So often ahead of a great sporting event, there is little evidence of a city’s awareness that it is hosting something special, like last year’s Euro2008 in Austria and Switzerland. Not so Argentina’s big match with arch football enemies Brazil in this riverside city 300 km north of Buenos Aires, home to a bitter rivalry of its own between Rosario Central and Newell’s Old Boys.

Saturday’s World Cup qualifier is the talk of the town which was surprisingly offered the match in June after national team coach Diego Maradona criticized River Plate’s Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires.

Fans of Rosario’s two big clubs, kept apart to avoid potential fights, have been queuing for tickets since Monday outside their respective stadiums, braving the rain and cold of an Argentine winter in real or makeshift tents.

There is a new breed of profiteers called queuers, people who stand in line for a fee and buy your tickets for you, a local journalist said.

With so much at stake for Argentina, who need to pick up points to keep their World Cup qualifying hopes alive, there are fears of violence after the match if Maradona’s team lose.

Far fewer people will be able to go to the match at Central’s ground, commonly know as the Giant of Arroyito, which holds 41,000, than would have got into River Plate, with a capacity for 65,000.

But the move has been a boon for Rosario’s hotels and restaurants, which usually have a quiet time in the winter, and street vendors of football paraphernalia.

Light blue and white striped Argentina shirts with Messi and the number 10 on the back are among the biggest selling items.

Lionel Messi, a son of Rosario, has never played an official match in his home town, having been whisked away to Barcelona as a mere 13-year-old, forging a career in Europe that has him on the verge of being named the world’s top player.

One of the youngsters queuing for tickets, a fan of Messi’s former club Newell’s Old Boys, said: “It’s worth waiting because don’t often see the ‘seleccion’ and even less Leo (Messi), whom we see on TV playing for Barcelona.”

Fans hope to see Messi tear Brazil apart and ensure he and Argentina go on to play at the World Cup in South Africa next year.

PHOTO: A street vendor sells masks outside Rosario Central stadium ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Brazil, September 4, 2009. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Diego Maradona is a worried man, with no football in Argentina and less than a month to go before their critical World Cup qualifier against a strong Brazilian side.

A debt crisis has put an indefinite hold on the 2009/10 season which was scheduled to start at the end of next week.

“I’m worried that the football isn’t starting, that people are not reaching agreement, that Julio (Argentine Football Association president Grondona) isn’t achieving his objectives, because I want to see the players on the pitches,” Maradona said.

“This country without football is dramatic.”

Only a quarter of Maradona’s squad play their club football in Argentina but he is constantly on the look out for players to draft in and has lost central defender Martin Demichelis of Bayern Munich to injury.

Juan Sebastian Veron, who does play in Argentina for Estudiantes, is nursing an injury, and so is Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez.

What worries other leaders hoping for a resolution to the debt crisis is that some clubs are nevertheless on an expensive recruitment drive.

The tournament, they have said, will only start when clubs, and in particular seven of the biggest in the country — River Plate, Independiente, Racing Club, San Lorenzo, Huracan, Rosario Central and Newell’s Old Boys — have put their financial house in order.

However, San Lorenzo have offered midfielder Leandro Romagnoli, who left Sporting of Portugal on Wednesday, a two-year deal worth $2 million, according to media reports on Thursday.

Argentina’s professional clubs owe the taxman a combined 300 million Argentine pesos, first and second division sides owe the AFA around 40 million pesos and a large numbers of players are demanding pay owed to them from months back.

Yet Independiente are offering San Lorenzo $1 million for striker Andres Silvera and Racing Club $1 million to the same club for goalkeeper Agustin Orion.

“There are teams that go out to buy Ronaldo and don’t know where to find the money,” said Sergio Marchi, head of the players’ union Futbolistas Argentinos Agremiados (FAA).

“Some are dealing with the (debt) issue and others aren’t. Many are behaving almost irresponsibly,” he said.

Defender Sebastian Dominguez of league champions Velez Sarsfield, a well run club, said: “What they (AFA) have to do is prohibit the clubs that owe money from signing players.”

Grondona said recently that “the situation in Argentine football is broken”, while Marchi said “the clubs did not read the credit crunch”.

