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The next test: Tuesday’s qualifier with Bolivia (Preview)

On Tuesday afternoon Alejandro Sabella’s team travel to the extreme altitude of La Paz to play Bolivia. Last time they played, under Diego Maradona, Argentina were humiliated, experiencing their heaviest ever defeat, losing 6 – 1. However, times are different, in 2008 Argentina were struggling for form and battling to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa. Now they are top of the table and under far less pressure as qualification seems inevitable, whatever the outcome of this game. Sabella appears to have found the way to get the best out of Lionel Messi and he has been ably supported by Gonzalo Higuain, Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero in recent months and now expectation continues to increase. Against Venezuela, Sabella was forced to shuffle his pack slightly, with the same devastating effect, but with Higuain suspended, Aguero injured and continued question marks over the defence what will Sabella do tomorrow.

Friday night’s comfortable victory over Venezuela highlighted some key factors with the Argentinian squad. On a positive note, even without Di Maria and Aguero they were able to produce some wonderful attacking moments and Messi was still able to dictate proceedings. Lavezzi and Montillo came into the side and put in solid performances and with the likes of Rodrigo Palacio to come off the bench it appears that there are options to vary this attack if needs be. Fernando Gago looked very good in central midfield and as always was very tidy in possession, a characteristic that would have been key when playing in the altitude of La Paz but it seems that Gago will miss out on the trip with a muscle strain. However, the bigger issue from Friday’s game came in the second half and the two guilt-edged chances that Venezuela were easily able to create, even if they squandered them. Soloman Rondon was able to bypass Federico Fernandez with ease to create the openings and only wasteful finishing maintained Argentina’s clean sheet.

Sabella has given no clues from his training and his interviews what his team will be tomorrow night. With Higuain suspended, Aguero still missing and now Gago carrying an injury, Sabella will be forced to tinker with his side again, but with qualification all but certain could he experiment with some new systems to try and shore up the defence.

One possibility would be to play 3 in defence, a formation that Sabella has utilised previously. Napoli centre-half Hugo Campagnaro could sit with Garay and Fernandez as the 3, flanked by Zabaleta and Rojo making a back 5 when without the ball. Acutely aware of the problems with playing at altitude it is expected that Sabella will want to put the focus on possession, limiting the time chasing the ball. The loss of Gago in this respect will be significant but his substitution on Friday, replaced by Ever Banega probably gives us an insight into Sabella’s thoughts. Walter Montillo may keep his place in the side or Sabella may draft in River Plate midfield player, Leonardo Ponzio although a midfield 3 of Mascherano, Banega and Ponzio may be a little too defensive in front of a 5 man defence. Di Maria is available again after suspension and his pace and directness will be useful if Argentina are to play on the break. In the absense of Higuain who will support Messi? Lavezzi’s industry and pace could be important but Rodrigo Palacio is an option.

Either way Argentina find themselves in a good position as with qualification almost guaranteed and a year ahead of the World Cup they are able to experiment. Sabella is keenly aware of his side’s defensive frailities claiming, “I have to cover my face when the opponents are attacking” but the balance will be finding a way to resolve this while not hindering the incredible attacking options available. Tomorrow maybe a glimpse at what some of the alternatives could be.

Another record for Leo?

Friday’s penalty against Venezuela moved Lionel Messi within two goals of the legendary Diego Maradona. Messi now has 32 goals in 78 appearances for Argentina behind El Diego with 34 in 91. Only 3 shy of second placed, Hernan Crespo it seems Messi ivertaking both these players is only a matter of time even if he doesn’t manage this in La Paz tomorrow. However, Messi is still someway short of the great Gabriel Batistuta. Argentina’s record scorer sits comfortably at the top with 56 from 78 games, an unbelievable return. At just 25 years of age this is in Messi’s sights and could be another record that he looks to smash in his amazing career.

Problems for Bolivia

Bolivia were hammered 5-0 by Colombia on Friday and currently sit 4 points adrift of the fifth placed playoff position. With 6 games to play this is achievable and with Bolivia’s strong home record they are still looking to beat Argentina. The defeat to Colombia was not the ideal warm up. The defeat was perhaps not too surprising as Colombia are looking strong but the manner of the defeat and injury problems could be ominous ahead of Argentina’s visit.

Goalkeeper, Carlos Arias was injured and so substitute goalkeeper Sergio Galarzo had the uneviable task of picking the ball out of the net 4 times in the second half. He will play again tomorrow night but the press was critical of the whole side. Coach, Azkargorta has apologised for the display and vowed to come out fighting against Argentina. Several changes are expected and Bolivia will be hoping for a much improved performance.

Honduras visita el istmo para tratar de sacarle tres puntos a Panamá

PANAMA - La selección de Honduras busca consolidar su liderato en la eliminatoria de Concacaf cuando enfrente como visitante a Panamá en la tercera fecha de la competición.

