Does the end justify the means, Román?" Riquelme looked perplexed. "So let's say a drug trafficker asked you to attend a charity event, would you go?" It wasn't a typical press conference question, but Juan Román Riquelme isn't exactly a typical footballer.
Last December, Riquelme participated in a fundraising event organised by the Boca Juniors barra brava (hooligan group) La Doce. A proud and principled man who has always stood firm when defending his decisions, Riquelme on this occasion chose to end the line of questioning as quickly as he could. "I was asked to help out at a charity event, so I went. That's all. I came here to talk about football."
This week Riquelme's principles were tested once again, and he was willing to explain himself. Playing for the national team at the World Cup may be the height of his sporting ambition, but even though "it will hurt my soul", he chose to deny himself the opportunity to represent Argentina in South Africa next year. He could not justify the end with the means.
"We don't think the same way and we don't have the same code of ethics," he said of Maradona on Tuesday night. "We cannot work together." Rumours had circulated earlier in the day that the 30-year-old Riquelme would quit the national team, and indeed later that evening he arranged for a television crew to come round to his house to make his public announcement that he would not play for Argentina "while he is in charge". Not once during the interview did Riquelme use the words "Diego" or "Maradona".
It is a bizarre twist of events that has led to Riquelme, who inherited the No10 shirt at Boca from Maradona, rejecting any involvement with El Diez so publicly and so emphatically. Just hours before, Maradona had tried to call the midfielder five times to tell him that he was in the squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers. Riquelme didn't return the calls.
Last Thursday, Maradona pointed to Riquelme's recent dip in form on the chat show Gol de Medianoche on TyC Sports. Unless Riquelme played closer to the area, took men on and provided key passes to the forwards – something he is not doing for Boca right now, explained the Argentina coach, "he is no good to me". Maradona repeated the phrase four times. "All I said was I wanted him playing further forward. I wasn't criticising him," he protested on hearing of Riquelme's decision to quit.
For the Boca playmaker, more than the criticism itself was the way in which it appeared in the media. "Strange things happen in this team. Things aren't clear. I find out where the coach wants me to play by watching TV."
Maradona is convinced there is more to "the news story of the year" (as the sports daily Olé puts it) than meets the eye. "They are not Riquelme's words, someone has filled his head with this," Maradona told Radio del Plata yesterday, while alluding to financial differences with his former agent, Marcos Franchi, who happens to be Riquelme's agent.
"I put the national team first, this isn't about Maradona or Riquelme," said the Argentina coach, who knows full well that without Riquelme, he will have to improvise. Comments about Riquelme's form last Thursday were designed to see an improvement from the playmaker. It didn't come.
At the weekend Boca took on struggling Independiente. Riquelme came on in the second half and lost the ball 11 times. On the opposing side, Daniel "Rolfi" Montenegro – another classic No10 – produced a brilliant performance including a spectacular goal to hand a surprise win to the Rojos over the reigning league champions.
"I'm giving the No10 to Rolfi, I just hope he doesn't back down," joked Maradona last night. With Montenegro sporting a Maradona autograph tattooed on his left calf muscle, Diego is unlikely to find the same dissidence from this particular playmaker, but Maradona will be aware that Montenegro cannot replace Riquelme.
The broadsheet La Nación ran a survey last night asking its readers how the national team should play. Some 21% believed Riquelme should be replaced by another No10, 25% preferred a four-man midfield, while 27.4% advocated playing with three strikers. The remaining 26.6% said Riquelme is simply irreplaceable.
The idea of putting a playmaker behind a front three is one that Maradona had hinted at in recent weeks. Without Riquelme, that plan may have to change. Montenegro is a player who has never made his mark in European football, and lacks international experience. The same goes for Andrés D'Alessandro – another player whom Maradona mentioned. Another option is the 34-year-old Juan Sebastián Verón, rightly considered past his best and increasingly injury-prone.
If Argentina line up without a classic enganche – playmaker – Maradona will have to choose between a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. The former would be good news for Newcastle's Jonás Gutiérrez who would keep his place on the left, the latter would see Carlos Tevez handed a place in the starting line-up. Despite opting for the former in his first two games in charge, given Maradona's ambition and desire to play attacking football, the latter is the most likely.
"Maradona will have seen the way Leo Messi plays for Barcelona," pointed out the former River Plate, Real Madrid and Argentina defender Quique Wolff on ESPN yesterday. "He needs to play with two other forwards to bring out the best in him."
With no Riquelme, there will be increased pressure on Messi to perform, but without Román the younger generation of Argentina stars are more likely to produce their best football. Riquelme is a divisive figure in the dressing room, and there are few members of the squad who tolerate him.
After the victory over France in February, the players were jubilant in the dressing room. "Now that Messi is here, we don't need anyone else!" they sang. It was clear to Maradona and his backroom staff that they didn't want Riquelme in the team.
With Riquelme gone, the problem has vanished, although it may in turn create a new dilemma. What happens if Argentina struggle to break teams down, or what happens if they fail to capitalise on set pieces? The absence of Riquelme will not go unnoticed.
This is, of course, not the first time Riquelme has quit the national team. He did the same after the 2006 World Cup, citing his mother's ill health. The coach at the time, Alfio "Coco" Basile, believed Argentina should always be "Riquelme plus 10 others", and convinced the midfielder to return. Under Maradona, the slogan is "Mascherano plus 10", something that Riquelme has not found easy to accept. His quitting the national team may have solved the thorny issue of internal squad politics, but Maradona may yet try to bring the playmaker back, by whatever means possible.
Home
