Messi Injured in Training
By: Isaiah | April 1st, 2009It appears that our little Messi-ah has pulled a thigh muscle in training with the Argentina national team. The first report that I read, out of an Argentine newspaper, suggests that it was a hamstring injury (”desgarró el tendón de la pierna izquierda”). The curse of national teams is back, I suppose. What this means, I can only imagine. Usually it takes about a month to two months to recover from such an injury, so I don’t expect Messi back before the beginning of May and perhaps not at all this season.
Look at the silver lining, though, it’s April Fools!
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Messi did not pick up an injury?
Posted from
Germany
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busquets made hisspain debut today
Posted from
Canada -
Any1 watching the Usa game??
Posted from
United States -
Wow did anyone see that Bolivia-Argentina game…….wow 6-1 lose is tough to deal with lets see how Maradona makes it through the night.But in all honesty i never seen such a talented squad play so dreadful.There was no defending at all and that keeper made Valdes look superhuman..wow once again.
Posted from
United States -
Anyone watching the Usa-Tnt game??
Posted from
United States -
I don’t think Maradona can cite the altitude as the main reason for the loss. It seemed like it was more than a physical cause because the defending was so terrible. It was basically non-existent and Argentina’s passing seemed to be very good at some points, but for the most part, it was terrible. Both teams lost possession through some of the worst passes I’ve ever seen at the national level.
But I could be wrong. I’ve never played at that altitude so I cannot really say how much it affects a player.
Posted from
United States -
you SHOULD NOT joke about stuff like that. i almost had a heart attack
Posted from
Australia -
oh man, oh man…you got me.
BUt it was perfect cure for an April Fools day prank that I got roped into being the lynchpin for…that went terribly, terribly wrong.
And now that the adrenalin rush is dying down, I actually feel better! Like surviving a Caceres tackle.
…if you’re still alive, I thank you I-man.re Argentina…it wasn’t the altitude, the team all read this blog first thing today and never recovered.
Posted from
United States -
I’m with IceMel
.I’ve been to Bogotá many times. Its not just the altitude sickness or the shortage of breath (which is real) The ball acts SIGNIFICANTLY different up there because there is less air resistance the long balls and shots are a lot harder and have a wacky dip to them. That’s why there were so many INSANE long range shots and goals during that game. A shot from outside the area is like one from the penalty spot at that altitude. The Bolivians know this and know how to take medium and long range shots that account for this. This also affects aerial passes. That’s probably one of the reasons why the Argy passing game was on. Another was that they purposely wet and cut the grass right before the game to slow down passes on the ground thus screwing with the short passes on the ground which is why so many Argy passes on the ground seemed to be way short of their targets.
Having said that, its still no excuse. Granted, three goals came after the red card (deserved BTW), and altitude exhaustion + one man down = ownage. The Argentina coaching staff knows what its like, they should have prepared them better. The Bolivian coach was brilliant in leaving 4 of his best players at La Paz to acclimate while the rest of the team played Colombia. You could definitely tell the difference in conditioning. This was also the worst game I remember Messi and Mascherano playing since 2007. Hell, its the only bad game I remember Mascherano having since 07. Gago was surprisingly Argentina’s best player by far. The defending was atrocious by Heinze (DUH!) and Demichelis in particular with Zanetti giving away a stupid penalty and Papa bombing too far forward and not tracking back in time.
I could continue rambling but, oh well. Hopefully Messi will take out his frustration from this game on Bayern.
Posted from
United States -
My dog assed Les Bleus got through on a late goal from Ribery again. Henry looked pretty mediocre, almost as if he was already resting for Saturday. Missed a sitter right at the doorstep. Unfortunate.
But, second place now with 4 matches left, two of them against the Faroe Islands. We’re IN!
Posted from
United States -
Next matches for Argentina are versus Columbia at home and afterwards in Ecuador on June, 6 and June, 10. The South America group is really thrilling because the teams are so close pointswise.
Can you imagine that Argentina fails to qualify despite their huge talent? To be honest, I cannot exclude it…I hope that Pep has some encouraging words for Messi and that Messi shows a good reaction on the pitch against Munich (he shall not play more than 45 min. against Valladolid).