Honduras lidera el hexagonal con cuatro puntos tras una victoria ante Estados Unidos por 2-1 y un empate frente a México 2-2, mientras que Panamá contabiliza dos unidades tras igualar con Costa Rica 2-2 y Jamaica 1-1.

El partido, que será dirigido por el árbitro estadounidense Jair Marrufo, se disputará en el estadio nacional Rommel Fernández, en el sector este de Ciudad de Panamá.

El técnico del equipo hondureño, el colombiano Luis Suárez, dijo a los periodistas que su equipo mantendrá su papel de protagonista y buscará la victoria, como siempre lo ha hecho, aunque admitió que la selección panameña es muy difícil.

Suárez indicó que el partido será intenso desde el principio, por lo que los hondureños deberán estar muy concentrados para evitar una sorpresa de un Panamá "agresivo y rápido".

Honduras realizará esta tarde el reconocimiento de la cancha, después de llegar a suelo panameño la noche del domingo.

Por su parte, el técnico panameño, Julio César Dely Valdés, señaló en una conferencia de prensa tras el último entrenamiento que saben que el partido puede ser ganado en "cualquier momento", aunque todos los partidos del hexagonal "van a ser muy difíciles y con resultados ajustados".

Precisó que no se harán marcas individuales a ningún jugador hondureño en especial sino que se tratarán de contrastar los puntos fuertes del contrario.

Dely Valdés señaló que será una situación "atípica" estar fuera del banquillo, debido a la suspensión de un partido impuesta por la FIFA, pero que todavía cuenta con 24 horas para conversar con su hermano gemelo y asistente, Jorge Luis, y ponerse de acuerdo sobre cómo afrontar a la selección de Honduras.

"Tenemos prácticamente los mismos pensamientos y sabemos lo que vamos a hacer, porque siempre planificamos juntos los entrenamientos y la preparación de los partidos", argumentó el estratega panameño.

Honduras lidera el hexagonal con cuatro puntos y le siguen Estados Unidos, con tres; México, con dos; Panamá, con dos; Jamaica, con igual cantidad, y Costa Rica, con uno.

La jornada se completará con los partidos Costa Rica-Jamaica y México-Estados Unidos.

Posibles alineaciones:

Panamá: Luis Mejía; Román Torres, Luis Henríquez, Marcos Sánchez, Felipe Baloy; Nelson Barahona, Gabriel Gómez, Rolando Escobar, Leonel Parrish; Luis Tejada, Blas Pérez. Seleccionador: Julio César Dely Valdés.

Honduras: Noel Valladares; Arnold Peralta, Víctor Bernárdez, Maynor Figueroa, Emilio Izaguirre, Oscar Bonieck García, Luis Garrido, Roger Espinoza, Mario Martínez; Carlo Costly y Jerry Bengtson. Seleccionador: Luis Fernando Suárez.

Árbitro: El estadounidense Jair Marrufo.

Estadio: Nacional Rommel Fernández, de Ciudad de Panamá.

Hora: 21.00 local (02.00 GMT del miércoles).

Whitmore aiming for good result

THE REGGAE BOYZ are aiming to beef up their organisation in an effort to repel the challenges of a Costa Rica team desperately seeking three points in their CONCACAF final round World Cup Qualifying football match tonight.

"We´re going to try to play a much more organised game, try to keep more possession and get more shots," said Theodore Whitmore, the Jamaica team´s head coach.

Whitmore, speaking after team training yesterday, pointed to the position in which Costa Rica have found themselves, noting it would strengthen their will for maximum points. After two rounds, the Central Americans are last in the eliminations with one point.

"They´re playing at home. They´ve played two games and are sitting on one point," Whitmore observed. "This Costa Rica team has a lot to play for. We have to prepare ourselves physically and mentally."

Whitmore´s team is not much better off either, given the competitiveness of the series.

"The situation we´re in, we´re aware of the tightness, so we´re going in to get a good result tomorrow," he said. "We know it is not going to be easy, but we prepared ourselves to play 10 tough matches."

Asked if the historic 0-0 Mexico result had strengthened team belief to conquer any frontier, Whitmore was philosophical, saying they have to look past that achievement, which saw Jamaica earning a point in Mexico for the first time. "We have to move past that Mexico result," he noted. "We can create history and still don´t qualify, and that wouldn´t make any sense, so we have to move past that."

A big part of that advance involves not losing to an opponent desperate for a win.

Reggae Boyz hunt crucial points

SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica:

ONE MOMENT they were up, the next they were down.

The Reggae Boyz must again lift themselves up to play for crucial points against a bitter Costa Rica team in their CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying (WCQ) final round football match at the Costa Rica National Stadium tonight.

