The Albiceleste would be looking to consolidate their position on the summit of the CONEMBOL World Cup qualifying group as they take on sixth placed Peru in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lima-c22267
Hostile reception
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-c4752 Sabella and his charges landed in Peru last night and were given quite a hostile reception from almost 200 Peru fans who had line the streets just to hurl insults at the star-studded South American team.
Ironically, it was Barcelona star http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 who got the most stick from the fans. Regional newspapers had also headlines for the showdown against the South American heavyweights. Journalists have urged the national side to “Trample the flea (Messi) and
claim that “Messi is afraid”.
And tonight, 80,000 Peruvians are expected to watch their team play against Argentina at the Monumental Stadium.
As things stand, Peru are in seventh position in the standings with six points from six games. However, despite making such an indifferent start to the qualification campaign, Peru would be buoyed over their recent win over Venezuela. That victory was only
their second win.
However, the game against Argentina would be an even tougher one considering the fact that star striker, Jose http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Paolo-Guerrero-c29087 is a major doubt for the game against Messi and co. The former Bayern Munich striker injured his foot in the last game and despite
training with the rest of the squad on Monday, the 28-year-old might be replaced by youngster Andre Carrillo who seems to be a safe bet for the future.
Should Guerrero miss out on the game, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Venezuela-c3039 and would be hoping to carry on the same form against the group leaders.
Peru coach, Sergio Markarian has a lot of respect for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 star throughout the game.
The 30-year-old will be playing only his second match for the national side and claims that facing the Barcelona forward is an extra motivation in itself and has promised to give a good performance.
“Facing Messi is an extra motivation. I’m sure I will give a good performance, only because of his presence.”
No room for complacency
Argentine coach, Alex Sabella feels that Peru’s current standing hides the fact that it is a good team. The 57-year-old, who played for English clubs Sheffield United and Leeds United during the late 70s and early 80s, is an admirer of Peruvian style of
football and knows that they will be tough to beat.
“Peru deserve more points than they actually have in the standings. I always like the Peruvian style of play and I’m sure they will be tough rivals.”
The former Argentine international will be making two changes to the side that beat http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hugo-Campagnaro-c16394.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ezequiel-Lavezzi-c13073 will play in the attack with Messi, Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain.
Expected line-ups
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Peru-c2981
Fernandez, Ramos, Zambrano, Rodriguez, Yotun; Ramirez, Cruzado, Vargas; Farfan, Carrillo, Pizarro
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Argentina-c2841
Romero, Zabaleta, Garay, Fernandez, Rojo, Gago, Mascherano, Di Maria,
Messi, Higuain, Lavezzi
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