Argentina!!!!

My country has a decent football team but not of world cup standard, which leaves us no other options but to support other countries during World cup. But, even before I began to understand my country's frailities in football, even before I  began to understand football fully I had begun to support Argentina.

My first WC experience was the Italia 90 where Argentina were the reigning champions having won in 86'. I still remember the first match of Argentina vividly as my dad woke me up in the middle of night and showed a little man on screen and said "Thats Maradona!!!". My initial reaction was "so what?"- but suddenly this guy got the ball and atleast 4 Cameroon players surrounded him and I still cant explain what he did, but somehow he was clear of those players and had passed it to a team mate. Though Argentina lost the match(the only other match they would lose besides the final!!!), they had already occupied a little space in my brain and heart.

But, the match of the tournament was in round 32 when they had to face Brazil. I still remember my physical education teacher telling us to go home immediately after school so that we can catch the match from the start. I didnt even know where Brazil or Argentina was, didnt know they were the India-Pakistan of football, didnt know the Pele-Maradona rivalry, didnt know anything about the football team of Brazil. All I knew was that Brazil didnt have a Maradona in their ranks and so they would lose. That match was my induction into full fledged football.

After 15 minutes into the game, I began to realise that Argentina had Maradona(a legend) and ten very good players, but Brazil had 11 extrordinary players. Watching Brazilian team passing the ball was like Antakshari. Each player had a different song for the ball once it touched his feet. It was as if they were thinking of ways to kill the opposition, and Argentina was hanging by the thread. Twice Brazil came close to scoring only to be denied by the goal post.

But Maradona showed why he was considered one of the greatest players in the history of football, when he provided the pass to Caniggia for the lone winning goal after going past virtually the entire Brazilian midfield and defenders.

A Brazilian football team in full flow is a like an avalanche coming down the slopes. It is beautiful, if you are watching it and terrifying if you are standing in its way. You do not know what is going to happen next but to be fair, the players themselves do not know that either. There will be 3 players waiting for the pass unmarked only instead of passing, the ball would be thundered into the net from 40 yards!!!! And no one would have any ill will about it, because thats how they play....There is no better example to this than the winning goal Ronaldinho scored against England in 2002!!!

But thats exactly why I support its most bitter rival. Watching Argentina is like a river which has been arrested by a dam. It can be as free flowing as Brazil, or as dormant as Italy. It can be a German team, with its rugged defending and those brilliant set pieces or play total football like the Dutch. But not one moment will the team look totally out of place when playing a different style. For all its flamboyance, I have never seen a Brazilian corner as dangerous as a German, or an Italian corner, and except for Baggio magic in '90 I have never seen any Italian or German team producing a magic field goal.



I have watched all the matches of Argentina from then on in World Cups, even though Maradona played in only one match in '94 , was delirious with joy when it beat England in penalties in '98, left heart broken by that wonderful 88th minute Bergkamp goal which put Holland in semis, was ribbed for almost a year when they went out in the first round in 2002, and was furious for a week when they lost in 2006 due to bad tactics.

They have managed to scrape through the qualifying for 2010. Whats in store for me in South Africa?