Why Barcelona should let Messi stay in China

Spanish clubs are often cast as villains in South America. One minute they are refusing to release players to play for their respective national teams, the next they are accused of exploiting loopholes in transfer regulations to poach young talent without paying a penny.

Earlier this year, Vasco da Gama angrily accused Real Madrid of trying to make an offer to 15-year-old Philippe Coutinho behind their back. The club said that Real had offered a job to the player’s father and the chance to live abroad.

“They try to get around the law by taking those responsible for the player to live and work abroad,” said Eurico Miranda, club president at the time. “They offer a job to the father and take the player. But they’re not doing that here at Vasco.”

Last year, River Plate president Jose Maria Aguilar said FIFA’s rule that players could not be transferred internationally until they reached the age of 18 was routinely being broken.

“The way it happens is a club from a Spanish city contracts a woman to cook and by coincidence she has a 14-year-old football genius son,” he told Reuters in an interview. “They are stealing our players.”

Real Madrid also upset the Brazilian national team by refusing to release Robinho for Brazil’s pre-Copa America training camp last year even though FIFA’s international calendar was on the side of the South Americans.

The latest rift has involved Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi. Argentina picked Messi for their Olympic team, believing they were supported by FIFA’s rule obliging clubs to release under-23 players for the tournament.

Barcelona initially refused and took him off to a pre-season training camp in Scotland. Eventually, they allowed him to join Argentina in China, but appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the FIFA ruling. CAS has now ruled in Barcelona’s favour.

Winning an Olympic gold is almost as prestigious as the World Cup for South American footballers. Messi has made it clear that he wants to play for his country and it certainly seems more appealing than facing Wisla Krakow in a Champions League preliminary round, which Barcelona should be able to stroll through in any case.

Barcelona have made their point and won their case. If they drag Messi all the way back to Europe, he is hardly likely to be in the best of motivation or physical shape and they are guaranteed to win themselves a reputation for being spoilsports.

Letting him stay in China would be a much-needed public relations coup for them and Spanish clubs in general.

PHOTO: Messi in training at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Shanghai, August 6, 2008. REUTERS/Aly Song

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20 Players to Watch at the 2008 Men’s Olympic Soccer Tournament

The 2008 Men’s Olympic Football Tournament starts tomorrow, so here’s our World Cup Blog Players to Watch guide.

It’s 10 big names who you probably already know, and 10 guys you might not know yet but should look forward to seeing anyway.

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10 You Know

Ronaldinho (Brazil) - attacking mid
2008 could be the year R10 is reborn, following his move from Barca to AC Milan. If he brings out the skills in Beijing, then all the jokes about his weight and the suggestions that he’s past it will be forgotten.

Alexandre Pato (Brazil) - forward
Ronaldinho’s young Milan teammate lived up to (and maybe even surpassed) all expectations on both his Serie A and Seleção debuts last year. This will be Pato’s first tournament, so expect him to do the same again.

Diego (Brazil) - attacking mid
Regularly lights up the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen, but usually overshadowed by Kaka in a yellow shirt. With Kaka staying in Milan this August, there should finally be space in the spotlight for Diego.

Leo Messi (Argentina) attacking mid / forward
You don’t need me to tell you how good Leo Messi is. And the little Barcelona player is already the talk of the tournament, with Argentina and Barcelona at loggerheads over whether he should be there at all. But even if we don’t see Messi kick a ball in Beijing, his case is likely to cause a major rethink of exactly how Olympic football works.

Juan Roman Riquelme (Argentina) - attacking mid
Say what you like about him: he’s lazy, he’s selfish, he’s a bit of an oddball, but when on his game this man is a joy to watch. And he will see plenty of the ball in Beijing because - Leo Messi or not - Argentina’s gameplan will revolved around Riquelme

Sergio Aguero (Argentina) - forward

Doesn’t get the same headlines as Leo Messi, but the similarly statured (ie tiny) striker has been banging in goals for Atletico Madrid in La Liga.

