Tuesday 19 May 2009

Argentina v Panama

For an exercise in futility this Wednesday’s game for Argentina against Panama is hard to beat. Panama were the only team who accepted the AFA’s invitation to play, probably because this is what pundits refer to as the ‘business end’ of the season’.

The match itself will take place in Santa Fe and the squad includes only domestically based players (three of them from Colón), although due to Copa Libertadores commitments there will be no Boca Juniors or Estudiantes representation. The absence of any players from River tells its own story. Daniel Montenegro of Independiente will be captain for the game.

Quite what Maradona et al hope to gain from this run out against a team ranked 60th in the world is open to question particularly as many of the players are involved in the Clasura title race or relegation issues. If the reasoning behind it is to get the youngsters accustomed to life in and around la selección a training camp would surely have served the same purpose.

Credit must be paid to the local populace as around 20,000 tickets have so far been sold for the game, underlining the attraction of Maradona, a national side and of course Panama.

Hasta Luego!