A place in the World Cup finals alone is enough motivation. Both teams, though, will be inspired further by results in their previous qualifying engagements Friday night.

Having secured a historic 0-0 draw in February against powerful Mexico at its tremendously difficult home venue, Azteca Stadium, due to its high altitude, Jamaica gave an uninspiring performance and dropped two points in a 1-1 tie at its home venue against Panama. Though not a loss, the draw deflated the team as they had projected taking all three points to boost their chances of advancing to next year´s World Cup finals.

Instead, after two of 10 completed fixtures, the Reggae Boyz have two points, the same as Mexico and Panama. However, on the basis of goal difference, the Jamaicans are second from bottom in the six-team standings led by Honduras (four points), followed by the United States (three).

The manner in which the United States earned their points - via a 1-0 win - is reason for the sour taste in the mouths of the Costa Ricans heading into this fixture. Their match was played in heavy snow and had to be stopped at one point due to the passage of a snowstorm. The match commissioner and the referee had a meeting, with the Costa Ricans asking for the game to be called off. After snow was cleared off the sidelines, the match was resumed.

The Costa Ricans have since launched a protest to FIFA, citing conditions under which the match was played as they seek a replay.

As it now stands, they are last in the hexagonal play-offs with one point and desperately need victory to get their campaign back on track as only three of the six countries are guaranteed a spot at the Brazil 2014 championships. A fourth will playoff against the Oceania champions New Zealand for a World Cup berth.

With Costa Rica at 53 and Jamaica 54, the teams cannot be any closer in terms of a FIFA ranking. But the Costa Ricans have proven dominant over time with nine victories in 21 various meetings dating back to 1963.

Though winning five times, in the most recent clashes - dating back to 2010 - Jamaica have not lost in the last three meetings, two of which have ended in ties.

Alvaro Saborio, with the second-highest number of goals in this CONCACAF WCQ, six, will lead their attack, with top support expected from Joel Campbell, Cristian Bolanos, captain Bryan Ruiz, and veteran midfielder Celso Borges.

Both Jamaica and Costa Rica will be forced to play tonight´s encounter without one regular defender.

Nyron Nosworthy picked up an Achilles tendon injury against Panama that will keep him out of action for four months, while Costa Rica´s Roy Miller picked up a second-half yellow card that kicked him out of the fixture.

Jermaine Taylor, an experienced central defender, will play alongside Adrian Mariappa for Jamaica tonight. Taylor had started in the right full back position but was switched when Nosworthy had to be substituted, with Jamaica leading 1-0. Versatile midfielder Omar Daley, who regularly plays right full back for Jamaica, took over that role and should stay there, even though Lloyd Doyley and schoolboy Alvas Powell are in the squad. Demar Phillips, on the left, will fill out the back four shielding goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.

Head coach Theodore Whitmore and his assistant, Alfredo Montesso, worked on improved midfield coordination in sessions Sunday and yesterday as they aim to strengthen the presence and control that were lacking in the Panama match. Rodolph Austin and Marvin Elliott - who scored against Panama - were the prime players drilled towards the maintenance of position, possession, and passing options.

That task will also involve the attacking players. The nation´s all-time leading scorer, Luton Shelton, led an inexperienced WCQ offensive line with recent Britain-based Joel (Jobi) McAnuff, Garath McCleary, and Jermaine Beckford against Panama. The desired effects of increased attacking at home, as opposed to the more subdued approach away in Mexico, never worked out, and the Jamaica coaches could be forced to rethink their options, given the general displays and what they have got from the unrelated Johnsons - Jermaine and Ryan - who have starkly different playing styles.

Jermaine has proven bothersome with his dribbling while Ryan, though not converting, got scoring opportunities and held up the ball well.

Also in the wings are Dane Richards, experienced at WCQ level but yet to see a minute of final-round action; newly-recruited Theo Robinson; and gifted ball-handlers Jermaine Hue and Je-Vaughn Watson.

There are also lessons relating to CONCACAF officiating and cheeky playing, especially against Central American teams, that could prove a factor, as happened with high-frequency fouling that never allowed Jamaica to develop a rhythm in the Panama match.

The Boyz should anticipate and look to counter more plays fit for a stage as they must again lift themselves in a less friendly climate for battle against desperate opponents also wanting to secure a prized spot at next year´s World Cup Finals in Brazil.

Tough, uncompromising and fearsome

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — He often comes off as a hard-knocking, no-nonsense player who gives no quarter and asks for none in return.

But beneath that hardened exterior is an easy-going, prank-instigating individual who could be dubbed the joker among the Reggae Boyz band.

