Argentina vs Brazil

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I don't know about other posters but I can't wait for this match

Preview:

The phrase “nothing but a win will do” seems perfectly apt for Maradona’s Argentina side as they head into their crucial World Cup qualifier against Brazil. With Dunga’s men virtually on the plane to South Africa next year, the Brazilians can approach the match with little pressure on their shoulders albeit with the incentive of putting Argentina’s qualification spot in serious jeopardy.

Argentina come into the match with the confidence of beating a strong Russian team 3-2 in Moscow and the knowledge that they held Brazil to an away 0-0 draw earlier in the campaign. However, recent competitive form has been shaky with defeats to Bolivia and qualification rivals Ecuador. Nevertheless, Argentina seems to be one of them teams who perform at their best when it matters most. The challenge of overcoming Brazil to put them a step closer to South Africa is one that the likes of Lionel Messi and co will rise to. Even so, the Argentine strategy may play into the hands of Brazil as their quick counter attacking football is likely to flourish away from home.

Under pressure manager Diego Maradona also has to cope with key defender Martin Demichellis out injured along with Jonas Gutierrez. The Argentina squad mainly contains the familiar European based names along with a handful of players in the Argentine league. Perhaps the two biggest surprises are the call ups of 35-year-old striker Martin Palermo and 36-year-old uncapped defender Rolando Schiavi. Schiavi’s call up is particularly bewildering considering defender Daniel “Cata” Diaz, who performed admirably in the Russia friendly, has been left out altogether.

Dunga’s selection is much more straightforward as Real Madrid defender Marcelo is the only real injury worry. Bigger news is the recall for formerly out of favour striker Adriano, who now plays at Flamengo in Brazil, and for Liverpool midfielder Lucas who last played for the national team a year ago. With the team in good form having won the Confederations Cup during the summer, it is largely expected that the Brazilian line up will be relatively similar to the one that beat the USA 3-2 in the final back in June.

The game promises to be filled with passion and beautiful football as both sides look to send their supporters’ home happy. The general feeling is that the result of this match will indicate what way the Diego Maradona reign as manager will go. A win for Argentina may prove the catalyst to a successful year whilst a defeat will see them travel to Paraguay on Wednesday under immense pressure. This is a very tough one to predict but I can’t imagine a World Cup without Argentina so I am going to tip them to come good just in time!

live on sky sports 1 K.O 1.30 Sunday 6th September

so ill be staying up to watch this for sure,has the making for a wonderful match

I think anything other than a win will see Argentina in trouble for automatic qualification

Mr.Nice Guy

This could be beautiful or ugly. Maybe both.

I reckon it might be a draw.

mayordenis

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

This could be beautiful or ugly. Maybe both.

I reckon it might be a draw.

I may or may not half think that maybe there is the possibility that a draw may not be something you should or should not bet against, there's a chance anyway.

flip a coin and get off the fence.
:pac:

Tyranax

I'll get off the fence!


Brazil will win this I think. Maradona has made some bizarre selection decisions, and Argentina need to win. Brazil are a very good side at counter attacking under Dunga. I'd expect them to show it when they play. Argentina 0 - 2 Brazil

Mr.Nice Guy

mayordenis wrote: »

I may or may not half think that maybe there is the possibility that a draw may not be something you should or should not bet against, there's a chance anyway.

flip a coin and get off the fence.
:pac:

The coin says Argentina ftw! 3-2 :cool:

Stevecw

Looking forward to this one.
Maradona is crazy...he is their version of Staunton!
Crazy call ups for the strangest of players..weird team selections etc.

I think Brazil could sneak this one 2-1. Should be a cracker anyway.

kinaldo

I hope Argentina win but think it will end in a score draw.

Who wrote the preview in the op?

kinaldo

Excellent piece about Gonzalo Higuaín's latest omission.

What Has Argentina's Gonzalo Higuain Done?

With the match with Brazil looming and a friendly against Russia scheduled for August 12, less than a week away, it seems that Gonzalo Higuain will again be left out by Diego Maradona. With that being said, it is important to examine why Maradona is excluding the former River Plate man from his squad.

The first reason appears to be that Higuain turned down a chance to go to the 2007 U-20 World Cup in Canada. While I do not commend him for the decision, concentrating on Madrid has certainly helped him gain a starting place. It is also worth noting that Argentina won that tournament with Kun Aguero, Mauro Zarate (another player left out by Maradona despite a great season), Maxi Moralez, Angel Di Maria and others.

Higuain also missed the 2008 Olympic Tournament, also won by Argentina with Messi, Aguero, and Di Maria leading the way. While skipping any event with the national team should be seen as a serious offense, other players have done so and are still on the team.