Freddy Adu (USA) - left mid/attacking mid/forward
We’re pretty sure now that Freddy Adu is not, in fact, the new Pele. He’s never even threatened to a consistent run of form. But he’s still a talented young player with a whole career ahead of him and a lot to prove. Showed us a bit of what he can do at the U-20 World Championships last year, so this is his chance to play against adults.

Salomon Kalou (Cote d’Ivoire) - winger/forward
In and out of the Chelsea team and always overshadowed by Drogba on the national team. The Olympics will see Kalou front and center as the Elephants main man.

Taye Taiwo (Nigeria) - left back

There’s only one thing to say about the Marseille left back and his turbo-charged left foot: Don’t get in the way.

Giuseppe Rossi (Italy) - striker
Not the most popular striker in the USA right now, after shunning his birth country for the land of his parents. After rotting in the Man Utd reserves for a few years, 21 year old Rossi has just had a decent first season in La Liga where he scored 11 goals for Villarreal.

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10 You Might Not Know

Slobodan Rajkovi? (Serbia) - defender
As rich as Chelsea may be, they don’t splash out insane cash for the helluva it. So when Rajkovic was snapped up for a world record as a 16 year old for 5.2m, it made a bit of noise. Still only 19, he’s undoubtedly one of the defenders to keep an eye on for the tournament.

Takayuki Morimoto (Japan) - striker

Japan’s Ronaldo (fat one), as he’s been called, was the island nation’s greatest young hope when he moved to Catania in Serie A as a 17 year old. Five minutes into his Italian debut he scored a goal and a legend was born. Won’t be long before he’s the best player for Japan’s senior team, much less the Olympic edition.

Ángel Di María (Argentina) - winger

Caught the eye as one of the main men (or boys?) in Argentina’s U-20 triumph last summer. Benfica liked him so much they coughed up €6m. The above vid is what he did for Benfica in 2008.

Sebastian Giovinco (Italy) - attacking mid

The mighty midget looks like an alien, but plays like one as well. At only 21, he is already one of the most skilled, dynamic and dangerous players in the whole of Serie A. Essentially the point guard of whatever team he plays for because the ball is on his foot roughly half the game. One of the shining jewels of Italy.

Andrea Russotto (Italy) - attacking mid

Giovinco gets the pub, but experts seem to think Russotto is the heir to Totti’s throne as Italy’s true #10. Likened to Messi and Baggio, what sets Russotto apart is his otherwordly vision and skill on the ball.

Jozy Altidore (USA) - forward
The young American striker is basically having Freddy Adu’s career. Banged in MLS goals for New York Red Bulls and secured a recent move to La Liga with Villarreal. Skill, strength, pace and an eye for goal. But apparently not gelling well with Brian McBride.

Jonathan de Guzmán (Netherlands / Feyenoord) - winger
Canadian born, but never keen to wear a maple leaf. De Guzmán has been impressing in the Eredivisie with Feyenoord and recently became a Dutch citizen. This will be his first chance to impress on a big stage in Oranje.

Dong Fangzhou (China) striker
And not just because he has a hilarious first name, the Chinese striker is on the books at Man Utd. OK, so he’s only played one league game since arriving at Old Trafford, but did bang 18 goals in 28 games while on loan at Royal Antwerp. And if the host nation do well, then expect Fangzhou to be involved.

Royston Drenthe (Netherlands / Real Madrid) - left winger/left back
The dreadlocked one was the talk of the 2007 U-21 European Championships, where his performances secured a move to Real Madrid. Spent the back end of last season either on the bench or out of the squad altogether, so will be keen to remind everyone what he can do.

Vincent Kompany (Belgium)

Big (and we mean big - he’s 6′3″) Belgian centre back who currently plays in the Bundesliga for Hamburg. There was a bit of a tug of war over the 22 year old between Belgium and Hamburg but he’s now got clearance to eat opposition Olympic strikers for breakfast in Beijing. And not just a defender, he’s got some tricks too.

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Azzurrini ready to kick-off in Beijing

For all those people that since June 22, 2008 have been anxiously waiting to see the Azzurri back in action, those weeks of anticipation are finally over. Granted, this isn’t the Nazionale (we’ll have to wait until August 20th for that), but the Azzurrini are always a fun bunch to watch, as we have so many talented young talents and this Beijing Olympics should be very interesting. At the last Summer Olympics in Athens in 2004, Claudio Gentile’s U-21 side (along with Andrea Pirlo playing as a fantasista and Alberto Gilardino when he actually scored goals) put up a diligent fight, falling to a strong Argentina team in the semi-final and then defeating Iraq in the Bronze Medal game to win a Olympic medal in soccer for the first time since the early 1900’s.

Four years have passed, and much has changed. Gentile’s contract was not renewed in the summer of 2006 (a little unfairly to be honest) and young new manager Pierluigi Casiraghi was brought in. Casiraghi did well to put together an exciting, attacking side (Gentile was VERY defensive) with lots of good talented players and managed to qualify for this summer’s Olympic games.

Our squad is very talented and has all that it takes to win a Gold Medal. We may not have such high profile players as other nations (Riquelme, Messi, Mascherano, Ronaldinho, etc.), but we have players that are skilled enough to beat anyone on any given day. Up front in attack we have our own Messi, his name is Sebastian Giovinco, and if you don’t know him by now I would advise you to keep a close eye on the 5 foot 3 fantasista who can change the game at any moment. When Giovinco accelerates past a defender, the only way to stop him is to foul him. He is also very dangerous on set pieces. Then there’s Giuseppe Rossi. Everyone should know who Giuseppe Rossi by now. The little Italian-American wonderkid is arguably our most talented player, and everyone is expecting him to put in high quality performances. Marcello Lippi will be watching, as he has been praising Rossi in the press, meaning that a full Nazionale future is near.

Our lone over-age player is Tommaso Rocchi. OK so he’s not the best choice, but many teams were very reluctant to give up their stars, and therefore we have Tommaso Rocchi. That’s not saying he’s a bad player, because he’s not. Rocchi has always been a consistent performer over the past few seasons and has shown he is a proven goalscorer in Serie A. He also brings experience and leadership to the squad, and we need that to succeed.

Our other striker is Robert Acquafresca, who impressed everyone last season, scoring 10 goals for Cagliari. He also put in good performances for the Azzurrini and is the first choice striker, but with Rocchi in the mix he’ll start from the bench. He could be a good supersub though.

We now move to our midfield, where the casual fan may look at it and not recognize one name. Well that doesn’t matter, because our midfield is all quality. Antonio Nocerino is our captain and a very good player. He brings lots of work rate to the midfield (which is why he’s compared to Gattuso) but he also has very good technical ability. Luca Cigarini is quite simply the Azzurrini version of Andrea Pirlo. He holds the midfield together and directs the play from in front of the defense. If you ever watch a U-21 game, count how many times Cigarini is given the ball and you’ll see how important he is to this team. Claudio Marchisio and Daniele Dessena are two great up and coming young midfielders. Both players are very reminiscent of Marco Tardelli. They can do it all: pass, tackle, defend, attack, score goals, beat defenders. They are truly complete midfielders. They are also very good in getting into open spaces and making good runs, especially Dessena. Ignazio Abate is an attacking winger that has awesome speed and very good technical ability. He provides a good spark off the bench. Our star midfield player is of course Riccardo Montolivo. Montolivo has always been called “the new Pirlo”, but the fact of the matter is that Montolivo is not like Pirlo at all. If you have to compare Montolivo to any player, it would be Steven Gerrard (although Montolivo hasn’t refined the defensive part of his game yet). He has a laser beam of a shot and great vision. If he is playing well, Italy will be playing well.

And now we go to defense. Italy has always been known to produce great defenders but in recent times many have pondered whether Italy had any good prospects in defense. Well we don’t have any Cannavaro’s or Nesta’s, those players come only once every 20 years, but we have good prospects. Our full backs are very strong. Juventus defender Paolo De Ceglie is an attacking left back who is very good at getting forward and crossing. Marco Motta is the captain of the U21 squad and a very hardworking fullback and who goes up and down the wing with ease. Lorenzo De Silvestri is the youngest of the bunch (20 years old), but probably the most promising. De Silvestri has all the qualities to be a world class player, and resembles Zambrotta a lot. In the center, there’s Domenico Criscito (who I still think is better at left-back then in the center) who is owned by Juventus and very good at reading the game. Then there’s Andrea Coda who is a tough center back who is good in the air, and Salvatore Bocchetti, a versatile player who is excellent at anticipating the play.

