FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa: Things You Need to Know About Argentina
Argentina were runners up in the first every World Cup to take place in 1930 and again in 1990. They won the tournament in 1978 and 1986 and they were eliminated in the 2006 quarter finals by Germany.
Argentina were a minute away from not participating in the World Cup but a last minute goal against Peru saw them qualify in fourth place in the CONMEBOL. Argentina had the worst qualifying that they could possibly have, with eight wins, four draws and six losses. The last time Argentina qualified in such dramatic fashion was in 1986, when they went on to lift the trophy that same year.
Argentina are currently coached by the greatest footballer in Argentinean history, Maradona, who was part of the 1986 team that won the FIFA World Cup. If Argentina manage to go all the way, Maradona will be the second player in history to win as both a player and a manager.
Argentina consists of some of the best players that the world has to offer. Lionel Messi who is the current FIFA World Player of the year is just one of those players. He also has Higuain, Carlos Tevez and champions league winner Diego Milito playing alongside him.
Argentina’s strength lies in both their attack and their defense. Maradonna has opted to field four centre backs along with two holding midfielders. One of those midfielders is Argentina’s captain Mascherano. Who is in contention of being player of the tournament so far. Up front they have the likes of Sergio, Messi and Tevez and attacking line up that would make the greatest of defenses shake at their very core.
Argentina’s physical style of play tends to lead to them to conceding a lot of fee kicks and getting quite a few bookings. Therefore the Argentineans will need to be mindful of this aggression, since the referees these days are giving cards away like cotton candy. Henzie and Mascherano are both currently on yellow cards and if they manage to get themselves booked again in their quarter final clash against Spain, they will miss out on the semi final match, that is if Argentina manage to go through.
Argentina are one of the two teams that qualified from their group stage, with three wins from three matches. The only other team with that perfect record is Netherlands. If Argentina can manage to keep that form up then they might manage to go all the way.
Argentina’s next match is against Germany. The last time these two teams met was in the quarter finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The match ended at one all at the end of extra time, but Germany went on to win the resulting penalty shootout. There was an outbreak between the players on both sides after the shootout, because some of the Argentinean players thought that the Germans were mocking them. Tosten Fringes was suspended from the semi final match and both the teams were fined by FIFA after that incident.
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