Maradona's Judgement Day: Choice Between Football and Friendship

All across the world, National Team managers have the unenviable task of selecting the 23 players who will dispute the World Cup in South Africa next month. Scrutinized by the media and millions of “coaches” who will debate the list of 23 in parks, cafes, bars, and work places, National Team coaches will never be able to deliver the “perfect list.”

In Brazil, politics have even gotten involved, with president Lula going against popular consensus by making public his feelings that Ronaldinho should not be called by coach Dunga, a World Cup winning captain for Brazil at USA 1994. 

The likes of Pele and various Brazilian celebrities have also been very outspoken about their desire to see teen sensation Neymar, who has been outshining Robinho at Santos, join the Selecao.

Dunga, as hard and stern as a manager as he was as a tough tackling midfielder, is unlikely to break under the media circus, but should his team fail, or even win without the style Brazilians want to see, Dunga will be vilified for excluding the brilliant Neymar and his Santos teammate Ganso, both of whom look likely to miss out, but Ronaldinho could be a surprise inclusion, with Dunga siting the Milan star’s experience, particularly in the 2002 World Cup winning campaign, as the rationale behind his decision.

In Italy, Marcelo Lippi has decided to keep faith in those that won him the World Cup four years ago, but surely the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Genarro Gattuso, and even talismanic captain Fabio Cannavaro are far from their best, but who are we to question Lippi, one of only two coaches in the field of 32 to have lifted the Cup as a manager.

The former Inter and Juventus boss knows the importance of a tight knit group, and has therefore decided to exclude the likes of Antonio Cassano and Fabrizio Miccoli, brilliant players, but possible distractions off the pitch.

While there is no question all coaches in football crazed nations face similar scrutiny, there is probably no individual under the microscope world wide than Diego Armando Maradona.

Maradona has at his disposal the most talented group of players in world football, but his spell as manager has been filled with expletive filled tirades, bizarre call ups, a crazy mud slide, and the small matter of a 1-6 defeat to Bolivia.  There is no need to delve once again into Maradona’s ludicrous fighting with the press and the Argentine Football Association, he has created enough controversy in his player selections, having called up 109 different footballers since his first match in charge against Scotland in November of 2008.

Like Dunga, Maradona not only has to watch his own domestic league and those fighting in the Copa Libertadores, but in leagues all across the world, particularly in Europe.

When Bayern Munich and Inter Milan take the field in the UEFA Champions League Final on May 22^nd, there will be five Argentines on the field, yet only two of them will start for El Pibe de Oro’s Albiceleste outfit:  Centerbacks Walter Samuel or Inter and Martin Demichelis of Bayern Munich.

Inter Captain Javier Zanetti, who was stripped of the Argentine captaincy by Maradona back in 2008, has been handed a reprieve by Diego, and could sneak his way into the list of 23, but Esteban Cambiasso, scorer of a brilliant goal against Chievo Verona at the weekend, is all but certain to miss out for reasons unknown to those not named Maradona.

Jose Mourinho recently called Cambiasso his fastest player, based on his thinking ability on the pitch, but Maradona seems to have put no stock in his The Special One’s views of El Cucho.

Diego Milito, the leading scorer for Inter, has hit 27 goals in all competitions including a fantastic chip at the weekend, and the winner in the Copa Italia Final over Roma, looks likely to be on the substitutes bench in South Africa.

In place of Cambiasso, Mario Bolatti of Fiorentina, looks to be the choice. The former Porto and Huracan man has struggled to hold a place in the starting line up since heading to Florence in January,  and is riding the wave created by his goal against Uruguay last October that assured Argentina of qualification. If current form was the criteria used by Maradona, Bolatti would be no where near the final 23.

Other Italian based players are within a shout, with Catania goalkeeper Mariano Andujar set to be the second choice keeper, while Roma’s Nicola Burdiso looks to be a utility man who can play anywhere across the back line, a role he played at Germany 2006 under Jose Pekerman.

Palermo’s Javier Pastore, the young sensation of Serie A, appears to be a lock for Maradona’s squad as well as an attacking option off the bench.

In Spain, Maradona has of course the FIFA World Player of the Year Lionel Messi who is an unquestioned starter in El Diego’s side. Messi’s likely partner in attack is Real madrid Gonzalo Higuain, the second leading scorer in La Liga (5 goals behind Messi), and 29 in all competitions, was excluded by Maradona until the last moment, but the former River Plate man has paid Maradona back with two valuable goals against Peru and Germany.

Also in the fight from Real Madrid is Fernando Gago, who seemed to be on the outside looking in after Maradona left him out for the final two qualifiers agains Peru and Uruguay, but after playing a starting role in Madrid’s recent run of form, the ex-Boca star could make a late push.

