Two Contenders And A Whole Host Of Pretenders

A new season brings a sense of optimism and expectation for clubs and fans all over the country, but don’t expect the conclusion of this season’s Premier League chase to be much different from the last. This weekend Manchester United and Chelsea meet in the FA Community Shield as the appetiser to the league season, and both sides will be fighting for the title all the way down to the wire yet again.

Not only should both sides be leading the way domestically but a strong Champions League challenge from each club is also on the menu. Liverpool continued their historical love affair with Europe’s premier club competition last season by reaching the final and although Rafa Benitez has strengthened his side and may bring Liverpool closer to the top two at home, it’s unlikely to be enough to overhaul them at present. In the eyes of many, Arsenal play the most eye catching and attractive football. However, playing beautiful football isn’t always enough (ask recent Argentina sides) to ensure success in the form of trophies. Arsenal’s first task is to fill the void left by Thierry Henry and despite the arrival of Eduardo da Silva (still awaiting a work permit) and the recall of Nicklas Bendtner from last season’s loan spell at Birmingham; it’s a void that is likely to prove too big to fill immediately. Will Arsenal entertain their fans and neutrals alike with their brand of football? Undoubtedly. Will Arsenal drop points against sides they dominate against through the lack of a consistent finisher? Most likely, yes. And that will prove to be their downfall at home and abroad.

Let’s take a closer look at the top two sides in the country and those hoping to challenge them.

Manchester United – The Carlos Tevez saga continues and with the High Court date set for August 22nd it means that unless a settlement is reached beforehand, Carlitos will be in limbo as the season kicks off. If we are to believe that Tevez will eventually team up with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, then Manchester United will have at their disposal the kind of attacking threat that only Barcelona can claim to surpass.

In midfield, the signing of Owen Hargreaves is also key to the objective of retaining the Premiership and winning the Champions League. Hargreaves has for a long while, up until the 2006 World Cup, been a player under valued by England fans. Much of this had to do with him being played out of position for his national side, or not being given a sufficient period of time to exhibit his qualities in his preferred position. That perception changed last summer and now the Red Devils are likely to benefit from his energy and will to win. Alex Ferguson has his options in the centre of midfield along with Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes and it will be interesting to see which pair Ferguson goes with more often than not when his side are faced with crunch games domestically and in European competition.

Aside from these two key signings, United also brought in Nani and Anderson and although a first year in England is expected to be a developmental and learning experience for both, there will doubtless be times where either player makes a worthwhile contribution to their side and provide a sign of things to come in the future.

Defensively not much has changed at Old Trafford. Ben Foster is back from a successful loan spell at Watford and will provide cover for Edwin Van der Sar. I would argue that Foster may already be worthy of displacing Van der Sar now, never mind in the coming years. Carlos Tevez is not the only Argentine involved in a transfer dispute, Gabriel Heinze appears to want out of Old Trafford and sees Anfield as his next destination. Manchester United has a different point of view and Heinze is seeking legal advice in an effort to clinch the move. Should Heinze prove successful he will be the first player in over 40 years to move directly from Manchester United to Liverpool. With the additions made Manchester United have rightfully been installed as favourites to retain the title and if England are to have another representative in the Champions League final this season, then despite the demands of both competitions, the Old Trafford outfit look to have the strength in depth to provide an almighty challenge on both fronts.

Chelsea – As good as Manchester United look on paper at present, only a fool would write off Chelsea’s chances to match them every step of the way. A side built by Mourinho that lays its foundation on a strong defence found that very strength damaged last season by injuries at critical periods of the season. It even required Michael Essien to play a number of games at centre back, and despite acquitting himself fairly well, a centre back by nature he is not and thus Chelsea were caught out at times when they would otherwise not be. Having sold William Gallas (as part of the deal to bring Ashley Cole to Stamford Bridge) and Robert Huth before the start of last season Chelsea were lacking depth in that area and that has been addressed this time around. Cue the arrival of Tal Ben Haim from Bolton and the impending arrival of Alex subject to approval of his work permit. Alex was in fact signed back in 2004 by Chelsea and was effectively ‘parked’ at PSV until a time where he satisfied the criteria necessary to obtain his work permit to play in England. These arrivals along with a fit and healthy John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho means that Essien can spend this season doing what he does best, which is providing a bundle of energy to Chelsea’s midfield. If there is one flaw to Essien’s game it is the perhaps once too often rash tackle, but in totality he is a midfielder with all the qualities required to be a force at the highest level.

