Now, I will make another post to fill you in on what has transpired in the league thus far (bad), but right now let’s focus on Thursday. Yes, Thursday. A midweek match. Mauro has been doing a great job previewing and summarizing the goings on in the Copa Sudamericana, but I know deep down you have been aching to know my take on the affairs, which include the meteoric and impossible to predict rise of the beloved bicho from “luckily and reluctantly invited because we couldn’t find a loophole to get Vélez to qualify” to “semifinalist that all lame American journalists now discover is the first club for Maradona and subsequently write an article on it” (Note: I have not found any article matching the second description because I don’t read American soccer journalism, but I just get the feeling that there is some genius finally putting it all together). Continue below and discover the magic.

Bullet point warning! Here are the most important aspect of this mini-run.

1. The Copa Sudamericana is NOT the same thing as the UEFA Cup. If someone says it, tell them to stop reducing everything to overly generalized analogies. If you think it…please stop. The Sudamericana is not concurrent with the Libertadores, meaning that the same team could win both in the same year (Boca barely missed out on this distinction by losing to Once Caldas on penalties in the final of the Libertadores in 2004 before winning the Sudamericana later in the year, though, interestingly enough, they would have won had South America utilized the away goals rule at that time).

2. Sergio Escudero is nuts. Dangerous, even. Sure “hot-headed Latin” is an overused cliché, but there are times in this world when it applies, and Escudero has converted himself into the stereotypical “see ankle, kick ankle” defender. He has 5 yellow cards thus far in the tournament…the team has played 7 matches. Oh, by the way, he is currently suspended for three matches in the league due to his 4 red cards over the past 2 years. Whatever it takes, I guess.

3. The team has played the best when it mattered most, and that means that they have won or done enough on the road to get this far. I cannot stress how important or stupefying this is. The round-by-round breakdown is like this:

vs. San Lorenzo: 0-0 first leg at home, 2-0 victory on the road. The first real WTF moment this year. Pavlovich, aka the Vulture, aka Everything We Were Looking For, aka This Is Why I Complained So Much About Delorte, set the tone and the defense held firm. Amazing.

vs. San Luis: 1-2 first leg on the road, 2-0 victory at home. Pavlovich again. He just got bored, burned 3 defenders, and scored on his own in Mexico to give the team the kick in the ass that they needed and some hope for the return leg. Then he helped finish the deal.

vs. Palmeiras: 1-0 on the road, 2-0 at home. This one isn’t even worth writing about. Escudero brought his reputation to an international level when Denilson (the old one) claimed that Sergio said he would “end his career”. Yeah, we’re basically a bad biker club who kicks a ball around…

As you can see, the troubles away from home that I documented ad nauseum last year (and continue this year…) were magically solved in this tournament. What the hell is that about? I have no answers, so I will just stop writing about it.

So, where do you stand now? Argentinos needs to score at least one goal. That much we know. I, as always, know very little more. AAAJ hasn’t beaten Estudiantes in La Plata since the Clausura 2005, before Verón returned from Italy, so that means little. The hill is steep, the odds are against them…and right now that doesn’t seem to mean anything to them.

More to come…

The match on Thursday night against San Lorenzo was my greatest moment as an Argentinos fan. I will post the summary below, but the first goal shows how much promise was wasted last year, in spite of the fifth place finish and the qualification into the Copa Sudamericana: Nicolás Pavlovich, as the striker whose job is to take the ball and score with it, simply made the right run and a subtle touch that made its way past Orion to the back of the net. Alejandro Delorte, though he produced goals when they counted and was a key piece of the equation in certain matches, could not fill the role of the player who could add that particular spark at any moment…and he wasted numerous opportunities in the process. Let it go, Scott, seriously…

