In a game that reflected the poor form of both clubs, River Plate toppled Boca Juniors 1-0 in El Monumental before a raucous sell-out crowd, who set the tone for the match by unveiling a massive flag in support of River.

From the outset, River was the stronger team with 18 year old playmaker Erik Lamela acting as the star of the show. When he was just 12, Barcelona tried to steal El Coco right from under the noses of River’s directors, but after long negotiations, Los Millonarios came to an agreement with the youngsters parents, and Erik stayed in Argentina.

Six years later, the number 10 is showing signs of being the next big thing in Argentine soccer, and his performance in El Superclasico Tuesday night may have been his coming out party.

Lamela played ex-Real Betis hitman Mariano Pavone through on goal after 16 minutes…

Read More

The three headed monster that is the Argentinean attack was too much for Mexico to withstand.  Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain and Lionel Messi were virtually impossible to contain.  Tevez especially had a strong game with 2 goals.  The first, a gift from the line judge, should never have counted as he received a ball placed in by Messi offside.  His second goal was of  pure beauty, it sealed the deal for La Albiceleste who took a commanding 3 goal lead in the second half.  This was Tevez’s best game of the Cup so far and one must assume that when Messi turns out his first brilliant performance, this team could be in line to take home the Cup.  Messi continues to play well but stricken with misfortune.  He is still missing that first goal that could release the floodgates.

Argentina cruised to a 3-1 win and will now face Germany in a much anticipated rematch of the 2006 quarterfinal that was decided by penalty kicks.

The game might have gone differently if Tevez was called offside on the first goal.  Up to that point Mexico was more than holding its own against the South Americans.  Mexico had created the better chances and seemed capable of drawing first blood.  After the first goal however, the wheels fell off the bus.  A juvenile mistake by defencemen Ricardo Osorio led directly to the second goal by Higuain, who took Osorio’s misguided pass into the net after deeking out the goalie.

Argentina proved to be too much for Mexico. Despite starting off well, they could not solve the fast passing, high pace offense imposed by the Argentines.  Argentina continues to play the part of the favorite with its impressive play.  Many who doubted Maradona’s capactity to lead this squad, author included, will have to revise their predictions and admit that “El Diego” has so far done a bang up job.

Argentina will play Germany next Saturday for a berth into the semi finals.

Argentina finished off group B participation with a much deserved win over Greece today.  In doing so they knocked out the Greeks and set themselves up for a round of 16 showdown with Mexico, a repeat of Germany 2006.  Argentina had a perfect first round and its victory today extended the domination of South American teams, who now have a combined record of 10W-0L-2D.

The Argentines took the field with 7 “reserves” in the starting line up.  The only starters to play today were Messi, Veron, Demichelis, and the keeper.  The term “reserves” is used lightly because players such as Aguero, Milito, Maxi Rodriguez, Nicolas Burdisso can hardly be considered back ups as they would start for a majority of the teams in this tournament.  Maradona decided to give his first liners a day off since they had all but clinched their berth in the previous 2 games.  Besides, it was correctly assumed that the second team of Argentina would be more than enough to get the job done over a Greek team that has shown little ability to score in this tournament.  The Greeks started off well by applying nice pressure up front and causing the Argentines to back peddle a little in the opening 15.  After that it became a 1 man attack for the Greeks as they entered their defensive cocoon.  Samaras was left all alone up front and expect to do miracles.  He did have a couple interesting plays but only 1 chance of converting.  It was only a matter of time until Messi or another talented player converted on one of the many opportunities generated.

It was finally Demichelis who converted on a corner kick rebound that gave him a point blank shot at the net which he did not waste.  Messi was on and off again, showing spurts of genius and then signs of frustration as he cannot put together the great game everyone is expecting.  He is playing very well, but it seems like the entire team wants him to get his first World Cup goal out of the way.  You can really tell the frustration building in him.  He had a couple nice runs that ended with him blasting one either off the post or an inch off it.   One of his nicest plays ended with him launching a bomb from outside the penalty area that the keeper pushed to his right, the rebound was picked up by Martin Palermo, the old veteran had subbed in minutes prior, all alone and he executed perfectly.  The score was 2-0 and the clocked showed 89 minutes, the game was over.

Palermo, a 36 year old Boca Juniors legend, was brought to South Africa, many believe, as a reward for scoring the winning goal in injury time against Peru in the penultimate qualifying game.  That goal made it possible for Argentina to finish 4th in the qualifier and enter the finals directly.  It was nice to see Palermo cap off his illustrious career by netting a goal in his only World Cup game.  Maradona takes care of “his boys” as evidenced by the confidence given to Palermo,  it remains to be seen if his boys will take care of him as the team looks to return to glory after a 24 year drought.  One thing is for sure, Argentina is one of the most exciting teams to watch, whether that be because of the massive amount of talent on the field, the offensive mentality of the team or Diego on the sidelines.  Maradona is a one man sideshow on the sidelines, jumping around, chewing out the refs on every occasion, cheering on his team like a cheerleader and celebrating with his team like he was on field of play. Love him or hate him, his passion for the game is palpable on the sidelines and he is drawing more attention than his excellent team is.

