Fútbolita

Our good friend from Buenos Aires once dated the man they call Gago Gaga, but don’t worry, she’s not about to write a book about it cos’ she is a Classy Chica Caliente!

Anyway, amiga’s at no loss now because the player in question has been quite the sad flop at Madrid. Even though Flo’Prez and friends have brought over half of Die Mannschaft (that was a joke) to Spain this season, Gago still believes he’ll have a good season at the club. Yeah, if the lawnmowers decide to have a friendly game at the Bernabeu, perhaps…

“I will stay at Real Madrid this year. I’ve already talked about it with Jorge Valdano (club sports director) and Mourinho, and at no time did they say (that) they wanted me to leave. I am very comfortable and quiet. Some will have to leave but I will stay. What was published out there surprised me. I had already spoken to the coach and Valdano.”

Photos via Gettyimages, OLE

Remember Riquelme? No, not Larissa Riquelme (NSFW) who singlehandedly caused a record number of eye surgeries to be conducted in one month. It’s the Boca man himself, Juan Roman Riquelme!

There’s a lot of talk suggesting that he will return to play for Argentina, especially after the dismissal of your royal Messi lover, The Dona. Sergio Batista, the team’s interim coach wants him back, so basically he’s telling Roman to forget what The Dona said about his cat’s clothing – and other insults – and pull his act together!

“It would be good to have Riquelme and Messi playing together,” Batista said. “We had them together in the Olympics and it went well.”

Meanwhile, here’s Gabriel Heinze doing his best rendition of Larissa Riquelme. What? Is there a handphone hidden in there somewhere too?

Via AP, Juan Roman Riquelme Oficial

Oh dear, it looks like The Dona’s soap opera has resumed for your viewing pleasure! Take out the popcorn from the micro’ cos it now seems that team director Carlos Bilardo, has refused to rule out a ‘strong possibility’ he might return as coach. What was the whole point of making that speech last week then? His daughters Gianinna and Dalma (above) don’t think it’s very funny!

“If Diego comes and talks, I don’t know what can happen. It’s all a question of talking,” Bilardo declared to Todo Noticias. “The possibility of another meeting (between Maradona and the AFA) exists.” Hold on to your seats!

The next Nando Torres of Madrid aka Sergio Canales has arrived for pre-season in Los Angeles! Bershka just called, and incidentally they are looking for a new spokesmodel. Canales’ electric blue shoes are so ferosha and with Potter Perez signing the boy’s cheques now, he’d be able to get them in five different colours. Que suerte!

Speaking of which, we’re always in Bershka (it’s a fashion store from Spain) pretending to fist pump and picking out clothes for the other Sergio… Ramos. It’s a lot of fun!

The complexity of Kun Aguero Papa’s hair, matching shirts and Cesc Bomb’s half-smile will open up a new investigation among all of you, we’re sure. But what’s equally perplexing is the fact that these tipos will make their own cameos in the fourth installment of the film ‘Torrrente‘. The movie is a Spanish comedy which often involves issues like the police, crime and the mafia.

Obviously, director Seguro knew that that they’d both done some singing and acting (not Broadway, but it’s still something). Sure, Kun’s singing suits the Tone Deaf crowd, but Cesc Bomb’s charm will be selling the tickets in no time!

via Marca, SkySports, David Anchuelo

So The Messiah is incredibly exhausted.. but he still has six months to go until they crown the new FIFA World Player of the Year, so tipo has to WORK IT! It must be incredibly tiring to go back to playing football right after the World Cup, so he was nice enough to pick all the players whose teams went out early in the tournament. Obviously, folks like Materazzi had ample time to go for a spa, enjoy a manicure AND get inked at the same time while Lucio, as ya’ll know, has been hitting the bitch with Juan!

Edgar Davids and Kevin Urandi also didn’t have anything to say to Marco and Lucio, so they decided to have their own conversations (as seen below) instead. Seriously, what could Edgar and Lucio have spoken about? Felipe Melo?

