Riquelme praised all over the world (19 Apr 2006 19:16 GMT)
According to Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann, Villarreal playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme is "almost perfect."
Arsenal captain Thierry Henry, who will be the main attacking threat when the Spanish club visit Highbury tomorrow, said: "With a guy like Riquelme, it is difficult to think about man-marking him - we do not do that anyway. He is a guy who can pass wherever he wants and also has the ability to do whatever he wants on the ball."
Europe's most experienced observers have nothing but praise for Riquelme who was outstanding when Argentina played England earlier this season - even in defeat the midfielder oozed class.
After the elimination of Inter Milan in the Champions League quarter-finals the Italian media hailed Riquelme as "magic".
"You could man-mark him," Inter coach Roberto Mancini said. "Teams don't have man-markers today, though. That's because there are so few players who need man-marking. Apart from Riquelme. He was very difficult to stop. His movement is so good he was impossible to pin down."
"He is such a strong personality that you wonder how he left Barcelona because they would have been stronger with him." Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said, "He is the leading figure in the team."
Arsenal striker Thierry Henry said he admired the Argentina midfielder when he was at Boca Juniors.
"I thought he was already immense when he was playing for Boca, the stuff he was doing with the ball," the Arsenal captain said. "People talk about Ronaldinho, and fair enough. What Riquelme can do with the ball ... when he's on tune, the whole team's on tune."
Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini said Riquelme's individual skills work well within the team.
"I think he has always shown how much talent he has and he's a player who can make a difference," Pellegrini said. "I think Riquelme is a very good individual player, but my team also plays very well collectively so it's a very good combination."
source : sport|telegraph, AP