Pierre Boisrond has followed soccer and the World Cup
closely for many years and also writes for other websites. We at PWC are proud to have him as
a columnist. He will share his views about the past, present and future of
the World Cup.
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Juan Roman Riquelme: The Conductor of Argentina’s Orchestra
In Argentina, we have seen Mario
Alberto Kempes, El Matador, in 1978. In 1986, we have witnessed the genius of the All-time great, Diego “Dieguito”
Armando Maradona, “el grandioso de todos los tiempos”. In 2006, will the talented midfielder, Juan Roman Riquelme drive
Argentina to Glory? It was truly unfortunate that Marcelo Bielsa decided to leave Riquelme out of the 2002 World Cup.
With Pekerman in charge, now Riquelme is the conductor of the team. I have followed Riquelme since 1998 and I could tell
all the European Fans and Brazilian fans, especially, to get ready for 2006, because they will see another genius.
For the Brazilian fans and especially the Haitian-Brazilian fans, they had already tasted the succulent football of Riquelme,
their greatest nightmare, on June 8th. So far, the Haitian-Brazilian fans still can’t get it after the June 8th massacre and I don’t
see how they can find the hearts to keep on calling me by telling me that Brazil played a much better 2nd half. My response
to them is that Jose Pekerman, Argentina’s coach, was not about to make the same mistake as Carlos Ancelotti, the AC
Milan coach. And certainly Crespo was not going to let that happen to him again.
At the end of the month, I hope that the Brazilian fans wherever they are, will pay their dues again since the Conductor of
the “Albiceleste” Orchestra, Juan Roman Riquelme will drive Argentina to the Confederation Cup finals in Germany.
Certainly, Argentina will reach the finals, and I expect Brazil to be there or at least reach the semi-finals. May the Brazilians
be ready to witness history for the second time during the month because the honeymoon between Pekerman and Riquelme is
not about to be over, and it won’t be over for a while. No more Bielsa this time, this is the real deal.
This year in Europe, the Europeans fans have witnessed the magic of Riquelme. The best midfielder in la Liga proved this
past season that he could bring any team to the top. He did it this year with Villarreal, and as we all could see he has won
every battle against Ronaldinho both at the club and national team levels. Unless Carlos Bianchi finds away to bring him to
Atletico Madrid, then the European fans need to be ready to see the talented Juan Roman Riquelme, better yet the Prince of
Diego Armando Maradona, in action because he will be ready to do what Diego “Dieguito” Armando Maradona has done
with Napoli.
On the other hand, the fans in Europe won’t have to wait too long to see witness the true genius of Riquelme. May
Klinsmann be ready to find a way to stop Riquelme—it won’t happen. Stopping him or not, Riquelme will be ready to
produce the same tactical move that Maradona had produced against the Germans in 1986 “En el stadio Azteca de
Mexico.” Who could ever forget that long ball of Diego to Jorge Luis Burruchaga who crucified Harald Schumacher. And,
may we have no Codesal to award some bogus penalty to the Germans in 1990. In 2002, I told the German fans to get ready
because the HuRRRicane is coming. I received many unpleasant emails, but they did find out that Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and
Ronaldinho did their magic against Kahn and company. This time it won’t be a RRR, but a RST à Riquelme, Saviola, and
Tevez. This time, the Germans better believe it that it is not going to be a 1-1 friendly affair. Oliver Kahn needs to be at his
best to save the German ship, however Riquelme will find a way to sink the German submarine.
As we all know, this time next year, the World Cup will start, so let’s enjoy the FIFA Confederation Cup this year because
Argentina, Brazil, and Germany always bring joy to a tournament.
Now, to the Brazilian fans, I hope we will see a better Ronaldinho but so far Riquelme has the upper hand- better yet, let us
put it as a mathematical expression: Ri/Ro. Last year, after a referee decided to give Brazil 3 penalty kicks—the Brazilian
fans were writing me left and right, calling me from Haiti, New York, New Jersey, Boston, and Rio de Janeiro. This time, I
have not heard them at all. Those who have managed to contact me claimed that we are now tied 1-1. I told them, the tie
won’t be that long because there will be another massacre at the end of the month, and they better not let the Germans sink
them first.
Lastly, I wonder what Van Gaal, Radomir Antic, Frank Rijkaard must be thinking at this time. For Rijkaard, he has already
seen Riquelme against Barca, and that was a headache for him. This time, the headache will be for Juergen Klinsmann and
Carlos Alberto Pareira.
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