CHAMPIONS in 1978 and 1986, Argentina have become perennial underachievers despite the quality stars they boast of.
This will be their 16th appearance at the mundial, attending every event since 1930 but missed out on four — 1938, 1950, 1954, 1970 and their most glorious times at the mundial was in 1978 when legends, Mario Kempes and Diego Maradona respectively inspired them to lift the trophy.
Argentina have never really lived up to the hype they bring to the competition, with their players and the style of play. They last reached the finals in 1990 but since then they have been unable to get past the quarter-final stage.
They have always suffered from their over abundance of stars with either managers failing to manage the egos of these stars or players rivalries which have hurt the team.
Les Albicelestes (The White and Sky Blue) as they are nicknamed, boast of a star studded attacking line with Gonzalo Higuaín, Sergio Agüero, Carlos Tevez and Angel di María. In Javier Mascherano, Argentina has the perfect holding midfielder to protect the back four.
However, all eyes will be on Argentina’s main man Lionel Messi who will be under massive pressure to perform. The Barcelona striker has scored 28 goals this La Liga. But a trophy-less year with being marred by injuries this has become a rare below par season for him with the Catlans.
The defence is definitely the biggest question mark on the Argentine squad and it would be difficult for them to have stability in the back going ahead in the tournament. Argentina probably has the best front line in the tournament. A weak defence means they need to play the Barcelona type possession football as if they try to over attack by playing a high line their defense will suffer.
Argentina open their Group F campaign against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 15 in Rio de Janeiro, and play Iran on June 21 in Belo Horizonte and then Nigeria on June 25 in Porto Alegre.
On paper, it is a winnable group for Argentina, and expectations are high.