Tough-tackling Jamaica midfielder Rodolph Austin (left) engages teammates Je-
However, don´t be fooled, Rodolph ´Rudy´ Austin takes his profession seriously. Very seriously, and he´s always willing to leave everything out on the pitch. Everything.

Well, he will need to do just that when his Reggae Boyz face a wounded Costa Rican aggregation for crucial points in their third-round CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying engagement here at the Estadio Nacional at 8:00 pm (9:00 pm Jamaica time) today.

The task will be made much harder by the mere fact that Austin and his teammates failed to click against Panama inside their own National Stadium last Friday night, but still managed to escape with a share of the spoils in a 1-1 result.

Added to that they face a Costa Rican team rooted at the bottom of the six-nation group with a solitary point from a maximum of six, but playing at home for the first time in this final round campaign, in front of hungry home supporters.

It was no coincidence that the Boyz feared badly at home last Friday when Austin, as an individual, failed to fire on all cylinders. He appeared a step or two off the pace, and along with central midfield partner Marvin Elliot, failed to provide sufficient coverage for their defenders.

The 27-year-old, who joined Leeds United in the English Championships last summer from Norwegian outfit SK Brann, has looked a lot happier since arriving in Costa Rica, and the fact that he engaged the physical trainer in a bit of extra work at the end of the training session on Sunday, suggest that he´s very much aware of what is required.

Head coach Theodore Whitmore backs the player to some good when it really matters today.

"Austin is a crucial part of our preparation, especially in midfield. We know he has a lot to offer and it will be how he presents himself on the day," Whitmore told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

The coach admitted that the midfielders´ failure to stabilise the team on Friday led to the Boyz´ overall lethargic performance, but he was quick to advise that the technical staff has already sat and gone through the roles and functions with the players and it is now left up to how they respond today.

"We have sat and talked with both him and Elliot, and one of the things is that Austin has a lot of energy and at times he doesn´t know how to control that energy, but we can take positives from it because he always wants to play and is a player who gives 100 per cent every time he goes onto the pitch," Whitmore said.

The Costa Ricans tend to play a good ball possession game and Austin´s drive in the middle of the park will be crucial in how well Jamaica perform.

Not only will he be the man to break up attacks, but he is also charged with starting the attack, ensure that the team is balanced, as well as covering every blade of grass on the pitch from penalty box to penalty box.

The former Portmore United player, who stands at 183cm, and tips the scale at 78.0kg, carried the nickname ´The Beast´ in Norway and has a reputation for crunching tackles, and Costa Rica´s captain and playmaker Bryan Ruiz could be in for a tough time today.

He has been a long-time admirer of United boss Neil Warnock, who tried to sign him to QPR after a trial stint the previous summer.

While at SK Brann, Austin won Player of the Season award in 2011, scoring seven goals in 25 games. He also won the NISO Award as the best player in the 2011 Tippeligaen.

If he produces anything close to his best today, then the Reggae Boyz could rip up the script and shock the region like they did on February 6, when they held Mexico 0-0 inside the Estadio Azteca.

Repaso táctico antes de partir a Quito

La última práctica de la Albirroja en el CARDE de Ypané, previa al viaje a Quito, Ecuador consistió esta mañana en un repaso táctico, que luego dio paso a tareas de pelota detenida. Esta es también la última movilización antes del juego ante la selección ecuatoriana pues la selección paraguaya de fútbol no activará ni reconocerá el Estadio Atahualpa de Quito. El bus de le delegación albirroja partirá esta mañana del CARDE de Ypané a las 11:30 hs rumbo al Aeropuerto Silvio Pettirossi y a las 12:30 hs. viajará con destino a Quito. El arribo está previsto para las 16:30 hs. y la delegación estará hospedada en el Swisshotel de Quito.


CONFERENCIA DE PRENSA EN QUITO:

A las 19 hs (hora de Ecuador). aproximadamente, del día de hoy se iniciará la conferencia de prensa albirroja en el salón St Moritz “D” del Hotel Swissotel de Quito, con la participación de dos jugadores de la selección paraguaya de fútbol. Observación: El inicio de la conferencia podría sufrir un retraso teniendo en cuenta el arribo de la delegación a Quito, Ecuador.


DESCONVOCATORIA DE MARCOS CACERES Y LORENZO MELGAREJO:

Informamos que debido a sendas lesiones, se decidió desconvocar a los futbolistas Marcos Cáceres y Lorenzo Melgarejo, teniendo en cuenta que el juego por eliminatorias sudamericanas ante Ecuador será en el día de mañana, y por ende ambos no viajarán hoy con el resto de sus compañeros a Quito. El plantel de jugadores queda conformado de esta manera por 24 jugadores. Los futbolistas mencionados fueron probados por el cuerpo técnico en el último entrenamiento de hoy e inspeccionados por el cuerpo médico, por lo que se debió tomar esta decisión antes del viaje al verificar que no están en condiciones físicas para el juego de mañana.