This season Essien will be joined in midfield by Florent Malouda and the French international should prove to be a hit. Whether Chelsea can get the best out of Michael Ballack remains to be seen and with the number of options Mourinho has in midfield, he can afford to mix and match based on the specifics of the opponent they are facing. Much like with who Ferguson will prefer in the centre of his midfield at crunch time, it will also be interesting to see which midfield line up Mourinho chooses to go with when some of the higher profile battles commence. Real Madrid have made their intentions to sign Arjen Robben quite clear and although Chelsea have not expressed a willingness to part with the Dutch wideman, the smart money appears to be on his departure rather than his continued stay at Stamford Bridge.

Going forward, as with Ballack, Chelsea will hope that this season will see the real Andriy Shevchenko. The Ukrainian forward had proved his world class credentials year after year at AC Milan, but those qualities were rarely shown last season. However, it is quite common even for some of the world’s best players to take a season or more to fully adapt to a new country, a new culture and most importantly in this instance, a different style of football. The Premier League is known for the pace of its matches and the lack of time in comparison to Serie A that players have on the ball. Shevchenko hasn’t lost any of his ability, but has he lost half a step in pace? Yes. That more than anything may have been exposed last season and may again this season. Chelsea will lose John Obi Mikel, Essien and Didier Drogba to the African Nations Cup at the turn of the year. To counter the loss of Drogba as well as provide an additional player to the forward line in general, Claudio Pizarro was brought in from Bayern Munich. In terms of defence and midfield the Blues look more than strong enough to claim the major trophies that they seek. However, it is upfront where Chelsea are still lacking in comparison to Manchester United at home and Barcelona abroad that may just mean they miss out on both the Premiership and Champions League.

Liverpool and Arsenal fell short of top spot by more than twenty points last season and although Liverpool have sufficiently strengthened enough to believe they can certainly close that gap, it’s harder to be as optimistic for Arsenal’s chances. As with Chelsea, Liverpool’s defensive foundation was already quite solid and it’s going forward where Benitez has looked to improve. Is Fernando Torres worth the money? If he scores goals consistently, then he is. It’s something that Liverpool have lacked since Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler were banging them in at the Kop, and if Torres can provide the 20 plus goals a season in the league that Liverpool are hoping for then they may actually have more to say in this title race than just being a comfortable third. Ryan Babel also has the capability to make the Reds a more dynamic proposition going forward and that explosiveness is sure to delight the Anfield crowd.

If Liverpool’s new look attack does not provide the injection of goals that is expected, they can at least rely on a very solid defence, protected by Javier Mascherano. Mascherano’s arrival last season after being criminally underused by West Ham allows Steven Gerrard to do more of his damage in and around the opposition penalty area and if Liverpool do start clicking as an attacking force, Gerrard could well find himself on the score sheet as much as Frank Lampard has the past few seasons for Chelsea. Gerrard has hit double figures in the league once (2005/06 season), and I would fully expect him to surpass the 10 league goals he scored that season this time around. On paper Liverpool still don’t look strong enough to win the league or even be in the top three or four contenders for the Champions League, but Benitez’s side have proven to be very durable in cup competitions. Liverpool fans are eager to taste success in the league once more and although that won’t happen this season, there should be a clear progression in Liverpool this season that will be evident as far as their league campaign is concerned.

