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Player Profile: Sergio Romero

This past week has been a big one for Argentina, since apparently the fossils of the biggest dinosaur ever was discovered there and all. However, one of history´s biggest mysteries still has yet to be answered, a mystery so big that none of the world´s most renowned experts have been able to solve it with a definitive answer. That´s right, why is Sergio Romero the unquestioned starting goalkeeper for Argentina?

Is it because he played so much and so well for his club, AS Monaco, in the French Ligue 1 this season? Not really. Romero was a backup all season long to Danijel Subasic and started exactly zero league matches, settling for five French Cup matches against second-rate opponents.

Well, he must have shined in those five matches, right? Um, no. His performances were downright underwhelming and was scored against on more than one occasion by a team like Vannes, a third division club, in the fourth round of the competition.

Go to the 1:00 mark of the following video and pay attention to what Romero does, or doesn´t, do during this play with the match very much still in the balance .

https://www.youtube.com/…x5bD3VaJm94


Ok, you saw that too right? The ball bounced right off him and into the net! This isn´t some youthful mistake from Romero as an inexperienced rookie; this happened to a 27-year-old veteran supposedly in his prime in January of this year. That´s the kind of goal that would elicit an ¨Oh, dear god, no¨, followed by putting your hand over your face in embarrassment as a fan.

So he didn´t play well for his club, you can blame that on lack of continuity, but he must have marveled everyone playing for Argentina, right? …. Right?

Well, there is good news and bad news on that end. The good news is that Romero was really solid in Argentina´s last friendly against Romania, a 0-0 tie in Bucharest that featured a couple of really good saves.


https://www.youtube.com/…mLAsRP--YXo


The bad news is that, once again, that was only a friendly, and his last three official matches of 2013 in World Cup Qualifying left a lot to be desired, allowing six goals in three matches against Paraguay (2), Peru (1) and Uruguay (3).

But wait! It gets better (or worse, really)! It takes a lot for people to question a goalkeeper in a 5-2 blowout, but that is exactly what people did thanks to the following Romero blunder against Paraguay.

https://www.youtube.com/…dzUgJKlS808


It was the 17th minute of the first half, Argentina was up 1-0 and the ball is deflected off a cross. Romero, clearly keeping his composure, ¨dives¨ for it and flails as the ball goes into the net. If your kid wants to be a goalkeeper, and he or she just had a rough day, show him or her that video and they will see that things can always get worse.

OK, so that´s just a couple of blunders, we are all human, but he has World Cup experience and must have a strong track record.

Actually, no, Argentina´s last traumatizing, collective World Cup memory is of him allowing four goals in Germany´s historic 4-0 blowout win in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup.

Despite all that, Argentinean manager Alejandro Sabella still steadfastly believes in him, so Argentineans everywhere have no other choice but to cross their fingers and believe in him as well.

Racing Club, AZ Alkmaar, Sampdoria, Monaco. Romero has had an up-and-down career that has brought him to this moment. Brazil 2014 is his moment, it is his redemption, and there is no other option for him but to step up and become the goalie Sabella believes he is.

Romero´s nickname is ¨Chiquito¨, which means ¨Tiny¨, but he will need to come up big if he wants his name to belong alongside those of past World Cup legends for Argentina such as Ubaldo Fillol, Sergio Goycochea and Carlos Roa.

It is put up or shut up time, a once in a lifetime opportunity that defines legacies and becomes more than just a single chapter in the life of a relatively unknown player worldwide that is about to jump into the brightest possible spotlight with the hopes of an entire country literally in his hands.

Tim Vickery Column: The importance of coaches

Great players are usually natural talents, who work on an instinctive level. Many never get beyond that. Some, though, dominate the technical part of the game with such ease that they then become curious about the collective side – the obvious example is the Dutch master, Johann Cruyff.