Så er der trukket lod til U-20 VM i Tyrkiet....

Colombia enfrentará a Turquía, Australia y El Salvador en el Mundial Sub-20

Redacción deportes, 25 de marzo de 2013.- Las selecciones de Francia, Estados Unidos y una de las clasificadas de África, son las rivales de España, en el Grupo A, que se jugará en Estambul, del Mundial Sub´20 de fútbol 2013, que tendrá lugar en Turquía, del 21 de junio al 13 de julio, próximos.

El sorteo de emparejamientos de la fase final del Mundial Sub´20 de Turquía, donde no se ha clasificado la vigente campeona Brasil, ha tenido lugar esta tarde en el Hotel Grand Tarabya, de Estambul.

Además de Estambul, el mundial de Turquía cuenta con las sedes de Antalya, Bursa, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Rize y Trebisonda.

La ceremonia del sorteo, bajo la presencia del secretario general de la FIFA, Jerome Valcke, ha contado con la colaboración de los técnicos Fatih Terim y Mustafá Denizli, y de los exjugadores Hakan Sukur (máximo goleador de la historia del combinado turco) y Rustu Recber, que militó, entre otros, en el Barcelona y que es quien más veces ha vestido la elástica nacional absoluta de su país.

Las 24 selecciones participantes en la fase final han logrado su presencia a tenor del siguiente reparto: 6 clasificadas europeas (España, Croacia, Francia, Grecia, Inglaterra, Portugal); la anfitriona Turquía; 4 en representación de la Confederación Asiática (república Corea, Uzbekistán, Iraq, Australia); 4 de la CONCACAF (Cuba, Estados Unidos, El Salvador, México); 4 de Sudamérica (Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay); 4 de la Confederación Africana (CAF) (Egipto, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria); y un representante de Oceanía (aún por determinar).

Los cuatro representantes de la CAF ya tienen nombre, pero aún no se sabe la selección que irá como campeona de la fase de clasificación, pues está se encuentra actualmente disputándose. Por este motivo, en el sorteo no han figurado sus nombres.

Algo similar ha acontecido con el representante de Oceanía, pues está en curso la fase de clasificación en la que están inmersas las selecciones de Fiji, Nueva Caledonia, Nueva Zelanda, Papúa Nueva Guinea y Vanuatu. El campeón acudirá a Turquía 2013.

En la confección de emparejamientos del sorteo, las 24 selecciones han sido divididas en cuatro bombos.

Uno de los condicionantes, entre los criterios de ubicación en los seis grupos, ha sido que España estaría en el Grupo A y jugaría en Estambul, aunque su grupo también contempla la sede de Kayseri; mientras que Turquía iría al Grupo C, jugando en Trebisonda.

Así, la composición de grupos, según el sorteo, es la siguiente:


- Grupo A (Estambul, Kayseri): Francia, Representante de la CAF, Estados Unidos, España.

- Grupo B (Kayseri, Estambul): Cuba, República de Corea, Representante de la CAF, Portugal.

- Grupo C (Trebisonda, Rize, Gaziantep): Turquía, El Salvador, Colombia, Australia.

- Grupo D (Gaziantep, Trebisonda): México, Grecia, Paraguay, Representante de la CAF.

- Grupo E (Antalya, Bursa): Chile, Campeón de la CAF, Inglaterra, Iraq

- Grupo F (Bursa, Antalya): Campeón de Oceanía, Uzbekistán, Uruguay, Croacia.

THE TRIAL OF OSCAR WASHINGTON TABAREZ:THE CASE FOR AND AGAINST

No man has simultaneously frustrated and engendered as much affection in the history of Uruguayan football and dare I say Uruguay in general as much as Oscar Washington Tabarez. The man known as “el Maestro” has the hardest job in Uruguay (yes even harder than the President) and in his 7 years as the master to his pupils he has delighted, captivated and enthralled the fans while at the same time angered, bewildered and downright bamboozled them. This is a man of almost seemingly complex character and conviction who has the unenviable task of raising the hopes of 3 million people with one of the proudest sporting histories and traditions ever seen anywhere in the whole wide world. Whether you love him or hate him, Oscar Washington Tabarez is almost the embodiment of Uruguayan football, for good or bad.

It was March the 7th 2006 when news broke out that the AUF had decided to give Tabarez a second shot at guiding la celeste to another world cup. The appointment and announcement was subdued and low key with very little fan fare or sharp in takes of breath by the public. The people of Uruguay were exhausted, battered and bruised, they had just witnessed their once proud national team get embarrassed on the world stage in a scale not yet seen before.

