Argentina (The Abiceleste). Messi FC. Very much like many other nations, Argentina is coming to an end of its glorious generation of players. Messi, Di Maria, Higuain, Aguero, Otamendi, Mascherano are all now in their 30's. In fact only 3 players in the team are under the age of 25.
Argentina struggled a little in qualifying, in fact in went down to the last day of qualification for them needing a win to secure it. After going 1-0 down in the very first minute of the game, up steps Messi who bags and hattrick and sends Argentina to Russia.
It is hard to gauge teams like Brazil and Argentina as they are so dominant in their regions. Argentina were Runners-up int he Copa America two tournaments in a row, losing to Chile in the final both times. We also all remember, Argentina were Runners-up last World Cup losing to a formidable German team in extra time.
For a team of such great talented players, since Messi has joined the team, the only thing they've won is a gold medal at the Olympics in 2008. They have also looked a little weak recently with losses in friendlies to Nigeria (4-2) and Spain (6-1). Their most recent friendly against Israel was also cancelled due to political reasons so its not the best run in for Argentina.
Iceland (Our Boys) have qualified for the first time and by doing so, become the smallest nation (population wise: 334,000 people) to ever qualify. With such a small population it is just genuinely amazing they can compete on the world stage. They were the surprise team in Europe as they not only qualified, but did so automatically topping their group above Croatia; the very team that beat them in a play-off for a berth in the 2014 world cup.
This is in fact only Iceland's 2nd ever major tournament, the other being EUROS 2016 where they managed a 1-1 with Portugal and came 2nd in their group. They also had the pleasure of knocking out England in the round of 16 before losing to eventual Runners-Up France in the quarters. So there is some recent form and pedigree for them.
Naturally I do no know much about Iceland so this will be a nice learning experience for everyone. Their team consists mainly of players who play in the Nordic leagues such as Sweden and Denmark with a hand full of others who play in England.
They are a strong team who have managed good results against some of the best teams in the world. However a string of poor results in friendlies may have some people worried.
I think the Argentinian team is simply too strong for these Nordic heroes. Although they can keep things tight, France showed that when push comes to shove, they can be broken open. Argentina 4-1 winners.
No comments:
Post a Comment