Part 9: Brazil vs. Argentina – Player Analysis
Ever Banega was the “missing link” in the Argentinean team that was not present there during the FIFA World Cup 2010. If there was one thing that the Argentinean side lacked was a player who would stand his ground in the midfield and simply
play passes to the outstanding striking force. With Lionel Messi playing on the right wing and cutting in, it was Banega’s job to make sure that the Argentinean number 10 to get the ball at his feet. Banega contributed a lot and won a lot of tackles in the
midfield and relied mostly on two touches – receiving and delivering.
He barely got dispossessed and he was simply sensational. He showed the Argentinean fans that if he was present in place of Veron during the FIFA World Cup 2010, things might have been different altogether. However, what’s done is done
and Ever Banega surely gave a good performance. Even though he was simply sensational while playing for his country, he was not the best player on the pitch as that honour was later given to none other than Lionel Messi who gave out another sensational performance.
The captain of the Argentinean team and the only holding midfielder playing for his side, Javier Mascherano was rock solid doing his job. The newly signed Barcelona man and the former Liverpool sensation gave out an outstanding performance.
He won almost everything in the midfield and gave out sensational through balls towards his strikers. Javier Mascherano was the key figure in the midfield as most of the Brazilian players had to pass through him and he was simply a defensive rock for his side.
He was low-key and always busy as he kept on making those runs from box-to-box. The Mascherano element was definitely one of the reasons why the Brazilians could not really create a good move from the centre of the field and always tried to attack from the
flanks rather than centre of the pitch. His rough tackling over Ronaldinho got him a yellow card but after such a sensational performance, the booking didn’t really matter.
The Argentinean youngster Javier Pastore had an “above average” performance while playing alongside Lionel Messi. Even though there were better options for Sergio Batista, he decided to play Pastore who was a substitute during the FIFA
World Cup 2010 campaign. He featured as an “attacking midfielder” for the Argentinean side and some of his moves were simply mind bobbling. He pushed hard against the yellow defensive wall consisting of Thiago Silva and David Luiz but he couldn’t find a breakthrough.
He was often seen linking up with Lionel Messi as they both tried a lot of one-twos as they were trying to find some way past the centre backs; however, it was Pastore who often found his passes coming short of what Lionel Messi expected.
Maybe that was the reason why he was substituted during the 70th minute when a player who featured during the Spain’s friendly was made to come on – Andres D’Alessandro.
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