IBWM Loves!..........

Before going any further, I must draw your attention, dear reader, to two excellent 'soul mate' sites out there that I really must insist that you visit.

Firstly Sam Kelly's excellent Hasta El Gol Siempre. Sam really knows his stuff inside out and is fully immersed in all things Argentina. You must also be sure to wander over to Mundo Albiceleste which is another brilliant site updated regularly by Roy, John and Sebastien. Tell them IBWM sent you.

Both sites are absolutely top drawer if you want to know about all things football related in Argentina and put together far better than this cobbled shambles.

Don't disappear just yet though, dear reader; now that you are here, I insist that you stay.......(best Bond Villain voice)........ Forever!!.......mnyah ha ha ha

Add all of us to your favourites as we head toward South Africa and beyond as a sort of 'Holy Trinity', just like Best, Law and Charlton, or....erm....Rod, Jane and Freddy.

Just bear in mind that Hasta and Mundo are Beyoncé and Kylie Minogue's sweetly perfumed hot pants with IBWM knowing it's place as Amy Winehouse's 4 day old piss stained knickers.

Enjoy!

"Well, helllooooooo.........."

You were going to get my two bob worth on El Diego's 30, but then I spotted this little pearl in today's Daily Mail and thought, 'I can't let that go'.............

Lionel Messi has taken a swipe at Ashley Cole by inviting the England defender's wife Cheryl to join the Argentina camp at the World Cup.

X Factor judge Cheryl split from Chelsea left-back Cole in February following revelations he had sent naked pictures of himself to a string of women's mobiles and allegations he had been cheating.

Cheryl is unlikely to be joining the rest of the England WAGS in backing Fabio Capello's side in South Africa so Barcelona star Messi has stepped in.

He said: 'I don't know if Cheryl is going to want to support England. She might be a bit anti-England players at the moment.

'If she is looking for a new nation to follow at the World Cup, she should look no further than Argentina.

Cheryl Cole. Yes, me too.

'We play the prettiest football, have the prettiest players, and Argentinian men also know how to treat their women.'

And Messi would love 26-year-old Cheryl to join the party if Argentina land the big prize.

He added: 'She would of course have to do the Tango. I don't think there would be a shortage of Argentinian players willing to help teach her.'

Well.....just when you think you know someone.

And here was me, just saying how wholesome he was. That's blown that.

Just shows you, it's the quiet ones. So whether Leo now fancies his chances down on Newcastle's Quayside, I have no idea; I'm sure Jonas and Coloccini could take him on a bit of a tour.

Thing is though, take the talent away, and the money, and he looks like a computer club nerd. Probably turn out that he's as smooth as silk, hung like a carthorse and would have the girls all over him anyway.

Leo Messi, recently

Maybe this is just El Diego's influence.

It was all going nicely for little Leo; best in the world, ready to lead his team to glory, sort that makes his mother proud........and then Maradona with all his demons comes into his life and it's off the rails before you can sneeze.

I'm off to the bookies. Fifty quid says he'll get caught snorting a line off Lady Gaga's bollocks before July is out..............

and finally...........

Finally, and from FIFA's official list, thee wee man presented us with:

Goalkeepers

Sergio ROMERO (AZ Alkmaar)

Mariano ANDUJAR (Catania)

Diego POZO (Colon)

Defenders

Nicolas BURDISSO (Inter Milan)

Martin DEMICHELIS (Bayern Munich)

Walter SAMUEL (Inter Milan)

Gabriel HEINZE (Marseille)

Nicolas OTAMENDI (Velez Sarsfield)

Fabricio COLOCCINI (Newcastle)

Juan Manuel INSAURRALDE (Newell's Old Boys)

Clemente RODRIGUEZ (Estudiantes)

Ariel GARCE (Colon)

Midfielders

Javier MASCHERANO (Liverpool)

Sebastian BLANCO (Lanus)

Juan Sebastian VERON (Estudiantes)

Jesus DATOLO (Olympiacos)

Jose SOSA (Estudiantes)

Maximiliano RODRIGUEZ (Liverpool)

Mario BOLATTI (Fiorentina)

Juan MERCIER (Argentinos Juniors)

Angel DI MARIA (Benfica)

Jonas GUTIERREZ (Newcastle)

Javier PASTORE (Palermo)

Forwards
Sergio AGUERO (Atletico Madrid)

Diego MILITO (Inter Milan)

Martin PALERMO (Boca Juniors)

Carlos TEVEZ (Manchester City)

Gonzalo HIGUAIN (Real Madrid)

Lionel MESSI (Barcelona)

Ezequiel LAVEZZI (Napoli)

No Zanetti, Banega, Cambiasso or Gago then. Hmmmm. If you need an introductions to some of this lot, my waffle will follow.