Posted from
Germany -
As a card carrying nuetral internationally speaking, but US by birth and local, I wonder…is it time to start watching this US team? The games sounded good on paper…
Posted from
United States -
THAT WAS NOT FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted from
United States -
Here we go, i knew this would happen. Why are we now underestimating valladolid? We beat them 6-0 last time, but they are a different animal at their home. Messi wont start probably, and if iniesta doesnt play, which is likely, and yaya 2 ,I can easily see us dropping points.
Posted from
Kuwait -
podolski slaps Ballack on the face? http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/fussball/nationalmannschaft/2009/04/01/wm-qaulifikation-deutschland-wales/analyse-zum-laenderspiel-aus-cardiff.html
Posted from
Kuwait -
HOLY SHIT ARGENTINA LOST 6-1!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted from
Switzerland -
Argentina 5 cents:
- The Altitude was a factor.
- The non compact lines I mention after Valenzuela game showed its ugly fact again.
- The central defenders where embarrassing. But again, no surprise about it.
- What we didnt notice back then, neither Maradona did, this game was lost last weekend against Venezuela. May be it was better to bench some key player back then against a humble team at home, and keep some fresh legs for Bolivian exosphere.The ironic thing is that Maradona lead – rightly- the voices defending the right of some south America countries to play their games at home on high altitudes. So he can’t complain.
Its a hard blow, but I think if it happened -and I doubt- that Argentina won the world cup in South Africa, this game will be one of the indirect reason for achieving that title.
In the two games, beside the friendlies, Maradona showed some blinks of quality and some signs of weaknesses. Still too early to judge him.
What was Lucho role?I couldn’t figure it out.
Back to the Liga, no more international interruptions for a while. I just hate it! it gets me out of the mood.
Posted from
Germany -
CONMEBOL is the most interesting WC Qual Group out there BY FAR from the quality to the competition.
Paraguay is the only safe team right now. Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Uruguay are all in one big messy group with Colombia and Ecuador just waiting for one to slip up. In all fairness NOBODY is safe in that group.
As a US citizen, I try my best to support the USNT but I gotta admit Bob Bradley’s complete refusal to take risks turns me off. The USNT right now are essentially long ball merchants whose offense usually consists of giving Brian Ching a pass with his back to the goal, having him bowled over for a foul and try to score on the setpiece or try to get corners. People have been asking for Altidore to be featured for over a year now. A striker who can actually run and do more than holde up the ball…*WOW*. Bradley FINALLY plays him and behold 4 goals in 2 games. Granted, CONCACAF sucks in terms of the quality of the overall play and the competition. When we play in the WC look for us to park the bus and play like plummeting periquitos because I see no other way of having a chance to advance. (now, we’ll probably make the semifinals after I said that).
Posted from
United States -
by the way, how is it going for Freddy Edu? Last thing I hear is that he moved to Sporting.
Posted from
Germany -
Nah. He went to Benfica and is now on loan at AS Monaco where he hardly gets any time. Very frustrating story. The most talented US player is being absolutely wasted by the European clubs right now. He badly needs playing time. Every time he gets called up and plays for any US National Team he shines. He’s the one American truly creative player other than Donovan but he is wasting away right now. Hopefully he’ll be free at the end of this season. The kid just needs to play to develop. I hope Villareal takes Jozy back for next season with Rossi possibly leaving for a bigger team. They did pay 10 million for him so I do believe they will make an effort to properly develop him. Loaning him out to Xerez with all the strikers they already had was horrible though. Hopefully Pelligrini saw his hat trick last night.
Posted from
United States -
But I think that Altidore is the business. Adu is a lot of flash. Last time I saw him in international competition, he was trying his parlor tricks and getting schooled. I think that as with Dos Santos, he has talent. Bue he needs better advice.
The U.S. side for me is unwatchable. They are improving, but it still reminds me too nuch of “dump and chase” hockey. I know that our lads have me spoiled, but let’s see some footy fluency. I always wonder how they would fare with a Euro coach (horrors!)
