It's been a good long while since I last posted here, but after so many years waiting to write that headline I had to write something. Argentina ended a 28-year wait for a trophy at full international level on Saturday night, and did it in the manner every Argentine fan had dreamed of: in the... Continue Reading →
Who will Argentina turn to as manager after Copa América elimination?
For the sixth time in a row, the final of the Copa América will feature an Argentine manager. Marcelo Bielsa in 2004 and Alfio Basile in 2007 took their homeland to defeats against Brazil, Gerardo Martino was involved for Paraguay in 2011 and Argentina in both 2015 and 2016, and in the latter two, the... Continue Reading →
Messi back as Lionel Scaloni names Argentina squad to face Venezuela and Morocco
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni announced his latest squad on Thursday, ahead of two friendlies which act as warm ups for the Copa América in Brazil in a few months' time. The headline news is that Lionel Messi's break from international football is coming to an end: some outlets had reported earlier in the week that... Continue Reading →
Boca Juniors open their 2019 Libertadores campaign away to Jorge Wilstermann
Jorge Wilstermann v Boca Juniors (Tuesday, 20:30 Cochabamba, 21:30 ART, 19:30 EST, 00:30 Weds GMT) Last year’s Copa Libertadores runners up Boca Juniors begin their quest to go one better on Tuesday night as the group stage of the 2019 competition gets underway. Boca are visiting Cochabamba, Bolivia, to take on Jorge Wilstermann, and readers... Continue Reading →
Did we learn anything from Argentina v Haiti?
On Tuesday, Argentina continued their recent trend of bidding a pre-World Cup farewell to their fans with a friendly against opponents who, with no disrespect to Haiti, or to Canada in 2010 or Trinidad and Tobago in 2014, are not quite on the level of the opponents they'll face in the tournament. Did we learn... Continue Reading →
Talking to Lionel Messi’s youth coach ahead of the Copa América Centenario
In April, I headed up from Buenos Aires to Rosario, Lionel Messi's hometown, for a feature for ESPNFC ahead of the Copa América Centenario. Whilst there, I talked to Ernesto Vecchio, the youth coach who oversaw Lionel Messi's childhood development for longer than anyone before Messi moved to Barcelona, and to Nicolás Canessa, an occasional team-mate of... Continue Reading →
Argentina squad announced for WCQs v Chile and Bolivia
The AFA have released Gerardo Martino's squad list for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers away to Chile and at home to Bolivia later this month, and the headline exclusion for the local media is Carlos Tevez, who admits himself he's been poor so far in 2016. There's a return for Javier Pinola of Rosario Central,... Continue Reading →
2016 Primera, third round: all the goals
The Fútbol Para Todos video of all the goals from the round just gone is still not in HD, for some reason. But fingers crossed this time they don't decide to lock it after a few hours. It includes all five from Newell's Old Boys' thrashing of Racing - including a brace by former Liverpool man Maxi... Continue Reading →
Friday football preview: round one
During the new Argentine Primera División season, I'll have an article each Friday lunchtime on The Bubble looking forward to the highlights and lowlights from the coming weekend of football - in short, which matches you should try to set aside the time to watch (and try to get along to, if you're in Buenos Aires)... Continue Reading →
Weekly opinion: does Messi’s fifth Ballon d’Or make him the best ever?
In my latest weekly opinion piece for The Bubble, I predictably took a look at Lionel Messi, who won the Ballon d'Or for the World Player of the Year for the fifth time on Monday. Individual awards are a bit daft in a team sport though, in my opinion, so rather than the achievement of winning the... Continue Reading →