It’s that time of the year again… the “Gêmeo Season!” The question is, can you tell the Da Silva brothers apart below? Meu Deus, someone needs to give them a hairdryer, the Perpetual Greaseano look is not working!!

Anyway, caras are now in the USA with the rest of the United gang as part of their pre-season tour. They’d better bring their Futbolita tees along for the ride. Hmmm, Fabio (left) is trying to recall where na terra he put it!

Last, and certainly not least, es hora de Ikerbonero! They’re now officially Pap material, which means you’ll probably be seeing them every morning at the breakfast table as you sip tea next to Arsene Wenger.

Anyway, here they are after enjoying a nice little dinner and getting into Wedgiellas’ car. OK, we don’t really care where they’re heading to or if he decides to get a new haircut, but he’d better keep Sara because she’s one of the few girls he has dated with actual brains!

via Gettyimages, Hola and AFP

So The Messiah has finally reunited with his namorada, Antonella Roccuzzo in Rio de Janeiro (of all places!) Unfortunately, la chica looks mighty peeved here! The photographer must have crept in on them when they were having a heart-to-heart talk. Dude, but they haven’t even ordered!

Anyway, they’re both in Rio to take advantage of a “short holiday” thanks to Deco aka The Man Who Doesn’t Play Football Anymore. His institute is called “Deco20″ and they will be playing some nice charity matches in Sao Paulo, which The Messiah will be a part of. What are Barca mates for, eh?

Speaking of which, Antonella is in university wrapping up her dietician studies, pink watch and all. In other words, she doesn’t really need The Messiah because she’s on the way to becoming “Una Mujer De Poder!” She’s even looking away here.

Fotos : Carlos Wrede / Agência O Dia

All you can say about this photo is “DUDEEEEEEE…” Why does Potter Perez subject all new Madridistas to that obligatory “check-up” photo? The angle is just weird and Di Maria looks uncomfortable, almost as if The Dona is peaking at him from behind the curtains and singing “Peek a boo … te veo!”

Anyway, the Argentinean Ace is now officially a member of the Los Blancos family. They’ve been chasing the Rosario kid (Messiah!) for the longest time and finally got him. Three cheers for The Pied Piper of Higuain who finally found a new friend he can take to club Pacha’s VIP area during the weekends!

On the subject of these classic Check Up shots, Greaseano’s orange “Hot Chicks With Douchebags” photo remains the BEST. As we speak, the man himself is wreaking havoc in Jersey Shore New York so if ya’ll spot him in the clubs, please try to contain yourselves!

via David Anchuelo for Real Madrid

Hello Futbolitas! We are into the Quarter Finals fo the 2010 World Cup already, I really don’t know where all the time has gone too. Its been a totally amazing and a grand memorable time for myself and all South-Africans. Im going to do a quick summary and stats update, as well as include some pictures . Bafana didn’t go through to the round 16, but they beat France and drew on the opening day with Mexico, with Tshabalala scoring one of the greatest goals this World Cup. The opening was phenomenal, with so many people behind the Host country. From there on, all other African teams have been eliminated besides the Black stars.

To date, by the end of round 16, there has been 123 goals scored in 56 matches, with an average of 2.20 goals per match. In the group stages, there were 101 goals scored. In the round of 16, there were 22 goals scored in just 8 matches, with germany scoring four of them eliminating England. Brazil and Argentina each scored 3 a piece also making it to the quarters. The quarters are too close to call, and see’s mouth watering matches, including:

Argentina face Germany. Argenitna has alot of travelling fans to SA, and have won the hearts of many locals as well on route to the quarters with there attractive attaccking football, and a forward line-up to scare any opponents, except Germany, who fear no one. Germany are always a force to rekons with and probably the most decipline team in the tournament in terms of keeping football simple. (Fan pictures below from Germany vs ghana game, and Argentina vs Nigeria game)

Brazil and Holland will be a clash of the titans, with both teams having tremondous support in South-Africa. Its too tight to call, even tough Brazil have won the world cup 5 times and the confed cup last year in SA, while holland are known as the great underachievers in football, always having a good team and great build ups to the world cup, yet never won it. Could this be an Orange world cup? (Brazil picture below taken at Brazil versus  Chile & Sandton shopping Mall).