As for Argentina, is the coach partly to blame? I’m still not believing that Maradons is a coach. Hell, any of us can coach Argentina when they are supposed to win. Fill out the lineup card and turn ‘em loose. It’s when decisions have to be made, when changes need to come that the real coaches separate themselves.
Posted from
United States -
Agree 100% on Jozy and the USNT. Spot on with the hockey analogy. Freddy? Maybe you’re right and I just get over-excited about a flash of flair in a team that usually completely lacks it. He was brilliant in the last U-20 though and out-performed even Pato when they beat Brazil. *Sigh* frustrating player. Also, I am a bit excited about the 21 year old kid Torres who plays for Pachuca. Kid has a good handle on the ball, seems creative, was our best player in the rough environment against El Salvador (composure), and his short passing seems WAY better than all the bruisers the US usually has at midfield. Maybe this previously unknown kid can be the playmaker the hyped up Freddy was supposed to be. If that happens then it will be after WC 2010 because we all know Bradley’s ideal playmaker is Tim Howard with his goal kicks.
Re: Argentina….
Yeah, hands down the whole coaching staff has to shoulder a significant part of the blame for not adequately preparing the team but the players also have their fair share of blame. The tipping point was the di Maria red card. They still had a puncher’s chance before that but being one man down means everybody has to run more and work harder to compensate and at altitude, that’s “game over, man”. They got worn down running around and got put to the sword.
Argentina’s problem is that they are not a very disciplined team at the moment which leads to several things. First, is that there is too much space between lines like Ramzi pointed out, second is that the fullbacks and centerbacks get drawn out of position. There advantage is that they have guys all over the place that play like madmen and are so physically talented that they routinely overpower and outwork people. Mascherano is exhibit 1A of this, others include Tevez, Zanetti, Gago, hell even Heinze for all his suckage plays his heart out. That worked against them at altitude where discipline and conserving energy is the norm of the day. They started out the game running all over the place and working hard and that just played into Bolivia’s hands because in the latter parts of the half the whole team was gasping for air. Mascherano had a horrible game because this went directly against his style. He was so winded he could not have his usualy impact. This is Maradona’s fault for not emphasizing discipline with his players (or maybe the players for not following instructions).
Credit Bolivia though. They played lights out and on that given day probably would have beaten anyone (albeit not necessarily by the same scoreline). Remember that Bolivia left 4 player in La Paz for a week and a half acclimating to the altitude (I believe it was their front line) and you could clearly see the difference as they ran all the Argies including great players like Zanetti and Mascherano ragged because they simply had more energy. Also, what I mentioned about the ball acting VERY differently up there is true. These guys are used to adjusting their passes and shots to take advantage of this. The Argies weren’t. Great game by Bolivia.
Posted from
United States -
With the deep squad Argentina has they should learn from Bolivia and leave 4-5 players acclimating to altitude before they go to Quito in June. Send them to Bariloche or even Quito and have them get acclimated both in the aerobic sense and the technical sense so that they are used to the different behavior of the ball.
Colombia (as much as it pains me to say it) is quite beatable at Buenos Aires so save some horses for the game in Quito. Send (off the top of my head) Battaglia (a defensive mid), Lucho (a creative center mid), Milito (a 9), Cato Diaz (a centerback), di Maria (a winger plus he is suspended for Colombia anyway) and maybe Angelieri (FB) to train at high altitude and lose them for the Colombia game. They have enough depth left to get by: Messi, Tevez, Aguero, Lavezzi up front,
Maxi, Gago, Masch, Veron, Gutierrez, heck call up Cambiasso too, at midfield.
Zanetti, Papa, Heinze, Samuel, Forlin, Demichelis at the back.
I think you can beat Colombia with that line-up and have a crop of acclimated players to give you a boost in Quito. Might as well learn from the Bolivians.
Posted from
United States -
oh my god. oh my god. you scared the shit out of me. my heart sank and i thought there goes the season.
and in south africa we have april fools day too, even have the same name!
Posted from
United States -
YEAH TAKE THAT ANDREW! That’s what you get for abandoning the (Unofficial) Barça Penya Brooklyn. You’ll have to move to our street, though, to be a full member.
Posted from
United States
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