Grondona sees a way out in greater revenue from television rights, online football pools and the government taking on the costs of policing matches currently funded by the home clubs.

“The closest solution, given the time factor, is an increase in the rights for TV,” Fernando Maron, president of Lanus, with Estudiantes and Velez one of the three best run clubs in Argentina.

“There is a lot of use (they get out) of the football product and this is not being rewarded,” he said.

Marcelo Bombau, chairman of TyC, the company that owns those rights, hit back: “Television is no longer going to be the cow that is milked by the clubs. Television has offered the AFA an advance so the clubs can pay their debts and the championship can start.”

The AFA is optimistic, however, that it will get a revised, improved deal from television this week and can announce at its Tuesday executive committee meeting that the championship will start on the Friday.

“It suits television, the players, the state and the clubs, all the interested parties, for the football to start,” Estudiantes president Ruben Filipas said.

PHOTO: Argentine soccer team coach Diego Maradona reacts after Ecuador’s soccer team scored during their World Cup 2010 qualifying match in Quito June 10, 2009. REUTERS/Kevin Granja

Is the fact that Brazil are Argentina’s next opponents in the World Cup qualifiers getting to Argentines worried by the precarious position of Diego Maradona’s team in the standings?

While Brazil enjoy more match practice at the Confederations Cup in South Africa, Argentina, their rivals in the 2005 final in Germany, are bickering over the pitch on which to host their arch-rivals in match that will have a major bearing on their World Cup ambitions.

The River Plate pitch was in a disgraceful state, Maradona said before his team, playing poorly, beat Colombia 1-0 in their last qualifier on June 10 just days after fans at a rock concert trampled all over it.

A 2-0 defeat away to Ecuador at altitude in Quito in a match Argentina, playing better than against Colombia, should have sewn up in the first half, had an unhappy Maradona once again harping on about the River Plate pitch where Brazil are due on the first weekend in September.

River Plate then brought their bitter enmity with Boca Juniors, the club Maradona played for and supports, into the issue.

They demanded from the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to see Maradona’s contract and proof that the former national team captain had undergone psychological tests before being appointed to the job last year.

AFA president Julio Grondona apologised to River over the aggressive tone of Maradona’s remarks.

“It’s all about a Boca and River issue in which the River people are complaining about some remarks made by a fervent supporter of Boca,” Grondona told radio La Red.

But he also reminded River that the AFA has first say over how the ground is used and had not been asked if the club could hold a rock concert there so close to a qualifier.

Grondona also admitted, though, that the AFA had been at fault in having only one stadium that fits FIFA specifications for World Cup matches and said it was applying for the ground of Rosario Central, in Argentina’s second city 400 km north of the capital, to be passed as a reserve stadium.

Newspapers then extended the debate to canvassing fans as to whether they thought Argentina might be better off playing Brazil in the more compact Central stadium where the arch-rivals drew 0-0 during the 1978 World Cup.

With four matches to go, Brazil lead the South American qualifying group with 27 points, one more than Chile, three ahead of Paraguay and five in front of Argentina in the four automatic qualifying berths for next year’s finals in South Africa.

Slipping down to fifth would put Argentina in a playoff berth against a team from the CONCACAF region of North and Central America and the Caribbean.

What also might help Argentina improve their position is playing better and for this Grondona believes it might be good to recall Boca playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme, who controversially quit the national team over critical remarks by Maradona in the media in March.

“Also, if possible we’ll make a move to have Riquelme back,” Grondona said. “It’s not a request of Diego’s, I haven’t spoken to him about this. But who wouldn’t want him back. I sent Riquelme a few hints, he’s a good kid,” said Grondona of the player who was the midfield fulcrum of the Argentina side that reached the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals.

The outspoken Maradona is paradoxically persona non grata at his beloved Boca because of his perceived role in Riquelme’s decision to quit and hasn’t been to his private box at the club’s Bombonera stadium since.

PHOTO: Argentina’s Diego Maradona reacts after an Ecuador goal during their World Cup 2010 qualifying match in Quito, June 10, 2009. REUTERS/Kevin Granja

With the new Star Trek film out, we thought we’d have a bit of fun and see which soccer players could play the famous characters.

