Argentine XI v. Switzerland

The Argentine press is running with what it believes will be Saturday's starting XI against the Swiss. It is thought that Alfio Basile will officially put out his team sheet at a press conference tomorrow. These were the 11 who lined up together in today's training session:

Roberto Abbondanzieri in goal; Javier Zanetti, Roberto Ayala, Gabriel Milito and Gabriel Heinze across the back; Lucho Gonzalez, Fernando Gago, Esteban Cambiasso and Lionel Messi in the middle; Hernan Crespo and Carlos Tevez up front.

After this weekend's match in Basel, the team fly to Barcelona to take on Algeria at the Camp Nou on Tuesday. It will the the 16th meeting between Argentina and an African country, with the South Americans holding the edge with 11 wins, 3 draws, and one loss (to Cameroon at Italia '90).

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The match on Saturday can be seen on tape-delay Sunday, on Telemundo at 1pm ET. No word yet on any channel picking up the game on Tuesday.

National Team news (in Spanish) [Ole]

-ac

Basile Names Argentina Squad For June

Argentina national team boss Alfio Basile put out his list of players for the squad's June friendlies last Friday. The team will consist entirely of foreign-based players, including in-form midgets Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez. The full team list is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe), Leo Franco (Atletico Madrid)

Defenders: Roberto Ayala (Valencia), Gabriel Milito (Real Zaragoza), Nicolas Burdisso (Inter), Gabriel Heinze (Manchester United), Javier Pinola (Nuremberg)

Midfielders: Pablo Aimar (Real Zaragoza), Esteban Cambiasso, Javier Zanetti (both Inter), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Luis Gonzalez (Porto), Jonas Gutierrez (Real Mallorca), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Ezequiel Garay (Racing Santander)

Forwards: Carlos Tevez (West Ham), Diego Milito (Real Zaragoza), Hernan Crespo (Inter), Javier Saviola, Lionel Messi (both Barcelona).

Argentina play Switzerland in Berne on June 2nd. They are hoping to line up another opponent four days later. With Euro qualifiers occupying the two dates, Argentina will likely play an African team on the 6th.


Messi and Tevez in Argentina squad [CNN]
Super Barca hit Atletico for six [Eurosport]
Tevez is West Ham's saviour [Guardian]

-ac

Some Thoughts On Switzerland-Brazil

After watching Brazil cash a check today, this is what I came away with:

• At least FSC had an English announcer (John Champion?) today. The broadcast of Brazil's game last month against Ecuador had a Brit commentating as well. I guess that bodes well for the rest of the Brazilian games the channel is planning to run in the coming years. Anything but Christian Miles please, or anoy other in-house talent. Miles seems to know his soccer, but he's not cut out to be a game announcer.
• The Swiss like to grill their meats by using the George Foreman Grill
• Other then the own goal that he played a part in, Porto's Helton had a pretty good match. The keeper didn't look to big out there, but he was moving quickly and almost got to every ball he should have. Great distribution as well.
• Wow, Arsenal centerbacks having trouble defending on set pieces. Who would have thought that?
• In Switzerland, Rice Krispies are called Sucrilhos.
• I never thought I'd see a Brazilian wearing a turtle neck wool sweater. Dunga did look sharp though.
  
• Diego, one of the most in form Brazilians at the moment, only gets a couple of minutes at the end of the game?
• For Switzerland's sake, thank god that the Euros don't start tomorrow.

-ac