Comments welcome.

Selección Argentina........another update

Well he might well have of the Latin speaking world eating out of his hand, but this correspondent refuses to be taken in........

He's an enigma, is our Diego, but I'm not hanging on......

I'll digest what he comes out with (assuming he ever does, nearly 4 hours after assembling the media) and get back to you tomorrow dear reader.

Selección Argentina........update

El Diego's 'Selección Argentina' was due to be out into cyberspace by 7pm GMT (3pm Argentinean time), but the Argentine FA have confirmed, in between their site crashing at regular intervals, that nothing will be confirmed till 10pm. GMT that is.

Reasons for the delay? well, he likes to make an entrance doesn't he?

Having seen Brazil's coach Dunga make short shrift of any designs that Ronaldinho, Adriano or Alexandre Pato might have had on this summers proceedings, El Diego might well be planning his own headlines.

Stay tuned........

.com silliness!

In bed with maradona, or ibwm, as I've snappily decided to refer to it, has become a proper .com type website.

As far as I can tell, and I'm clearly not that up on these things, the www.inbedwithmaradona.blogspot.com address will still work and will ultimately take you to it's new home at www.inbedwithmaradona.com.

You don't need to do anything.......at least I don't think you do. If any of the gadget things on the left of this page aren't working, just re-tune your dial to www.inbedwithmaradona.com

Either way this site is becoming inbedwithmaradona.com so bear that in mind when you tell everyone you know about how great it is here...............IBWM thinks you are great so WE NEED MORE FOLLOWERS AND MORE HITS!!!

That sounds really desperate I know. Don't be shy though, become a follower, and tell your friends.....post links on other sites......let's take over the world.....vote Castro etc!

T-shirts will be up next. Eventually. Play your cards right and you might just get one!

Jeff

Bit of a slow one

What a complete and spectacular arse I am!

Hands up, I've gone and got me dates and time zones mixed up a tad. Well a good 24 hours anyway. What a tit!

El Diego will be presenting us with his 30 players on Tuesday, not today, I'm reckoning mid evening gmt. I've got my contacts in place and if I'm near enough to a pc will get the details out pretty sharpish. Oh yes.

The main man was on TyC Sports earlier today though; “People know that nobody can underestimate us” said Diego, all defiant and stressing the importance of a recent friendly win over Germany in Munich; another of a pack of serious contenders for South Africa 2010.

He also let us in on the difficult decisions he is faced with at present; “For every one that has to leave, it is difficult, all are playing well”. Bless his little heart, it must have been awful. He then nonchalantly added that he only really had a couple of difficult decisions. Nails. What a bastard eh?

“The player always hopes with a high head, I cried when I was outside in 78”, Diego remembered, recalling his own blubbering exclusion from Cesar Menotti's squad for Argentina '78. That feeling, albeit the 2010 variety, will be greeting one or two others.

By now, it's fair to say that the calls will have been made or are just about to. Several, including Liverpool's Maxi Lopez, have already braced themselves for the worst and it's going to be intriguing to see who makes the cut; there is a wealth of talent available in a number of positions. He just can't take them all.

El Diego. Previously outside, crying.

One that, barring any last minute silliness of biblical proportions, will be making that cut is Barca's Lionel Messi. El Diego found time for a little praise for his attacking midfielder, commenting on his wholesomeness (that just sounds like weetabix, doesn't it?) and ability to make headlines for the right reasons. “I would like today, that he (Messi) becomes the most recognized. I believe that he is going to be great at World level, and hope that he surpasses all that I did". Pulling his team along to win the thing as our man did in 1986 would be a start, although I'd argue that Maradona has a better set of players to pick from now, than he did to play alongside in Mexico.

Leo Messi. A bit like Weetabix.

Bit of a slow one then. Comments welcome, who is he going to jettison and which players would you compare to breakfast cereal?