Top goal scorers of the tournament thus far are:

4 goals – David Villa (Spain), Gonzala Higuain (Argentina) & Robert Vittek (Slovakia). Villa & Higuin will have another chance of increasing there goal tally, while Vittek’s Slovakia has been eliminated.

3 goals – Muellur (Germany), Suarez(Uruguay), Fabiano(Brazil), Gyan(Ghana) & Donovan(USA). All of these have the oppurtunity to go for the golden boot and put their team in the semi, except for USA’s Donovan, who were beaten by Ghana.

Update live from South Africa, Signing Off & Waving Flag

South African Futbolita    ¤=====<]

“We did not come here on vacations” said Diego Maradona to Ole after the match. (Source)

History repeats itself, just like four years ago Argentina eliminated Mexico from world cup. Controversial? Maybe so, Argentina’s first goal added to England’s disallowed goal could once again open the debate of the use of technology in football to aide in close calls.

The first clear chance of the match was for El Tricolor; Carlos Salcido took Sergio Romero by surprise and smashed the ball into the crossbar from outside the box. A call for attention to the Argentine goalkeeper, who is one of the most solid goalkeepers in the world cup so far alongside Brazil’s Julio Cesar.

Carlos Tevez, “El Jugador del Pueblo”, opened the scoreboard 26 minutes into the first half. This play is what caused controversy and discontent on the Mexican side. The goal was clearly scored in an offside position, however neither the first official nor his assistants were aware of the situation. The soccer city stadium showed the replay of the goal, unmasking the offside position. FIFA rules do not allow goals to be called back through the use of technology, so the official had no other option but to allow the goal.

7 minutes after, in the 33rd minute Gonzalo Higuain “El Pipita” increased the lead thanks to a Mistake in Mexico’s defensive line. Osorio, made one of the most childish mistakes a defender can make in football, that is playing the ball back without looking. Higuain did not hesitate, he won the position and left Perez behind to clinch the second goal of the night.

After the match Osorio said “it is in human nature to make mistakes”.

Argentina finished the first half with a two goal lead, something that can be hard to turn around in a world cup. The side coached by Diego Maradona was inspired. Carlos Tevez sealed the match for Argentina with a beautiful shot that left Perez with no chance. Carlitos earned the MVP of the match.

El Chicharito Hernandez, one of Mexico’s best players, scored the goal for the honor.

Argentina played well, we were benefited from a bad call from the ref, but we were superior within the 90 minutes. Diego was correct to include Otamendi in the starting eleven, the Velez Sarsfield defender alongside Gabriel Heinze were very solid in defense and showed great projection in offense.

Carlos Tevez proved to be determining in attack, and Gonzalo Higuain with fours goals is the top scorer of the world cup. Messi, once again shined and his goal will have to wait. Will Germany be the game Messi makes his debut on the net this world cup?

After the match, the Argentine public celebrated in EL OBELISCO, here are some images I took of the celebration.

Germany is next. This time we go for revenge, Lehman and his cheat sheet are not around this year. Farewell to My Mexican friends, they played a great match and should be proud of their performance.

Signing off,

Your Argentina Futbolito

Palerrrmoooo!!! Palerrrmoooo!!! Palerrrmoooo!!! When Martin Palermo buried the second goal into the net a whole Nation celebrated. “El Titan”, nicknamed for his goal scoring ability, is one of the most beloved characters of Argentine football. Even so that despite the fact he plays for Boca Juniors, his name is chanted by the rival fans. Could you imagine the Camp Nou chanting Cristiano Ronaldo’s name?