Arsenal are a young side but that is not to their disadvantage as many of these young talents have a fair amount of experience. Arsenal’s Achilles heel is not a lack of talent but a lack of killer instinct. Not only do the Gunners lack the cutting edge that Manchester United can claim to have, they also lack the depth of squad. Comparatively speaking Arsenal have spent far less in recent years than Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Despite the quality and talent level of their first eleven being as good if not better on a technical level individually to their competitors during the recent past, the size of their squad has always been relatively small. It hasn’t stopped Arsenal from achieving some wonderful successes under Arsene Wenger during his tenure, but it certainly will be their undoing this season. Selling your prized asset is never the best way to improve a team and even though Henry’s departure was not Arsenal’s wish, his absence will be evident during the season. It’s natural that Arsenal will need time to build a new identity and the pressure is on Robin Van Persie to make this team his own now and prove to be a player Arsenal can rely on to consistently produce the goods. Van Persie missed much of last season through injury and it should go without saying that keeping him fit and healthy will be vital to Arsenal’s chances of making some noise this season.

Are Tottenham good enough to take advantage of a Henry-less Arsenal and break into the top four? Not in my opinion. In fact they may find that their place as the fifth best side in the country is challenged by a pack of clubs including Everton, Bolton, Portsmouth, Blackburn, Newcastle and West Ham. The good news for Spurs is that they kept hold of Dimitar Berbatov and added Darren Bent to their mix of options in attack. However, Spurs are just not strong enough throughout to crack the top four and their hopes are likely to lie again in a good Uefa Cup run as well as the other domestic cup competitions.

Everton finished last season in sixth place but I’m not convinced they will be able to retain or improve on that position this season. Everton largely stood still in the transfer market and in football, standing still often means moving backwards. Sam Allardyce played a significant role in raising the standards and expectations at Bolton and now Sammy Lee will have to prove he can keep up the kind of results that Bolton fans have now become accustomed to. The difference between Bolton staying in the top six or seven of the league or dropping down to mid-table or just below may be Nicolas Anelka. The club have revealed they would be prepared to sell him to a Champions League club if the price was right and with a month still left of the transfer window, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the enigmatic French forward is plying his trade elsewhere.

Allardyce now finds himself trying to revive the proverbial sleeping giant – Newcastle. The Magpies certainly have options upfront with the return from injury of Owen, the arrival of Mark Viduka adding to Obafemi Martins and Shola Ameobi. Allardyce proved at Bolton he could get the best out of a host of foreign players and he will try to work his magic now with Albert Luque. Keeping Owen fit will be key for Newcastle and the options they have going forward may be much needed as Newcastle still lack quality and depth in defence. ‘Big Sam’ has already stated this publicly and it may well be that Newcastle bring in another player or two in that area before the transfer window closes. David Rozehnal has been brought in from PSG, but it will require far more than just him for Newcastle to build a foundation at the back to match the potential they have in forward areas.

Portsmouth and West Ham have both active in the transfer market in an effort to break into that top six. Harry Redknapp has brought in Sylvain Distin, Sulley Muntari and David Nugent, all of whom will bolster the quality of the first team. Having revealed plans to open a new stadium in 2011, Portsmouth are certainly a team on the up and qualifying for the Uefa Cup next season is a realistic proposition for them. Turmoil and controversy surrounded West Ham last season, and even when Tevez scored the winner at Old Trafford to secure their Premier League status the wrangling and conflict was not nearly at an end. Whatever the rights and wrongs of West Ham’s continued existence in the top tier of English football, the fact is that the Hammers will take their place in the Premier League this season and will hope to put last season’s poor season behind them. For the first time in his managerial career, Alan Curbishley has had the opportunity to prove he can not only do something with nothing (as he did for much of his time at Charlton), but do a little more with a lot more at West Ham. Funds have been readily available for Curbishley this summer and he has taken that opportunity to bring in a number of new faces. Craig Bellamy, Scott Parker and Freddie Ljungberg have been brought in largely to replace those who have made their exits in the form of Carlos Tevez, Nigel Reo-Coker and Yossi Benayoun. Another new signing West Ham made but who won’t be in action for six months is Julien Faubert. A ruptured Achilles tendon will rule the £6.1m midfielder out for much of the season. Injury robbed West Ham of Dean Ashton for the whole of last season and his recovery is almost like having a new £15m forward inserted into the side. Despite the struggles of last season, West Ham should fare a lot better this season and be looking up the table rather than down.

