Munich, Germany)
Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid, Spain)
Fernando Gago (Real Madrid, Spain)
Javier Mascherano (Liverpool, UK)
Jonás Gutiérrez (Newcastle, UK)
Juan Sebastián Verón (Estudiantes, Arg)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Spain)
Carlos Tevez (Manchester United, UK)
Sergio Agüero (Atlético de Madrid, Spain)


Finally, I wanted to share with you an interesting interview of Javier Zanetti by FIFA.com - This interview provides insights on the curent state of the national team.

Go to the Fifa.com interview of Javier Zanetti

Maradona selects a new national team made up of local players

As expected, Maradona and his advisers decided to select a "local" national team consisting of the most talented domestic players. This will enable Maradona to train once week and prepare for the upcoming world qualifiers against Ecuador & Colombia. This shift in strategy proves how serious Maradona and AFA officials are on qualifying for South Africa next summer. For now, the only objective for the "local" team is to qualify - I will publish statistics on this new team in the very near future.

The "Local" National Team

Cristian Campestrini (Arsenal)

Mariano Andújar (Estudiantes de La Plata)

Marcos Angeleri (Estudiantes de La Plata)

Juan Verón (Estudiantes de La Plata)

Juan Forlín (Boca Juniors)

Ezequiel Muñoz (Boca Juniors)

Sebastian Battaglia (Boca Juniors)

Martín Palermo (Boca Juniors)

Nicolás Otamendi (Vélez Sarsfield)

Emiliano Papa (Vélez Sarsfield)

Maximiliano Moralez (Vélez Sarsfield)

Ignacio Canuto (Argentinos Juniors)

Matías Caruzzo (Argentinos Juniors)

Alexis Ferrero (Colón de Santa Fe)

Diego Pozo (Colón de Santa Fe)

Hernán Bernardello (Newell's Old Boys)

Mauro Formica (Newell's Old Boys)

Daniel Montenegro (Independiente)

Fabián Rinaudo (Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata)

José Sand (Lanús)

Sebastián Blanco (Lanús)

Eduardo Salvio (Lanús)

Gonzalo Bergessio (San Lorenzo de Almagro)

Franco Zuculini (Racing Club)

Matías De Federico (Huracán)

Milton Caraglio (Rosario Central)

Back to square one for Maradona

After Argentina's historic loss to Bolivia, Maradona will have to re access his strategy & players when playing in high altitude locations. In Bolivia, he completely underestimated the forces of nature and the soccer abilities of the Bolivians. He, however, will soon get a chance to redeem himself when they play Ecuador on June 10th in Quito (2,850 m/9,350 ft) the second highest capital city after La Paz, Bolivia. I agree with Maradona that high altitude soccer should not be banned. It is just one extreme condition out of many such as high heat/humidity or extreme cold that one needs to prepare for. What really annoys me is the lack of mental and physical preparation the team had going into this game - After this horrific loss in altitude, I think Maradona will look very closely at the strategy used by the "Ghost Team" of coach Enrique Omar Sívori in 1973 (Qualifiers for Germany 1974). Basically, Sivori selected a young team of domestic players and had them train secretly in Argentina's high altitiude city of Tilcara (Jujuy province - 2500 m/8,200 ft)
There they trained 40+ days until the day of the game where they were joined by a few other high profile players. The outcome of that game was a 1-0 victory for Argentina.


1974 National Team

I will keep a close eye on any new players he might considering or should consider integrating to the national team.

Argentina Vs Bolivia: High elevation will be a factor

Argentina will soon take on Bolivia in Bolivia's high altitude capital city of La Paz at nearly 12,000 feet of altitude. Most International teams never have to subject their teams to these extreme conditions which can cause hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and a multitude of related ailments. FIFA even tried to ban international games from being played in ultra-high altitude stadiums located in Bolivia, Peru, & Colombia in 2007 but eventually retracted due to public outcry from these nations.
In my last trip to Argentina, I took an excursion to the Andian region of Mendoza at an elevation of 10,000 ft. I remember feeling short of breath and extremely lethargic just by walking.

Given all we know about the effects of high altitude, I think Maradona should've given his team more time to acclimate to the high elevation before Wednesday's game which is only 2 days away. The team is actually flying to Santa Cruz de la Sierra tomorrow which is in the low-land area of Bolivia (1,365 ft). The team will not get to La Paz (12,000 ft) until the day of the game. These conditions will definitely slow the pace of the game and will be a key factor on the formation and players Maradona will choose.


