Rejigged Argentina side good enough for Greece
Source: Agencies |
June 24, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A TEARFUL Martin Palermo after scoring his first World Cup goal on Tuesday was a symbol of the spirit as much as footballing depth of Diego Maradona's Argentina squad.
The 36-year-old Palermo, making a World Cup debut he could not have dreamt of a year ago, helped Argentina beat Greece 2-0 in its final group game after it had spent most of the match patiently breaking down its ultra conservative opponents.
Martin Demichelis was the first one on target as the two-time world champion sealed the first place in Group B. It will play Mexico in the round of 16 on Sunday, while Greece has been eliminated.
The team that won the match was not Maradona's first choice side which beat Nigeria and South Korea, yet it played as if it was, such is the belief running through the squad from himself down through the whole of his coaching staff.
A defense without Walter Samuel, Gabriel Heinze and Javier Mascherano provided a rock solid platform on which Juan Sebastian Veron and Maxi Rodriguez helped Messi and the strikers chip away at Greek resistance. Strikers Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain were all benched. However, Messi did start and was given the captain's armband for the first time.
It made Messi, who turns 23 today, the youngest Argentina captain ever.
"That was something very special," Messi said. "I felt the constant support of my team mates. It was a beautiful experience."
Imbalance
Mascherano said recently that Argentina was not concerned by a perceived imbalance between defense and attack with so many good forwards in the squad. The fact that Messi and the two strikers of the day pose such a threat means opponents are forced to keep players deep in defense for fear of conceding and attack Argentina less.
Maradona included Palermo, who is almost a black sheep in the talent-rich squad, because he is a man who epitomizes the commitment he likes to see in players wearing the national colors.
When he came on, that left only three of Maradona's "23 wild cats itching to come on" who have not yet played.
Maradona, looking ahead to the meeting with Javier Aguirre's Mexicans, said, "They all did the job I asked of them. I'm going to field the best I've got because now it's do or die. The class of the so-called big teams comes into the reckoning.
"We'll attack them looking for their weak points with our best prepared players, hoping ... to get it right as we have done so far. That's why I rested 'Masche' (Mascherano) and the Gringo (Gabriel Heinze), and (Carlos) Tevez and (Gonzalo) Higuain."
Aguirre, meanwhile, is already talking up of a grudge match. Mexico lost a second round meeting with Argentina 2-1 after extra time in Leipzig in 2006. "This could be a nice opportunity to take revenge for what happened four years ago," said Aguirre.
"Here, against Uruguay, we were lacking attitude. We were a bit afraid and scared, but FIFA can rest assured we were trying to win! We will try to recover - we have four days to prepare for the match and it is going to be spectacular. We will try to recover and go as far as we can in this tournament."
The 36-year-old Palermo, making a World Cup debut he could not have dreamt of a year ago, helped Argentina beat Greece 2-0 in its final group game after it had spent most of the match patiently breaking down its ultra conservative opponents.
Martin Demichelis was the first one on target as the two-time world champion sealed the first place in Group B. It will play Mexico in the round of 16 on Sunday, while Greece has been eliminated.
The team that won the match was not Maradona's first choice side which beat Nigeria and South Korea, yet it played as if it was, such is the belief running through the squad from himself down through the whole of his coaching staff.
A defense without Walter Samuel, Gabriel Heinze and Javier Mascherano provided a rock solid platform on which Juan Sebastian Veron and Maxi Rodriguez helped Messi and the strikers chip away at Greek resistance. Strikers Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain were all benched. However, Messi did start and was given the captain's armband for the first time.
It made Messi, who turns 23 today, the youngest Argentina captain ever.
"That was something very special," Messi said. "I felt the constant support of my team mates. It was a beautiful experience."
Imbalance
Mascherano said recently that Argentina was not concerned by a perceived imbalance between defense and attack with so many good forwards in the squad. The fact that Messi and the two strikers of the day pose such a threat means opponents are forced to keep players deep in defense for fear of conceding and attack Argentina less.
Maradona included Palermo, who is almost a black sheep in the talent-rich squad, because he is a man who epitomizes the commitment he likes to see in players wearing the national colors.
When he came on, that left only three of Maradona's "23 wild cats itching to come on" who have not yet played.
Maradona, looking ahead to the meeting with Javier Aguirre's Mexicans, said, "They all did the job I asked of them. I'm going to field the best I've got because now it's do or die. The class of the so-called big teams comes into the reckoning.
"We'll attack them looking for their weak points with our best prepared players, hoping ... to get it right as we have done so far. That's why I rested 'Masche' (Mascherano) and the Gringo (Gabriel Heinze), and (Carlos) Tevez and (Gonzalo) Higuain."
Aguirre, meanwhile, is already talking up of a grudge match. Mexico lost a second round meeting with Argentina 2-1 after extra time in Leipzig in 2006. "This could be a nice opportunity to take revenge for what happened four years ago," said Aguirre.
"Here, against Uruguay, we were lacking attitude. We were a bit afraid and scared, but FIFA can rest assured we were trying to win! We will try to recover - we have four days to prepare for the match and it is going to be spectacular. We will try to recover and go as far as we can in this tournament."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