Up next for Argentina is Mexico, who pushed them to overtime last time around in 2006.  Anything can happen in the round of 16, Mexico is a top team than can beat anyone on any given day.  I just hope the round of 16 will be the game we finally see Messi celebrate a goal.

A hat trick from struggling forward Gonzalo Higuain was the story today in South Africa for Argentina. With Messi running around drawing defenders and setting up his teammates, South Korea forgot there was another bona fide forward worth covering, and I’m not talking about Carlos Tevez, who was also a headache for the Koreans, but rather Gonzalo Higuain. After a poor showing in the opening match, Higuain made amends by netting goals at the 33rd, 76th, 80th minute.   Argentina dominated from start to finish in one of the more impressive showings to date in South Africa.  The Argentines held the ball 57% of the time and managed 11 shots on goal while only receiving 2 against.  

La Albiceleste got a lucky bounce to open the scoring in the 17th minute.  Messi hurled in a free kick into the penalty area that deflected off Park Chu Young and into the net for an own goal. 

The only goal against Argentina came in the last minute of play of the first half off a huge mistake by defender Martin Demichelis, who fell asleep and let Lee Chung Yong strip him of the ball a walk unchallenged for an easy breakaway goal.  The victory solidifies Argentina as group leader with 6 pts with one game remaining against Greece.  Barring 2 miracles ( A win by Greece coupled with a 3 goal Korean victory over Nigeria) Argentina will qualify for the round of 16.  A win or a tie against Greece will clinch first place and will set them up for a match against either Mexico or Uruguay.

Argentina is playing solid football on all lines.  Every World Cup they are considered a candidate to win it and their performance in the early going in South Africa has done nothing to change that.  Today’s domination of South Korea will only increase the talk of them being one of the teams to beat.  To think that Messi, although playing well, has not scored a goal yet or put on a jaw dropping performance makes one wonder how good this team could be.  If he does, it might be 1986 all over again for La Albiceleste and Maradona would have to make good on his pledge to run naked around the Obelisk of Buenos Aires in celebration.

La Albiceleste got the 3 points it wanted, but left a bunch of goals unconverted in their opening game win against Nigeria.  Argentina came out roaring with a goal in the 6th minute of play.  The goal by defender Gabriel Heinze came off a corner kick to the penalty spot that was met with a thundering diving header by Heinze to the top left corner, no chance for the goalie.  Just like that Argentina was up and Maradona was in a frenzy on the bench along with his players.  Argentina dominated the action in the first half with continuous ball control and managed to create several scoring opportunities.  Midway through the first Messi was robbed on a curl shot heading into the top corner by the keeper and striker Gonzalo Higuain also missed a couple golden opportunities.  Nigeria was content with keeping the deficit at 1 and trying to catch the South Americans on a counter attack.

In the second half it was more of the same.  The Nigerian keeper was single-handedly keeping the Africans in the game with more brilliant saves at the expense of Messi, who was very active on the offensive side but could not convert because of the stellar work of the keeper.  Argentina flirted with disaster by not putting the game away early in the second.  By the mid point of the second Nigeria was beginning to test the Argentinian keeper and had the tying goal on a couple of counter attacks that just did not materialize. With a little more fortune Nigeria could have tied it, but Argentina also had chances to widen the lead.  The two clearest chances where a 4 on 2 counter attack that finished with Messi grazing the left post on a low curling shot and Messi being stopped by the keeper on a nice give and go play that left him briefly alone with the keeper. By the 80th minute it appeared as though the Nigerians had accepted defeat and  stopped trying.  Argentina kept the ball for the good part of the last 10 minutes without any pressure being applied from their rivals.  I’m not sure if that was due to tiredness or simply a continuation of their game plan to form two defending lines of 4 and wait for the Argentinians to make a mistake when attacking.  Whatever it was, it must have been disheartening to their fans.

The high points for the Argentines are mostly the victory, the play of Messi and how the team looked rather solid on all three lines.  The low points were the missed opportunities and the apparent lack of finish by the forwards, especially Higuain who was nearly a non factor despite missing some good chances.  With the deep bench that Maradona has at his disposal I would not be surprised to see “Pipita” Higuain ride the pine next match in favor of Diego Milito or Sergio Aguero.

Up next for Argentina is the leader of group 2, South Korea (who made minced meat of a boring Greek team) in a game that should be fun to watch as both teams are dynamic and offensive.  The South Koreans are aggressive and run relentlessly for 90 minutes, so they won’t fear to chase the Argentinians, as the Nigerians did, when they do not have possession of the ball.  This could prove to be their undoing as it is a high risk – high reward strategy. Either they will stun Argentina early or they will take 2 or more goals against.  The winner of this game will clinch a berth to the round of 16.