” They are things I get to live at my age, in a world cup, scoring a goal, I have no words to describe what I feel. There are too many feelings”, Martin Palermo, during an interview after the game with Telefe Noticias.

This was no ordinary match for the Argentine National team. This very same day, 24 years ago, Diego Maradona had scored two goals that the world of football will never remember, one being the hand of God. Today, in 2010, Diego Maradona qualified the squad to the round of 16 with 9 points, and only one goal against in 3 matches. Impressive for a coach that was highly criticized before the beginning of the world cup.

Lionel Messi, from hereafter referred to as “The Messiah” made his debut as captain of the Argentine National team. He was a constant threat to the Greek defense, who found no other way to stop him but to foul him repeatedly. This caused the rage of Diego Maradona, who constantly screamed at the official of the match.

Argentina once again opened the scoreboard through a set piece. This time it was the chance for Martin Demichelis, the same player whose mistake cost Argentina a goal against South Korea.

Greece showed no response to the goal that was leaving them out of the world cup. A victory against the Argentine side would have given them the qualification to the next round of the tournament.

The moment everyone was waiting for arrived when Martin Palermo was sent into the field. “El Titan” didn’t take long to score his first goal during a world cup. The Messiah, dribbled from right to left and found an opening to unleash a hard shot, the deflection found Martin Palermo, who placed the ball with his right foot into the back of net.

The pictures reflect the happiness of the Argentine public, who cannot wait to face Mexico on sunday. History favors the Argentine squad, but Mexico will be no easy match. During the 2006 world cup, Maxi Rodriguez broke the deadlock in extra time with a goal from another galaxy; hopefully this year we will have a more comfortable win.

Here is what the world press is saying about Argentina:

The Sun - England

Diario Marca - Spain

La Gazetta Dello Sport - Italy

Mexico here we come.

Signing off,

Your Argentina Futbolito

Diego Maradona will 7 substitutions in regards to the squad that started in the victory against South Korea, that is almost the entire squad.

Lineup:

Sergio Romero; Nicolás Otamendi, Martín Demichelis, Nicolás Burdisso, Clemente Rodríguez; Maxi Rodríguez, Mario Bolatti, Juan Sebastián Verón; Lionel Messi; Diego Milito y Sergio Agüero.

The reason behind the number of substitutions lies behind FIFA’s suspension rules. The rule was modified to prevent World Cup final bans; therefore existing yellow cards will clear after the quarterfinals. The rule was considered after the 2002 world cup final, when Michael Ballack missed the finals against Brasil due to a yellow card accumulation.

Veron will return to the squad after being sidelined with a muscle sprain. Nicolas Otamendi will make his debut in the World Cup, a well as Clemente Rodriguez and Mario Bolatti.

Diego opted to chose Diego Milito and Sergio Aguero on the attack. The big question is, will we see Palermo in this match?

Probably the biggest occurrence of that match will be Lionel Messi captaining the squad. The 22 year will become the youngest Argentine player to captain his squad in a world cup.  Messi holds the #10 in his back, the captain band on his arm and the hopes of one Nation in left foot.

Argentina will qualify to the next round in first place if they either win or tie the match, or South Korea ties or loses the game. In Either case, Argentina only depends on itself.

The possible opponents for next round are Mexico, Uruguay or France.

Signing off,

Your Argentina Futbolito

“I want to win the Cup, and I have Lionel Messi”, those are the words that Diego Maradona said during the press conference previous to the match against South Korea.

Before the tournament started, the Argentine public heavily criticized Lionel Messi for not playing the same way he does while at F.C. Barcelona. However, that changed after the debut match against Nigeria. We are able to see a different Messi with the Argentine jersey; he was active, he moved into spaces and placed very good shots from a distance.

Argentina will face South Korea in Johannesburgo, in the Soccer City Stadium. Our dream is to see Argentina is this same location on July 11^th, when the world cup finals will be played.