Blackburn Rovers have just completed the signing of Roque Santa Cruz and teaming up with Benny McCarthy could help propel Mark Hughes’ side into the top six. Blackburn are currently involved in Intertoto Cup competition and will believe that they now have the makeup to qualify for the Uefa Cup directly next season rather than having to fight for a place through the Intertoto Cup again.

A new season promises much for many a club, but only a few set of clubs and fans will finish the season with their expectations reached. Who those clubs will be only time will tell. A season of ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments is not far away for millions of fans across the country.

How do you see the new Premier League season turning out at the top end and for your club?

A Football Classic To Determine Copa America 2007

Argentina and Brazil continue one of football’s greatest rivalries, if not the greatest, on Sunday in the Copa America final. It’s no surprise to see Argentina’s star studded line up in the final, but Brazil’s participation was not as guaranteed as would ordinarily be expected. A weakened squad and a poor start gave other nations the hope of being the team to face Argentina in the final but ultimately Brazil have improved sufficiently to take their place as the Copa America reaches its climax.

This year’s Copa America has a number of similarities to the last tournament in 2004 for both Argentina and Brazil. Argentina arrived in Peru three years ago with a virtually full strength squad and saw off Peru in the quarter-finals before winning their semi-final against Colombia by three clear goals. That formula has been repeated this year, with Peru again being the victims in the last eight and this time it was Mexico who suffered a semi-final defeat 3-0.

Brazil who went on to win the 2004 edition on penalties arrive at the final in exactly the same manner this year as they had done then – by virtue of a penalty shoot-out win over Uruguay. Uruguay can count themselves unlucky not to have won in 90 minutes then and now, however that will be of little consolation to them.

The final represents another chance for Argentina to end a 14 year wait for another senior title and the man at the helm, Alfio Basile, was the coach who led them to that very triumph at the Copa America 1993. Once again, as in 2004, Argentina have reached the final playing the most attractive football, but that will count for nothing should they not be victorious when it matters.

Brazil, led by Dunga, have been roundly criticised back home for the lack of style that Brazilian fans have become accustomed to over many years. However, it should be noted that Dunga’s side is not playing with all of its key pieces and thus the coach has had to make the best of the talent available. Any side missing the likes of Kaka and Ronaldinho will find it difficult to replicate the considered standard that is expected of them. The Copa America invariably offers the chance for players with a reputation to make good on the hype surrounding them and Robinho has gone someway to answering his critics in that regard. Six goals in the tournament to date have helped Brazil reach a final where they will play the role as the underdog. Five of Robinho’s goals came against Chile, so it is arguable just how great his impact has been on the tournament as a whole.

The Seleção are searching for their eighth Copa America title and have won three of the last four tournaments dating back to 1997. Defeating Argentina with an under strength side will certainly vindicate Dunga’s philosophy that winning is what matters first and foremost. Brazil will have to win the final without their captain, Gilberto Silva, who picked up bookings in both the quarter and semi-final matches and thus is suspended for the final.

For Argentina, winning may not be enough. As with Brazil, a certain degree of style and flair is demanded by an expectant and restless Argentina public who have grown weary of witnessing the side produce great moments of football (like the 20 + pass goal in the 2006 World Cup), but not ultimately go on to claim the objective of winning the respective tournament. If being unlucky was an acceptable excuse in 2004, it won’t be the case this time around and a side boasting an attacking array of talent that includes Juan Roman Riquelme, Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi has no choice but to shine brightly.