The years of 2003-2005, where easily one of the worst periods of Uruguayan football. It was an epoch of dizzying heights and incredibly low lows. After such a lack lustre world cup in 2002, the AUF had decided to appoint Juan Roman Carrasco as coach of the national team. JR was the cavalier and gun-ho coach of Fenix who under his helm oversaw the best period of success in the clubs long history. For the first time ever, Fenix had been serious contenders for the championship and had gone as far as to book a place in the Copa Libertadores, even notching up a famous 6-1 victory over Sebastian Abreu’s mach more fancied Cruz Azul of Mexico. After his seemingly miraculous work in transforming such a small and modest outfit into an attacking machine the likes of which many hadn’t seen before, JR was seen as the perfect tonic to shake up and rejuvenate a seemingly tired and out of date national team.

After such a great start, the wheels began to fall off after a string of loses and an embarrassing home defeat to Venezuela, which has now gone down in Vinotinto folklore as “El Centenarioazo”. JR was more “Don Quixote” then “Che Guevara” and was duly given his marching orders.

The public demanded a more “mature” and “tactical” coach who was not so schizophrenic and with more of a slowly, slowly approach to football rather than a crash through or crash mentality. Jorge Fosatti was appointed coach and had the task of Victor Pua before him to reignite the chances of qualification to the World Cup. Uruguay had seemingly gone from bad to worse in a short amount of time losing 3-1 to Peru at home and then 5-0 to Colombia away. Not all was lost because Fosatti used the upcoming Copa America to formulate and mould a team into shape and with some positive results both home and away, Fosatti was able to manage a play off birth to the World Cup finals, eventually losing to Australia on penalties in Sydney. Uruguay missed out on Germany 2006 and so Fosatti was gone and a new coach was needed to take his place.

With many pundits claiming that Sergio Markarian, Gerardo Pelusso and Hugo De Leon were the obvious choice to take charge of la seleccion, the AUF had gone down the path of familiarity and appointed Oscar Washington Tabarez.

Tabarez was hired due to his thoughtful and analytic approach to football, his experience overseas and the fact that the last time Uruguay made it to the second round of a World Cup was in 1990 with “El Maestro” as coach, the air of nostalgia was so deep that they even signed up with Puma as their shirt sponsors who were Uruguay’s sponsors at Italia 90.

For the past few years, the national team had seemingly binged on nothing but sugar, downing bottles of Coke and Pepsi while scoffing copious amounts of chocolates simultaneously, the public had enough of the intense sugar rushes and it was time to settle down with a nice cup of tea and a biscuit instead and thus Tabarez was seen as the perfect fit.

The appointment of Tabarez and the very little fan fare that came with it was the complete opposite to the rock star reception and appointment of JR. Tabarez was not just given the reigns of the senior side but was also given the responsibility to oversee and direct a project that included the youth sides with the aim of captivating new and emerging talent from all over the country and to develop these players into modern and dynamic footballers. It was a mammoth task but one which Tabarez seemed to accept with great relish.

The second Tabarez era had gone under way with a trip to the United States to play a few friendly games against mediocre European opposition like Northern Ireland and Romania. The new look Uruguay rendered a renewed yet cautious sense of optimism as a new generation of players had began to blossom under Tabarez’s leadership. Other friendly matches at home and abroad confirmed that it was indeed a new era and a new beginning for la seleccion.

Young players like Juan Surraco, Diego Vera, Mauro Vila, Jorge Fucile, Diego Godin, Ignacio Ithurralde, Walter Gargano, Alvaro Gonzalez, Walter Lopez, Maximiliano Pereira, Arevalo Rios, and Sebastián Fernández were given opportunities to play alongside some more experienced heads like Nico Olivera, Loco Abreu, Guillermo Giacomazzi, Lolo Estoyanoff and Fabian Carini.

Youth players like Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Martin Caceres started to cement a place in the side and re affirm the belief that Tabarez was indeed injecting some much needed youth into the senior set up. But not everything had been rosy on the selection front as Tabarez began to show signs of ignoring popular opinion in terms of reserving specific players and ‘rewarding’ players who were considered to be undeserving of a call up. Several players hitting form for their clubs in various positions have been seen as being ‘unfairly ignored’ in favour of players who have been granted licence to play for la celeste despite not playing for their club side on a frequent basis or in some cases not playing at all.

During Tabarez’s reign he has denied players such as Walter Pandiani, OJ Morales, Antonio Pacheco, Santiago Silva, Carlos Sanchez, Alberto Acosta, Guillermo Rodriguez, Rodrigo Mora, Juan Manuel Olivera a chance to play with the national team even in friendly matches while players like Flaco Fernandez, Emiliano Alfaro and Cristian Stuani have all been given surprise call ups.

