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World Cup - Argentina

Who will become the star for Argentina? Will it be Messi, can he recover from injury? How about Heinz - can he too amazingly recover from injury and bring his tireless energy to the team? Or will it be Riquelme, who has brought his Spanish club, Villa Real, to the quarter finals of the Champions League? Can he do the same for his country? How about Pablo Aimar, can he return to form? Argentina is full of youthful stars with exuberant energy that have the skill and talent to bring them the trophy. Will Maradona be reincarnated in one of these players? Let's hope so, that will make for an exciting tournament.

Argentina out to make amends

Although they have yet to emerge from the shadow cast by the legendary figure of Diego Armando Maradona, Argentina invariably figure among the select band of favourites for the FIFA World Cup™, a status unaltered by their poor showing at Korea/Japan 2002. With a little more experience now under their belt, the two-time world champions are back for another tilt at the title after becoming the first South American side to qualify for Germany 2006.
The qualifying campaign proved something of a roller-coaster ride for the Argentines. After an uncertain beginning they found some much-needed solidity and consistency before Marcelo Bielsa’s unexpected resignation threatened to blow them off course. Jose Pekerman’s appointment steadied the ship, however, and the Albiceleste sealed qualification in the best possible fashion, defeating old foes Brazil in front of a packed house in Buenos Aires. Nonetheless, serious doubts remain about the team’s mind-set and tactics ahead of next year’s finals, sparked mainly by their up-and-down form, a surfeit of players competing for the same places and some worryingly indifferent performances away from home.

Qualification proved comfortable enough with 34 points, nine fewer than in the previous campaign, meaning they had to settle for second place in the table behind Brazil – the first time Argentina had failed to top the group since the qualifiers for USA 94. In notching up ten wins, four draws and four defeats, Argentina scored 29 goals and conceded a mere 17, a goal difference second only to Brazil in the group.

Read more at: FIFA World Cup - Yahoo!