Should we be concerned about Argentina any more than we already are? Probably not. I mean, there’s no shame in losing 4-2 to Johan Cruyff’s Catalonia, is there?
The Catalonians ran out several La Liga stars — Barca’s Valdes, Pique, Puyol, Bojan, Busquets, and Xavi; Villareal’s Joan Capdevila, etc — while Maradona’s squad consisted mostly of Argies based in Europe (Demichelis, Gago, Higuain, Di Maria). Mr. Coke Machine didn’t even sit on the sidelines, preferring to watch from the stands, and what he saw wasn’t too encouraging.
If you consider that this is the second tier of Argentine players competing for a World Cup spot, the evidence in favor of their inclusion isn’t strong. Cruyff’s patchwork side controlled possession and scored seemingly at will; aside from Bojan’s lovely solo effort, all the goals were preventable and the result of some lackadaisical defending. You can argue that the defending was soft as it was a friendly, etc etc etc, and we can logic/reason this result away to nothing, but where’s the fun in that?
Could the Coke Machine have sat on the sidelines if he had wanted to? I thought he was banned until next year.
Just watching this clip, I was impressed by the quality of the two Argentine goals. The fans of Argentina shouldn’t let this game worry them (IMO) – the fact that He Who Pays Italian Taxes With Earrings is their manager. THAT is what should worry them!
30f: yeah, I thought much the same thing. Their goals were nice, but the ones they conceded showed non-league levels of concentration.
Ryan: ha, forgot about that. I just figured the cocaine was better up in the stands
there’s no shame in losing to Johan Cruijff in anything.