Tabarez has demonstrated severe stubbornness with player selections but none more so with goalkeepers. For a large part of the beginning of his second reign as coach, Tabarez had stuck with Fabian Carini as his number 1. Carini had been out of favour for his club side in Spain and later in Brazil yet Tabarez had put his confidence in a keeper with very little match fitness. This lack of fitness had cost Uruguay dearly as Uruguay lost valuable points due to some school boy errors made by Carini. After much conviction Tabarez finally dropped Carini and opted for Castillo instead, whether or not he is the obvious candidate to replace Carini is neither here nor there, because unlike Carini Castillo was actually playing for his club. With Castillo injured in came Sebastian Viera who at the time was not playing for anyone. Viera’s time with the seleccion was nothing short of ludicrous as he was at fault at several goals, what was more alarming was the fact that during that time Fernando Muselra had become the number 1 at Lazio and was totally ignored by Tabarez despite the fact that Muselra had experience at youth level with la seleccion and was even called by Tabarez during his time with Nacional for some training camps. Muslera was begrudgingly selected and the rest in history.

This example is the perfect embodiment of one of Tabarez’s most annoying traits, his stubbornness and inability to consider change when it is needed the most. During the last few matches Tabarez has denied many players access to the national team sighting the need not to change things that aren’t necessarily broken. However Tabarez has indeed added players some more unfancied than others to the national set up and at various stages. Players like Victorino and Arvealo Rios hadn’t featured during the Eliminatioras yet played in the World Cup. Lodeiro came in very late during the matches against Costa Rica, Muslera started against Ecuador late on, just to name a few. He has also sighted age as a barrier in selection criteria yet he handed Andres Scotti his first call up at age 30 while other players like Abreu, Perez and Forlan will all be in their mid to late 30’s for Brazil 2014. Players like Tanque Silva, JM Olivera and Recoba are in the 30’s and may not get a call up due to this hypocritical policy.

Tabarez as manager has guided Uruguay to some amazing and famous victories, (2010 vs Ghana, 2011 vs Argentina) but not everything had been so rosy. During the last round of qualifiers Uruguay was languishing in 7th place and with one foot out of the World Cup and some very lack lustre performances under their belt, Uruguay were almost a shoe-in to stay home once more. However a late victory against Ecuador and some favourable results from other matches sealed their passage to the knock out stage, and the rest you all know. Whether this was luck, Garra Charrua or brilliant tactical work is up in the air, the fact of the matter is Uruguay was perilously close to not qualifying and in an incredibly irritating manner, due to the fact that proper player selections in key areas (such as goalkeeper) could have swung results in Uruguay’s favour. However Tabarez would save his worst moment for last as the Olympics was nothing short of a disaster.

After 80 odd years Uruguay were finally back to where the success and glory all began and with Tabarez at the helm there was a severe sense of “it was meant to be” from an excited and hungry supporter group eager to see Uruguay triumph at an Olympic games once more. This was the chance to enhance the Tabarez project and move the national team forward from such great successes like the 2010 World Cup and the 2011 Copa America, the 2012 Olympics was meant to be another link in the chain. However it was the total opposite. Players who were clearly not pulling their weight were left on the field to continue to play as appallingly as they have done since the first minute, while players with speed and depth like La Joya Hernandez, Urretevicaya and Polenta were left to rot on the bench. And Tabarez’s tactics and general approach was nothing short of plainly flippant. It was not a pretty sight. At the moment Uruguay is in a position it knows only too well (5th place) and has been the subject of intense criticism due to some subpar performances at home and abroad and with player selections. It will be interesting albeit frustrating to see how Tabarez will get out of this one.
Not everything has been all doom and gloom with Tabarez because Uruguay has experienced one of its most successful periods in recent history. Uruguay had been for almost 20 years a team with little to no real hopes of ever achieving success of any grand scale on the international arena, save for the 1995 Copa America won on home soil. Uruguay under Tabarez has finished a respectable 4th place at a World Cup and also claimed the title of ‘king of kings’ winning their 15th Copa America in Argentina of all places. Uruguay has over time changed its reputation from a country of thuggish and brutish players who deem it necessary to hack, kick and slice their way through opponents in order to win games, into a team that plays purely on modest talent, team ethic and of course the famous ‘Garra Charrua’.

