So after all the will he won’t he surrounding the national team Diego Maradona has been officially installed as manager of the Argentina Soccer Team. His first game in charge will be against Scotland on November 19^th.

The national idol who even the most patriotic Englishman will admit to secretly admiring has received a mixed backing from fans around the world. Although not doubting his obvious talent as a footballer can he transfer his skills into the world of management? Whatever happens it will be one hell of a ride and Maradona took the questions of his appointment in his stride.

“Being the coach of the national team is an honour for me, I will do my best to succeed. We will work every day to make Argentina have a better national team day by day.”

“I am coming into a very beautiful dream,” he said. “My spirit is calm. I cannot ask for more. This is the best moment in my life.”

After replacing Alfio Basile who resigned after the shock defeat to Chile, Maradona appears to want to bring his own philosophy onto the team with his first major change offering the captain position to Liverpool favourite Javier Mascherano.

“I want Mascherano to be my captain because I believe he is the Argentinian player who is closest to the idea I have about the Argentinian shirt - sweat for it, sacrifice for it, being a professional, being close to the teammate.”

The squad for the friendly against Scotland on November 19^th is below:

Goalkeepers:

Juan Pablo Carrizo (Lazio), Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar)

Defenders:

Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan), Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich), Daniel Daaz (Getafe) Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid), Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle/)

Midfielders:

Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid), Angel Di Maria (Benfica), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle), Luis Gonzalez (Porto), Jose Sosa (Bayern Munich)

Forwards:

Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Carlos Tevez (Manchester United), Lisandro Lopez (Porto), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli), German Denis (Napoli)

©2008 Argentina Soccer. All Rights Reserved.

Both Buenos Aires giants fell to surprise defeats on Sunday, seeing them both embarrassingly fall down the table.

Clausura champions River Plate suffered a dreadful defeat that saw them drop to an unacceptable 17^th place. The 3-1 defeat against San Martin saw their opponents rise to 4^th in the table. River started the game well getting a goal through Omar Merlo – 11mins. That was the end of the good news for the River as San Martin struck back through Gustavo Ibanez – 34mins before finishing the game off in the second half with late goals from Daniel Vega – 77mins and Enzo Bruno – 87mins.

Meanwhile Boca Juniors were surprised by Tigre at the Bombonera losing an exciting game 3-2. Tigre surprised the hosts with two goals in the opening 12 minutes from Carlos Luna – 6mins and Martin Morel – 12mins. This seemed to wake Boca up and they were level within 16 minutes through Sebastian Battaglia – 22mins and an own goal from Johnathan Blanco – 28mins.

From here it looked like the home team and favourites were going to walk the rest of the game and gain an important victory. Unfortunately for Boca fans this wasn’t the case! Tigre went back ahead thanks to Martin Morel – 32mins and Sebastian Battaglia the earlier goalscorer was sent off for Boca only seven minutes later. The second half lacked the entertainment of the first but Boca managed to make plenty of chances but couldn’t put any of them away, leaving the home side with a rare defeat and egg on their faces.

Leaders San Lorenzo remained on top after beating Colon de Santa Fe 3-0 with goals coming from Gonzalo Bergessio – 21mins, 68mins and Pablo Barrientos – 47mins. This win see’s the leaders maintain their lead in the title race currently 2 points ahead of second place Tigre.

In the other matches Newell’s Old Boys squeezed past Independiente 1-0 while Gimnasia de La Plata beat Godoy Cruz 3-1. Lanus and Huracan played out a miserable 0-0 stalemate. Racing Club edged Estudiantes de La Plata 2-1, Arsenal de Sarandi came back from the dead to beat Banfield 3-2 and Gimnasia y Esgrima Jujuy drew 1-1 against Argentinos Juniors.

©2008 Argentina Soccer. All Rights Reserved.

Two of the most talked about stories of the summer have been Cristiano Ronaldo’s possible move to Real Madrid and Lionel Messi’s on-off Olympic hopes. This got me thinking about who of the two is the better player? Sir Alex Ferguson thinks that it would be wrong for the Portuguese winger to move to Madrid and I can understand why.

In the Premiership, Ronaldo is the top player, the top dog. A move to La Liga would see him competing against the likes of Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero week in, week out. This is not what the orange nike boot wearing wing wizard wants to be doing if he wants to prove to the world that he is the best. Messi is currently stuck in the middle of one of the biggest ever club vs country battles as Argentina want him playing in the Olympics and Barcelona apparently need him for the European champions league qualifiers. Messi is adamant that he wants to play for his country but Barcelona his employers are pushing it all the way to the high courts.

The Argentina Soccer star is currently in great form, starring in Barcelona’s recent tour of Scotland and scoring a hat-trick against Dundee United in a recent friendly. Dundee manager Craig Levein had to admit that the attacker was in a class of his own and that nearly every one of his players tried to get his Barcelona kit after the match “He was fantastic to watch and what a difference he made to the game. It’s not often that we lose 5-1 and I’m smiling watching the opposition playing football. He was just a real delight to watch.”

