Oh, the irony

Funny how things come full circle. Back in June, Argentina narrowly beat Colombia on a pitch so bad – due to River Plate’s decision to stage a rock concert on it a few days previously – that Diego Maradona threw a hissy fit which saw the match with Brazil last month moved to Rosario Central’s ground. That was such a disaster that the selección returned to El Monumental for Saturday’s thrilling defeat of Peru. The conditions at the end of that match were so appalling that the pitch was ruined and… River’s own match has had to be postponed. Also on Sunday, José Luis Brown confirmed Argentina’s squad for the Under 17 World Cup.

Typically, the AFA’s website makes no mention of the postponement at all. Bizarrely, the press don’t seem to have made anything of it either – my contention above that it was the state of the pitch after Saturday’s mudbath which caused the delay is an educated guess. All the fixture lists now merely state that River’s match with Independiente will take place on Monday the 12th October (that’s today) at 16:00 local time (20:00 UK time). They’ve been re-written to suggest that this has always been the case. Welcome to Argentina. HEGS will, as ever, have the scores and scorers, and the goal videos, available when the round has been completed.

Meanwhile, Maradona’s 1986 World Cup-winning team mate – the man who scored the only international goal of his career in the final – has given the list of 21 players who will travel to Nigeria to take part in the Under 17 World Cup, which begins on the 24th of October, when Argentina take on Honduras hours after the hosts play Germany – those four teams make up Group A. Brown’s squad looks as follows:

Goalkeepers:
Damián Martínez (Independiente)
Ignacio Arce (Unión de Santa Fe)
Jorge Pucheta (Lanús)

Defenders:
Leandro González Pirez (River Plate)
Lucas Kruspzky (Independiente)
Esteban Espíndola (River Plate)
Nicolás Tagliafico (Banfield)
Federico Rasmussen (Lanús)
Facundo Quignon (River Plate, also plays in midfield)

Midfielders:
Leandro Marín (Boca Juniors)
Jorge Balbuena (Lanús)
Ezequiel Cirigliano (River Plate)
Franco Bitancourt (River Plate)
Sebastián González (San Lorenzo de Almagro)
Esteban Orfano (Boca Juniors, also plays as a defender)
Gonzalo Olid Apaza (River Plate)
Matías Sosa (Estudiantes de La Plata)

Forwards:
Daniel Villalva (River Plate)
Sergio Araujo (Boca Juniors)
Guido Dal Casón (Quilmes)
Eduardo Rotondi (Argentinos Juniors)

Apologies to the players and their families if I’ve got any positions mixed up – apart from the goalkeepers the AFA’s own website doesn’t give any of the positions, so I’ve had to search the dregs of the Argentine internet resources on youth football for match reports and profiles containing these positions.