Argentina World Cup 2006 Team Profile

World Cup Match Tickets

Paul Robinson looks at Argentina. Surely one of the teams to watch in 2006.

Argentina Kit 1 Copyright © Soccerphile	Argentina Kit 2 Copyright © Soccerphile

Current World Ranking: 9

"It wasn't the hand of God. It was the hand of a rascal" Bobby Robson, 1986

One of the tournament's most experienced veterans, Argentina will no doubt provide colour, flair and talking points aplenty this year, regardless of how results go.

A mix of experienced internationals and tricky little youngsters, Argentina will be looking to win their first World Cup in Europe. The pressure's on…

World Cup Group C

Cote D'Ivoire (10/06)
Serbia & Montenegro (16/06)
Holland (21/06)

How on earth did they get here?

Since playing their first international against Uruguay in 1901 (the first of an astonishing 161 meetings between the two), Argentina have been battling away to stake their claim at the forefront of international football. This year sees the Albicelestes appearing in their 14th World Cup with only Brazil, Italy and Germany having appeared more, and they've won twice from four finals.

On the way, they've also played in the Copa America 37 times, taking the trophy home with them on 14 of those occasions.

The first South American side to book their tickets to Germany, Argentina qualified from their group with ten wins from 18, second to Brazil on goal difference, six points ahead of third placed Ecuador and with their 12-year unbeaten home record still in tact. Ecuador celebrated a 2-0 win over Argentina in Quito, but they weren't alone as the Ecuadorians turned their home ground into a veritable fortress in the sky. Every team struggled at 2800m above sea-level, Brazil were also beaten there and Ecuador never lost a home game. The biggest shock of the preliminaries was losing 1-0 to Paraguay. A glorious 3-1 win over Brazil sealed their qualification with a big fat kiss and three games to go.

Qualifying Results

6-9-03 Argentina 2-2 Chile
9-9-03 Venezuela 0-3 Argentina
15-11-03 Argentina 3-0 Bolivia
19-11-03 Colombia 1-1 Argentina
30-3-04 Argentina 1-0 Ecuador
2-6-04 Brazil 3-1 Argentina
6-6-04 Argentina 0-0 Paraguay
4-9-04 Peru 1-3 Argentina
9-10-04 Argentina 4-2 Uruguay
13-10-04 Chile 0-0 Argentina
17-11-04 Argentina 3-2 Venezuela
26-3-05 Bolivia 1-2 Argentina
30-3-05 Argentina 1-0 Colombia
4-6-05 Ecuador 2-0 Argentina
8-6-05 Argentina 3-1 Brazil
3-9-05 Paraguay 1-0 Argentina
9-10-05 Argentina 2-0 Peru
12-10-05 Uruguay 1-0 Argentina

The man in charge

Ex-Argentinos Juniors and Independiente Medellin (of Colombia) midfielder Jose Pekerman took over midway through the qualifying stages in 2004 after the shock resignation of Marcelo Bielsa threatened to throw the Argentine side way off course. The 56-year-old managed to reel the Albicelestes back in for them to become the first team in South America with plane tickets to Germany.

Working with the national youth side from 1994 to 2001, Pekerman won the Under-20s South American championship twice and the FIFA World Youth Championship an astonishing three times. He built up a strong core of youngsters that are now a prominent feature of the senior side.

Oft-criticised for relying too much on Riquelme, Pekerman has stood by his man with good results. Pekerman has built the team around the midfielder and is quick to defend him against any disparaging comments, "They say he doesn't play at high tempo, but I don't see him as a slow player. It's the ball that needs to move quickly, not the players." We'll find out soon enough how wise these words are.

The Argentine Football Association certainly seem to have supreme confidence in the man's abilities, with one representative boldly announcing, "If it was up to me, I'd give Jose Pekerman a contract for life." Let's see what he has to say come July.