The opponent will not be an easy one. South Korea has very good players, and they have their own “Messi”, his name Ji Sung Park. The Manchester United midfielder has 88 caps with the National team and 13 goals. South Korea will not draw back and defend like Nigeria did; they will open up the field and attack. This could be a problem for a weak Argentine defense; however it will sure be beneficial for the Argentine attack.  Jung-Moo has to find a way to stop the attacking Trio : Messi – Higuain – Tevez, along with Maxi Rodriguez and Di Maria.

For this match, Diego had to replace Veron with Maxi Rodriguez due to an injury.  With this in mind Argentina will lineup with: Romero; Jonas Gutierrez, Demichelis, Samuel, Heinze; Maxi Rodriguez, Mascherano, Di Maria; Messi, Tevez, Higuain.

The Nation will once again be paralyzed for a football match. Schools will be closed during the morning classes, people will be allowed to arrive late to work and government buildings will not open. El Obelisco is ready to host anybody who does not have a place to watch the game. Our main concern is the power outages we have been suffering over the last few weeks, last night we were without electricity until 2 am. If this were to happen during the game, the country would go on a riot. Who is to blame? The press would blame “THE DONA”.

VAMOS ARGENTINA!!!

Signing off,

Your Argentina Fútbolito!

Last night Buenos Aires suffered a severe power outage, which left more than 250,000 users without electricity, including myself.  The outage was caused by a failure in one of the high tension generators, and it was not fixed until minutes before the match.  Si, everyone was going crazy, the phone lines for the power company collapsed and a lot of people were looking for an alternate place to see the match.

But God listened to the prayers, and I don’t mean Maradona, I mean the superior being. The power was restored minutes before the kickoff, and the Argentine public could now enjoy the match.

The Dona surprised everyone by wearing a suit; yes I am even shocked he put aside the joggings.  Once again he wore two (2) watches, one with the Argentine time and another one with the local time.

Argentina got ahead in the scoreboard six minutes into the match, through a glancing header by Gabriel “El Gringo” Heinze. Set plays will be determining factor for Argentina during the world cup, during this match alone, we were able to witness 5 different set plays.

Messi was very active during the match, pleasing the Argentine public that criticized him so much during the qualifiers. Every time he got the ball, he created opportunities. He took several shots on goal, but Vicente Enyeama did a great job deflecting them, if it wasn’t for him the score could have been different.

The Nigerian side found a weakness on Jonas Gutierrez, who is clearly not a natural defender. However, “El Galgo” had a good game; he joined the offense several times and maintained the composure.

Finishing was the main issue that the Argentine side encountered. Tevez and Higuain worked hard all game, but they could not put the ball in the back of the net. El Pipita blew several chances in front of the goal, but he is not to blame.

In the last 10 minutes of the match Nigeria scared a whole Nation, when they missed two goals with an open goal. After all it seems like D10S is on our side.

Some of the reactions of the fans after the match:

“Messi is looking like the one we see every weekend in Barcelona, if he maintains the level he is sure to earn the Argentine public’s respect”

“The Nigerian goalkeeper was the MVP; otherwise it would have been game over in the first half”

“Even though I don’t find football very entertaining, I watch the world cup, and the love for my Nation kept me going all game”

Of course there are those that criticized the squad as well:

“Jonas was terrible; I think the ref could have taken him 1 on 1”

“ Veron, Verooon… Why is he in the National team again?”

After the game the Argentine public gathered in El Obelisco to celebrate the victory. Tuesday we face the dangerous South Korea, led by Ji-Sung Park. If Argentina obtains a positive result, I can say that we are through the next round.

Signing off

Your Argentina Fútbolito

Diego Maradona confirmed the presence of Carlitos Tevez in the starting eleven that will face Nigeria on Saturday. During an interview with the Argentine Media giant TyC Sports, Diego said “Carlitos is the player of the people, I cannot leave him out”.