That confidence and ability was in full effect in last night’s semi-final clash with Mexico as Messi stamped his mark on the tournament with a goal that is unlikely to be bettered in the final. It was a moment of pure genius and talent that reflects what we are all likely to witness from the left foot of Messi over the coming years. Any great player always leaves their imprint on major tournaments with moments such as those and it is likely that the football world has much more to see of Messi as time progresses and his talent matures even further.

The least that can be expected from the final is passion and skill. Both nations take immense pride in representing the shirts that have become synonymous with the cultures of both Argentina and Brazil and if the match should threaten to boil over at any point it is only to be expected. Bragging rights are at stake, but for Argentina this year, you sense the pressure on them is a burden that has been waiting to be uplifted for 14 years.

Wimbledon Men's Review

The third Grand Slam of the year is over - as is the grass court season (just don’t tell the guys in Newport) – with the concluding story on the men’s side revolving around a familiar champion. The rain and poor organisation was also a major talking point, but let’s start off with what matters most, the players.

*Just like Borg now – Roger Federer won his 11th Grand Slam (just three behind Pete Sampras), and as far as the final goes it was certainly his most hard fought. In the process Federer equalled Bjorn Borg’s record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles (as well as equalling his overall Slam tally). It was fitting that Borg should be in attendance to witness a thrilling final and to congratulate a player who had just hit the same lofty heights that the Swede once did. Federer came into Wimbledon this year without his customary preparation at Halle, following his efforts and ultimate disappointment at Roland Garros. Ultimately it mattered not, as Federer was able to work his way into the tournament before the adverse conditions threw a spanner into the works and caused him to sit and watch while his rivals figured out if they were playing 3rd round or 4th round matches! Federer who had won his previous four Wimbledon titles for the loss of only five sets, had three taken off him this time around (all by Spaniards – one by Juan Carlos Ferrero and two by Rafael Nadal). Federer moves ever closer to Sampras’s 14 Slam titles and quite possibly by this time next year, he may have them. Time will tell.

*Almost like Borg – History was going to be written on Sunday either way. It was either going to be a Borg equalling five in a row for Federer or Nadal was going to be the first player since Borg to win the French Open and Wimbledon back to back. Even though Nadal will have to live with not taking any one of the four break points he engineered in the deciding set, there is no doubt that in the long run the tournament was a positive one for him. Nadal once again proved his mental toughness and stamina by coping better than any of the other players in the bottom half of the draw with the backed up schedule and poor organisation. He saw off some very tricky opponents in the form of Robin Soderling, Mikhail Youzhny and Tomas Berdych. Against Soderling, Nadal overcame his opponent in five long days and was eventually able to put aside the disappointment of not taking his chance to end the match in the third set tie-break days earlier. Youzhny looked set to knock Nadal out of Wimbledon as he had done at the US Open last year, but a recurring back injury swayed matters and Nadal was able to power his way past his opponent from two sets down. Berdych was seen as the player who would be able to blow Nadal off the court, but instead the flaky Czech was blown over by the wind and was completely unable to deal with the conditions. Nadal will hope that the remainder of the 2007 season does not turn out like it did post-Wimbledon 2006 where he failed to win another title or make a final. The signs during the first half of this season away from clay suggest the Spaniard will be in for a much better time of it this year.

*It never rains, it pours – Rain and Wimbledon go hand in hand. Something else goes with Wimbledon too, a lack of foresight and organisation. The tournament turned into a complete shambles from the moment that 4th round matches were being played before 3rd round ones. A roof over Centre Court won’t particularly help matters either, that will only be of use to the three or four scheduled matches that day on that showpiece court. The rest of the draw will still be in the same predicament, praying that the organisers have their thinking caps on rather than their blinkers. A tournament that prides itself on tradition should at the very least rid us of the almost yearly traditional poor decision making. A number of players have been critical of the tournament this year, ranging from the price and quality of pasta (Marat Safin), the lack of things to do in the area (Nikolay Davydenko) or more importantly the scheduling (Rafael Nadal & David Nalbandian among others…). I can agree with Davydenko, Nadal and Nalbandian, but I haven’t had the experience of pasta tasting at the tournament as Safin has done. But I’m sure we can take Safin’s word for it, that he knows good pasta when he tastes it, and Wimbledon just weren’t cutting it on that front.