They’ve changed all the actors anyway and brought in a youthful crop, so why not?

Over at Kottke.org, they’ve already done it with NBA players. Captain Kirk is Tony Parker they reckon.

Reuters resident Trekkies Kevin Fylan and Alison Wildey had a bash at a soccer version but please come up with your own ideas in the comments below.

1. David Beckham as Kirk (if not John Terry or Steven Gerrard)

2. Someone logical and Germanic as Spock, so maybe Arsene Wenger

3. Scotty would have to be a little powerhouse who fixes it just in time like Maradona (or a Scotsman like Archie Gemmill)

4. Bones is tricky. Are there any doctors in football? Dr Josef Venglos? Did Norman Whiteside go off and get a physio qualification?

5. We need the guy in red who gets shot at the start of each episode. Darren Fletcher?

PHOTO: Cast member Zachary Quinto poses at the premiere of the movie “Star Trek” at the Grauman’s Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California April 30, 2009. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Argentine media allocate dozens of pages to football daily and the country has two 24-hour cable channels almost exclusively dedicated to the sport. Quite often it’s a struggle to fill all that paper and airtime — so much so that one of the TV channels passes away the afternoon with a programme in which the presenters play foot-tennis.

But on Thursday, there was more than enough to talk about. How did Argentina, supposedly revitalised by Diego Maradona, lose 6-1 away to Bolivia, one of the region’s weakest teams, in a World Cup qualifier?

Reuters Soccer Blog has come up with six possible reasons, listed in no particular order:

(1) Altitude. Considered the main culprit by many. Most people struggle to walk uphill on their first day in arriving in La Paz, at 3,600 metres above sea level. It is quite common to wake up during the night with a suffocating feeling and the general consensus is that roughly three weeks are needed for full acclimatisation. So imagine playing 90 minutes of football as soon as your arrive.

(2) The players. Argentina’s players had a collective off day. As Maradona said: “We were outplayed in every part of the field.” Angel di Maria, scorer of the winning goal in last year’s Olympic soccer final against Nigeria, was sent off after only seven minutes.

(3) Maradona. Since taking over last October, the coach has talked endlessly about commitment, work rate and the importance of The Shirt. On Wednesday, however, he did not seem to have done his homework. He played down the altitude factor, telling his players: “Bolivia are the opponents, not the altitude.” The team flew in two hours before kick off and Maradona started with nine players who played against Venezuela five days earlier. Chile, in contrast, spent over a week in a high altitude training camp before visiting La Paz earlier in the campaign. They won 2-1.

(4) Bolivia. The hosts are an unpredictable lot, at any altitude. The World Cup campaign has seen them lose 5-0 in Uruguay but they have also held Brazil to a goalless draw away. Joaquin Botero, who scored a hat-trick on Wednesday, plays in the Mexican second division and his striking partner Marcelo Martins, who played havoc with the Argentina defence, has been warming the substitute’s bench at Shakhtar Donetsk. But both looked world beaters on Wednesday.

(5) Riquelme. The enigmatic playmaker quit the Argentina team last month after falling out with Maradona. But his ability to slow the game and keep possession was sorely missed in the rarefied air.

(6) Luck. Everything went Bolivia’s way. FIFA somehow decided that their cabbage patch of a pitch was suitable for international football, everything they tried worked to perfection and they were awarded a soft penalty when the score was at 1-1.

PHOTO: Argentina’s coach Diego Maradona looks on during their 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match against Bolivia in La Paz April 1, 2009. REUTERS/Gaston Brito

Even before this week’s outburst and his decision to quit Argentina for the second time in three years, Juan Roman Riquelme’s future with the national team had looked uncertain.

Riquelme missed their first two matches under Diego Maradona because of club commitments and, without him in midfield, Argentina shook off the apparent lethargy which had marked their last few displays under Alfio Basile.

There is much to admire about Riquelme’s play. His elegant, languid style is a refreshing sight in the modern game, with its emphasis on speed and strength, and sadly he appears to belong to a dying breed.

But too often his temperament lets him down. Many feel he is over-sensitive to criticism and it took only a innocuous comment from Maradona in a television last week to dent his pride.

