No LiveBlog today, kids, due to circumstances beyond all of your control. Neener, neener! But comment away right here. It ain’t an official LiveBlog, but it’s the next best thing.
In my fantasy life, Iβm a Barca-crazed contributor over at Barcelona Football Blog. In my real life, Iβm a full-time journalist at the Chicago Tribune, based in Chicago, Illinois.
Sorry about no liveblog, folks. I’ve got plans for this afternoon starting in a few minutes, but I’ll be keeping an eye on the first half of this match.
In-and-out of the match, almost as if it’s a friendly they don’t particularly care about. Valdes has been on fire.
Pique is looking wonderful at DM, but doesn’t have the fluidity that Yaya or even Busi have there.
GOAL SERGIO GARCIA!
Jnice
December 22, 2009
Puyol has been burned a couple of times, but otherwise he is fine. Pique and Busquets have looked good in the midfield, especially Pique with his passing.
Bojan has been trying hard, but no success so far.
Valdes has been Valdes.
Colin
December 22, 2009
This is the best Argentina have looked under Maradona
He’s from our cantera. He played here but couldn’t break into the first team. π
Kxevin
December 22, 2009
Lovely goal, eh? Nice work from CT. T’would be great if he started coming into his own right about now. We sure are going to need him, I suspect.
Vj
December 22, 2009
have a fracking xam tomorrow.. can anyone give a match summary?
Kari
December 22, 2009
Very entertaining match so far. Nice goal by Sergio Garcia, but how about that cross field pass by Bojan? I don’t know why, maybe it’s nationalism, but he always tears it up when playing for Catalunya.
The a$$-kissing the commentators on Goltv are giving Higuain, especially Lindsay Dean, has been kinda annoying, but overall, Catalunya has owned them, especially possession (maybe because they have Xavi…just maybe π )
That said, I actually think Argentina had much better chances. Valdes committed a sure fire uncalled penalty on Di Maria after muffing a save and Higuain has missed 2 or 3 guilt-edged chances.
All the Catalans seem to be teeing off on Higuain. In part because he is dangerous as hell and killing the Catalan defenders in one on one but you just get the feeling that the Madridista aspect has something to do with it. He also gets booed every time he touches it.
Pastore went from very inconsistent to bad ass. I love that kid but he is not doing too good at Palermo this season. He will be a good one if he gets to the right team. The Argy counterattacks with the pace of Lavezzi, Pipita, Pastore, and Di Maria are pretty to watch. If only Diego would tactically exploit that devastating pace more often. Bollatti >> Gago too. Graceful player.
Papa (the Argy right FB) has been owned by Bruno Saltor. Pique is the shit but we already knew that.
Correction- Papa is the LEFT FB who has been owned by Bruno Saltor.
We’ve had some very good possessions and our midfield has been good. The actual end product has been slightly lacking given the possession though. Sergio Garcia has muffed some very good chances despite his goal.I think Argentina have more shots on goal by some amount despite less possession. The Argy counters are fun to watch but like someone once said: Scoreboard.
jordi
December 22, 2009
Still think Argentina should call up Walter Samuel.
Yup. 5-3 Goal opportunities in favor of the Argies despite the possession difference. Oleguer and Saltor have to watch their incursions because Lavezzi and Di Maria are greyhounds in the open field.
Kxevin
December 22, 2009
Recall that Saltor was almost ours, then something happened.
Sorry about no liveblog, folks. I’ve got plans for this afternoon starting in a few minutes, but I’ll be keeping an eye on the first half of this match.
valdes
puyol, ??, pique, bruno
xavi, busquets, capdevilla
bojan, navarro, sergio garcia
lopo is the one i’m missing therre.
VISCA CATALUNYA
Backline will be Bruno, Puyol, Capedevila (as a CB), and Oleguer (!!!)
Pique will be in the midfield with Xavi and Soggy Biscuits as per Sport.
Bojan, Verdu, and Sergio Garcia up top.
Not digging the new kits.
Gotta bury that one.
yeah i messed up on the lineup….i was misled….sorry.
A reason to love catalunya off the pitch:
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/British-Royal-Family-Christmas-Nativity-scenes/ss/events/wl/031802royalfamily/im:/091222/photos_od_afp/7c8db38c333e1fbc6f2913208ede664b/print
Hell yes! I have my Obama and Ronaldinho caganers, purchased at the Fira de Santa Llucia last year. π
Pique playing in mid.
hehe I got left behind in the last thread. anyway, anyone miss Oleguer?
LOL. Every Catalan in the stadium hates Higuain π .
catalunya dominating so far…possession and even into the box a couple times
No.
What Hector said.
Ooof. Close.
Pique looks better in mid than TXigrinski did yesterday, but that’s to be expected.
Our sub DM for January?
Damn, that skill by Xavi was so nice.
And yeah, you never know, Pique could be…
Pique should be the first choice. He is capable of going up and drifting back, a tower of both offense and defense.
Seeing Pique leading a counterattack is a thing of beauty π .
LOL, I know. Did you see the little skill he did earlier, as well?
Yeah. So sweet.