There is so much that could be said about the proceedings in Bajo Flores; the defense, especially Juan Mercier and Nestor Ortigoza as the central defensive midfielders, was fantastic. Much can be written and said about the three defensemen Andrés Scotti, Matías Caruzzo, and Juan Sabia, as well as the essential contributions from Gonzalo Prósperi and Sergio Escudero as the wingbacks/fifth defenders. The seven players mentioned above suffocated any semblance of attack from a formidable side and, as the first leg finished 0 to 0, keeping the opponent from scoring assured decision by penalty kicks, at the very least. Alas, penalties were not needed, as Pavlovich and Hauche put the ball in the net in two of the few chances that the team generated, but that’s all they needed. With all of the struggles these men have had on the road, the result was both surprising and wonderful. They now face a tough challenge in either San Luis from Mexico or Quito from Ecuador. Qualifying was an accomplishment itself and it is nothing short of wonderful to watch them progress.

Tomorrow (Sunday) night, they sqaure off after a short turnaround in Tucuman against San Martin de Tucuman…a team that four years ago was fighting three divisions lower and has slowly made its way up the rankings to now be squaring up against the big boys (and Argentinos). I am sure the Disney movie is in production now. They have won one match (at home) this far and they will be a tough matchup, especially when you consider the fact that the team had such an emotional match only three days before. A draw will be seen as an accomplishment.

Copa Sudamericana -

The new squad debuted at home against San Lorenzo in the quest to top this conglomeration of South and Central American clubs. As Arsenal proved last year, any team can get hot and come out champions. However, no team can accomplish it by looking the way Argentinos did on August 6th. They had 1 (one) shot on goal, which was saved brilliantly by Agustín Orion as he auditions for a payday in Europe. Jonathan Botinelli was spectacular in saving two one-on-one situations before moving on to Sampdoria after the match. I am trying to think of “cute” or “funny” or “interesting” things to say about the match. I can’t. It was cold and boring and depressing, since all San Lorenzo has to do is win at home tonight (tune in live on Fox Sports en Español at 8pm Eastern!!!) to advance. I am happy, however, that they did not go out and embarrass themselves and I am hopeful that they will do the same tonight: play well enough so that I can come to the office tomorrow without being verbally abused to the point of tears. Unfortunately, I cry easily so…possible sick day alert!

If you recall, last year’s 61 points were a big deal for two reasons: 1) the most successful campaign since they were champions of the Libertadores in 1985 and 2) qualification for the Sudamericana, which works to lend legitimacy to the team and assets to the club’s coffers. However, with another uninspired and impotent outing tonight, all of that will turn into an unspectacular wash. The analogy here would be the kid who gets invited to his first high school dance by the girl he likes, but only as part of her “group”, not an actual date setup, and then watch her make out with the guy she really likes, who just also happens to be the kid that verbally mocks him every day in trigonometry class with verbals assaults on his senses of fashion and hygiene and has turned his nights from peaceful slumber to turbulent sessions of teeth gnashing and tears…in other words, it would suck.

Torneo Apertura 2008 -

There have been two matches thus far, and they are night and day. If you’ve never been to Sarandí, then a description of the smell in the town is impossible. I thought I had seen everything, but the location of the stadium is right at the meeting point of what seems like 10,000 dumpsters and sewers, all of which has been slowly roasted and then pissed on by 10,000 horses. Truly stomach-wrenching. Unfortunately enough, that wasn’t the only disgusting aspect of the Argentinos-Arsenal match played three days after the match against San Lorenzo. Arsenal is riding high on the signing of Facundo Sava, who left Racing recently but will never lose his ability to score that goal that beats your team. Sure enough, 3 minutes into his debut for his new club, he headed one over Matías Caruzzo and past Torrico for the first goal of the season. It only got worse from there. I will spare you (read:myself) the details, but the final was 3-0 and it wasn’t that close.