Players like Arevalo Rios, Diego Perez and Sebastian Abreu epitomized the uniquely Uruguayan approach to football, that it’s a game that doesn’t necessarily have to be played in a physical sense but an emotional and sometimes illogical one too, that it doesn’t matter if the football is fancy or indeed elegant but that it is played with a passion and energy that it can overcome any rival no matter what their the skill level. And individual performances from the likes of Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez have enhanced the image of the Uruguayan footballer hell bent on doing everything necessary to not just score goals and win games but to lead with strength, poise and humility. Their individual efforts at both the World Cup and Copa America is something truly inspiring. With players like Sebastian Coates, Gaston Ramirez and Abel Hernandez the future does seem bright for la celeste and with great success at international level many of the Under 20’s and Under 17’s are giving Uruguay supporters room for a higher sense of optimism. The modern incarnation of the national team has brought about a refreshed image and reputation with many people worldwide admiring, respecting and adoring the style of play from Uruguay. The sheer shock and awe of footballing fans world wide as to how such a small country with an even smaller population can conjure up such a dynamic and successful team has been received with delight and joy by the millions of Uruguayan supporters worldwide who for so long were forced to defend and spin the negativity that came their way and suffer such embarrassing performances of a team that were so mighty many years ago.

The last 3 years has ushered a new era of success the likes of which have not been seen in decades. Both senior and youth sides have made immense inroads on the world stage at various tournaments which has bolstered the pride of an already proud footballing nation. The success of the national team under Tabarez wether fully intentional or lucky is completely hard to ignore. The current incarnation of the national team has for the first time enabled a whole generation of Uruguayans the opportunity to witness a winning team in action instead of hearing about it from their relatives.

Oscar Washington Tabarez has the hardest job in Uruguay; he has the role of uplifting an entire nation of 3 million people who see football not as a sport but as a religion and as a way of life. He has the task of continuing and reigniting a footballing tradition the likes of which has not been seen before or ever likely to be repeated for a country of its scale and magnitude. Whether you love Tabarez, hate him or both simultaneously, Oscar Washington Tabarez has revolutionised the national team in ways in which no one ever imagined he could. He can be frustrating, stubborn and pig headed but at the same time inspiring, thoughtful and just plain brilliant. All character traits of an incredibly complex man who has painted Uruguay on a bright new canvas. On which canvass you chose to brush him with is up to you

Paredes será titular

SANTIAGO DE CHILE -- El seleccionador de Chile, el argentino Jorge Sampaoli, anunció que Esteban Paredes será titular en el partido de este martes ante Uruguay y aseguró que la presencia de Matías Fernández es "indispensable", aunque el mediapunta no jugará desde el inicio.

Paredes, delantero del Atlante mexicano, fue convocado a última hora debido a la baja de Alexis Sánchez por acumulación de tarjetas amarillas y tendrá la misma función que desempeñó el jugador del Barcelona en el encuentro que Chile perdió frente a Perú en Lima el viernes pasado por 1-0.

"La función inicial de Esteban será de delantero centro, pero debe tener movilidad para cambiar posiciones con los extremos", dijo Sampaoli en rueda de prensa.

"Necesitamos un jugador de esas características y nos puede dar la posibilidad de gol que no se encontró en Perú", añadió.

Pese a que en el plantel chileno se encuentran otros delanteros como Ángelo Henríquez o Nicolás Castillo, el seleccionador se inclinó por Paredes porque ha tenido más continuidad en su club.

"Paredes juega todos los fines de semana y eso da la posibilidad de un jugador con más ritmo y experiencia, ante jugadores experimentados y fuertes", apuntó el técnico.

Sampaoli manifestó que el centrocampista Matías Fernández ha tenido una buena evolución de sus molestias físicas y dejó entrever que contará con algunos minutos ante los charrúas.

"Matías Fernández hoy es una opción indispensable", señaló Sampaoli. "Es una opción que nos va a dar claridad, pase y tiro libre", apuntó.

El seleccionador chileno alertó del poderío ofensivo de Uruguay, con Edinson Cavani y Luis Suárez al mando, y consideró que buena parte de las opciones de triunfo para la Roja pasan por repetir el planteamiento ofensivo mostrado durante el primer tiempo ante Perú.

Sampaoli aún se mostró contrariado por la derrota en Lima, una caída que considera injusta y que atribuyó, principalmente, a los "errores groseros" del árbitro argentino Diego Abal.

Chile, con doce puntos, sigue sexto en la clasificación de las eliminatorias sudamericanas al Mundial de Brasil 2014. Uruguay, que el viernes pasado empató a uno con Paraguay, ocupa la cuarta posición, con trece unidades.

Bolivia - Argentina kl. 21.00 (FAS)

Ecuador - Paraguay kl. 22.00 (FAS?)

Chile - Uruguay Kl. 0.30 (FAS, Kayokay(?))

Venezuela - Colombia kl. 01.00 (FAS)

Panama - Honduras kl. 03.00 (Kayokay)

Costa Rica - Jamaica kl. 03.00 (Dibben ?)

Mexico - USA kl. 03.30

Jeg har noget arbejde fra 19-22, men ellers regner jeg med at jeg har de fleste kampe til at køre. Jeg har i hvert fald to computere på kampene, så det kan lige lade sig gøre at se dem alle på nær første halvleg af Bolivia mod Argentina.