*Hit it to my backhand, I dare you! – Richard Gasquet has a great backhand; all who have seen him play will know that. Andy Roddick has played him before, so he surely knew it too. And yet Roddick continually hit it to Gasquet’s backhand, and the talented Frenchman criticised in the past for failing to deliver on his potential, just kept firing the ball past the stranded American. It has become a common feature of watching Roddick to hear him continually castigate himself for his shot selection and tactics, and yet continually make the same mistakes point after point. There was a time when Roddick could bully his opponents with his ferocious serve and forehand but the flame appears to be dying out on the Connors/Roddick partnership in the sense that Roddick is still making the same errors as before Connors came on the scene. As Connors and Roddick have repeatedly said in the recent past, it’s ‘back to the drawing board’ for them.

*Signs of promise – As mentioned Gasquet is a very talented player who had not previously made the breakthroughs that had been expected. Tennis is very much a young man (or woman’s) sport in general terms and players come on the scene early and thus much is expected of a player even before they hit 22 because they would have been around for four to five years at least by that time in many cases. Gasquet had not reached the quarter-finals of a Slam until this Wimbledon and broke through further by reaching the last four before effectively being given no realistic chance of defeating Federer. It was no more than 16 hours between Gasquet defeating Roddick that he was on court with Federer, and although the first set was tight, the remainder of the match was largely routine for the now five time Wimbledon champion. Thanks to his efforts, Gasquet now sits as the 7th best player in the world. Will he be able to improve on this for the remainder of the season? He has the talent to do so, but talent is not all that matters in this sport, and it will be interesting to see how much Gasquet has learnt and grown from a mentality standpoint over the coming months.

*Take your hat off to Novak – Novak Djokovic wasn’t the only player who had to deal with a backed up schedule, but he certainly was the one who ended up having to work the longest. Playing his third round, fourth round and quarter-final matches with limited rest, Djokovic spent over three and a half hours and four sets on court with Nicolas Kiefer. He then followed that up with a four set, four hour battle with Lleyton Hewitt. In the last eight, it was time for some more, this time five sets and over five hours with Marcos Baghdatis. Time to go home, Novak? No, it was time to play Nadal in the last four. Unfortunately, the weather and organisation meant we ended up seeing two players who simply didn’t have enough in the tank to give the crowd the matches they had paid to see. Djokovic retired in the third set against Nadal, the second time in successive Slams that the young Spaniard took out the even younger Serb at the semi-final stage. Djokovic isn’t now just the third best player in the world according to public opinion; the rankings now say he is too.

*It was a good tournament for – Aside from the already mentioned players, Wimbledon proved to be a good couple of weeks for Juan Carlos Ferrero who became the seventh active player to reach at least the last eight of all four Slams. Nikolay Davydenko may find there is nothing to do around Wimbledon, but he at least found time to win three matches at SW19, something he had never done before in his career. Given he had only won one match at Wimbledon in five visits, this showing represented a significant improvement.

*It was a bad tournament for – David Nalbandian, a season that has yet to get going and at the current rate never will. Nalbandian was fully justified in criticising Wimbledon for what was going on off the court, but his performance on the court against Marcos Baghdatis was equally bad. Fernando Gonzalez avoided defeat in the first couple of rounds after very ordinary performances but failed to serve out the match against Janko Tipsarevic and was sent home at the third round stage. Ivo Karlovic possesses a serve many a player would love to have; his recent record at Wimbledon though they could live without. The big serving Croat (aren’t they all?) lost at SW19 at the first time of asking for the third successive year, taken out by everyone’s favourite French magician, Fabrice Santoro.

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.