If you’re paying attention, you’ll notice that Argentinos had played two full matches without scoring a goal…those are rough waters. Velez Sarsfield was next on the schedule and the first 45 minutes still showed no signs of hope. We had depended so strongly on homefield advantage, yet they were pathetic. The 3-5-2 formation had holes in the defense and no punch in the offense. Juan Fernandez, substitute wingback on the left and right, was abused in both matches and was absolutely shown to be someone with next to 0 footballing talent. The starters, Gonzalo Prosperi and Sergio Escudero, can NOT take a week off….ever. Anyway, the second half whistle blew, and we “dealt with a miracle”. An unexpected cast of characters delivered on the goals: Andrés Scotti towered over the defense on a deflected free kick and knocked it home to open the floodgates; Ortigoza pounded a penalty after Tobio kicked the crap out of Hauche in the area with the ball 50 yards away; Mercier played a beautiful 1-2 with Pavlovich and finished with the left foot; and Prosperi centered one that Aban nailed home for the 4-1 victory.

I have talked before about how Hauche is a player who has some talents, but whose principal attributes stand in the fact that he will take every advantage he can out there to find position, win the ball, draw a foul, etc. He has a reputation of a questionable player, it is obvious now, as he doesn’t draw many fouls and is called for a lot. However, in the Velez match, it all played to our favor and played a big part in the result. With a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute, he was tugging and pushing in a fight to get the ball against two defenders. He lost and the ball was cleared. One of the defenders, Tobio, a real young-looking guy, had been fighting with Gabriel the entire afternoon. He had obviously had had enough, as he kicked the crap out of Hauche in the area…dumb, dumb dumb. Red card and penalty and the entire match changed.

What do we know

Nothing, as always. Rodrigo “Rengo” Diaz, the big signing, has played well, but nothing to make you think that he’s truly going to lead this team to a finish better than the 5th place from last year. The loss of our hero Alvaro Pereira has led Gorosito to opt for a much more defensive posture, with a 3-5-2, and at times Diaz, Peñalba, and Hauche are stranded up top. They haven’t learned how to make goals out of nothing and the support from the wings, which was so vital last year, is non-existent. They STILL looked horrible away from home and weak on set pieces–the SAME problems that haunted them last year. Their defense looks really solid (ignore the Arsenal match) and that is good enough for me. Onward to San Lorenzo tonight…

Gabriel Hauché scored perhaps the greatest goal of his life in the fifth minute and then proceeded to make tricky passes and nifty runs for the duration of his time on the pitch in what was another match to add to his highlight reel when he is sold to a French team this summer. Write it down…unless Olympiakos decides to add another in their large stable of Argentines.

Huracán was able to run in and around the defense and set themselves up nicely many times, but was only able to hit the back of the net once. Well, they actually might have done it twice; they scored on a deflection from a corner kick, celebrated, ran back to kick off, and then had it disallowed for something that I think was an offside call. I don’t know, but it was one of the more confusing and chaotic scenes I have seen on a pitch in a while. Welcome to Argentina.

Mirosevic limped off injured in the 20th minute to add another chapter to his tenure at La Paternal. He’s shown himself to be effective and important for the squad when he’s on the field, but now he needs to find a way to stay there.

Delorte looked terrible and was booed off the field by the fans. Yet he played exactly as he has for the better part of the past eight months. And I am sure he will be on the field starting as soon as possible. An absolute disgrace.

Alvaro Pereira lifted his foot and planted it in an opponents leg in the 75th minute and was rightfully shown a red card. In the 4 matches he has played so far, he has been solid, but not as spectacular and dangerous as he was last year. His lack of effectiveness is noticeable.

It should be noted that this team’s spirit and hopes are lower than they have been since before Caruso Lombardi took charge in January 2007. There is almost no hope for them to qualify for either of the two big tournaments, they can’t win on the road, they have scored 3 goals in 5 matches (from which they have gathered a whopping total of 4 points)…there is very little to be excited about.