Valencia’s Ever Banega, a revelation this year, has been left with almost no chance after being lavished with praise by Diego in March.

At Atletico Madrid, Sergio Aguero, the father of Maradona’s grandson, has been a major disappointment this season, but still helped his club reach the UEFA Europa League Final which will be contested this week. Despite a dip in form, Aguero is a lock in the squad.

England is not typically a country where Argentine player’s flourish, but Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez, twice a champion with city rivals United, has hit 29 goals in all competitions this season and was unquestionably City’s player of the year.

Underachieving Liverpool have two players who figure in Maradona’s plans:  Captain Javier Mascherano and winger Maxi Rodriguez. Maradona famously called his team “Mascherano plus 10,” and the former River Plate will protect the back four in South Africa just as he did four years ago under Pekerman.

Rodriguez, scorer of arguably the goal of the tournament against Mexico in Germany, is expected to make up the partial list of 30 before being discarded when Maradona must hand in the final 23 names.

Although big countries always get the headlines, Maradona has a host of players in the less flashy leagues. Portuguese Champions Benfica have relied heavily on three Argenitnes, but only the sensational Angel Di Maria will be in South Africa.

The Olympic hero is said to be joining Real Madrid for over 40 million euros this summer, and has been the key man for Benfica winning the League and League Cup scoring 10 goals and handing out 15 assists.

Former River Plate stars and World Cup participants from 2006 Pablo Aimar and Javier Saviola will be left out in the cold by El Diez. With so many stars in his position, Saviola’s omission is understandable, but Aimar’s is much more curious.

With Juan Roman Riquelme unavailable for selection after a public feud with Maradona, Aimar looked to be a natural replacement. In his only game during the Maradona era, Aimar assisted Higuain opener against Peru, and was active throughout, but Juan Sebastian Veron was always going to be Maradona’s playmaker.

Friends since they were teammates at Boca Juniors, Maradona has called Veron his coach on the field and captain without the armband, but recent performances from the Estudiantes idol have called into question his credentials.

A moment of unrestrained aggression saw Veron sent off in the first half of Estudiantes’ scoreless draw against Rosario Central at the weekend, the second time in  a month Veron has been sent off in the first half of a match. Hardly the sort of behavior expected from a “leader.”

Veron, who is still seen in the eyes as some as the reason for Argentina’s group stage exit in 2002, will always be a polemical figure with the national team. One can only think that Argentina would be better off with Riquelme, Aimar, or even Cambiasso sitting next to Mascherano than Veron.

Veron is also rumored to have had a poor relationship with Zanetti and Cambiasso during his time at Inter. Although Zanetti denied such claims in a recent interview with Argentine television, the fact that Veron’s friend and teammate at Estudiantes Clemente Rodriguez is ahead of El Pupi in Maradona’s pecking order despite clearly being an inferior player.

In France, Gabriel Heinze and Lucho Gonzalez helped Marseille lift their first Ligue 1 crown for 18 years. Heineze is one of Maradona’s closest friends in the squad, and has been a questionable choice especially after Maradona was revealed to have a professional relationship with Heinze’s brother, who works as an agent and helped Diego earn over a million dollars during a tour of India in 2006.

Heinze has improved since leaving Real Madrid, and scored a brilliant free kick last week helping him earn a league title in France after winning in England with Manchester United and in Spain with Madrid, and it is safe to say El Gringo has even earned his spot.

Gonzalez has almost no chance to make it into the 23, despite being the type of dynamic attacking midfielder Argentina lack. There is little doubt that the former River Plate and Porto star would be brilliant bombing down the right where Jonas Guitierrez, of Newcastle, has locked down a starting position.

The recently elected French Ligue 1 Player of the Season, Lisandro Lopez, will be another high profile casualty of Maradona’s bizarre selection process. The hulking Martin Palermo, in the international wilderness for 10 years after missing three penalties in one match during the 1999 Copa America, was handed a shock recall by Maradona and scored a last second winner against Peru last October, and has all but been comfirmed for the final 23.

Since then, Maradona has handed Palermo chances to captain a National Team made up only of players from the local league. El Loco has seized the opportunity while racking up goals against the likes of Haiti, Jamaica, and Ghana’s youth team. Lopez was given only one half of action during Maradona, during a friendly against Russia, and he scored.

Surely Maradona’s “Seleccion Local” not only served the purpose of paying his salary, but of giving his good friend Palermo to pick on weak opposition and earn his way into the World Cup squad.

No matter what happens tomorrow when Maradona reveals his squad, there will be high profile left out in favor of Maradona’s favorites.