Cambiasso: The Bald-Headed Solution To Maradona's Problems

There is not one day that passes where I don't wake up in the morning to search out the latest information on Inter's midfield destroyer and his status as an Albiceleste exile under Maradona.

While most Maradona opponents, of whom I did not consider myself a member until only a month ago, choose to center on the controversy surrounding his decisions to not call up the ageing Juan Roman Riquelme and the fiery Gonzalo Higuain to the Argentine national team, I can't help but feel that most footy fans are forgetting to include in the discussion the once fundamental piece to the Albiceleste midfield.

Despite recently securing second place in FTBL.com's Serie A "Midfielder of the Year" rankings, behind Udinese's Gaetano D'Agostino, and being considered one of Europe's most fearsome defensive midfielders, Cambiasso has not been called up to one single Argentine squad under Maradona.

While, for some reason, players like Fernando Gago, Jonas Gutierrez—who witnessed his club, Newcastle United, be relegated for the first time in their history—and Gabriel Heinze, feasibly the most overrated defender in Spain, manage to solidify starting positions in Maradona's team, a player like Cambiasso has to settle for watching his Argentina at home from his television set.

Now, with only seeing how poorly la Seleccion have played in their past three World Cup qualification matches (1-6 to Bolivia, 1-0 to Colombia, and 0-2 to Ecuador), it should seem obvious to the AFA and Maradona that a change in strategy and player selection must take place. Yet, the debutant coach has still not budged in removing any of the obvious problem-causers from his squad.

We should all be aware that every coach has their own preferences; it is an unfortunate fact of football from amateur to professional levels. Oftentimes, for the most bizarre of reasons, they will too ignore the protests of thousands of supporters and continue on with their stubborn capriciousness.

Still, how could I, and certainly many other former Maradona supporters around the globe, have imagined that El Diego, the single most important player in Argentine history, would slide so easily into that role?

What Argentina needs to do if they are to be successful in next year's World Cup (because it should be clear that Argentina WILL qualify, despite how poorly they perform in the next few matches), is to slide Lionel Messi into Riquelme's former position and bring back Cambiasso to replace Gago and provide the Argentine midfield with the toughness that made his partnership with Macherano so fearsome to offenses only two years ago.

Let's hope, Maradona listens.