Argentina arguably
boast of the best strike force among the 32 countries that will grace
this year’s World Cup in South Africa. This is perhaps, the biggest
challenge our Super Eagles will face when they come up against the
South Americans at the Ellis Park in Johannesburg on June 12.
Lionel Messi,
Gonzalo Higuain, and Sergio Aguero are regarded as three of the best
forwards in the Spanish La Liga, while Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez
is a terror to the defenders in England. Their striking potentials are
no secret.
Yet, the impressive
form of Argentina’s strikers has taken the spotlight away from their
defenders, who will come up against our strikers at the Mundial. If
there is anything the new Super Eagles coach will need to pay attention
to, as he prepares to lead the Eagles past the first round of the World
Cup, it would be to understand the qualities and weakness of his
opponents. That will help him to select the right mix of players that
can produce the desired results to achieve his set World Cup targets.
Key men
The Indomitable
Lions of Cameroun were no match for Argentina at the 1990 World Cup in
Italy, yet they shocked them in the opening game with a 1-0 victory and
frustrated their danger men, including Captain Diego Maradona. Perhaps,
Lagerback can spring such a surprise with the Eagles. After all, he led
Sweden to top the group that included Argentina, England and Nigeria at
the 2002 edition. However, the argument would surely be on how much
time he has to achieve such a feat, this time around.
Martin Demichelis
is one player the current Argentina coach, Diego Maradona, would be
banking on to stop our forward line, which will perhaps include Obafemi
Martins.
Demichelis did a
terrific job to help Bayern Munich to a 2-1 victory over Manchester
United in Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League quarter final first leg
at the Allianz Arena. After allowing Wayne Rooney to prod home an early
strike, Demichelis recovered to give a solid performance against the
United and England top striker throughout the rest of the encounter.
Argentina’s medical
team feared Bayern had rushed him back too quickly from a fractured
cheek bone, with the World cup in mind. But the utility player, who can
also function as a defensive midfielder, put up a brave attitude
against United. Our Eagles must be ready to do much better to get past
the 29 years old defender who has 25 caps for his country.
If there is any big
test Walter Samuel could face against an African striker, it can’t be
bigger than he had against Chelsea’s Didier Drogba in the round of 16
of the UEFA Champions League. The veteran Argentine defender stopped
the in-form Blues ace over two legs and with 54 appearances, including
the 1-0 win over our Eagles in the 2002 World Cup group clash, Samuel
would play an important role in South Africa.
‘The Wall’, as
Samuel is called, has won two league titles with Inter Milan and one
with his former club, Roma, and he hopes Jose Mourinho can propel them
to Champions League success this season. He had an unsuccessful spell
at Real Madrid, though.
Familiar enemies
Another experienced
defender that Maradona will rely on is Gabriel Heinze. After winning
domestic league titles at Manchester United and Real Madrid, the
31-year old is currently playing alongside our own Taye Taiwo, albeit
now playing as a central defender. Other defenders who are pushing for
a place in the Argentina squad are Roma’s Nicolas Burdisso, Clemente
Rodriguez and Nicolas Otamendi, who are both playing in the Argentine
league.
Meanwhile, Inter
Milan captain, Javier Zanetti, hopes he can get another chance to
represent Argentina as they look forward to open their World Cup
campaign with the clash against Nigeria’s Super Eagles.
Inter’s utility
man, Zanetti, is hoping to be part of the global football showpiece,
eight years after playing in the Argentine squad that defeated the
Eagles at the 2002 World Cup. Since making his debut for the Italian
top club in August 1995, Zanetti has made 674 appearances for the
Nerrazuri.
After expressing
his delight to have seen Maradona in the stands at Stamford Bridge,
where Jose Mourinho helped Inter to edge out Chelsea of the UEFA
competition, Zanetti, who can play as defender and midfielder, is
hoping he would be handed a recall to help the Argentina national team
to a successful World Cup campaign.
“It’s not easy to
stay at the top in a country like Argentina, where new talents are
coming through all the time,” Zanetti told FIFA.com. “Maradona knows
what I can bring to the national team, both on and off the pitch. The
national team is very important to me. I won’t lose hope because
football has taught me that you have to believe right up to the end.”
Zanetti remains the most-capped Argentine player of all time with 136 appearances under his belt.
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