The 2007 Copa America Thread

Coco Basile just named his Argentina squad for the Copa America.

The biggest surprise is the absence of Saviola. Oscar Ustari also misses out due to injury, but Seba is in there and Juan Román Riquelme gets his recall.

Goalkeepers:
Roberto Abbondanzieri
Juan Pablo Carrizo
Agustín Orión

Defenders:
Javier Zanetti
Roberto Ayala
Gabriel Heinze
Gabriel Milito
Daniel Díaz
Hugo Ibarra
Nicolás Burdisso

Midfielders:
Luis González
Juan Román Riquelme
Javier Mascherano
Esteban Cambiasso
Fernando Gago
Juan Sebastián Verón
Pablo Aimar

Forwards:
Lionel Messi
Hernán Crespo
Diego Milito
Carlos Tevez
Rodrigo Palacio

Goalkeepers:
Helton (Porto)
and Doni (Roma)

Defenders
Maicon (Internazionale)
Daniel Alves (Sevilla)
Gilberto (Hertha Berlin)
Kleber (Santos)
Juan (Bayer Leverkusen)
Naldo (Werder Bremen)
Alex (PSV Eindhoven)
Alex Silva (São Paulo)

Midfielders:
Gilberto Silva (Arsenal)
Mineiro (Hertha Berlin)
Josué (São Paulo)
Fernando (Bordeaux)
Elano (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Diego (Werder Bremen)
Julio Baptista (Real Madrid)
Anderson (Manchester United)

Forwards:
Fred (Lyon)
Robinho (Real Madrid)
Vágner Love (CSKA Moscow)
Afonso (Heerenveen)

Anyone know Brazil's squad?

Originally Posted by Grimson

Anyone know Brazil's squad?

Doesn't really work now that post has been deleted

Originally Posted by Ether

Doesn't really work now that post has been deleted

I had my 34 seconds of glory.

Very strong Argentina side. Should be a great tournament.

Originally Posted by rhodzy

Goalkeepers:
Helton (Porto)
and Doni (Roma)

Defenders
Maicon (Internazionale)
Daniel Alves (Sevilla)
Gilberto (Hertha Berlin)
Kleber (Santos)
Juan (Bayer Leverkusen)
Naldo (Werder Bremen)
Alex (PSV Eindhoven)
Alex Silva (São Paulo)

Midfielders:
Gilberto Silva (Arsenal)
Mineiro (Hertha Berlin)
Josué (São Paulo)
Fernando (Bordeaux)
Elano (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Diego (Werder Bremen)
Julio Baptista (Real Madrid)
[SIZE="5"]Anderson (Manchester United)

Forwards:
Fred (Lyon)
Robinho (Real Madrid)
Vágner Love (CSKA Moscow)
Afonso (Heerenveen)

Originally Posted by Serenity Now

Coco Basile just named his Argentina squad for the Copa America.

The biggest surprise is the absence of Saviola. Oscar Ustari also misses out due to injury, but Seba is in there and Juan Román Riquelme gets his recall.

Woohoo!!!

Any idea what sort of system/line up Basile will play? Similar to WC06? Hopefully his substitutions won't be as £#%&!ing stupid as Pekerman's

Messi has been is fabulous form this year, I think he could have a great tournament.

I'd love them to play 3 up front. Messi, Tevez, and Crespo. Imagine that.

Originally Posted by Grimson

I'd love them to play 3 up front. Messi, Tevez, and Crespo. Imagine that.

Milto has been good this season, wouldn't mind seeing him get a start. But the front three you posted would be excellent.

Very excited about seeing young Anderson in action too, though I suspect Diego may start in his place.

Originally Posted by The Watcher

Any idea what sort of system/line up Basile will play?

I expect a 4-3-1-2, that's the system he used at Boca and the one they've played in most of the friendlies under Coco.

Although a 4-3-3 is also possible, that's the system he used when he won the Copa in 1993.

Whatever it is, you can be sure it'll be very attack oriented. That has always been Coco's M.O.

Originally Posted by Serenity Now

I expect a 4-3-1-2, that's the system he used at Boca and the one they've played in most of the friendlies under Coco.

Although a 4-3-3 is also possible, that's the system he used when he won the Copa in 1993.

Whatever it is, you can be sure it'll be very attack oriented. That has always been Coco's M.O.

Very encouraging.

Would he play Riquelme in the 3 man midfield, or the 1 behind the two strikers? I'd like to see Gago play too. Didn't see too much of him at Madrid, as Capello insists on the "dream" pairing of Diara and Emerson

Anyone got the tv listings for the games?

Great tournament and fantastic football to be enjoyed.

Can be a bit strange from time to time. I was in South America a few years ago and recall Japan being invited to the tournament. Think it was the same year when Martin Palermo missed 3 consecutive penalties against Colombia in a single game. Argentina lost 3-0 in the end and Colombia thought they had a potential world star on their hands. He went by the name of Jhonnier Montano. Had a superb tournament and tormented the argies. Ended up signing for Parma and disappearing into oblivion. Think he was only about 17. Weird game this Football.

Originally Posted by shadowplay

Anyone got the tv listings for the games?

All football fixtures till August:

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=217652

Originally Posted by The Watcher

All football fixtures till August:

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=217652

Nice one, lad.

all argentina games at 1.45amGMT. boo

Originally Posted by The Watcher

Very encouraging.

Would he play Riquelme in the 3 man midfield, or the 1 behind the two strikers? I'd like to see Gago play too. Didn't see too much of him at Madrid, as Capello insists on the "dream" pairing of Diara and Emerson

There are so many ways that Argentina can line-up, even within the framework of a 4-3-1-2.

Coco usually likes to have a taller orthodox number 9. So that's Crespo or Milito there for sure. Then there'll probably be a quicker man alongside him to run the channels, likely Tevez with Palacio as back-up. You could even see Messi there playing a more withdrawn role.

Then you could either have Riquelme playing as the enganche behind, or Aimar or Messi playing as a more modern numer 10.

Behind them, Mascherano will likely be the holding player in the midfield 3. Though Gago can capably play that role, albeit it a very different manner.

Alongside Mascherano in the three there are a lot of different potential combinations.

On paper, I would say that Argentina are huge favourites. We'll have to wait and see how that translates to real life.

Originally Posted by Serenity Now

There are so many ways that Argentina can line-up, even within the framework of a 4-3-1-2.

Coco usually likes to have a taller orthodox number 9. So that's Crespo or Milito there for sure. Then there'll probably be a quicker man alongside him to run the channels, likely Tevez with Palacio as back-up. You could even see Messi there playing a more withdrawn role.

Then you could either have Riquelme playing as the enganche behind, or Aimar or Messi playing as a more modern numer 10.

Behind them, Mascherano will likely be the holding player in the midfield 3. Though Gago can capably play that role, albeit it a very different manner.

Alongside Mascherano in the three there are a lot of different potential combinations.

On paper, I would say that Argentina are huge favourites. We'll have to wait and see how that translates to real life.

Good stuff as always Serenity, cheers.

I wonder if we'll get a vBet on which match Cambiasso will kick of in! He loves a good ruck that fella Cracking player too.

Just realised I didn't really answer your main question

Román is definitely more suited to a 4-3-1-2. That's where he's played his best football over the years and I don't think he has the legs to play very effectively as part of a midfield three.

Originally Posted by naes_sean

Exactly what I was thinking. Talk about counting your chickens