Copa America: Rethink Argentina

Argentina's lost in Copa America final against Brazil was beyond words. I can't describe it rationally. It was a nightmare...

The Right Stuff
Something was not right for this game. It could be the day, month, year or whatever, something didn't look right. It wasn't just the lost, it's the way Argentina lost. 3 nil? Was it that easy for Brazil? It's reality that I was unable to grip. Question is, what did we do wrong? What did Mexico or Uruguay do right that we didn't do?

Men in the Middle
Nowadays, football is like a chess game. Success or failure is achieved by winning squares in the middle of a chessboard. That's what happen today, we lost the battle in midfield. We lost control. It was a mismatched. It was like watching a boxing match. That's show how much important the midfield is. My friend, Rio, has an inside view of the game.

Did someone says, "Final"?
Yes, this was the final of Copa America. The last step to the Title. We've been waiting for Argentina to be crowned as a champions. For the entire tournament, we've shown the world what beautiful game is. We've shown the world how to play attractive and offensive football. Everybody knows it and everybody loves it. We didn't just won the games, like Basile claimed, "...anybody can win a game, but we win games with style". Oh, that's enough about the style, Basile. This is the time to make a statement. This is final -- just win it!

We love what Argentina has done. We love the attractive and offensive style of football. The artistry and beautiful moves are what capture the heart of admirers. But, no coach wants to do this style anymore. Not in today's football. Brazil has abandoned it years ago. Football has become defensive and result industry.

We can build from this. We have the talent, this is what we are, and this is the future. But to go to the next level, we need better adjustments to counter what we failed today. We need the right pieces and the right balance. It's time to rethink and readjust to face the reality of football...


Related Blogosphere:
Figures….broken hearts…the beginning of a new era…
Are there explanations?

Argentina 3:0 Mexico - Highlights

Argentina 3:0 Mexico - Analysis

Defense
For the first time, the defenders were very comfortable with each other. There were some anxious moments but they managed to contain Mexican's attacks. Credits went to Heinze for the 1st goal to break the deadlock and his great vision able to spot Tevez for the 2nd goal.

Man in the Middle
We don't normally watch a defensive midfielder. But in modern football, a defensive midfielder is as big as today's strikers. You can ask Dunga to confirm. With Mascherano, he is the Riquelme on defensive side. He is the reason why the defense was so comfortable.

Dynamic Trio
Mexican defense were tight and able to restrict spaces for our forwards to operate. But when you have deadball specialist like Riquelme, he knows how to break it open. His freekick floated beautifully above everyone except Heinze. Using kungfu style (remember Cantona?), Heinze hooked the ball in for the 1st goal. But the night belongs to Tevez. His presence enough to soften Mexican's defense. That opened up space for Messi to score a beautiful goal of the tournament.

Man of The Match: Carlos Tevez

Related Posts:
Argentina 3-0 Mexico: Players' ratings

Latest: Argentina in Copa America Final!

Argentina went to Copa America final in style beating Mexico 3-0.

Goals scored by Gabriel Heinze in 45th minute of the 1st half when Juan Roman Riquelme made a wonderful freekick freezing the whole Mexico's defense including the goalkeeper. Lionel Messi scored Argentina's 2nd goal which could be the goal of the tournament when he chipped Mexican goalkeeper, Hugo Sanchez after he received the ball from Carlos Tevez. Riquelme made it 3-0 from penalty kick with cheeky chipped to beat Mexican's keeper again. Before that, Tevez were hustling into the penalty box and he was body checked by Marquez and the referee quickly pointed at the penalty spot.

This will be Argentina's second final against Brazil in Copa America.


* Photos from Yahoo Sports

Relatest posts:
Argentina v Mexico: Match coverage

Argentina 4:0 Peru - Highlights

Related Posts:
Argentina 4:0 Peru - Ratings

Argentina 4:0 Peru - Ratings

1. Pato (5/10)
Very, very quiet night. But he had 1 poor punched and suddenly his clearance led to 4th goal! Amazing!

2. Zanetti (6.5/10)
Basically, he's an extra midfielder and brought a lot of attacking excitement.

3. Ayala (5/10)
He had quiet game.

4. G. Milito (4.5/10)
Disappointing.

5. Heinze (7/10)
He improved a lot as the game progressed and he's the best defender in the game.

6. Mascherano (8/10)
Scary moment when he had brief injury. I looked away when the TV replayed it. He's the monster in middle and scored his second international goal.

7. Veron (4.5/10)
His game was below standard.

8. Cambiasso (4.5/10)
Again, he played his usual game. Just so-so.

9. Riquelme (8.5/10)
He's the man of the second half. He broke the deadlock, set up Messi's goal and added his second.

10. Messi (8.5/10)
He played very well through out the match and managed to get his 1st goal.

11. D. Milito (4/10)
Technically, he didn't received the ball very well, fouled a lot and gave Peru's defense confidence.