Perhaps Zizinho is a Brazilian equivalent. The idol of the young Pele, he was an extraordinary player, chosen as the best of the 1950 World Cup. European journalists sent over to cover the tournament could hardly believe what they were seeing. The Gazetta dello Sport said that watching Zizinho was like observing Leonardo da Vinci painting a masterpiece. Willy Meisl, an influential journalist of the times, wrote that he “possesses all the qualities that can be identified for a professional to get close to perfection.”

Zizinho belies the idiotic myth of Brazilian football being some kind of Carnaval in boots, a disorganised ballet with everyone only interested in expressing themselves. He was obsessed with tactics. I visited him in the late 90s, and spent a happy couple of hours chatting and debating the tactical diagrams that he loved to keep of teams from past and present.

He was well aware of the importance of such things because he played in a time when Brazilian football made massive strides in tactical terms. The groundwork for Brazil’s domination – the world titles of 1958, 62 and 70 – was laid in the 1940s and 50s, the span of his playing career. A key part of the explanation for the defeat of his 1950 side was its defensive frailty. In the old WM system of the time, football was a succession of one against one duels. If Uruguay’s winger Ghiggia beats Bigode, Brazil’s full back, the consequences can be fatal – as they were in the decisive game of that year’s World Cup, when Ghiggia set up the first goal for Schiaffino and scored the second himself.

Eight years later, when Brazil won their first world title, they did not concede a goal until the semi final. By then the national team were comfortable playing with a back four, with its key concept of defensive cover. This did not come from nowhere. In domestic football clubs were experimenting with this new formation and its variations – 4-2-4 and 4-3-3 – in the preceding decade.

“These modifications could only be carried out,” wrote Zizinho in his 1985 autobiography, “because, at the time, there was a great respect for the figure of the coach, who had the security of being able to put into practice his work without the fear of losing his job and being deemed incompetent if the team suffered two defeats,”

These are highly significant words. One of the very finest players Brazilian football has ever produced is giving lie to the myth. The coach is not necessarily the enemy of talent, the killjoy who spoils the spectacle by placing chains on his players. If he does his job well, then the coach is talent’s greatest friend, for he finds the balance between attack and defence and the collective context in which the great player can shine.

It is can now no longer be denied, even by the most blinkered nationalist, that the Brazilian club game is operating massively below its potential. The signs have been there in the Copa Libertadores and the World Club Cup. The Brazilian clubs now have a vast financial advantage over their rivals elsewhere in the continent. But we are not seeing this advantage out on the pitch, even in the last four years when Brazil’s clubs have won the continental title. All of them, bar Tite’s Corinthians, have then been brutally exposed when they have gone on to dispute the world crown. This year, with some cost cutting going on, the Brazilian clubs looked a little bit more vulnerable going into the Libertadores. And do it has proved. All six have been eliminated before the semi final stage. Only Gremio can bemoan their luck. The others got what they deserved. Bearing in mind the size of their wage bill relative to their opponents, this is one of the biggest disappointments in the history of the Brazilian club game.

Meanwhile, after five rounds of the Brazilian Championship, seven clubs have already parted company with their coach.

There is surely a link between the content of the last two paragraphs. To make it explicit, I shall quote the closing words of Zizinho’s book. In Brazil, he lamented, “they have given the central midfielder, the man who controls 70% of the team’s possession, the specific function of destroying, when it should be to set up the play.”

Here we have one of the great problems of the Brazilian game in recent times, and an explanation for how and why it has been overtaken by other schools in the fight to be considered the most attractive in the world. And the reason for the change in emphasis, as so many local coaches have told me, is simple – fear of losing their job. So they play safe, filling central midfield with markers. The quality of the spectacle suffers.

Zizinho’s remedy, back in 1985; “changes in our football will only be possible when the coaches gain the respect of the directors, players and the fans.” His views will come as a huge shock to many, but his conclusion looks wiser by the minute – if the position of the coach is weak, then so too will be the quality of the football.

