Maradona Selects Players for Friendly in Marseille in Two Weeks

January 28th, 2009 | by: jeff |

On Wednesday, February 11th at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, France will host an international friendly against Diego Maradona’s Argentina.

A friendly against Argentina is already a big one, but the involvement of Maradona, the recently-appointed manager, adds a bit of spice.

Maradona is widely considered one of the two or three best players to ever play the game, except by those who consider him the best, full stop. He has reportedly tamed his self-destructive streak recently, and the world has seen fairly little of him as a manager, so all eyes are on him.

Here are the players he’s bringing to Marseille two weeks from today.

Goalkeepers

Juan Pablo Carrizo (Lazio Rome, Ita)
Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar, Pbs)

Defenders

Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan, Ita)
Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich, All)
Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid, Esp)
Daniel Díaz (Getafe, Esp)
Nicolás Burdisso (Inter Milan, Ita)
Walter Samuel (Inter Milan, Ita)

Midfielders

Javier Mascherano (Liverpool, Ang)
Fernando Gago (Real Madrid, Esp)
Maximiliano Rodríguez (Atlético Madrid, Esp)
Jonás Gutiérrez (Newcastle, Ang)
Luis González (Porto, Por)

Attackers

Lionel Messi (Barcelone, Esp)
Sergio Agüero (Atlético Madrid, Esp)
Carlos Tévez (Manchester United, Ang)
Ezequiel Lavezzi (Naples, Ita)
Lisandro López (Porto, Por)
Germán Denis (Naples, Ita)
Angel Di María (Benfica, Por)

Hopefully it will be a great event. Lionel Messi has been in top form; hopefully he won’t carve us open. I wouldn’t begrudge them a goal, as long as France score 2 or 3.

Let us know if you have information about this match being televised.

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jeanpierre

domenech is a cute dumb sheep compared with Maradonna

what a great team btw
http://theoffside.com laurie

Ouch. Maradona is pulling out all the stops for this one. This could be painful. Unless Maradona is incompetent as coach.

Regardless, it should be an interesting game to watch.
Michel-Olivier(Slider)

no higuain, he should of pick france.
http://thebeantownfrog.blogspot.com/ Guy Courtin

ugh….Messi, Aquero and Tevez, wonder if Les Bleus defense will be able to handle that offensive firepower.

I would check Setanta sport for broadcasting
Eric Escander

When Argentina last played against Scotland they were dangerous but not deadly. If the right back 4 are picked than we should be able to handle their offense, which means no boumsong or abidal. Is clerc really still injured? Thats a shame. I like Argentina as a team and Messi is just amazing. But hey so is Gourcuff.
Julien G.

I don’t really think you can make that comparison between Gourcuff and Messi. Messi is on a completely different level…

Argentina are quite weak in the full back area, Heinze in particular…
http://thebeantownfrog.blogspot.com/ Guy Courtin

As much as I love Gourcuff…you cannot put Gourcuff in the same level as Messi. I think Messi is top 5 player in the world, probably top 3 -

Ronaldo
Messi
Kaka
Xavi
Torres

Just a quick pass, but Gourcuff would not make my top 5 list.
Steph

i dont want to see the result of this match…

I saw Argentina play Mexico in SD last year, and Messi-Aguero were unbelievable. And considering how Dom will pick boumsong, abidal, and some other idiots to fill our defense, it would bedevastating
Jeff

If Gourcuff can duplicate his performances against Serbia and Romania on a regular basis, then I would tend to agree with Eric that he’s amazing, relative to Messi or anyone else. If those performances were some kind of beginner’s luck, then…well, that’s a depressing thought.

Messi and Ronaldo are the best players I’ve seen recently, and Kaka’s not too far off. We’ll see with Gourcuff. These 3 have been fantastic for several seasons, and Gourcuff is still emerging.