It was exactly 24 years ago, when Argentina played their last semi-final match in a World Cup. It was at the 1990 World Cup held in Italy, when one of the most exciting and controversial matches in the history of the World Cup took place. The setting of the match was the Italian town of Naples, the city where Diego Maradona spent most of his time, when not playing for Argentina, as the inspirational captain of the club side Napoli. The folks at Naples were conflicted about whether to support their favourite guest, or to support the home team. It was a most controversial match, as Italy had won all their matches so far quite comfortably, and looked set to win against the favourites, Argentina, till Marodona’s team scored a late equalizer to take the game to extra time. Nothing much happened in extra time, and the match went to a penalty shootout. Roberto Donadoni and Alberto Serena missed the penalties for Italy giving Diego Maradona’s battle hardened men a hard fought victory. The World Cup ended in tears for the home country as the hated Argentine side marched on, only to lose in the final against Lothar Matthaus led West Germany.
Will Wednesday’s semi-final between Argentina and the powerhouses of Europe, Holland, turn out the same way? It’s been a while since Argentina have been in a semi-final in the World Cup. Those were days when Diego Maradona, the greatest “Number 10” ever in the history of football, although many Brazilians would disagree with that, ran the show. Argentina have tried many Number 10s since then, some of them have even been quite talented highly skillful, such as, Juan Roman Riquelme and Juan Sebastian Veron. But none could come anywhere close to Maradona’s genius and his effectiveness. Until now.
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The new Argentine claimant as the Number 10 is Lionel Messi, indisputably the greatest footballer in the world. Already there are people who say that Messi is even better than Maradona, or for that matter, Pele. That Messi is a footballing genius is without doubt. The man is all of 26 years, and is already the highest goal scorer ever for the greatest football club in the world, Barcelona, scoring an unbelievable 350+ goals for them in all competitions. Messi is the greatest footballer of his generation. But to be considered the greatest ever – he MUST win the World Cup. The World Cup is the ultimate test for a footballer. Regardless of how well he performs for his club Barcelona, Messi cannot claim to be the greatest ever without winning the World Cup for his country.
Just as Diego Maradona was the man who ran the Argentine team 25-30 years ago, Messi rules the current national side. Argentina have always had a talented squad of players. But to bring the best out of them, and to get the results, they have always required a “top dog” to run the show for them, dominate the game, take it by the scruff of its neck. They have always wanted one man, a Number 10, so they they could get the ball, pass it to this man and see what he does with it. Just as Maradona fulfilled this role, so does Messi. Argentine football strategy is quite simple: Defend well, get the ball, pass it to Messi and hope for the best!
So far in this World Cup, Messi has played his part to perfection, scoring four goals in the group stages, winning the second round match against Switzerland with his fabulous assist in the 119th minute, and controlling the possession against Belgium. Messi had his faithfull sidekick, Angel Di Maria to support him, but he is now gone. Di Maria has been ruled out of the World Cup with a thigh injury picked up in the first half of the match against Belgium. But Argentina would be heartened by the virtuoso display by their much criticized center forward, Gonzalo Higuain in that match, who seems to be back in form. Also, critically, Sergio Aguero seems have recovered from the injury sustained in the group stages, and is likely to be on the substitute bench, if not start the semi-final against Holland.
So things look good for Argentina, who are peaking at the right time, and Messi still looks fresh and free from any injury. But things look good for the Dutch as well. Almost every Dutch player is in the form of his life, especially with Arjen Robben showing the world what a great footballer he is. Robben is the Dutch equivalent of Messi. He may not be as supremely gifted, but he is very, very good. Robben has the pace of an Olympic sprinter, and watching him run at great speed at the opposition defense with the ball at his feet is a sight for sore eyes. Robben has been a significant factor in every Dutch victory – when not scoring goals at will, he gets match winning penalties with his dives, which many deem to be questionable.
Helping Robben is the Dutch captain Robin van Persie, who is a fearsome footballer in his own right, perhaps one of the most dangerous strikers of his generation. But his recent performances in the tournament have not been as spectacular was they were in the first match against Spain. Who can forget his Superman-like dive which led to the equalizer against Spain, and set the stage for the march of the Dutch Cavalry? If Van Persie performs against Argentina at that level, he will be a hard man to stop.
The supporting cast for Holland is not bad at all with Wesley Sneijder leading a talented bunch of footballers – Daley Blind, Memphis Depay, Daryl Janmaat and Jan-Klaas Huntelaar to name just a few. Jan-Klaas Huntelaar has been most effective coming from the bench, scoring a match winning penalty and making important assists. Holland’s defense very solid, and capable of stopping any attack. Holland have two excellent goalkeepers in Jasper Cillesen and their new penalty shootout sensation, Tim Krul.
So, can the Dutch beat Messi’s Argentina? Hard to tell. The two teams may have contrasting styles and different football cultures, but they are both very evenly matched in almost every department. If Argentina have Messi, the Dutch have Robben. For a Higuain, there is a Van Persie. They are both highly talented sides, and whoever performs best on the day of the semi-final and have got their shooting boots on, will go on to win. But having come this far, a loss could be psychologically damaging for both teams. Only since we have to make a prediction, we predict an Argentina win, but we really aren’t quite sure. It could as well go the other way.
Prediction: 2 – 1 to Argentina.