Exclusive Interview: Zague Looks To The Past To See The Future

For Luís Roberto Alves dos Santos Gavranic, football became a reality when he realized that his tall frame would not be able to fit into a Formula One car. The young kid that was known as “The Son of the Lone Wolf” and eventually blazed his own trail by becoming the all-time leading goalscorer at one of the biggest clubs in Mexican football. His style was powerful and his potential immense and in no way was he the same as the man that he idolized as a kid, but just as effective and idolized.

Yet at a young age, the man that many would know as Zague would be looking at racers like Emerson Fittipaldi and then Nelson Piquet was a kid that played on his own, especially on the track that he built on the dead end street he lived in Brazil.

“Auto racing was the topic of discussion when we were eating spaghetti on Sundays,” says the ESPN Deportes pundit. “ That was part of my life after I moved back to Brazil when I was three, four years old.”
Zague was a kid that had to play on his own as his siblings were much older than him and he took full advantage of those moments to help stimulate his career.

From Zaguinho To Becoming Zague

In the end it was his father that was a great influence, the great José Alves “Zague”. “I remember going with him to several events where people really showed a great deal of reverence towards him,” said Zaguinho (Little Zague as he was referred to by many in the press during part of his career). “My father made a great deal of history wherever he went and he was a very important part of my football career and life even up to today. He had a great relationship with Mexican fans until this day.”

Luis Alves along with Francisco Moacyr were part of the first-ever high profile foreign signings by Club América in 1961, after Televisa president Emilio Azcárraga bought the club two years earlier. He was quickly able to make a name for himself, but was also able to help Club América end a 28-year drought of titles winning the league back in 1966.

When asked about what he emulated about his father from playing standpoint he simply had one word- Determination. Zague didn’t get to see his father play because he retired from the game in 1971 when the future Club América legend was just four years old but he quickly realized that his determination would make a difference especially at the clubs where would end up playing. “My father was from Bahia, Salvador and at the time for a club like Corinthians to bring him in said a lot about the type of player he was,” he said with a great deal of pride.

There were some observations he recalled from seeing him later on video. “My father was very skillful off the ball and he worked very hard,” said Zague. “I could never equal his heading ability; that and his dribbling. But I was left footed and it helped out a great deal.

The young Zague arrived at Corinthians youth system and was able to make a dream come true. It was also a club that saw his father become a star in Brazil decades before, but the youngster felt very comfortable in that role. A lot of credit was given to his father and a suggestion that he made that would forever change his life.

“I was told by him to not give up, to not think that any ball was lost and that helped me a great deal,” he said. “I also had to know what I had to do on the pitch.” What he learned was vital not just for his career, but to be able to play at clubs like Corinthians and then at Club América. That work ethic was able to make all his dreams come true.

“(My father) is a Bahiano (from Bahia, Salvador) and he went to Corinthians. At that time for a player to go to a club like that from so far away, it tells you a great deal of the quality player he was,” said Zague.

Zague started his youth career during a great Democracia Corinthiana era of the early and mid 80’s. “I learned a great deal from players on the senior side like Sócrates and Casagrande,” said Zague. “Even young players like Dunga, who had come over recently from Internacional’s youth system.” When he reflected on those names he took a second and said, “those players influenced me, and Brazilian football, a great deal.”

Those influences at Corinthians were so great for him that he eventually earned his first start on the senior side at 17. “There is a metro (subway system) in São Paulo and I had to take it to get to practice from where we lived,” said Zague in a nearly melancholic tone. “I believe I ran the entire way home the day they told me I was going start for the first time.”

In the end, he started to be looked at as one of the up and coming stars in Brazilian football, but his heart was still in Mexico.

“People still think that I was born in Brazil and was nationalized. I was born in Mexico when my father was playing there, “ he said. “I wanted to play for the Mexican national team.”

At this time, there were rumblings of Zague’s son being interested in returning to Mexico and there were teams that immediately showed their interest in the youngster. “Club Universidad de Guadalajara and León were interested in acquiring me,” he said. “But my father said that there was only one team he’d give (agent Juan Figer) permission to sell me to - Club América.”

