Batista would call up Riquelme (17 Jan 2008 18:07 GMT)
Sergio Batista, who trains Argentina's Olympic soccer team, said on Tuesday that he would call up Boca Juniors midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme, one of the nation's best players.
Argentina has a large number of quality players and the Olympic team can have three players over 23, one of which will be Riquelme, Batista said. The team is seeking its second consecutive Olympic gold, after 2004's Athens victory, he added.
Batista took over the Olympic management role from Alfio Basile, who is training the senior team for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
Batista, who was part of the World Cup winning team in the 1986 tournament in Mexico, said he would look for other players over-23 who are not part of Basile's World Cup team.
"I would love to be able to draw on all the players, but I need to see what Julio Grondona and Basile think as well," he said. Grondona is president of the Argentine Football Association.
Among those Batista said he would like to have on his team are Lionel Messi, Sergion Aguero, Oscar Ustari and Fernando Gago.
Riquelme is "one of the best players in the world. A great player and someone I have a good relationship with. I want to go to the Games with Roman. Let's hope it can be done," Batista said.
He said the Olympic team would play a series of friendly games ahead of the Olympics. The first of these will be on Feb. 6 against Guatemala.
source : Xinhua