Ronaldo showed last season that he is definitely on of the best players in the world scoring an awesome 42 goals in a double winning season. But last season wasn’t the best for Messi as he was often out injured for long periods. He did however get the better of Ronaldo in the two legs of the European Champions League Semi Final even if Manchester United were the ones that went through.

Now Messi is fully fit and it is Ronaldo with the injury problems and whilst Messi doesn’t know whether he’ll be in Beijing or Barcelona this August, Ronaldo is unsure of what club he will be at. The new Barcelona Manager Josep Guardiola wants the Argentina soccer player to help the club qualify for the Champions League but his national team are offering a chance to defend the Olympic crown and a gold medal!

©2008 Argentina Soccer. All Rights Reserved.

After weeks of speculation Pablo Aimar has signed for Portuguese giants Benfica from Real Zaragoza for 6.5 million euros. The Argentina Soccer international playmaker who is affectionately nicknamed “The Clown” has signed a 4 year contract with the Eagles and has been seen as a like for like replacement for the legendary Rui Costa, who retired at the end of last season.

During his presentation as Benfica player the former River Plate star told the press why he decided to move to Portugal and not to Newcastle or Portsmouth. “Rui Costa [Benfica Sporting Director] convinced me to come, I know the coach and the backroom team, I know Benfica are one of the biggest clubs in the world, and it feels great to play for one of them,”

Rumours of poor fitness and injury problems have surrounded Aimar for most of his career but he rejected the idea that he’s injury prone and is looking to show that he is still a world class talent. “I am in good physical condition and I hope that I will only get better when I start working with Pako Ayestaran. I want to play my best in a team that win a lot of games, I will have to work hard, that’s what you can expect from me, a lot of commitment”

After taking on the sporting director role at Benfica, Rui Costa spoke of his delight on the signing and Aimar’s enthusiasm to play for the club. “We really liked to see Aimar’s wish to play for the club. That’s what I had heard from him since day 1. It took longer than expected, we were not the only club that wanted him, but what pleases me is that he is here.”

Although playing in Portugal is not as high a standard as La Liga the Argentine soccer star will be looking to show his worth over the coming seasons and a player of his quality should be pushing Benfica on to get into the knockout stages for this coming seasons champions league and hopefully break Porto’s stranglehold on the league title.

©2008 Argentina Soccer. All Rights Reserved.

The new coach at Inter is Jose Mourinho and it was whilst he was Chelsea manager that he sent Crespo out on loan so it is unlikely that he will be rejoining the club and will be looking for pastures new. Due to this many teams have been linked with the prolific goal-scorer, one of these being Independiente. The Buenos Aires based club are looking for a high profile attacker after selling top scorer German Denis to Napoli only a few weeks ago.

Apparently Crespo had hoped to stay in Serie A for another year before returning home but the recent interest from several top teams in Argentina may see him come back early in a move that would prove a real coup for Independiente. According to reports in Argentina and Italy, Crespo has agreed a verbal contract to join Independiente although this is yet to be confirmed. He is also believed to prefer a move home so that he can get back into the Argentina Soccer national team as he missed the recent world cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Brazil but still hopes to be in the squad for the 2010 World Cup.

©2008 Argentina Soccer. All Rights Reserved.

U-23 coach, Sergio “Checho” Batista has called 17 players for his Argentina Soccer squad in preparation for the Olympic Games in August from 6 to 23:

Goalkeepers:
Oscar Ustari (Getafe, Spain), Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar, Holland)

Defenders:
Pablo Zabaleta (Espanyol, Spain), Ezequiel Garay (Real Madrid, Spain), Federico Fazio (Sevilla, Spain), Fabián Monzón (Boca Juniors)

Midfielders:
Fernando Gago (Real Madrid, Spain), Éver Banega (Valencia, Spain), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool, England), Jose Sosa (Bayern Munich, Germany), Juan Roman Riquelme (Boca Juniors)

Attackers:
Diego Buonanotte (River Plate); Angel Di María (Benfica, Portugal), Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Spain), Kun Agüero (Atletico Madrid, Spain), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli, Italy), Lautaro Acosta (Sevilla, Spain).

Batista still has the option of calling three players over the age of 23 but so far Martin Demichelis, Nicolas Burdisso and Fabricio Coloccini have been denied leave by their respective clubs. He’ll be looking to sort that out quickly as the deadline for the squad list is Wednesday 23rd of July. Gabriel Heinze is the next expected to get a call but it is unlikely that his club Real Madrid will be looking to let him miss the start of the season. There are four Argentina Soccer players on a back up list in case of serious injury and they are: Nicolás Navarro (Napoli, Italy), Emiliano Insúa (Liverpool, England), Nicolas Pareja (Anderlecht, Belgium) and Lucas Biglia (Anderlecht, Belgium).

