14 years...

The Copa America has concluded its group phase and Argentina remain unscathed in their pursuit of claiming a first senior title in 14 years. For a country that lives and breaths football the wait has been far too long and no excuses will be accepted for failure this time around. In 2004, Argentina took a strong squad to the Copa America in Peru but were thwarted by Adriano in the final against an under strength Brazil side and eventually lost on penalties.

This year’s Copa has the same background, with Argentina boasting as strong a squad as possible and Brazil missing a couple of key names, including Kaka and Ronaldinho. The expectations for Argentina are not simply to win, but to win well, and thus far while Albicelestes have been a joy to behold going forward, the same cannot be said as far as security at the back is concerned.

Argentina coach Alfio ‘Coco’ Basile recalled Juan Sebastian Veron to the team, the first time Veron has been in action for Argentina since 2003. Juan Roman Riquelme ended his brief international exile and after leading Boca Juniors to yet another Copa Libertadores triumph, Basile did not hesitate to hand him the number ten shirt once more. Javier Saviola was the victim of another season on the Barcelona bench as he failed to make the squad. Oscar Ustari, a young goalkeeper with a great future ahead of him also didn’t make the cut due to an injury.

The campaign began amid much expectation with Lionel Messi expected to take centre stage and a side so strong that even Carlos Tevez could not be guaranteed a place in it. The return of Riquelme meant that the brief experimentation of Messi in the playmaker role was abandoned and he was to join Hernan Crespo in attack. This change resulted in Tevez being benched and in the long run is a major mistake. The future success of the Argentine national side will revolve around both Messi and Tevez and it’s paramount both are on the pitch at all times.

First up was a weakened USA side who had expended their energies and strongest squad winning the Gold Cup just days earlier. Argentina were rocked by an early set back as Eddie Johnson put the Americans in front from the penalty spot. However, order was soon to be restored and Crespo levelled matters. It was far from the explosive performance that had been anticipated, with Riquelme being especially pedestrian and little urgency shown throughout the side. It was not until Messi gave Crespo the chance to put Argentina ahead an hour into the encounter that the gulf in class became more apparent. A 4-1 victory was completed with goals from Pablo Aimar and Tevez, both of whom came off the bench. Despite the seemingly convincing victory, Argentina looked clumsy at the back even with very little attacking threat facing them. Diego Milito and Gabriel Heinze in particular were guilty on several occasions of giving away needless free kicks and this continued in the next match against Colombia.

Colombia were coming in off the back of a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Paraguay and pride as well as qualification hopes were on the line. Yet again Argentina fell behind early, this time to a back heel by Edixon Perea. The response from Argentina was impressive and Riquelme upped his performance considerably and by half time Argentina led 3-1. However, the lead came at a cost after a highly debateable penalty had been awarded and Crespo tore a thigh muscle in his right leg, an injury that will keep him out of the Copa America. With 3 goals to his name already, Crespo looked well placed to possibly finish the tournament as top scorer and came as a cruel blow to him. Riquelme put Argentina 2-1 up and added a third with a wonderful free kick.

Argentina played the remainder of the match at a canter and once more the defence looked vulnerable. Eventually running out 4-2 winners but it was not until Diego Milito’s injury time strike that Argentina were home and dry. Qualification had been assured and this allowed Basile to make wholesale changes for the battle with Paraguay that would determine the group winners.

Basile left Boca Juniors to take the reigns again of the national team and that Boca influence was evident in the next team selection with 7 of the starting line up having Boca connections as either past or present players. At the back, Argentina were more solid than they had been for the previous two matches, with Daniel Diaz adding his presence to the backline. After nearly 70 minutes of play, Rodrigo Palacio and Tevez had come close to breaking the deadlock but no joy had resulted. That was the call for Messi to spring off the bench into action and immediately a sense of urgency and cutting edge was apparent. However, it was not Messi, Tevez, Palacio or Aimar who proved to be the match winner for Argentina, it was Javier Mascherano. ‘Jefecito’ (little chief), scored his first goal for Argentina at senior level with a wonderful strike, passing the ball into the back of the net. Mascherano is key for Argentina and a fundamental piece of the team, he has long been tipped as a future international captain and it surely won’t be long before that is the case.

In winning the group Argentina now meet Peru in the quarter-finals as they had done in 2004. Then it was a Tevez free kick that was the difference between the sides, and Argentina will expect to win more comfortably than that this time around. The objective is coming ever closer and Argentina know that failure is not an option.

Argentina must win, and win well. And sometimes, even that is not enough.