Carlos Tevez asked Coco Basile to leave him out of the 2008 tour of the U.S. and two World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Ecuador later that summer. Tevez asked to skip a game against our biggest rival, but Maradona makes no mention of that.

Juan Roman Riquelme retired from the national team all together in 2006, but Maradona still had plans of using him. Even after he retired for a second time, Maradona has left the door open for Roman to come back if he explains to his teammates why he left them.

Although Maradona has instilled a “die for the shirt” mentality, Higuain has served his time and is deserving of joining the national team.

Some have said that Maradona does not like the fact that Higuain thought about playing for France. He has turned down calls to the French team, and he doesn’t even speak a word of French. Therefore, it is unlikely that a man who only lived in a country for the first ten months of his life would ever consider playing for their national team.

Maradona may also hold a vendetta against River players. Although he made Javier Mascherano his captain, Esteban Cambiasso has been excluded for no apparent reason after a great season with Inter. Maradona’s hatred for River can be seen through the legal action he is taking against the club for comments the president made about Maradona’s mental condition.

Perhaps the most probable reason is that Maradona does not want to drop his pals from the squad. Messi is the best player in the world and has personified Maradona’s idea about love for the shirt.

Messi fought his club in order to go to the Olympics last summer when they did everything to keep him from going, including taking legal action. Messi eventually went to Beijing and won gold, adding to the U-20 World Cup he won in 2005 as the tournament's top scorer. Messi has won at every level he has played at for Argentina (U20 and U23) and now winning at the senior level seems to be the logical progression.

Messi’s love for the shirt and play on the field make him untouchable.

Carlos Tevez is a player who has certainly struggled to score goals for Argentina. He has also been undisciplined receiving two red cars in recent games. Tevez spent almost all of last season coming of the bench and scored most of his goals in the Carling Cup.

Despite this, Tevez has played each game since Maradona took over. Tevez used Maradona as an advisor even before he became the manager, and they are known to be friends. Maradona is an admirer of Tevez’s fight style of play, and he loves the fact that Carlitos came from a similar background and played for Boca.

Under a normal manager, Tevez would be dropped, but Diego has made it clear Tevez is very much in his plans.

Kun Aguero, the father of Maradona’s grandchild, will most likely not be dropped while Maradona is boss. Although El Kun has not been at his best for the national team this past season, I do not think he should be dropped.

Playing him with Higuain up top would be scary combination for any team to face. Aguero has certainly struggled playing alongside Tevez, who is very similar in style to him in the fact that they both like the ball played to feet.

If Aguero could play off of a more traditional center forward, like he does with Diego Forlan at Atletico, we could see the best of El Kun. It is very hard however to see him reaching his best playing with Tevez and Messi.

Higuain must also be aware that Hernan Crespo’s move to Genoa, where he will be a starter, which could see the former Inter star back in the squad. Hernan has scored 35 goals in 64 games for his country, and his been a reliable scorer in every team he has played for.

Javier Saviola will also be a full-time starter again at Benfica. If El Conejo can find some of the form he had during his days at River, he could be a possible call up.

It is obvious that there is plenty of competition, but if Pipita put in another 20 goals at Real this season amongst their Galacticos, could Maradona sill leave him out?

Surely not, but who knows with Maradona?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/231378-what-has-higuain-done

Mr Maroon

Cambiasso and Higuaín are two of the best Argentinian players there are.

I fancy Brazil to win this. 3-1.

dor83

Mr Maroon wrote: »

Cambiasso and Higuaín are two of the best Argentinian players there are.

I fancy Brazil to win this. 3-1.

Cambiasso is injured anyway and Higuain plays in the hardest position to get into in that team. In that article they mention Crespo as a possible but they don't even mention Milito who has a very good scoring record at club level but is constantly overlooked by the national team.

eZe^

Tevez starting means I think Brazil will win. Argentina would take it if they played Higuain instead.

eirebhoy

I watched Argentina's last game against Russia and Russia should have probably been 2 up at half time but Argentina well deserved their 2nd half result. I couldn't believe how much it meant to the players and Maradona though. Watching their celebrations would show people what patriotism is. The South Americans are keeping it alive.

Headshot

kinaldo wrote: »

Who wrote the preview in the op?

i got it from here

http://argentina.blogsfc.com/argentina-vs-brazil-preview.html

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starting in a few minutes now

CHD

Woop, better be epic.

Chardee MacDennis

anyone have the line ups?

bohsman

South American qualifiers live on betfair. Argentina - Brazil just kicked off

DM_7

That was almost an amazing start.

That_Guy

What a start from Argentina. Early signs suggest a cracker of a game.

