Tuesday 6 April 2010

ARGENTINA

THEY ARE:
Argentina is a powerful and fiery nation from South America. From an English perspective they are unfortunately most remembered in recent times for their little tiff with Maggie Thatcher over the Falkland Islands. Moving on.

AS A FOOTBALL NATION:
They are an efficient and often nasty outfit. This has resulted in them winning the competition twice including their galling victory in 1986.

MY OWN EXPERIENCE:
The first World Cup I ever watched was Mexico 86 so getting off on the wrong foot, naturally I am wary (at best) of Argentina. As result of this however when they lost 1-0 to Cameroon in the opening of Italia 90 it provided a great, sweet sweet moment of World Cup football that will never be forgotten.

IN 2010:
With Maradona now managing the team is unorthodox to say the least. There is something very pantomime about Maradona these days and he definitely brings something to the tournament from an entertainment perspective if nothing else. Whether he can manage (and not mismanage) talents such as Messi and Tevez is open to debate.

FAMOUS PLAYERS:
Diego Maradona! From an English perspective Ossie Ardiles was a Spurs legend and a very recognized Argentinean face. From a horror perspective goalkeeper Nery Pumpido is unfortunately notorious for catching his wedding ring on a nail attached to a goalpost and nearly losing his wedding finger. Then you have their famous strikers and goal scorers in Mario Kempes, Gabriel Batistuta and Hernan Crespo. Finally Daniel Passarella caused some nightmares with his challenges.

MOST OBVIOUS REFERENCE:
Diego Maradona!

AWAY FROM FOOTBALL:
The Falklands.

NUMBER OF PEOPLE FROM ARGENTINA THAT I KNOW:
One, Maria.

QUOTE FROM AN ARGENTINIAN:
(it’s coming)

DO I LIKE THEM:
I actually do now, for years the “Hand Of God” provided a wound that felt like it would never heal but these days there is an almost guaranteed entertainment value in their matches. Hopefully England will not be facing them.

FINAL COMMENT:
They could go either way in the tournament and will definitely cause problems for any team that they face.

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