Italy always has a great goalkeeping tradition, and in goal there are two good prospects. Emiliano Viviano is a excellent goalkeeper with great positioning sense and good reflexes. It’s a shame that all Italian clubs buy foreign goalkeepers, because Viviano is really a talented keeper and should not be playing in Serie B. If you saw Andrea Consigli on the street you probably wouldn’t think he’s a goalkeeper. He isn’t as tall as other goalkeepers and he’s rather lanky. But Consigli has excellent reflexes and at times makes amazing saves.

The predicted formation for tomorrow is:

4-3-2-1
Viviano; Motta, Coda, Criscito, De Ceglie; Nocerino, Cigarini, Montolivo; Rossi, Giovinco; Rocchi

Our Opponents: Honduras. I would be lying if I said I knew anything about them besides the fact that David Suazo and Edgar Alvarez are from there. And I definitely don’t know much about there U-23 players. I do however know that Carlos Pavon (played in MLS recently and played in Italy in the past) is their overage player, and will most probably be their main threat up front. However we can’t underestimate the Central American side, and the Azzurrini have to play to their full potential.

TV: The game will be live on Spanish channel Telemundo at 5 AM EST, and the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel (for those that have it) will be showing it delayed at 10:30 AM EST. You can also watch the game on the NBC Olympics website. Streams will be here.

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Weekly Dose 06.08.08

• Bundesliga Talk present their selection of this summer’s best transfers in the Bundesliga - ironically written by a former Bundesliga Offside blogger, who joined Bundesliga Talk on a free transfer this summer. Damn you Bosman! (Bundesliga Talk)
• 101 Great Goals pick their favorite Bundesliga signings as well. (101 Great Goals)
• FC Buddha Munich on its’ path to enlightenment. (Spiegel Online)
• American sports fans fed up with the rampant commercialization of their favorite past time seek solace in English footballl. Last Week: English football fans fed up with rampant commercialization sought solace in German football. Next week: German football fans fed up with the economic uncompetitiveness of their league seek solace in English football. (ESPN Soccernet)
• Soccerlens’ Eddie Griffin choses the easy way to start an argument and presents his Bundesliga (Minus Bayern Munich) Best XI. (Soccerlens)
• Rafael van der Vaart in an exclusive BILD interview. (BILD)
• Martin Jol in an exclusive(?) FIFA interview. (FIFA.com)
• Franck Ribery is Germany’s footballer of the year. (uefa.com)
• Deutsche Welle’s Jefferson Chase argues that Hamburg can kiss their Champions League ambitions goodbye, now that vdV left the club. (Deutsche Welle)
• CAS overrule FIFA and say clubs don’t have to release players for the Olympics. (Reuters Olympic Blog)
• An odd find: CNN publish a Bundesliga season preview. *original content* (CNN.com)

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Another Brazilian Veteran Searching 1000 Goals

Another icon of Brazilian football in the 90’s still is making the headlines. Tulio Maravilha, the 39 year-old forward who scored against Argentina using his hand in the 1995 Copa America, is searching for his 1000th goal. Tulio, who had great success with Botafogo in the mid 90’s, is playing for Vila Nova, club from the second division. So far, the striker ha 15 goals in 15 matches and is one of the top strikers in Brazil in 2008 (adding the goals he scored in the Goais state championship). Last weekend, Tulio scored 4 goals in the match against Marilia. The forward, always known for a perfect sense of self-marketing, claims he has 851 goals in his career, couting the goals when he belonged to U-18 squads. After the match against Marilia he predicted to reach the mark in 2010, at the age of 41. And he hopes to do that playing for Botafogo. A forward who is able to score the goal below in a professional match (Botafogo - Universidad Catolica for the 1996 Copa Libertadores) deserves this personal record.

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