Pereira’s suspension combined with Mirosevic’s injury and Battión’s suspension means that Gorosito’s hand has been pushed and he will debut a rather risky formation against Colón de Santa Fé, which will look like this, according to reports:

Carrera; Fleitas, Scotti, Caruzzo; Barzola, Mercier, Ortigoza (nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!! (c) Darth Vader), Escudero; Peñalba; Hauchá and Abán.

That looks like a lot of fun to watch. Barzola and Escudero are defenders in name only who love nothing more than to run forward and put pressure on the opposition’s defense, so sliding them further up the field and allowing them to play around a bit more offensivelycould reap benefits. Or it could also easily put a lot more pressure on the three remaining defenders. Either way, funfunfun.

Here is the only highlight package of the match against Huracán, which does not include the hotly contested disallowed goal, unfortunately.

With the inclusions of Mirosevic and, more importantly, Pérez, the team has the skill and dynamic to create a lot of chances.  Pereira will be missed, since the only replacement the team has for left midfielder is a right mightfielder.  Otherwise, Hauché should combine well with the aforementioned players to create chances and take advantage of the gaps left in the Independiente defense.

Speaking of Independiente, thus far in the campaign they have, stop me if this sounds familiar, lost two road matches and won their lone homematch.  This is quite the critical moment for them, since more is expected and their coach, Pedro Troglio, has his position being questioned by fans and directors alike.  They ended last season with seven consecutive matches without winning–and that was after they had a legitimate chance to win the title.  If things don’t turn around soon (and hosting a team like Argentinos is the PERFECT time for a team to “turn it around”), changes will have to be made.  They will throw out Fabián Assmann (seriously…his name is “Assmann”…get your jerseys ordered NOW!); Ricardo Moreira, Leandro Gioda, Guillermo Rodríguez, Lucas Mareque; Gastón Machín, Mariano Herrón, Freddy Grisales, Matías Oyola; Daniel Montenegro and Germán Denis.  Ismael Sosa is another player in attack who will make an appearance, should the team be in search of a goal.  He is really, really good and is a name you should learn now so that when he is a bigger time player in Europe, you can impress your friends by saying “I remember him from Independiente way back in 2008.”  Good times.

IF Argentinos can maintain possession in the midfield, which is this Independiente’s weak spot, and use it to take the game to Independiente (highly unlikely since Battión and Ortigoza seem to revel in their abilities to lose the ball), IF they can mark every opponent on set pieces (100% result of bad coaching) and IF they can keep their composure on the road (their biggest obstacle, also a result of bad coaching), things could turn out ok for them.  This is the perfect time for them to play Independiente…their team has little confidence and is searching for answers to their problems.  A win tomorrow could be HUGE; a loss would just be more of the same and one step closer to the relegation zone (we’re not there yet, but wasted points will not help the cause in any way).  But a win on the road is essential, and the odds are in our favor, since a winless streak can’t last forever, can it???

First, let’s take a look at the lineups:

Boca: Caranta; Ibarra, Cáceres, Paletta, Morel Rodríguez; Alvaro González, Battaglia, Cardozo; Riquelme; Palacio and Palermo.

All 11 players are vastly superior to their counterpart on Argentinos. Vastly. They include 3 players (Cáceres for Paraguay and Palacio and Riquelme for Argentina) who played in the most recent World Cup and 5 others who have played for the senior national team of their country (Ibarra, Morel Rodríguez, Battaglia, Cardozo, and Palermo). This doesn’t even include players like Pablo Ledesma, Mauro Boselli, Lucas Castromán, Jonatan Maidana, or Jesus Dátolo, who are not playing but would still be the best player on the team if they were playing for Argentinos. This club is perhaps the most successful in the entire world for the past decade. They have won multiple local and international titles over that time with amazing talent at each position. The deck, needless to say, is stacked.

In addition to all of that, tomorrow night will be the official return of Juan Román Riquelme to the squad after an 8-month absence. He is one of the most beloved figures in the history of this club and his return will be celebrated to the max. Carlos Ischia will be managing his first match for the club after having previously worked with Carlos Bianchi as a field assistant until 2002.

