Argentina at the World Cup

Argentina

 

Manager:Diego Maradona

Captain: Javier Mascherano

FIFA World Ranking: 6

World Cup Appearances: 14

Best World Cup: Winners – 1978, 1986

 

 

 

Profile:

 

The name ‘Argentina’ alone scares the living daylights out of most nations and Diego Maradona’s charge may need that to come into affect in South Africa as the former World Champions haven’t been playing particularly good football of late. They scraped through the South American qualifying zone, sneaking a fourth place finish by the skin of their teeth. However, they are in the finals nevertheless and the squad is still full to the brim with talent and world class players and they will, without doubt, be a big force next summer, despite their serious lull in form at present.

 

Argentina are a powerhouse in world football but it’s been far too long since the Argies last won a World Cup, way back in 1986 actually. That will be 24 years ago once the finals come around and with a former great now in charge in Diego Maradona, the expectation on not only the manager but also their big name players; Javier Mascherano, Gonzalo Higuain & Lionel Messi, will be huge. Their fans back home demand success, especially as Argentina could only manage a quarter-final apperance back in Germany 2006, so only a final apperance will be deemed a worthy display in South Africa for them.

 

 

 

Manager:

 

Where do we start with the ‘controversial’ character which is – Diego Maradona. Many fans around the globe will remember him fondly for his memorable displays in an Argentina shirt, even guiding them to a World Cup success when he captained the side back in 1986. However, for England fans, he will be remembered for his cheating antics in the quarter-final which seen him put the ball into the England net with his hand. That game with the English defined his career as he went on to score what many pundits tout as ‘the goal of the century’ as he weaved through what seemed the entire England squad to score a sublime solo goal. In that game the whole footballing worlds seen the very best and the very worst of the Argentine great and now the world will need to brace themselves again as the lively and charismatic Maradona aims to guide Argentina to another World Cup success, this time as coach.

 

Diego Maradona has managed two clubs before taking over the role as national team coach but with little success. He took over what is a talented group of players but he has yet to either find the right selection or formation to enable Argentina to great success on the pitch. He has come under mass amounts of scrutiny, mainly from those outside of Argentina in all fairness, but the Argentina board have shown their faith in the Argentine legend in a bid that it might just pay off in the form of a winning World Cup bid.

 

 

Key Players:

 

 

Lionel Messi –

 

It didn’t take us long to highlight who Argentina’s most influential player is, Lionel Messi. Quick feet, the ability to leave a player standing in awe, bags of pace, skills and tricks in abundance and a very precise and clinical finisher in the final third. Messi can turn any game right on it’s head as one mazy run or one piece of trickery can open the game right up in Argentina’s favour. The entire squad has struggled to adapt to Maradona’s tactics but Messi is the exception to the rule. He can score or create a goal out of absolutely nothing and he will be the man every opposing manager will pinpoint as the biggest danger.

 

 

Javier Mascherano –

 

Diego Maradona has put his faith in the Liverpool midfielder to guide his side to bigger and better things at the forthcoming finals. Mascherano has nailed down a starting berth in the Liverpool as a solid and reliable defensive midfielder. However, he has now not only nailed down a starting spot in the Argentina fold but he has also secured the captaincy of his country, arguably his greatest honour as a player. However, he hasn’t had the instants impact many, including Diego Maradona, had expected as captain so the pressure will be just as much on him as the manager himself.

 

 

 

 

Strengths:

 

It’s hard to highlight a direct area of the pitch where Argentina have shone in of late because they haven’t. However, they still boast some of the worlds greatest players and they are the type that can turn on the style whenever they like. Lionel Messi can single handily win any game of football, Javier Mascherano provides a safety screen over what has been a pretty shaky Argentina defence while the new Real Madrid sensation, Gonzalo Higuain, could be their inspirational forward up front, that is if Maradona doesn’t decide to opt for Martin Palmero, a player who he is obviously keen on but at 36 years of age, surely shouldn’t deserve a starting berth over a player of Higuain calibre. Argentina’ skill and pace up front will be their big asset over the course of the summer.

 

 

Weakness:

 

Their biggest flaws have come in their defence, especially when they were on their travels. Maradona’s men conceded 13 goals in 8 away qualifiers so it will be interesting to see how they adapt the bitter cold conditions that will await them in South Africa. They didn’t do at all well when they played several thousand meters above sea level in Bolivia, getting thumped 6-1, so the conditions in South Africa maybe a bug stumbling block for Argentina as they leave a usually hot and humid South America. Also, Maradona doesn’t seem to have favourite eleven. He chops and changes his starting line up every game so it’s had to see the Argentina team gelling enough and forming a lethal chemistry to really go far and win the tournament itself.

 

 

 

Qualification:

 

 

Sector: South America

Position: 4th

Win-Draw-Lose: 8-4-6

Goals Scored: 23

Goals Conceded: 20

 

 

 

 

Qualifying statistics:

 

 

• Argentina severely struggled on their travels in qualifying, losing five of their nine away fixtures.

• Lionel Messi was the only player to be chosen to play in each of their qualifiers, participating in all eighteen of their World Cup Qualifiers.

• Sergio Aguero, Juan Riquelme & Lionel Messi all shared the honour of being Argentina’s top goalscorers with four goals each.

• 4 (Half/50%) of their wins came by just a one goal margin.

• Diego Maradona used a total of 49 players during the course of the campaign, which just highlights how much tinkering he has done during his spell at the Argentine helm.

• Carlos Tevez appears a fiery character when playing for Argentina, receiving two of the three red cards that Argentina received during qualifying.

 

 

 

World Cup Potential: 3/5

 

 

In our honest yet brutal opinion, we don’t think Argentina will win their third World Cup crown in South Africa. The conditions certainly won’t favour them and their form during qualifying was lacklustre to put it best. They do, of course, have a wide array of talent within the camp, more notably Lionel Messi, but consistency is an issue but they do have a knack of performing on the big stage so perhaps they aren’t without a fighting chance. Nevertheless, we feel others have a stronger chance of claiming the crown.

 

 

 

 

Current World Cup Odds: 11/1 – BlueSquare

World Cup Group B - Table

Rank	Team	Matches / Points
	Argentina	0 Matches / 0 Points
	Nigeria	0 Matches / 0 Points
	South Korea	0 Matches / 0 Points
	Greece	0 Matches / 0 Points

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