World Cup 2010 : Argentina Vs Mexico Lionel Messi ready to win
Their coach was criticised by all before the start of the tournament, and many believed that the legendary captain of the 1986 World Cup winning team of Argentina, Diego Maradona, was the one who would blow away his team’s chances due to his reckless behaviour and larger than life persona.
Yet after the culmination of the first round and three highly impressive wins under his belt, Maradona is quietly confident that his team has it in them to win the World Cup for their soccer mad nation 24 years after their last triumph.
The men in Blue and White stripes possess arguably the best forward line in the tournament, comprising of stars like Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Diego Milito and Higuain, who have already stolen the limelight with some magical performances in their group B matches.
Higuain has been the star of the show as far as goal scoring is concerned; the Real Madrid star scored the only hat-trick of the tournament thus far, firing in three beauties in the second match for the South American powerhouse.
The victims were South Korea, who despite the 4-1 drubbing, ensured qualification into the next round with a win over Greece, and a pulsating draw against the super eagles Nigeria, who were regarded by many as the best African bid in the most watched sporting event in the world.
Argentina next face Mexico in the round of sixteen, and they are being encouraged by their eccentric but inspirational coach to achieve something special for their people.
They are already showing more finesse in the game than archrivals Brazil and European superpower Spain, tipped by many as the tournament favourites.
For the time being though, the focus for Maradona’s men are the slick-passing Central Americans Mexico, for the second round tie on Sunday.
The match, already generating huge interest in football fans around the world, will be a repeat of a second round game in the 2006 World Cup won by the Argentines 2-1 in extra time.
The hero of that match was midfielder Maxi Rodriguez, who scored the matchwinning goal in extra time.
He told a news conference in Pretoria after a training session on Friday that he has great memories from that match. "The truth is that I have good memories about everything that happened in that match. The team won, which is the most important thing, but today we have to be calm. What happened in that match is now history.”
He also said that the Mexican team they played four years ago is very different to the team they are set to play on Sunday.
He added that the current Mexican team is a very good one, who play an attacking brand of football, and that his team would have to guard against complacency as one bad match can mean the end of the road for the most promising Argentine squad in years.
On the other hand, Inter Milan striker Diego Milito, who played a big part in taking his club to the Champions League title last month, feels that this World Cup has been full of surprises, and the departure of the reigning champions Italy has shocked him the most.
He added that he never though that the Italians would be knocked out so early in the piece in an easy group with the team they had.
He felt that the French team was also unlucky to have crashed out in the first round of the tournament, and keeping the upsets in mind, his team needs to stay totally focused on the job at hand if they are to harbour hopes of winning the trophy.
Milito concluded that despite the shocking reversals, teams from the South American continent were doing well in the tournament, and that has increased his confidence manifold as the tournament reaches its business end.
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