That's not Gonzalo Higuain playing patty cake with Diego Maradona. That's them celebrating their 4-1 thrashing of Korea. So leave it to the Argentines to send the 2010 World Cup on a roll. Well, actually you can credit that to the Swiss who beat Spain the night before. Jeez. "Credit" and "Swiss" in one sentence.
Diego Maradona's boys certainly made a case for themselves as favorites to win their third World Cup. And think about this -- Argentina finished fourth in South America as they struggled to find form and purpose. Maradona used 84 different players to get where they are.
What a 4-1 win to get six points clear in Group B!
For a while there I thought they'd replicate their performance in the 2006 World Cup when they thrashed Serbia & Montenegro 6-0. Who can forget that superb 24-touch offensive (that the Serbs were unable to steal) that led to a goal by Esteban Cambiasso. Anyone remember that back heel pass to set up that goal? Ay... that was something else. Exquisite is the world
Well, it's a new look Argentine team. Sebastian Veron at 34 is injury prone. Cambiasso, Hernan Crespo, and Diego Simeone are gone as is Juan Roman Riquelme who I miss in the midfield. I've been a fan of Riquelme for some time and I have two Argentina jerseys with names on the back and Riquelme is one (the other being former striker Gabrielle Batistuta). Riquelme quit the team after feuding with Maradona. Now they've got youngsters like upcoming wunderkind Sergio Aguero (who was their U-20 star, Angel Di Maria, and Mario Bolatti.
And luck is certainly on the side of Maradona who is clearly not making the same mistakes as Jose Pekerman (who kept Lio Messi on the freezer in '06). Messi has played well but still has not scored a goal. I suspect that it's just a matter of time. But after the group stages, they are going to see quality opponents. They will hardly be tested in Group B with only Nigeria left to play
While chatting with an officemate this morning (about the disheartening loss by Spain to Switzerland), I remarked that the last World Cup match that left me feeling empty was (aside from the Finals loss by France to Italy) was Germany's losing also to Italy as the Azzurri struck twice in extra time to stun the host team. That goal by Fabio Grosso and Alessandro del Piero (my Juve fave player) killed the Germans with those strikes. That if I recall correctly was Jens Lehmann's final match for Die Mannschaft as Oliver Kahn played their final game. Kahn of course also hung up his spikes after the World Cup.
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