I expect Argentina to keep rolling.

HOW THEY GOT THERE:

Argentina made its way to South Africa in a most unusual way…well unusual for them at least.  The South American giant who normally cruises to every World Cup had to win its  last 2 games of the qualifiers to punch its ticket to South Africa.  By beating Peru 2-1 at home and then fellow World Cup contender Uruguay 1-0 in Montevideo, Maradona and his boys clinched the 4th spot and last direct berth to South Africa.  Ever since the CONCACAF adopted the everyone vs everyone format for France 98, the only question about Argentina’s road to the World Cup was if they would finish ahead of Brazil or not.  Needless to say this was Argentina’s poorest qualifer, winning only 8 games while losing 6 and drawing 4, but the important thing is that they made it.  Along the way the golden son Diego Maradona took over the coaching duties from Alfio Basile and made a spectacle of himself and his team.  His outburst against the media after clinching the berth will go down in history.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

Argentina has one of the most talented and skilled teams in the world, period.  For starters they have Lionel Messi, the world’s greatest player.

Few nations can boast such a rich crop of players.  For this simple reason, Argentina is always considered a candidate to take home the golden trophy.  Not too many teams draw so much attention as Argentina.  In their first open practice in South Africa, over 3500 fans and media were in attendance to watch Maradona’s bunch.  Although this time around they are not a heavy favorite to take home the hardware, they are still capable of making a deep run.  It seems like every year the Argentinean league is pumping players into the top leagues of Europe.

For this reason the vast majority of players who will play in the World Cup have had their experience in the European Champions League.  They are all familiar with big time soccer and will not be intimidated by any rival.  The Argentinean style is based on ball control and the short passing game. The latest word from the Argentinean press speculates that Maradona will employ a 3-4-1-2 rather than the traditional 4-4-2 he had been using. In all likelihood Juan Sebastian Veron (Club Estudiantes de la Plata) and Javier Mascherano (Liverpool FC) will command the midfield and feed the deadly trio of Messi, Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) and whoever is tabbed as the 3rd forward between Gonzalo Higuain ( Real Madrid), Sergio Aguero (Atlético de Madrid), and Diego Milito (Inter).  Argentina has a stable of first rate forwards and I expect all of these guys to play at one point or another.

WHO TO LOOK FOR:

Of all the stars in this star studded roster, one of them shines brightest of all.  Lionel Messi is considered by most to be the best in the world. The only knock against this amazing talent is that he has not yet delivered for his national team the way he delivers for his club Barcelona on a weekly basis.  Perhaps this is the time when Lionel finally silences his critics back home, who have been merciless in pointing out his hardships with the Albiceleste.   Aside from Messi anyone of the mentioned forwards can give rivals headaches.  Youngster Angel DiMaria could impress if given a starting spot.  This fast and talented midfielder is a rising star on the world stage and might have his coming out party in South Africa if Maradona choses to play him.

THE PROS AND CONS:

The pros would be obvious to anyone reading thus far; the quality of players.  The cons for this team are the head coach.  Maradona  is at the same time the most loved and the most controversial figure in the country.  He took over a sluggish team in mid qualifiers and began his road to World Cup with a 1-6 historic drubbing at the hands of Bolivia.  He had no coaching experience prior to being given the “keys to the Cadillac” and  many in the Argentinean press have written off their team’s chances due to  his unorthodox ways.

Maradona will try to relive his 1986 glory through the play of his chosen successor Lionel Messi.

His questionable decisions of calling up over 100 players to the national team in his short tenure and his inability to stick with a tactical formation are just two examples of his unorthodoxy.  His decision to leave out Champions League winners Esteban Cambiaso ( 2006 World Cup starter)  and Javier Zanetti  caused somewhat of an uproar. The only thing one can expect from “El Diego” is the unexpectable.  If he cannot manage to find a way to make Messi thrive in his scheme, his tenure as coach will conclude in South Africa.  One thing is for sure, Maradona is such a big name and media darling that he will probablydraw more attention that his team, which might be his way of taking the pressure of his players.  Whether that is all part of his master plan or just a coincidence, it might allow the players to fly under the radar for the first time in a long time.

OUTLOOK FOR THE WORLD CUP:

The first game against Nigeria will be the biggest test.  This has become somewhat of a rivalry in the past 20 years.  Argentina has won 3 times (USA 94, Japan-Korean 2002, Under 20 World Cup final)  and Nigeria won the 1996 Olympic Final in Atlanta.  Argentina remains the heavy favorite to win Group B, which is rounded out by Greece and South Korea.  The latter also poses a threat to advance with its hard working and speedy bunch, but the Greeks will in all likehood finish last.  It would be considered a national disaster and disgrace if Diego’s boys did not advance.  If they do advance they will also be favored against the eventual Group A rival, which could end up being an attractive Argentina-France match up.