The Dona admitted that Carlitos is his favorite player, however he also praised his captain Javier Mascherano and the senior midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron. He said ” Javier and La Brujita are phenomenal players, both are one step ahead of everyone else, tactically and physically”.

With the inclusion of Tevez, Argentina will most likely defend with three in the back, leaving Otamendi out of the squad. The possible lineup is:

12. Sergio Romero; 2. Martin Demichelis, 13. Walter Samuel, 6. Gabriel Heinze; 17. Jonas Gutierrez, 8. Juan Sebastian Veron, 14. Javier Mascherano, 7. Angel Di Maria; 10. Lionel Messi, 11. Carlos Tevez, 9. Gonzalo Higuain.

Those mentioned above are the XI that Maradona used during the last practice in Pretoria. The best part of the session was watching a “overweight” Maradona juggle with the ball, and score two amazing free kicks.

Stay tuned for the match preview and official word from Diego Maradona.

Signing off,

Your Argentina Fútbolito

He’s the only male in our Futbolita World Cup list, but Lucas Lugo – like any other red blooded male – is excited to be the only ‘Fútbolito’ picked to represent his country, Argentina. The Buenos Aires native is a computer engineering student who, along with his father, founded “We Are Futbol”.

“Being surrounded by good looking ladies is one of the best things football has to offer. I am also excited of being part of a professional group of individuals, all working towards a unified goal,” he said.

Lucas with Lalo, one of Maradona's brothers, whom he works closely with

ON HOW HIS PASSION FOR FOOTBALL STARTED…

I literally was born with a ball on my feet. My father was a professional football player, he retired in 2001 so I enjoyed most of his career. Football stadaium often became my 2nd home, I spent more time there than anywhere else. Thanks to his career I moved around the world very often, I lived in Chile, Guatemala, El Salvador, The United States and Spain. Football is not just a passion, it is a lifestyle, and only those that live it know what I am talking about it.

ON THE ARGENTINEAN CULTURE…

Everyone in Argentina has really high expectations for this world cup. The government actually approved for schools to watch the football matches, How crazy is that? You go to school and learn from uncle Diego. A lot of people are going crazy with HD, it is the new thing here, so everyone is out to get themselves a new LCD. After every win people gather around the “Obelisco”, drink and celebrate. It is also the year of the “bicenterio” or two centuries of Independence, that has added to the celebration.

AND ON THEIR CHANCES…

I have a strong feeling that Argentina will win this world cup. The qualifiers are over; forgotten is the 6-1 defeat against Venezuela, and so is the agony of the last minute goal of Palermo against Peru. The guys have the chance to start on a clean slate. In 1986 things were also rough for Argentina, a defeat against Peru at home in the last match of qualifier was leaving Argentina out of the world cup, but seconds before the end of the game Daniel Passarella scored a heroic goal to put Argentina through; 364 days later in Mexico Argentina was raising the cup. Yes we did have the Dona at that time, lets face it today we have a much better squad, arguably one of the best individual squads in the world. This time D10S will not play, instead we will have Lionel Messi, the best player in the world, added to his presence the experience of Veron and Samuel, the heart of Mascherano and the scoring ability of Gonzalo Higuain and Diego Milito.

Lucas with former Argentinean player Carlos Bianchi

ON HIS FAVOURITE PLAYERS..

Lucas at the Santiago Bernabeu

One of my favorite players of all time is of course The Dona, watching him play was amazing. I had the chance to meet him in 1992, during a friendly match they played against Chile in Santiago. My father is very good friends with Raul, his younger brother, he actually happens to work with us. Some other players I grew up watching are Gabriel Batistuta, Ronaldo and Zidane. In the present some of my favorite players are Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Arjen Robben. However, If I had the chance to meet one player it would be Sergio Ramos. I really like the passion he puts into every match, he is probably one of the best defenders in the world.

ALL PHOTOS © LUCAS LUGO