12 Tevez (9/10)
He's the difference. That's it, Man of the Match. Easy.

13. Gago (5/10)
Replaced Veron and good enough ball distributions.

14. Aimar (5/10)
Replaced Cambiasso.

15. Basile (7.5/10)
He had enough of D. Milito for 45 minutes and he took action immediately!

Related Posts:
1/4 Final
Argentina 4-0 Peru: Players' ratings

Argentina 1:0 Paraguay - Highlights

Argentina 1:0 Paraguay - Ratings

1. Pato (6/10)
Solid goalkeeping. Made 2 important saves

2. Ibarra (6/10)
Moved up a lot and made a lot of crosses. Beaten once but solid performance in defence

3. Burdisso (7/10)
Solid in defence. He's the best defender in the game

4. Diaz (6/10)
Very comfortable in defense, but almost gave away for a shot on goal. Other than that he's the calm factor.

5. Zanetti (7/10)
Going up a lot and into the middle. Linked up comfortably with Gago and Aimar

6. Gago (6/10)
Holding up firmly in the middle and good ball distributions

7. Lucho (5/10)
Not much impact from Lucho and made a poor cross when receiving pass from Aimar

8. Cambiasso (5/10)
Solid performance but with no impact

9. Aimar (6/10)
He's fun to watch but his performance was not. He made 1 good pass to Lucho, but other than that, he's either tried to do too much end up losing balls or poor passes to his teammates. He also missed a header crossed by Lucho

10. Palacio (6/10)
Very good ball control and played wide a lot. Managed to hit the bar

11. Tevez (8/10)
He shot a lot and got one that hit the post. He was very active upfront and he's the only one that really threaten Paraguay's defense. That's why he was Man of the Match

12 Mascherano (7/10)
Replaced Lucho and scored his first goal!

13. Messi (7/10)
Replaced Cambiasso and created havocs on Paraguay defense. He changed the game with his freaky acceleration and led to Argentina only goal

14. Ayala (6/10)
Replaced Aimar when Santa Cruz came in and he played sweeper

15. Basile (8/10)
Again, great substitutions. He knows when and who to put in

Paraguay managed to trouble the Argentina defense twice but other than that nothing much to say about the defense because Paraguay didn't show much intention to attack. This allow Ibarra and Zanetti to move up a lot to support the attack. Gago, Cambiasso, Lucho and Aimar were having good time by controlling the midfield with a lot of passes and high tempo plays.

Why did we manage to get only 1 goal when we've created a lot of chances? Could it be due to highly organized Paraguay's defense? Yes, Paraguay's defense could be the reason plus our poor set pieces and wasted crosses due to lacked of heights upfront. But there were 2 major reasons why we didn't do well. 1) We didn't mixed up our tempo. Due to our high tempo, our attacking players didn't performed as a unit. Players were far apart to each other that killed our attacking momentum. Palacio was an example where he was isolated a few times. 2) We didn't try to attack Paraguay's box regularly enough and we lacked bodies inside the box to get grab the opportunities.

It's an entertaining game, no doubt about it. We had lot of passes, 464 of them but not efficient enough.

Copa America: Argentina 4:2 Colombia - Highlights

It's a thrilling game!

Argentina v Colombia - Ratings

OK, here's brief ratings:

1. Abondanzierri - 6/10 - he's having a nightmare and us too
   
2. Zanetti - 7/10 - His overlapping run lead to a goal. His defense?
   
3. Ayala - 6/10 - he needs to communicate better with his defensive unit
   
4. G. Milito - 6/10 - He'll be back for quarter-final but needs to catch-up fast. Cata Diaz is behind him
   
5. Heinze - 6/10 - those 2 goals made him responsible too
   
6. Mascherano - 10/10 - What else need to say? He was Man of The Match
7. Veron - 6/10 - his deep playmaking is getting better. He's gelling nicely with Riquelme
   
8. Cambiasso - 6/10 - He played better but non-factor
   
9. Riquelme - 9/10 - he didn't have the best game, but 2 goals is enough
   
10. Messi - 8/10 - he's growing. His tireless efforts earned a penalty and a freekick
    
11. Crespo - 7/10 - a missed, a goal and an injury! Now, that's a lot!
    
12. D. Milito - 6/10 - missed 2 clear chances but played very hard. His goal was crucial to his confidence. He will be the next target man in place of injured Crespo
    
13. Lucho - 6/10 - gave a fresh legs and a lift
    
14. Tevez - 7/10 - when he is called he did nothing but good. He gave D. Milito a vital confidence. Remember Mark Nobel against Spurs?
    
15. Basile - 8/10 - his timely substitutions worked wonders again. When we need a lift he just inserted Lucho, then Tevez. And then a goal. That's good tactical adjustments. But please focus on defense

What do you think?

Copa America: Argentina 4:1 USA Highlights

While drifting over YouTube site, I came across this wonderful highlights between Argentina and USA. Enjoy!

Copa America: Argentina Won!

Argentina 4:1 USA.

I watched it this morning (Malaysian time). Overall, it's a good game. Basile experimented the team and it worked nicely:

---------------Pato

Zanetti---Ayala---Milito---Heinze

-----------Mascherano

Veron--------------------Cambiasso

------------Riquelme

------Messi----------Crespo

Scorers: Crespo (2), Aimar and Tevez

Substitutions: Aimar (Cambiasso), Tevez (Messi) and Gago (Veron)