Headshot

If Brazil win there through to the World cup

dor83

Line ups are:

ARGENTINA: Mariano Andújar, Javier Zanetti, Gabriel Heinze, Sebastián Domínguez, Nicolás Otamendi, Maxi Rodríguez, Javier Mascherano, Jesús Dátolo, Juan Verón, Lionel Mess, Carlos Tevez

BRASIL: Julio César, Maicon, Luisão, André Santos, Lúcio, Gilberto Silva, Kaká, Blumer Elano, Felipe Melo, Luis Fabiano, Robinho

Smegball

Channel - 6002.. Sopcast, decent stream

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now we'll see a match

:eek:

cooker3

1-0 Brazil
Appalling defending from Argentina.

That_Guy

Yet another case as to why zonal marking does not work.

whatawaster

the co-commentator is wrecking my head. Blaming zonal marking for that shambles!

Headshot

that Ref is a ****ing joke

a right homer

whatawaster

That_Guy wrote: »

Yet another case as to why zonal marking does not work.

Yet another case of why bad marking does not work

Headshot

what a brilliant tackle on tevez

CHD

This game could get nasty, i love these games.

Tyranax

That_Guy wrote: »

Yet another case as to why zonal marking does not work.

whatawaster wrote: »

the co-commentator is wrecking my head. Blaming zonal marking for that shambles!

Priceless timing.

curry-muff

To be fair its a pretty damn dirty match so far :pac:

cooker3

uh oh.

Headshot

OMG

That_Guy

If Coloccini was playiing Argentina would be 4-0 down already. They should count themselves lucky.

Mr.Nice Guy

Wow.

The Argentinian defence have had some of Glenn Whelan's invisibility potion.

Tyranax

That smashing sound is Argentina's brittle mentality and possibly their hopes for qualifying automatically for the World Cup. Shambolic defending from Argentina again. Fabiano deserves credit though, he's been a goal machine for Brazil lately.

Chucky the tree

That_Guy wrote: »

Yet another case as to why zonal marking does not work.

You're right, I mean there has never been a goal conceded from set pieces in the history of football when man marking has been used.:rolleyes:

whatawaster

Chucky the tree wrote: »

You're right, I mean there has never been a goal conceded from set pieces in the history of football when man marking has been used.:rolleyes:

no reported cases anyhow

CHD

Gona get nasty!

Mascherano to be sent off, get on it Headshot.

curry-muff

Someone go grab Maradona his coat :pac:

Headshot

CHD wrote: »

Gona get nasty!

Mascherano to be sent off, get on it Headshot.

how can I, live betting doesnt have that kind of betting

anyway i got Fabiano to score anytime at 2/1

dor83

Makes you wonder why he leaves out so many players in favor of players from the Argentinean league, why he has those two instead of the likes of Samuel and even Burdisso I don't know.

Tyranax

Chucky the tree wrote: »

You're right, I mean there has never been a goal conceded from set pieces in the history of football when man marking has been used.:rolleyes:

The problem I have with zonal marking is that it can be systematically flawed and targeted because of it. Take the Bolton - Liverpool match, four Liverpool players in the six yard line, and none of them clearing the ball. Also Ivanovic's success against them in the CL. At least with zonal marking you can attribute personal blame and shift players if there is a problem. With zonal marking if teams are targeting an area that you are vulnerable in, you are in trouble. Bad defending is bad defending though, that doesn't change. And boy have Argentina defended badly tonight on the two goals.

Chucky the tree

Did Burtles just say he's the best keeper in the world?

That_Guy

Chucky the tree wrote: »

You're right, I mean there has never been a goal conceded from set pieces in the history of football when man marking has been used.:rolleyes:

Shhhhhhh.

Headshot

lets not bring liverpool into this ok

just let it go

CHD

Headshot wrote: »

how can I, live betting doesnt have that kind of betting

anyway i got Fabiano to score anytime at 2/1

Thought you could get in it, the master sports bettor on here :pac:

Mr.Nice Guy

Doesn't get any easier for Diego with the next game for Argentina being away to Paraguay, who are second in the standings. :pac:

dor83

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Did Burtles just say he's the best keeper in the world?

He did, and he's probably right too, he has been amazing for Inter for the past few seasons.

Chucky the tree

Tyranax wrote: »

The problem I have with zonal marking is that it can be systematically flawed and targeted because of it. Take the Bolton - Liverpool match, four Liverpool players in the six yard line, and none of them clearing the ball. Also Ivanovic's success against them in the CL. At least with zonal marking you can attribute personal blame and shift players if there is a problem. With zonal marking if teams are targeting an area that you are vulnerable in, you are in trouble. Bad defending is bad defending though, that doesn't change. And boy have Argentina defended badly tonight on the two goals.

It's not systematically flawed, if it was liverpool would concede from every single set piece. The reason Liverpool concede is because players make mistakes, excactly the same reason they do in a man marking system.