Angel Di Maria grants Argentina a weak victory against Ireland
Diego Maradona was sacked as the Argentinean coach following their quarter final exit from the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Maradona was the player, who perhaps single handily managed to win the World Cup for Argentina in 1986. Maradona, however, didn’t turn out to be a good manager and was sacked. Sergio Batista took over the reins in Argentina and coached his first competitive match against Ireland, played in Aviva Stadium on Wednesday.
The goal which separated the two sides was an offside one from Angel Di Maria. The new coach chose to hold on to the one goal margin rather than going for a second one to seal the deal. Fernando Gago, Ever Benega and Javier Mascherano featured in the midfield. They played well and controlled possession effectively. The ball moved around easily, but not many opportunities could be created.
As expected, Barcelona star Lionel Messi was seen as the most active player on the pitch. Messi took various shots at goal to trouble Shay Given, but the goal keeper efficiently stopped each threat. Mascherano tried setting Angel Di Maria up with a remarkable long ball, but it was efficiently saved by Richard Dunne owing to a brilliant tackle. The only goal of the game came from Di Maria at twenty minutes when Gonzalo Higuain flicked the ball, right into Di Maria’s feet, who flicked the ball above Given’s head and into the net.
The goal was an impressive one from the Real Madrid man, but replays later showed that the goal was in reality from an offside position. Angel Di Maria’s remarkable finish should’ve been disallowed but owing to no technology, the goal was legal. The goal served as a confidence booster to Argentina who continued to control the flow of play. Most possession was kept by La Seleccion, but they failed to find the back of the net once more.
The issue of attacking full backs showed in this game, like it did in the World Cup, with Heinze and Burdisso staying back rather than trotting forward to create opportunities. The game was stuck at 1-0, with Pablo Zabaleta coming on for Burdisso. Zabaleta plays a more attacking style of play, which led to an instant impact on Argentinean style of play. Moments later, Messi was replaced by Ezequiel Lavezzi, which meant that the coach preferred to keep the thin margin intact rather than adding to it.
Inter Milan star, Diego Milito replaced Higuain upfront, who never looked like blending in the national team setup. The player looked confused and missed some inch perfect passes. With Milito coming on, it never looked like Argentina would score more goals and the match was expected to end with a one nil score line.
The coach then finally took off Angel Di Maria for Jonas Gutierrez, who received applause from the Argentine fans. Gago took a clean strike right into the gloves of Given towards the end of the contest and was impressive.
Ireland had a good chance to equalize, when goal keeper Sergio Romero misjudged a well taken corner. The ball bounced off his shoulders, with Bayern Munich star Martin Demichelis clearing the ball to safety.
Argentina won an unconvincing match when the final whistle was blown and the team was nowhere near the class and stature of its glorious past. Batista would need to really improve his tactics with the team and inject some young blood to the squad.
The coach was criticized for pulling off a meaningless win rather than displaying attractive football. Argentina next play newly crowned World Champions Spain. Batista would need much more than such a display to take down the Spanish. The coach needs to get his squad into the right attitude and mind set. He should prefer to play more youngsters in order to groom them in time before 2014 World Cup.
Tags: