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Saviola Sits It Out
Life can be hard for a teenager saddled with the nickname "El Conejo," the rabbit. But Javier Saviola has more serious problems at hand. The 19-year-old Argentine sensation is banging in goals aplenty for his Spanish club, Barcelona, in the world's best league, but he still can't find a place on the national side. Coach Marcelo Bielsa has an abundance of superb forwards to choose from (Gabriel Batistuta, Hernan Crespo, Claudio Lopez, Ariel Ortega, Kily Gonzales, Gustavo Lopez ... we could go on) and Saviola looks likely to sit out Korea/Japan. Still, he has time on his side. And history, too: five World Cups ago, another diminutive teenage prodigy with an unflattering nickname —"Pelusa" or "The Wild-Haired One" —found himself confined to the Argentine bench. Argentina won that Cup, and the snubbed teenager went on to become the finest player of his age: Diego Maradona. |
