Argentina

[Andrew M]

I'm not sitting here caressing a Madrid shirt or anything, I'm just saying that Higuain should be representing Argentina.

[diegomessi]

defending higuain talkin nonsense about diego not a great way to make friends with the argentinos

[Andrew M]

Well, i'm not going to lie about my feelings towards Maradona's coaching abilities to spare Argentinos' feelings.

If that were the case, any possible friendship I might have with them would be based on lies, which isn't a great start.

[diegomessi]

there is a difference in stating that you do not think he is a good coach and claiming something about his elbow and A*S

[diegomessi]

by the way...what is your national team anyways?

[Andrew M]

there is a difference in stating that you do not think he is a good coach and claiming something about his elbow and A*S

To truly express my feelings on Lord Diego's coaching skills I felt that I needed to be as blunt and honest as possible.

And I'm English, so England.

[diegomessi]

well that explains it. i wish you had told me youwere english before then i could understnad your feelings towards Diego.. I am surprised you are talking about Argentina at all

[Andrew M]

I don't care about the hand of god, i'm just assessing Diego as a coach. Maybe he will prove me wrong and win the World Cup, I don't know?

[diegomessi]

well i hope that is how it all turns out

[Juan03]

diegomessi imo Spain and Argentina are great favorites for the world cup, Maradona still has some games b4 the world cup to prove himself and if he delivers in those games, Argentina has more than enough world class players to win the world cup so does Spain. btw im Colombian and as much as i love my national team, i know its gonna be hard for us to get a good result this sunday against Argentina if we dont make it which is very possible i'll be cheering Spain and Argentina.

[diegomessi]

diegomessi imo Spain and Argentina are great favorites for the world cup, Maradona still has some games b4 the world cup to prove himself and if he delivers in those games, Argentina has more than enough world class players to win the world cup so does Spain. btw im Colombian and as much as i love my national team, i know its gonna be hard for us to get a good result this sunday against Argentina if we dont make it which is very possible i'll be cheering Spain and Argentina.

great post and you guys got the better of us last time we played but this time its here and we are not down a man. Good to hear some support from a person outside Argentina!

[beef-supreme]

well that explains it. i wish you had told me youwere english before then i could understnad your feelings towards Diego.. I am surprised you are talking about Argentina at all

That's ludicrous.
Firstly, there is nothing wrong with suggesting that Higuaín be called into the line-up. You, an Argentine, of all people, should be looking at it objectively and hoping that the very best of your country are called up. And Higuaín IS one of the very best of your country. He is a Madrid player who I will respect because he is immensely talented and carried his team when they were down. He is certainly a highly skilled and lethal player who you could use in the national team. Just look at how he plays, his touch on the ball is fantastic. He is a Madrid player and I wish him all the worst when he plays in the Spanish League or Cup. But the national team is an entirely different area.
Secondly, Andrew never said he's trying to make friends with Argentines. Maradona has had little or no clue about what he's done so far, with that early row and almost leaving the job, and then a record loss in La Paz. Excluding Higuaín for potentially biased reasons adds to his bad decision-making, and Diego certainly isn't a good role model either.

In short, Andrew is being open-minded in his criticism and it's completely fair. There is nothing wrong with respecting objectively a Madrid player, because while they may be the scum enemy, they can't be ignored for their skills. That's just foolish.

And no, writing about Madrid does not mean that we are idolising them, or sinning or whatever. People actually discuss footballing matters openly, and Barcelona is a passion and a love and a cause, but certainly not a fascist cult.

[diegomessi]

no offense, and i am not trying to start anything, but you cannot even begin to understand the rivarly between the English and us (we even fought a bloody bloody war), and i was just amazed to here an Englishman talk about Argentina as if it was his own team, and it was very refreshing.. very rarely have i met an englishman with the time of day or respect to acknowledge Argentina..

As for Higuain i think he is a good player but right now not what Argentina needs. He will get his chance though. also he is not even considered Argentine by the people here because..well... he is actually French and i do not know how to explain it to you anymore than that, if you lived here saw the media and everything day to day you would get a better understanding.

[Andrew M]

diegomessi, there is very little animosity towards Argentina in England.

And I don't feel the need to limit any constructive analysis just to Barca or England. Just as beef said, discussing football matters openly is what people enjoy to do.

[BlaugranaGirl]

no offense, and i am not trying to start anything, but you cannot even begin to understand the rivarly between the English and us (we even fought a bloody bloody war), and i was just amazed to here an Englishman talk about Argentina as if it was his own team, and it was very refreshing.. very rarely have i met an englishman with the time of day or respect to acknowledge Argentina..

I'm not in England but I am in Britain and quite a lot of people like Argentina here. Most people enjoy the way you play football. I see people walking around wearing Argentina shirts sometimes. There is not a great deal of animosity these days. Perhaps there was once but not now, not that I've seen anyway.

English people have more of an issue with Germany and France than the Argies.