The final five

The nominations are in for the Hasta Lo Gol Siempre award for Best Performance By An Argentine Abroad in the 2006-2007 season. One or two of them may surprise you. One or two of them certainly won’t. In alphabetical order, they are:

Julio Arca (Middlesbrough F.C., England)

Luis González (F.C. Porto, Portugal)

Lionel Messi (F.C. Barcelona, Spain)

Carlos Tevez (West Ham United, England)

Javier Zanetti (Internazionale, Italy)

Voting will close at the end of the Clausura, in just under 3 weeks. Only the five players listed above are still in the running, and please note if you’ve already nominated one, you need to vote again (in case you’ve changed your mind, or forgot someone the first time round).

Read on for a brief rundown (and video) of each of the contenders, or if you can’t be bothered simply email your vote – one only, please – to hastalogolsiempre@hotmail.co.uk.

Julio Arca – Middlesbrough – England

A surprise inclusion in these nominations, Arca moved the short distance from Sunderland to Boro last summer and has continued to impress for his new club, despite breaking a toe on his debut. He played a blinder against Man United in the FA Cup at the Riverside, and his form in his new central midfield spot this season has been such that there have been calls for an international call-up. Is Basile listening? Surely one of the Premiership’s most underrated players for a few years now (excepting the season he spent in the Championship, of course), Arca, a former Argentina under-21 captain during his time with Argentinos Juniors continues to be appreciated by his fans, both those of his current club, and of Sunderland.

Irritatingly, no decent compilation videos of Julio Arca could be found…

Luis González – FC Porto – Portugal

Lucho has been raved about all season as perhaps the best player in the Portguese championship. Made captain of Porto at the start of only his second season with the club, he was one of their most impressive performers in the Champions League. He’s been linked with bigger European clubs during the season, and having won the championship a couple of weeks ago alongside fellow Argentine Lisandro López, that interest is unlikely to waver. Having been one of Argentina’s more impressive performers (and there were a few) at last year’s World Cup, González is almost certain to be in the squad for the upcoming Copa América.

Lionel Messi – FC Barcelona – Spain

A galáctico-like unwillingness to sort out a proper pre-season, and too much ‘freedom’ given to certain stars to skip training scuttled Barcelona’s ship this season. At this stage, with two games to go, Barca are second behind Real Madrid, on head-to-head record. And the fact they’re even doing that well is, in large part, down to Messi. Having started the season promisingly, he was injured for a portion of it, but like Tevez at West Ham has come back strongly in the latter part.

In March he scored his first competitive hat-trick against, of all the sides in the world, Madrid, to salvage a 3-3 draw at Camp Nou. Earlier this month he ran round seemingly the entire Getafe side, as well as their coaching staff, directors and fans, en route to scoring an outrageous solo goal which drew comparisons with Maradona.

Two years ago, at the peak of his powers, Ronaldinho gave an interview to a British football magazine in which he claimed: ‘Best in the world? I’m not even the best at Barcelona!’ He was referring to Messi. And it’s looking more and more like he was right. Lio Messi is 19 years old.

Carlos Tevez – West Ham United – England

Following Tevez’s arrival at Upton Park alongside Javier Mascherano, expectations were high among Hammers fans at the start of the season. Disappointment followed. Ludicrously blaming the arrival of the Argentines (rather than, say, a vastly inflated sense of their own abilities) for the club’s slump in form, the other players had an easy excuse for West Ham’s slide into the relegation zone, and that appeared to be that.

Then, after months of plugging away, working hard and contributing however he could, Tevez changed that. Suddenly, he started scoring, and from then on, he didn’t stop. 7 goals in the run-in – as well as assists for all three of rising star Mark Noble’s strikes in the same period – set up a dramatic finale capped by Carlitos’s winner at Old Trafford on the last day. The saga may yet rumble on through the courts (if so it’ll have to be done and dusted pretty sharpish), but on the pitch at least, Tevez’s contribution has been phenomenal.

Javier Zanetti – Internazionale – Italy

Following last year’s match-fixing scandal and the awarding of the 2006 scudetto to Inter, the great underachievers have finally won the title out on the pitch this time round, and they’ve done it with a team packed with Argentines. Hernan Crespo’s and Julio Cruz’s goals have proven vital at times, Esteban Cambiasso has been commanding as ever in the middle and Walter Samuel has… well, he’s sat on the bench a lot and been rubbish when he’s played. But in the midst of it all, commanding, organising and steady as ever, has been captain Javier Zanetti.

He’ll be a controversial nomination for many of our Argentine readers, because he’s never been universally loved in his homeland. But Zanetti has guided Inter to a new Serie A record points total. Next season, with Juve back, will be a new challenge – but with this kind of leadership, who knows? Maybe Inter can even win a full strength Serie A.