Messi is not playing, right?
Nope
PLEASE let Pique take the free kick! π
Pique can even be a 9 π Best 5 million pounds we’ve spent.
LOL Puyi took out Higuain
LOL. No freebies, Pipita.
LOL Puyol.
Remember the controversy a few years back when Marca claimed Xavi and Puyol were rolling their socks to hide the Spanish-flag colored trim?
No sock rolling today. Trim looks sweet.
Really impressed by some of Pastore’s flashes (although he has been inconsistent). I loved that kid at Huracan
How are our boys looking?
In-and-out of the match, almost as if it’s a friendly they don’t particularly care about. Valdes has been on fire.
Pique is looking wonderful at DM, but doesn’t have the fluidity that Yaya or even Busi have there.
GOAL SERGIO GARCIA!
Puyol has been burned a couple of times, but otherwise he is fine. Pique and Busquets have looked good in the midfield, especially Pique with his passing.
Bojan has been trying hard, but no success so far.
Valdes has been Valdes.
This is the best Argentina have looked under Maradona
Oh definitely, I was just thinking something similar.
Maybe Maradona shouldn’t be allowed on the bench more often?
GOAL!!!! Catalunya!
GREAT cross field pass from our very own Cuddly Toy to a wide open Verdu who crossed into a box crashing Sergio Garcia to head in.
UH UH OLEGUER
I’ve always thought Sergio Garcia was a skillful little player. Weren’t we linked to him once?
I always thought he was promising but he didnt make it here.Maybe its a good thing though, every club he’s been to has gone down.
He’s from our cantera. He played here but couldn’t break into the first team. π
Lovely goal, eh? Nice work from CT. T’would be great if he started coming into his own right about now. We sure are going to need him, I suspect.
have a fracking xam tomorrow.. can anyone give a match summary?
Very entertaining match so far. Nice goal by Sergio Garcia, but how about that cross field pass by Bojan? I don’t know why, maybe it’s nationalism, but he always tears it up when playing for Catalunya.
The a$$-kissing the commentators on Goltv are giving Higuain, especially Lindsay Dean, has been kinda annoying, but overall, Catalunya has owned them, especially possession (maybe because they have Xavi…just maybe π )
1-0 Catalunya
That said, I actually think Argentina had much better chances. Valdes committed a sure fire uncalled penalty on Di Maria after muffing a save and Higuain has missed 2 or 3 guilt-edged chances.
All the Catalans seem to be teeing off on Higuain. In part because he is dangerous as hell and killing the Catalan defenders in one on one but you just get the feeling that the Madridista aspect has something to do with it. He also gets booed every time he touches it.
Pastore went from very inconsistent to bad ass. I love that kid but he is not doing too good at Palermo this season. He will be a good one if he gets to the right team. The Argy counterattacks with the pace of Lavezzi, Pipita, Pastore, and Di Maria are pretty to watch. If only Diego would tactically exploit that devastating pace more often. Bollatti >> Gago too. Graceful player.
Papa (the Argy right FB) has been owned by Bruno Saltor. Pique is the shit but we already knew that.
Correction- Papa is the LEFT FB who has been owned by Bruno Saltor.
We’ve had some very good possessions and our midfield has been good. The actual end product has been slightly lacking given the possession though. Sergio Garcia has muffed some very good chances despite his goal.I think Argentina have more shots on goal by some amount despite less possession. The Argy counters are fun to watch but like someone once said: Scoreboard.
Still think Argentina should call up Walter Samuel.
YES! Diego apparently hates Inter players given his constant snubbing of Cambiasso as well.
I also think it was smooth of us to keep Messi out of Maradona’s paws, just as hes starting to recover from previous assaults
Yup. 5-3 Goal opportunities in favor of the Argies despite the possession difference. Oleguer and Saltor have to watch their incursions because Lavezzi and Di Maria are greyhounds in the open field.
Recall that Saltor was almost ours, then something happened.
thanks all.. Maradona isn’t there is he?
Pique subbed out for Sergio Gonzalez from Espanyol.
My bad it was Pique subbed out for Moises Hurtado
Ya know, Catalunya kinda looks like us in the movement and ball movement.
Gago getting POWNED.
GOOOOAAAALLL!
Messi-anic goal by CT!!!
Shit! Nice from CT! I take back everything I said. Why can’t he play like that for us????
I think he gets nervous playing for us for some reason π
OMG BOJAAN
Vamos Bojan!
And Xavi’s off. Whew! Get that man some rest.
Xavi off for Sergio Gonzalez. Thank goodness he’s off.
DeMichelis got owned on the Bojan goal.
OMG! How many one on ones have the Argies missed!?!
Holy fuckin’ shit! Bojan scored a Messi-like goal there π
Hope this gives him confidence for Barca!
That wasn’t very friendly….
From what I’ve seen (40 seconds) I can already tell Higuain is gonna score a goal. π
Also, I like this kit. It’s pretty retro looking without going too far. It has a certain amount of class, too.
Nice move by Bojan to get us a corner.
WOW !! That crowd and those flags! so pimp