Dilemma over Diarra

Mahamadou Diarra captained Mali to a 2-0 victory away to Togo on the weekend, ensuring the national side's qualification for next year's African Cup of Nations in Ghana. The competition, which runs from the 20th of January to the 10th of February will leave Real Madrid without their key defensive midfielder for at least the whole of January, given that players have to be available to join their national sides 15 days before the start of official competitions. During that time, Real Madrid will play nine games, a number that could increase if Mali qualify for the latter stages of the competition.

This is not the first time there's been a clash of fixtures between club and country, although last time FIFA ruled in favour of Real Madrid to ensure Diarra was present (and crucially scored) in league championship decider against Mallorca. This time, despite the protestations of some club presidents, country will win over club, and Real Madrid finds itself with a big problem in midfield.

Schuster, has included Diarra in his rotations policy, mostly, I suspect, because the player could not train as hard as normal during the month of Ramadan (13 September - 11 October). However, his replacement, Fernando Gago, has struggled to be as effective in his defensive coverage (not helped by the fact that there is little assistance from the rest of the midfield).

Hence, Real Madrid is already reported as either scouring the winter transfer window for an alternative or 'repurposing' another player in the squad. The departure of Emerson and De la Red in the summer, means that this could be one of Drenthe (still unsettled), Baptista (not defensive enough) or Sergio Ramos (not a natural midfielder).

Diarra himself narrowly avoided injury in the Togo - Mali qualifier, where the crowd invaded the pitch at the end of the game and assaulted the Mali squad with bottles and knives. His countrymen Kanouté, who plays for Sevilla, and Sidibé (Stoke City) were less fortunate and subsequently needed medical assistance African players in Spain have also been in the news recently due to the Spanish Federation ratifying the 2000 Cotonou agreement and granting citizens of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states the same working rights as EU citizens (as long as they are working legally in Spain).

You can also read this, and other articles, over at Real Madrid Online

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