News and Notes

As discussed on the comment board, Josue has gone down with an ankle injury. In his place, Dunga has called recently rumored Tottenham target Sandro of Internacional. This has added fuel to the fire for those who believe Dunga gets money under the table from agents in Brazil. This call up was literally the day after the Tottenham link appeared in the press. Although the timing is dubious, Sandro is a sensational player and a great defensive midfielder in the making. Anyone who has seen him player for Inter and on the Under 20 team knows he is a great talent, and it was only a matter of time before he was called to the national team.

This weekend saw a great deal of national team members in big matches, mostly notably the Inter Milan-AC Milan derby, which featured 7 of 22 Brazilian starters. Ronaldinho was grossly disappointing in this match, and was subbed for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in the second half. This was a match that he needed to perform in, and his poor play contributed to the 4-0 defeat for his side. The Inter Brazilians were all very strong, including the frequently injured Thiago Motta, who could enter the national team discussion again if he stays fit.

Sunday saw Juventus travel to Roma where Diego and Felipe Melo put on a show. Performances like today completely justify the price of bringing them to Juve. It is going to be extremely difficult to keep Diego off the national team when he is in this kind of form. He truly was world class today. I know his national team appearances have been poor, but if after watching him today you can’t help but think he should be on the squad.

One player who had a disappointing weekend was Anderson. I really believed he was on his way up after his second half improvement last season at Manchester United. However he has been unable to secure a regular spot on the team and there is no way a benched Anderson is going to be a better contributor than an in form Diego.

Last week Diego Maradona named his squad for the qualifier, you have to like our chances against this defense.

Goalkeepers:

Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar), Juan Pablo Carrizo (Real Zaragoza) and Mariano Andujar (Catania)

Defenders:

Nicolas Burdisso (Roma), Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan), Gabriel Heinze (Olympique Marseille), Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle United) and Nicolas Pareja (Espanyol)

Midfielders:

Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle United) and Jesus Datolo (Napoli)

Forwards:

Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Carlos Tevez (Manchester City), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli), Diego Milito (Inter Milan) and Lisandro Lopez (Olympique Lyon)