8 of the 11 players can score goals and with Riquelme on the pitch, it is almost impossible to predict how the team will attack you. They could, honestly, easily score 5 goals with the energy and talent that will be playing in their favor.

The lucky 11 who will be working to stop them:

Carrera; Barzola, Scotti, Caruzzo, Escudero; Cabrera, Battión, Peñalba, Pereira; Hauche and Delorte .

It looks quite familiar to those who have spent time at this blog. Martin Cabrera will replace Mirosevic in his suspension. Scotti plays for the Uruguyan national team. That’s all we got.

The last time Argentinos won in La Bombonera was in 2005, which does not seem like that long ago, but no one on the pitch was playing at that time. Even the last time they played there in 2006 (a 2-1 loss) was with at least 10 other players (Barzola might have been involved in that match…). Combine that with the team’s well-documented struggles on the road (9 matches and counting without a victory, only 4 draws) and the recipe is set for disaster.

Seriously, look over that information and tell me how to feel positive. I can’t. Instead, I will leave a video of the last time these two teams played, in 2007. Notice a couple of things: Delorte scored the first goal and set up the other two. The difference between that match and every match since is that he received the ball in the area every time, whereas now he receives it at the midfield line and is responsible for distributing there and running to join the attack, which is not a strength of his, to say the least. If the midfielders and flanking backs can move the ball up the field so that he can receive it in the area, things might happen. It will doubtlessly be an uphill battle. Godspeed, young warriors.

So, what’s new? Not much, which is the reason for the lack of posts. Our beloved and trusted goalkeeper Nico Navarro signed with Napoli nearly overnight. It was a day that was obviously coming and I and everyone else associated with the club wish him nothing but the best. You will soon be seeing more of him…a lot more of him. He’s real good and stuff. His former backup, Juan Ignacio Carrera, who is 27 and also a product of the club, showed himself rather well last year in his appearance and a half against Newell’s Old Boys and San Lrenzo, so the impact will not be that heavy. No one else of importance left. Argentinos did acquire a new starting right wing, Milovan Mirosevic, who used to ply his trade in Racing Club here in Buenos Aires. I don’t personally know much about him, but word on the street (a.k.a. Martin says) that he’s an upgrade from our dear soccer hair-endowed now-backup Martin Cabrera, and a couple of defenders who will most likely make some appearances at some point, but whose names aren’t necessarily worth mentioning now.

What can we then expect tomorrow? A lineup that looks like this: Carrera; Pablo Barzola, Andrés Scotti, Matías Caruzzo, Sergio Escudero; Mirosevic, Roberto Battión, Gabriel Peñalba, Álvaro Pereira; Gabriel Hauche and Alejandro bleeping Delorte.

The above-mentioned 1-0 defeat happened when every member of the starting squad was new to the team except Navarro and perennial benchwarmer Nico Gianni. Now with 19 matches in their collective belt, the team should have a much better idea of how to go about attacking the opponent’s net. Unfortunately, that does still somehow revolve around Delorte falling down and complaining that he was fouled because he can’t head the ball due to his handicap of being the tallest player on the field. Good times. I know next to nothing about San Martin de San Juan, with the exception of Tonelotto, who is pretty good. They finished 18th out of 20 with a total of 18 points. I think they did beat River, though.

I’ll be back on Monday with all the goodies from the actual match.

The only doubt for Argentinos at the moment is whether Ortigoza will return to his spot after his one-match suspension, or if Peñalba will remain in his place.  The decision does not appear to be that difficult to me or anyone else with the sense of sight in tact: Peñalba was often fundamental in keeping River away from Argentinos’ goal and moving the ball deftly upfield while Ortigoza is chippy, slow, and often out-of-position.  Everyone else remains the same from the River match; Andrés Scotti remains sidelined with a knee injury, and Carruzzo will continue to fill in.