Star men

Eyes will be and always are firmly on Villareal's Riquelme, especially after his penalty was saved by Lehmann in the Champions League semi against Arsenal and once again opened up the debate surrounding Argentina's heavy reliance on the 27-year-old. Criticism has often been levelled at coach Pekerman for the national side's dependence on Riquelme, after he basically built his side around the midfielder - a heavy, heavy burden for any man to bear – and he will be looking to silence these critics. When on form he is a blindingly good attacking midfielder and this year he'll be providing backup and all important experience to inspire his younger team mates. In the man's own words, "It's not like I killed someone, I just missed a penalty."

One of the most worthy young hopes to carry the weighty and all too freely given "new Maradona" tag, Corinthians' 22-year-old wonder kid Carlos "Apache" Tevez has been mightily busy living up to his reputation over the last few years. He's had plaudits heaped upon his young shoulders, including the Argentine sports writers' Footballer of the Year award in 2003 & 2004 and Sportsman of the Year for 2004. His trophy cabinet isn't looking too bad for a 22-year-old either, with winners medals for the Argentine Championship, Copa Libertadores, Intercontinental Cup and Copa Sudamericana from his time at Boca Juniors and an Olympic Gold medal from Athens in 2004 where he was the tournament's top scorer. Oh, and he was the second top scorer in international competitions two years ago. Phew, not bad eh?

On hand to ably assist Tevez and co up front will be young slip of a lad, Barcelona's Lionel Messi. The youngest of the squad could well be celebrating his 19th birthday in Germany, at least he'll be hoping to.

How will they do?

They're going to play some beautiful football, they're going to be great to watch and no doubt there'll be a fair bit of controversy, but will they win? I very much doubt it.

Last time round was a shocker with them bowing out ridiculously early and since Maradona left the scene they haven't got any further than the quarter-finals. Still, there are a lot of new faces in the squad and its unlikely 2002's performance will be repeated.

My money's going on them at least getting to the quarters, semis are a very likely prospect but I don't reckon we'll be seeing them in the final. Probably best to put your money on them winning, then.

Word on the street

"I think they can easily arrive in the top four, and if they don't lose their mind I can really see them getting to the final and then whoever wins the cup is just roulette."
Francesco, 25, Milan, Italy

World Cup Squad

Bet on the World Cup

Goalkeepers Roberto Abbondanzieri (Boca Juniors), Leonardo Franco (Atletico Madrid/Spain), Oscar Ustari (Independiente)
Defenders Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan/Italy), Gabriel Milito (Zaragoza/Spain), Juan Pablo Sorin (Villarreal/Spain), Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruna/Spain), Leandro Cufre (Roma/Italy), Roberto Ayala (Valencia/Spain), Gabriel Heinze (Manchester United/England)
Midfielders Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid/Spain), Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milan/Italy), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal/Spain), Lionel Scaloni (West Ham/England), Luis Gonzalez (Porto/POR), Javier Mascherano (Corinthians/Brazil), Pablo Aimar (Valencia/Spain)
Forwards Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Spain), Hernan Crespo (Chelsea/England), Carlos Tevez (Corinthians/Brazil), Javier Saviola (Sevilla/Spain), Julio Cruz (Inter Milan/Italy), Rodrigo Palacio (Boca Juniors)

Pub Quiz facts in brief

Nickname: Albicelestes (Sky blues)
Coach: Jose Pekerman
Founded: 1893
Biggest win: Argentina12-0 Ecuador (1942)
Biggest defeat: Argentina 0-5 Colombia (1993), Uruguay 5-0 Argentina (1959), Czechoslovakia 6-1 Argentina (1958)
World Cup appearances: 14 (2 wins – 1978 & 1986)
Highest win in qualifying stages: Venezuela 0-3 Argentina, Argentina 3-0 Bolivia
Top scorer: Gabriel Batistuta (56)
Most caps: Diego Simeone (106)

Flights To Germany
Opodo

England Products
T-shirts, hats, caps

"The Onside In-Site" Copyright © From 2000. All rights reserved. Soccerphile Ltd.