At that 1994 World Cup, Mexico would have a mix of youngsters surpassing the veterans. The lone player that was coming into this national team from the 1986 team was a 35-year-old Hugo Sánchez. There was a great deal of momentum coming into that tournament as they swept into that tournament with a resounding performance in that CONCACAF hexagonal.

That format would end up being seeing Mexico head to the World Cup and end up in the Group of Death alongside Italy, Republic of Ireland and Norway. That group was extremely tight as all four teams ended up with four points but three out of the four would advance to the next phase. Mexico’s performance allowed them to win that group and advance to the knockout stage where they would be eliminated by eventual semifinalist Bulgaria.

The difference for Mexico was the match against Republic of Ireland at the Citrus Bowl where they would win 2-1 in temperatures that exceeded 100 degrees. When Zague remembered that match, he emerged with a very quick-witted comment. “People are complaining about the heat in Brazil, they must have forgotten about the World Cup in 1994.”

When looking back at that tournament Zague saw things from this Mexico side that he did not see from national teams after that. “To me that team was the best Mexico side of the past few years,” said Zague. “We lost to Bulgaria on penalties. No team has been able to go to penalties ever since.”

He also talked about how solid the team was with players like Claudio Suárez, Nacho Ambríz, Joaquín Del Olmo, Marcelino Bernal, Alberto García Aspe Luis García, Jorge Campos as well as Hugo Sánchez.

“That national team also had two great years… intense but very good,” said Zague. In addition to getting to the beating out Italy in a group as well as taking a Hristo Stoichkov-led Bulgaria side to the limit. They also took Argentina to the limit a year earlier in the Copa América final.

Zague is cautiously optimistic about what El Tri is capable of doing in this coming World Cup, but he sees a great deal of potential, but there is a great deal of confidence that needs to be worked on. “The timing did not work,” he said; “El Tri cruised in the previous round (prior to using the hexagonal formation).”

At that time Mexico were cruising and they were sky-high confidence wise. EL Tri defeated the USA 4-2 in Pasadena in the Gold Cup final in 2011 and then won the Olympic gold medal a year later. Yet certain factors played in their eventual loss of confidence and their agonic hexagonal play and qualification to the World Cup.

“The European players weren’t in good form,” Zague said. “Many players were not playing or playing at a high level at their clubs and that caused a problem.”

He also mentioned the attributes of Chepo De La Torre in being one of the major factor for the national team to lose their direction. “Chepo was a perfectionist and that caused a rift,” said Zague. “He got married to a style and didn’t realize the collective moment of the Mexican national team.”

Football is also a mental game and no one felt that more than Mexico in the qualifiers. From the confidence they generated to the overconfidence that ensued.

“There was an excess of confidence in the squad, the team thought at one point that they were going to beat everyone,” added Zague. “I was reading something that Haruki Murikami wrote about confidence, ‘There’s a thin line between healthy confidence and an insane lack of overconfidence’… this is exactly what happened to Mexico. They crossed that line and had trouble getting back.”

He has a great deal of faith in his beloved Mexico, but they will have to earn everything that they will have the chance to earn. “Mexico will have to once again prove themselves like many Mexican national teams had to in the past.”

For Zague this World Cup will be his fourth on the media end, having been a part of Televisa’s team at previous finals. He will now join ESPN Deportes in Brazil and it will be a very special tournament for him as there will be lots of memories as well as family members that he will be seeing once again.

“I feel motivated,” said Zague. For him there will be one match-up that will be especially weird for him emotionally. “The Brazil-Mexico match is like as if destiny played a trick on me. It will be beautiful but there will be lots of mixed emotions. Although in the end, I am Mexican.”

Vélez qualify for the Libertadores with entertaining win over San Lorenzo

AFA’s wonderful scheduling meant Vélez Sarsfield’s trip to San Lorenzo took place 24 hours after River had secured the Torneo Final trophy but both sides managed to produce a thoroughly entertaining match nonetheless.