Argentina's Record in La Paz, Bolivia:

Won 3 games - Lost 3 games - Tied 1 game

1957 (Qualifiers for Sweden 1958) - Lost 2-0
1965 (Qualifiers for England 1966)- Won 2-1
1969 (Qualifiers for Mexico 1970) - Lost 3-1
1973 (Qualifiers for Germany 1974 - Won 1-0
1997 (Qualifiers for France 1998) - Lost 1-2
2001 (Qualifiers for Japan/Korea 2002) - Tied 3-3
2005 (Qualifiers for Germany 2006) - Won 2-1

Maradona's Ultra Offensive Strategy Produced Goals

Yesterday's game against Venezuela produced four 1st class goals from Messi, Tevez, Maxi, & Aguero. The line-up that I posted the day before only had one change which was to have Zanetti on Defence. This change demonstrates how determined Maradona was to make this a purely attacking team since Zanetti is known for his ability to hold the ball and switch to an attacking role when necessary. Messi wore the number 10 and made it proud by scoring and setting up goals. The important thing is that a new team has been officially consecrated in this new era which I have full confidence in. Thanks again Maradona.

Maradona's Line-up Against Venezuela

According to the Argentine media, it appears Maradona is preparing an all-front assault on Venezuela by placing his biggest guns (Messi, Aguero, & Tevez) on the front line. Most practice sessions have included a 3-4-3 formation (see below). Mascherano & Gago will be in charge of circulating the ball & controlling the mid-field which is a crucial element to the Argentine formula. If this formation does play on Saturday it will be a true test as to whether this super trio can jive together and produce goals.


Probable Team Against Venezuela (Click player for Stats)

Tevez ---------- Aguero ---------- Messi

Guiterrez - Mascherano - Gago - Rodriguez

Heinze ---------- Diaz ---------- Angeleri

---------------Carrizo------------------

Argentina's National Team Statistics

Here are some interesting team statistics that I have compiled from primary club sites and notable news sources.

Average Height Metric (U.S.)
Entire Team: 179 cm (5ft 9in)
Midfielders: 179 cm (5ft 9in)
Forwards: 173.5 cm (5 ft 7in)
Defenders: 180 cm (5ft 9in)
Goalies: 187 cm (6ft 1in)

Average Age of Team
Entire Team: 26 yrs

Youngest Players
Juan Forlin: 20 yrs
Sergio Aguero: 20 yrs

Oldest Players
Javier Zanetti: 35 yrs
Juan Sebastian Veron: 34 yrs

Birth Place (by Province)
Buenos Aires: 50%
Santa Fe: 40%
Other (Catamarca, Cordoba, Entre Rios): 10%

Current Clubs (by Country)
Argentina: 27%
Italy: 20%
Portugal: 12%
Spain: 23%
UK: 12%
Other (Germany, Mexico): 6%

Current Clubs (by Region)
America: 30%
Europe: 70%

Most Common Zodiac Signs
Aries & Gemini: 42%

Argentina's National Team list for World Cup Qualifiers

Maradona submitted his much anticipated sqaud list for the next two qualifing games with Venezuela & Bolivia. Two brand new faces on Maradona's list are Federico Vilar, goalie for Atlante of Mexico (32 yrs. old) & Juan Forlín, defender for Boca Juniors.

I hope to have Information profiles for all of these players by next week - So stay tuned.


The Official Squad list for Argentina (AFA's Website)

Forwards:
Lionel Messi (Barcelona, ESP), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid, ESP), Carlos Tevez (Manchester United, GBR), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli, ITA), Lisandro Lopez (Porto, POR), Diego Milito (Genoa, ITA).


Midfielders:
Fernando Gago (Real Madrid, ESP), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool, GBR), Maxi Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid, ESP), Luis Gonzalez (Porto, POR), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle United, GBR), Angel Di María (Benfica, POR), Sebastian Battaglia (Boca Juniors), Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiantes), Daniel Montenegro (Independiente)


Defenders:
Martín Demichelis (Bayern Munich, GER), Gabrel Heinze (Real Madrid, ESP), Javier Zanetti, Walter Samuel (Inter, ITA), Daniel Diaz (Getafe, ESP), Juan Forlin (Boca Juniors), Emiliano Papa (Velez Sarsfield), Marcos Angeleri (Estudiantes)


Goalkeepers:
Juan Pablo Carrizo (Lazio, ITA), Mariano Andujar (Estudiantes), Federico Vilar (Atlante, MEX)

Maradona - Hail to the Chief

Argentina 2 - France 0

Maradona is off to an awesome start as head coach. The team was off to a shakey start with unusually low ball possesion but after the sniper shot by Jonás Gutiérrez (23) the team managed to settle down. Messi did his thing with his magical abilities and Carlos Tevez had an immidiate impact after he subed for Aguero setting up Messi for his awesome goal. When Maxi Rodriguez & El Kun Aguero came off the field to be subed Maradona kissed them as a father would - So inspirational. I think Maradona is going to keep tweaking his formula but the main cast is set. However, Riquelme and maybe Veron will definitley get their chance. There is also exciting talent like Ezequiel Lavezzi and German Denis that need to get their shot. I also can't leave out the new goalie Juan Carrizo. He was a solid rock with magnets as hands.

What an exiting time to be an Argentine Soccer Fan...........