Rio de Janeiro: More than anything else, Spain’s crushing loss at the hands of the Netherlands on Friday has set off a wake-up call for other top teams. Argentina must be forearmed ahead their opener against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Group F at the Maracana here on Sunday. A defeat in the first match could be sepulchral for one of the title contenders.
Lionel Messi, arguably the best player of his generation, has an opportunity in Argentina’s neighbourhood to stake a claim in the sanctum of football greats. Maybe the 20th edition of the World Cup is the little fellow’s.
He needs to fire on the grandest stage in the game to burnish his CV. His job is less daunting than Diego Maradona’s 28 years ago. Argentina’s class of 1986 was all about one player while Messi has a superb supporting cast around him in Brazil.
Ironically, Maradona was singularly responsible for Argentina’s diabolical campaign in South Africa four years ago. The man-child was as clueless in coaching as he had been out of the world in his playing days. Messi returned home from Africa shattered and empty-handed. Maradona contrived to transform a collection of brilliant individuals into a team of unbelievable ordinariness.
Argentina’s record at the game’s premier event in the last two decades is abysmal. The Albiceleste haven’t reached the last four since they went down to West Germany by a goal in the dire 1990 final.
The golden generation of Argentina need to fire. Now. At least, they have a manager who doesn’t wander in the clouds. Alejandro Sabella is the antithesis of Maradona. Unassuming and unobtrusive, he has forged a team capable of correcting the course for his football-obsessed country.
Sabella has an embarrassment of riches in the final third. In a 4-3-3 formation, Messi will be the focal point of an attacking trident that will also involve Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero. The key man could be supersonic winger Angel Di Maria who is in the form of his life.
Argentina’s back line isn’t among the best in the competition. Lack of balance could well be the team’s Achilles heel. Bosnia, the only debutants here, will not be awed by their opponents’ star-studded first XI. In Edin Dzeko, they have a classical poacher.
