'Maradona has not called me yet...But it is good for Argentina and the people that a great hero like him is in charge. We call him Dios - God. He won the World Cup as a player and we hope he will win it now as coach. I would love to be in his plans."Good luck to him. He will struggle to get near the team in holding midfield; he's good but he's no Mascherano, Cambiasso or Gago. But as an understudy to the ageing Javier Zanetti at right back, do they have anyone better? The 2010 World Cup occurs months before Zanetti's 37th birthday, I hope Zabaleta is at the least in the squad by then. As a star of the Gold medal-winning Olympics team, and captain of the victorious 2005 U20 World Cup side (including Gago, Messi and Agüero) he can't be far from Maradona's thoughts.
In fact, City have quite a good chance of having a World Cup winner in 2010. We should have a representative from both of the joint favourites (Zabaleta and Robinho/Elano), fourth favourites (SWP/Bridge/Hart/Richards), plus de Jong from Holland and whoever else we sign in July/August 2009 and January 2010. Which got me thinking: have City ever had a World Cup winner in the past? Having quickly discounted that, how about this question:
Has anyone with a World Cup winners' medal ever played for Manchester City, before or after their World Cup triumph?
I honestly don't know. I can't think of anyone - any suggestions?
UPDATE Those with PES2009 will know that it's best when playing with Argentina to play Zabaleta at left back, moving Gabriel Heinze to centre back rather than the very one paced Martín Demichelis.
3 comments:
Bernard Diomede (WC winner with France 1998) was training with us back in 2004. Although he didn't actually sign or play a game, he is the closest we have come to a world cup winner on the books as far as I can think.
City have had one World Cup winner. Only he wasn't a player. And he got us relegated. Careful what you wish for ...
As players, we have had three runners-up but no winners. Eike Immel sat on the bench for two World Cup finals, and Hamann played in 2002.
Elano, Robinho, Foe and Mettomo have all played for the winning side in the final of a continental competition, and Anelka was an unused sub in the Euro 2000 final.
Trautmann would surely have gained a winners medal in 1954 were it not for the German FA excluding players based in other countries from the squad.
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