“We don’t think the same way,” said Riquelme with an expression resembling a sad puppy whose favourite bone has just been taken away.

“We don’t share the same codes of ethics. While he is the coach of the national team, we can’t work together.”

“Sometimes, it seems like I’m a disaster and can’t make a single pass,” he added, referring to criticism of his recent performances with Boca Juniors.

Claudio Mauri, a columnist in the daily newspaper La Nacion, wrote: “Riquelme showed that his pride makes no concessions, not even to Maradona and everything that his figure respresents.”

Under Basile, Riquelme had everything he wanted. The team was built around him and he was ever-present in Argentina’s first eight World Cup qualifiers, no matter how he played.

Although Maradona had also pencilled in Riquelme as his playmaker, it was clear the 30-year old would no longer enjoy the same influence.

There has been widespread speculation that Riquelme had fallen out of favour with senior members of the squad with some versions talk of an incident with Lionel Messi during the Copa America in Venezuela.

Maradona would certainly have risked disrupting his team if he had introduced Riquelme into the mix in the World Cup qualifier against Venezuela later this month.

He also has a reputation for underperforming on the big occasions.

Will Argentina do better without him?

PHOTO: A combination of file pictures shows Argentina’s national soccer team coach Diego Maradona (L) and playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme. Riquelme announced he was quitting Argentina’s national squad due to differences with the team’s coach, Diego Maradona, during a TV interview. REUTERS/Staff/Files

In which our very own World Cup Wyatt peers at everyone’s favourite 5 kilos of gold and malachite, and asks: “What’s your favourite World Cup goal?”

I’d have thought it would be hard to look past the magical realism of Diego Maradona against England, but Owen is a Dennis Bergkamp fan and England fans clearly have fond memories of Geoff Hurst and Michael Owen.

I bet there are plenty more candidates that someone without an extremely heavy cold could think of. Give us your faves in the comments…

I have a suggestion on how to clear up inconsistencies with handballs.

Law 12 states that “a direct free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a player…handles the ball deliberately”.                                                                  

In reality, we all know this rule isn’t always applied correctly. When the ball strikes a hand or an arm which is well away from the body and all the stadium can see it, the referee will invariably give a foul whether it was deliberate or not (we can also argue whether the player is being naive by having his arms flailing about).

I think we should take ‘deliberately’ out of the law and replace it with “…gains an advantage from handling the ball”.

A perfect example was Sunday’s 2-2 draw between Torino and AC Milan. Hosts Torino scored a late equaliser from the spot after the ball hit Milan defender Kakha Kaladze on the thigh before striking his outstretched arm. 

Milan were furious but Torino would have been as well had the penalty not been given. If the ball had not struck Kaladze’s arm it would have flown across the face of goal and given the home side a chance to score.

If the ball had bounced down off Kaladze’s arm into the path of a Torino attacker, then there would have been no advantage to Milan and therefore it should not be a foul.

Defenders don’t deliberately score own goals but they count. Forwards don’t deliberately run offside but they are still penalised. What’s the difference with handball?

I know controversies make football so enjoyable but if we sorted out the handball rule, we’d still have tackles, offsides, red cards and goalline technology to argue about…

Vlog on the Pitch host Owen Wyatt is in Glasgow to see the preparations for Diego Maradona’s first game in charge of Argentina.

Owen’s question today is a simple one: Will Diego’s journey end at Soccer City in Johannesburg with the final of the 2010 World Cup? Or is it destined to end badly…

Argentina  have the players to win the World Cup — with Messi and Riquelme to add to the squad assembled for the Scotland game — but does Maradona have enough experience to plot the path to glory?

Let us know in the comments, or even better, record your own vlog, let us know where it is, and if we like it we’ll embed it here.

It has taken only a week for Diego Maradona’s appointment as coach to turn the Argentina national side into something approaching a cabaret.

A squabble over the choice of Maradona’s assistant escalated into a saga this week which culminated with the country’s plethora of news and sports cable channels splashing the headline “Maradona to quit?” across the screen.

Maradona’s impulsive and volatile personality was always going to be a worry in his new job, but few can have imagined that it would have surfaced so quickly and over such a relatively minor matter. (more…)