The Torneo Final’s leading scorer, Mauro Zárate gave Vélez the lead on the half hour mark, only to see Mauro Matos equalise a minute later. However, Zárate in this mood is perhaps too much for the Primera División and not long after the break his beautifully timed run sprung San Lorenzo’s offside trap and he finished his second of the game. Continuing to torment El Ciclón’s defence, Zárate was then brought down in the box but oddly allowed Lucas Pratto to take the resulting penalty. Pratto confidently opted for the penenka as Torrico dived to his left. Although Matos pulled another back for San Lorenzo, Vélez held on for the win and with it qualified for next year’s Copa Libertadores. San Lorenzo, of course, have their own opportunity as they remain in this year’s competition.


San Lorenzo 2 – 3 Vélez Sarsfield

https://www.youtube.com/…FaIAtwM1-AI

River: trabajos pensando en la Superfinal

BUENOS AIRES -- Los festejos se tomaron un descanso. En el día en el cual se llevará a cabo una celebración especial durante la noche en la Rural, el plantel de River se presentó en Ezeiza y realizó una serie de trabajos regenerativos.

Si bien el equipo dirigido por Ramón Díaz ya es campeón, aún queda un objetivo para el primer semestre de 2014: la Superfinal ante San Lorenzo.

Para dicho partido, el flamante campeón no tendrá a Éder Álvarez Balanta y Teófilo Gutiérrez, ambos ya afectados a los entrenamientos de la selección colombiana que disputará el mundial desde el próximo 12 de junio.

En sus lugares, es un hecho que volverán al equipo Ramiro Funes Mori y Daniel Villalva, quienes los reemplazaron ante Olimpo, Racing y Argentinos cuando los colombianos estaban lesionados.

Por otro lado, se aguarda la definición sobre el caso Gabriel Mercado. Si el entrenador de Argentina no lo desafecta, debería comenzar a entrenarse junto al plantel, por lo que no podría viajar a San Luis. En este caso, jugaría nuevamente como lateral por derecha Augusto Solari.

De esta manera, con la incógnita de Mercado por despejar, los once que jugarían ante San Lorenzo serían: Marcelo Barovero; Gabriel Mercado o Augusto Solari, Jonatan Maidana, Ramiro Funes Mori, Leonel Vangioni; Carlos Carbonero, Cristian Ledesma, Ariel Rojas; Manuel Lanzini; Daniel VIllalva, Fernando Cavenaghi.

River y San Lorenzo se enfrentarán desde las 21 hs. en el estadio Juan Gilberto Funes de San Luis. Cabe recordar que el ganador de este partido clasificará a la Copa Sudamericana y obtendrá el boleto para jugar la Supercopa Argentina ante el campeón de la Copa Argentina.

San Lorenzo: se desgarró Ignacio Piatti

BUENOS AIRES -- Dejó la cancha en el comienzo del segundo tiempo del partido entre San Lorenzo y Vélez y en el día después se confirmó la lesión que mantendrá a Ignacio Piatti al margen de la Superfinal del próximo sábado.

El mediocampista sufrió un desgarro en el aductor de la pierna derecha y estará al menos tres semanas inactivo, por lo que está descartada su presencia en el encuentro que definirá al campeón de la temporada.

Cabe recordar que, además, San Lorenzo, tampoco tendrá a Carlos Valdés quien ya está en Colombia trabajando con el seleccionado de Colombia, de cara al próximo mundial.

Mientras tanto, Edgardo Bauza tendrá a disposición a Leandro Romagnoli quien, ante Vélez, cumplió la fecha de suspensión por acumulación de tarjetas amarillas. En caso de tener minutos, podría ser el último partido del "Pipi" en el "Ciclón" ya que su contrato vence el próximo 30 de junio.

La otra alternativa para reemplazar a Piatti es el ingreso de Juan Ignacio Cavallaro quien actúo como mediocampista izquierdo en varios partidos en los cuales San Lorenzo presentó un equipo alternativo.

