Quiet Week, Busy Weekend

By: cathal | September 7th, 2008

It may have been a quiet week, but it was most certainly a busy weekend in the world of soccer with a colossal amount of international fixtures being played. It was an opportunity to see some of our best players in action and a time for many of us to sweat on our heroes emerging unscathed from whatever gruelling battles they faced. On the whole, I would think it is fair to say that our guys had mixed fortune in their games and in some cases, the luck was hitting extreme levels.

Carrizo put in an appearance in Argentina’s 1-1 draw with Paraguay. He was up to his old dribbling antics during the game and his play was solid as ever, though he did make one slight mistake. It is good to see him get a run in the side; he is not yet the automatic No.1 goalie but he is getting the minutes under his belt and that experience for him is invaluable for us. Pandev was a part of Macedonia’s 1-0 win over Scotland. I saw a bit of that game and Pandev was decent but didn’t really excel. I thought it was a solid team performance and very much a case of getting the job done. It was reported that Goran had some knee problems earlier in the week and he missed a few training sessions but he looked fit to play, although he did take a knock to his back late in the first half and was substituted later in the game. He has played a lot recently, so I hope he is close to 100% at the very least. Lichtsteiner saw the full 90 minutes in Switzerland’s 2-2 draw with comeback kings Israel. I did not see any of the game and thus I can’t comment on Stephan’s performance, but I am sure he will be disappointed to have been in a defence that conceded two late goals. If Stephan was disappointed then surely our other Stefan is distraught as Radu and Romania slumped to a shock 3-0 defeat at the hands of an inspired Lithuania. Radu was sacrificed half way through while the game was still somewhat in the balance but the defeat will do nothing for his confidence.

Highlights of Argentina’s game with Paraguay can be found below. Please note that Carrizo did not concede the Paraguay goal but was introduced after the goal had been scored, due to an injury to Abbondanzieri. A brief note on JP’s performance can be found here.

The international break allowed Rossi to work on the senior squad members who were left behind and they got to test their skills against the Primavera squad in a friendly. The difference in class was apparent as the senior squad romped to a comfortable 11-1 win. Stand out performances came courtesy of Foggia, who staked his claim for a starting berth against Sampdoria next weekend with a treble and Inzaghi, who also bagged a hat-trick upon his re-intigration into the squad. Perhaps the most significant event of the match was the introduction of Mutarelli in the second half. A decision on the ongoing court case between Mutarelli and Lazio has been delayed. The reason? Well, it appears that the matter could be resolved if the club and Massimo decide to get along and now the court is waiting to see if any progress is made. I hope this issue can be sorted out quickly as we don’t need any negativity hanging over us, especially now the season has begun.

Earlier tonight, I watched two of our former stars take part in Soccer Aid, a charity game held at Wembley Stadium where celebrities and “legends” combine to form an England side and a Rest of the World side in order to raise money for a good cause. The game was won 4-3 by England on the night but my man of the match was undoubtedly Di Canio. He still has it and he could easily put the likes of Makinwa to shame if he was still with us. If good quality highlights become available, I will post them here because Paolo’s brace was beautiful and it’s also worth seeing singer, Craig David use all of his strength to put the cumbersome Jaap Stam on the ground. It was very entertaining indeed, although the presence of Di Canio and Stam did remind me of days gone by. Good times…