For Estudiantes,  who sit in 17th place, with 13 points out of 12 matches (Argentinos are in 5th with 20 points in the same number of matches), the big news is that Verón will be playing.  Laugh all you want, Chelsea fans…he’s often been spectacular since his return.  They are an average team, especially with the loss of Mariano Pavone to Real Betis.  Argentinos has played very avergaely on the road, and this will be a test of how well they can finish a strong campaign.

Lineups:

Argentinos: Navarro; Bárzola, Carruzzo, Sabia, Escudero; Cabrera, Battión, Peñalba or Ortigoza, Pereira; Delorte, Hauché.

Estudiantes: Andújar; Barroso or Desábato, Alayes, Domínguez, Alvarez; Pérez, Verón, González, Benítez; Piatti or Salgueiro, Maggiolo.

Unfortunately for us, Navarro is suspended for this match after an unnecessary red card against Newell’s. I did not discuss this in my write-up, but he committed a simple foul in the box and was given the boot, which means that Juan Ignacio Carrera (yeah, I don’t really know who he is either) will be between the posts. He looked good in the last twenty minutes of last week’s match, including saving the penalty. However, he is going to have a lot of responsibility and many balls to stop, given the propensity of Argentinos’ defense to simply let the other team kick the ball hard. Juan Alberto Sabia, one of the central defenders, who has really been playing well lately, will also miss the match with a leg injury. Leandro Fleitas, signed to play right back and then removed from that role after two matches due to poor performances, will replace him.

Basically, this one has the possibility of getting real ugly real quick. The attacking responsibilities will be in the hands of Gabriel Hauché and Alejandro Delorte. I haven’t seen any news on whether Gonzalo Abán will be available, but I have the feeling we will need him…I do fear the worst.

Starting XI: Carrera; Barzola, Scotti, Fleitas, Escudero; Cabrera, Battión, Ortigoza, Pereira; Hauche and Delorte.

There is a match tonight!  Woohoo!  Banfield takes the train and then a couple of buses into the big city from the South to take on a new-look Argentinos Juniors.  Well, there’s a new coach, but it’s the same look.Banfield is a frightening opponent.  They are capable of putting up 4 goals against anyone.  Cvitanich isn’t playing, Lujambio left, and frankly I don’t know any of their other players well enough to tell you what to expect.  Which just about sums up enough about me.

The arrival of Nestor Gorosito has not brought about many changes to the squad.  Essentially the same 4-4-2 lineup will take the field tonight as it used to under the Caruso Lombardi regime: Navarro; Escudero, Sabia, Scotti, Barzola; Pereira, Battión, Ortigoza, Cabrera; Delorte, and Hauché.

For those who have been keeping themselves up-to-date until now (again, Dad, this means that I will put you in the nicest home possible when the time comes…you don’t know how much it means), the biggest change is the reappearance of Gabriel Hauché as a striker/troublemaker.  The little bugger (I can say that, I am from the States) runs, runs, runs and makes defenders’ lives as miserable as possible.  He does not offer much talent, but he can be a vital part of an attacking scheme with his timely runs and ability to draw fouls due to his scampy nature.

Also, Martín Cabrera continues on the right side.  He hasn’t changed the world, but he does a decent job, which is more than an upgrade over the previous placeholders there, it’s the same as jumping from a 1950’s television monstrosity to one on those 1980’s projection sets that were pretty cool for the first two hours, but then they bother the eyes.  The positives are that it is better than the worthless piece of junk you used to have just to have a television set  and you KNOW that much better things are on the way, but at the same time, staring at it for too long tends to hurt the eyes.

To put the final note on the catch-up post, Néstor Ortigoza, our beloved pathetic oaf of a defensive midfielder, has scored two penalties in the past two matches and was even nominated for MoTM by some publications after the match against Colón de Santa Fe.  Dark days are ahead of us…prepare well.