©2008 Argentina Soccer. All Rights Reserved.

Having been previously linked with Portsmouth and Manchester City, Kevin Keegan was delighted to announce his first signing of the summer. “Jonas is a wonderful signing for us. I know lots of other clubs were interested in him but he’s a terrific addition to our squad. He’s an exciting player and I am sure our fans will enjoy watching him.”

The Newcastle fans are well known to enjoy watching the more entertaining flair players with Faustino Asprilla and David Ginola being previous heroes and will no doubt enjoy Gutierrez’s celebration when he scores his first goal for the club. The right midfielder dons a spiderman mask in celebration for every goal he scores!

Signing a five year deal the former Velez Sarsfield player will be looking to make an impact in the North East and was obviously pleased signing for Newcastle. “I cannot tell you how delighted I am to be signing for Newcastle,” said Gutierrez. “The Premier League is the place to play and I cannot wait to meet my new team-mates. I want to prove myself to my team-mates this season.”

©2008 Argentina Soccer. All Rights Reserved.

After a great Clausura Championship it is inevitable that the top players in the Argentina Soccer league will be linked with moves abroad or to one of the Argentine giants like Boca or River. Here we have a list of players who have either recently moved or who will be in the near distant future.

Radamel Falcao Garcia – Yet another River Plate player who has been linked with a move to Europe. Known as one of the finest strikers in South America, the Colombia international has been linked with Manchester Utd, Juventus and Real Madrid. Falcao (pictured ) who scored twice in River’s 3-2 win over Banfield at the end of the Clausura later admitted it could be his last game for Los Millionarios. Watch this space…

Sebastian Abreu – The ex Deportivo La Coruna striker played an important role as River Plate won the Clausura Championship. Although the tall striker kept his best form for the Copa Libertadores where he notched 7 goals. Beitar Jerusalem have recently confirmed his signing for the club but rumours persist linking him with a move back to Mexico.

Dario Cvitanich – Finishing as top scorer in most countries will attract attention and the Banfield striker has done just that netting 13 goals in the Clausura Championship. Recently signing for Ajax Amsterdam for 7 million euros, he arrives in Holland with a large reputation and after a few seasons expect to see him in La Liga or the Premiership.

German Denis - The goal-scoring sensation nicknamed “The Bull” has earned a move to Serie A outfit Napoli. Well known to score goals with either foot or his head, his physical style of play will give many Italian defences problems this coming season. A snip at only 6 million euros.

Juan Carlos Menseguez - With Boca’s Rodrigo Palacio looking likely to sign for Lazio or Barcelona, the San Lorenzo striker would be a perfect like for like replacement. Linked with a move to the Bundesliga it will be a surprise if Menseguez is still a San Lorenzo player come the opening season.

Fabian Vargas - Linked with Juventus, Atletico Madrid and FC Porto the brilliant Boca midfielder has had an excellent season and although the technically exceptional Colombian international won’t be sold cheap he has enough talent to make big waves in one of Europe’s top leagues.

©2008 Argentina Soccer. All Rights Reserved.

According to Independiante’s secretary Emilio Mattera the deal is as good as done with only formalities left to be done in the players contract.

“We will be in Naples next Monday to put pen to paper and present the player to the media,” Mattera said. “Last week the player underwent a medical with the staff from both clubs present.”

Napoli have a well known history of signing Argentina Soccer stars the most well known obviously being a certain Diego Maradona. Argentina Soccer National team mate Ezequiel Lavezzi was believed to of recommended Denis to the Napolian board of directors and they’ll be hoping that the two attackers will push the club forward towards a European place next season.

©2008 Argentina Soccer. All Rights Reserved.

“Personally, I think that this is the right moment to look for another challenge,” he told O JOGO. “The players end a cycle in each club and I feel I have given many things to FC Porto, just like the club to me, and this is the right moment to take a decision that is good for everyone. The board wants me to stay but I have already expressed my intention to them.”

Although being hotly tipped to sign for Atletico Madrid, he has denied that there has been any contact with the Spanish club before admitting that he nearly signed for Valencia last summer.

“That was just rumours. At least they never spoke to me and the people in Porto never informed me of any contacts. Last year I spoke to Valencia, who were very close to signing me. Villareal also contacted me but it was just initial talks. I think it is now time for something more serious, then we will see what happens,”

The Argentina Soccer international will no doubt be linked with clubs from Spain, Italy and England over the coming weeks and a move to a club playing champions league football might give him the exposure needed to pressure Juan Roman Riquelme, Juan Veron and Fernando Gago for a place in the national team.

©2008 Argentina Soccer. All Rights Reserved.