Ostracized by his club but loved by his country, Juan Roman Riquelme delivered another virtuoso performance for Argentina this weekend, powering the albiocelestes to a 2-0 win against Chile in Buenos Aires on Saturday. Riquelme scored from two nearly identical looping free kicks into the upper left hand corner of his net. Both shots left Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo paralyzed. The win got Argentina off to a fine start in 2010 World Cup qualifying. “For us it was important to begin the series by winning,” Riquelme said. “The team is playing well right now and we deservedly won.”
Starting Riquelme was a controversial choice by Argentina coach Alfio Basile because the Villarreal midfielder hasn’t played any professional matches since the Copa America final in July — nearly three months ago now. Villarreal, sadly, has exiled the 29-year-old playmaker due to a falling out with the club’s management.
Despite another fine international performance from Riquelme, Villarreal reiterated that the player has no future with the La Liga club. CEO Jose Manuel Llaneza said he would try to shop the Argentine playmaker around in December, just ahead of the January transfer window. “If [his leaving] does not happen, we will continue to respect his contract,” Llaneza said. “We’re neither the good guys nor the bad guys in this story. We made our decision a while ago and have been very clear, and have been for some time.”