En definitiva, con el reemplazante de Piatti por definir, los once probables para dicho partido son: Sebastián Torrico; Julio Buffarini, Fabricio Fontanini, Santiago Gentiletti, Emanuel Más; Héctor Villalba, Juan Mercier, Néstor Ortigoza, Leandro Romagnoli o Juan Ignacio Cavallaro; Mauro Matos, Ángel Correa.

San Lorenzo se enfrentará con River en el estadio Juan Gilberto Funes, en la noche del sábado. El conjunto de Bauza buscará adjudicarse el título de la temporada y, de esta manera, obtener el pasaje para la Copa Sudamericana y para la Supercopa Argentina 2014.

Osella dijo que el sábado "darán todo ante un gran equipo como Rafaela"

BUENOS AIRES -- Envuelto en una sana modestia, el entrenador de Colón, Diego Osella, prometió que el equipo va a "dar todo" por mantenerse en primera el sábado ante Rafaela.

"Cuando se terminó y nos enteramos que teníamos que jugar otro partido, de nuestro lado hicimos lo que teníamos que hacer, sumamos 30 puntos, un colchón muy grande que no nos alcanzó y desde esa confianza tenemos que elaborar el partido con Rafaela", sostuvo el técnico.

Osella tuvo palabras de elogios para los futbolistas, ya sea lo jóvenes que por los problemas en el club tuvieron que acelerar su formación y saltar a primera y los "cinco mayores de 25 años" que se guiaron a los más jóvenes.

"Daremos todo ante un gran equipo como Rafaela", prometió Osella.

El técnico se dio un baño de humildad al contar cómo aceptó dirigir Colón en medio de un serio conflicto deportivo e institucional, cinco meses atrás.

"No me podía dar el lujo cuándo dirigir en Primera. Fui un jugador clase B y como entrenador empecé en el Argentino B", refirió.

Henrique to sign for Fluminense

The 31-year-old defender is in Rio de Janeiro and poised to sign a pre-contract with the ‘Tricolor’, according to GloboEsporte.com.

The deal for the former Bordeaux player cannot be completed until the transfer window opens after the World Cup.

Henrique started his career at rivals Flamengo before moving to Ligue 1 in 2005.

Local organising committee confident Arena Corinthians will be used at next month´s World Cup

The local organising committee for the Arena Corinthians are confident that the stadium will be used at next month’s World Cup.

The constructors responsible for the building work have admitted that the arena will not be competed until after the tournament, but the committee insist the only outstanding issue will be an unfinished roof, which will not leave the stands unprotected.

"The only aspect of the roof which will be unfinished is the inner liner, not impacting the effective protection of the stands," said the local organising committee in a statement to Press Association Sport, as reported by Sporting Life.

"A glass finishing will also not be concluded, which similarly does not jeopardise the effectiveness of the roof.

"It is important to highlight that there is no obligation, neither from FIFA nor from the local organising committee, that FIFA World Cup stadia offer roofs protecting 100 per cent of the stands.

"Therefore, the architectural design of Arena de Sao Paulo, as well as of all other 11 stadia, does not guarantee that all the public will be immune to rain, which would be possible only in indoor arenas.

"Likewise, it was never foreseen in the project that the complementary stands had roofs."

Juan Carlos Medina Out of Mexico World Cup Squad Due to Injury

The Mexican Soccer Federation (FMF) sent out a press release on Tuesday afternoon explaining that Club America midfielder Juan Carlos Medina, had been dropped from the National Team squad that will play the FIFA World Cup in less than a month´s time.

Coming up to take his place will be Sacramento, California native Miguel Angel Ponce of Club Toluca.

"During the the team training these past few days Juan Carlos Medina suffered an injury to his right ankle. Upon medical studies it was determined that there was ligament damage in the ankle and will require immediate surgery.

"Medina has been dropped from the squad that will participate in the World Cup in Brazil. The head coach and his staff have called upon Miguel Ponce from Club Toluca to take his place" read the official press release from the Mexican federation.