Argentina national football team. Argentina national football team
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Argentina has given the world countless outstanding football players, and its national team is one of the strongest on the planet.
History of the Argentina national football team
- Participation in the final stage of the world championships: 15 times.
- Participation in the final stage of the America's Cup: 37 times.
Achievements of the Argentina national team
- 2-time world champion.
- Silver medalist – 3 times.
- 14-time South American champion.
- Silver medalist – 14 times.
- Bronze medalist – 4 times.
The Argentine national team played its first match in 1901 or 1902; exact information has not been preserved. It is reliably known that the opponent was the Uruguay team, and that the Argentines won. As for the score, football statisticians name various options - from 3:2 to 6:0.
Argentina national team at the world championships
At the first World Cup, held in Uruguay, the Argentines immediately reached the final, where they lost to the host team 2:4.
That match was remembered for the fact that the teams played with two goals - the first half with the Argentinean, the second with the Uruguayan. FIFA made this decision because both teams presented their ball and could not reach an agreement - everyone wanted to play with their own ball.
Interestingly, the teams argued for good reason. The first half went to Argentina 2:1, the second half was won outright by Uruguay 3:0.
At the next World Cup, held according to the Olympic system, the Argentine team lost to the Swedish team 2:3 in the first round. This match was like the beginning of the “albiceleste’s” long-term failures at the world championships.
Argentina refused to participate in the 1938, 1950 and 1984 tournaments; at the 1958 and 1962 championships it could not even leave the group.
Only in 1966, the Argentine team, having beaten Spain and Switzerland and drawn with the West German team, was finally able to overcome the group round. In the quarter-finals, the home team, the England team, awaited them. That match was remembered for the scandalous refereeing of West German referee Rudolf Kreitlein, who sent off Argentine captain Antonio Rattin for some unknown reason in the first half.
Insulted in the best of feelings, Rattin wiped his hands on the corner flag, on which the British flag was depicted. The Argentines lost the match, but they still call it “the robbery of the century” and it was this meeting that served as the beginning of the Anglo-Argentine conflict.
Argentina missed the 1970 World Cup, sensationally losing in the qualifying group to the national teams of Bolivia and Peru. Looking ahead, I will say that this was the last World Cup held without an “albiceleste”.
The next tournament also did not bring glory to the Argentine team. With difficulty, only due to a better goal difference, they were ahead of the Italian team in the group, and in the second group round they managed to score only one point.
Argentina national team - 1978 world champion
As you can see, the Argentina national team approached its first home World Cup with a far from enviable history of performances at world championships.
And yet, the country was only waiting for victory. How could it be otherwise, because football in Argentina has long been a religion.
At the first stage, the Argentines barely defeated the national teams of Hungary and France with the same score of 2:1, after which they lost 0:1 to the Italian team. And at the second stage, Mario Kempes had his say.
He was the only foreign player in the Argentina national team (he played in Spain for Valencia) and initially high hopes were placed on him. But Kempes failed to score a single goal in three matches.
Despite this, the head coach of the national team, Cesar Luis Menotti, continued to place the forward in the squad and was right. Kempes scored two goals each against the national teams of Poland (2:0) and Peru (6:0). Between these matches there was a goalless draw with the Brazilian team, but Argentina reached the final on goal difference.
That victory over Peru raised a lot of questions. The match began after Brazil had played their match, with Argentinean Ramon Quiroga at the goal of the Peruvian national team. And the performance of the Peruvians, who had previously conceded six goals in five matches, raised questions.
This is all true. But the fact is that Argentina is not the first and not the last team that has enjoyed and will enjoy certain privileges as the host of the World Cup. So it was and so, unfortunately, it will be. Why go far, just remember the match of the last World Cup Brazil - Croatia and the penalty awarded in favor of the hosts of the tournament.
And in the final, Argentina, without any questions, beat the Dutch team 3:1 after extra time. Kempes scored a double again, scoring his team's first and second goals. It was he who became the top scorer and player of the championship.
The era of Diego Maradona
The Argentines went to the 1982 World Cup with their new star -. Four years ago Menotti did not include him in the squad, but now the 21-year-old footballer was the leader of the national team.
Starting with an unexpected defeat from Belgium 0:1, the Argentines defeated Hungary 4:1 and confidently beat El Salvador 2:0. But in the second group round they lost both matches – to Italy and Brazil.
But the next championship was the Maradona championship. The Argentines, led by Carlos Bilardo, confidently won their group, defeated their eternal rivals Uruguayans 1:0 in the 1/8 finals, and then beat the teams of England (2:1) and Belgium (2:0). In Argentina's last two matches, only Maradona scored.
The match with the British turned out to be scandalous. Until recently, the countries were at war over the Falkland Islands, and this topic was discussed before the match. And in the game itself, the refereeing team missed Maradona’s hand, with which he scored the first goal.
True, four minutes later Diego created his famous masterpiece, raiding from his own half of the field and beating six Englishmen.
In the final, Maradona did not score, but his partners - Brown, Valdano, Burruchaga - scored. 3:2 victory over the German team.
These teams met again in the final of the Italian World Cup. But how inarticulate Argentina looked then! Having made it out of the group in third place, the Argentines immediately met the Brazilian team. Fighting back the entire match, the team counted on the genius of their leader. And he did not disappoint - in the 81st minute, Maradona made his signature pass and brought Caniggia one on one with the goalkeeper. The forward did not make a mistake.
The next opponents, Yugoslavia and Italy, were defeated only on penalties. How can one not remember the proverb “If there was no happiness, but misfortune would help.” Goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea saved four penalties in these series.
But he came to the championship as number two, taking his place in goal only after Neri Pumpido was injured in the second round match against the USSR national team.
In the final against the Germans, Argentina had one chance - to reach a penalty shootout. But five minutes before the end of the match, Andreas Brehme, converting a penalty, brought victory to the West German team.
Regarding that penalty, there was a lot of controversy about the validity of the award. Yes, the penalty was quite dubious. But the fact is that a little earlier Goycochea had knocked down Augenthaler in the penalty area, but the referee remained silent. Apparently, Mexican Edgardo Mendez realized his mistake and decided to correct it in such a unique way.
Albiceleste was a completely different team. It featured forwards such as Gabriel Batistuta and Abel Balbo. In the ranks were the hero of the last tournament, Claudio Caniggia, and, of course, Diego Maradona.
After the first two rounds (4:0 with Greece and 2:1 with Nigeria), Argentina became the most productive and vibrant team, instantly becoming the main contender for the title.
Everyone knows what happened next – Maradona’s positive doping test and subsequent disqualification. Left without their leader, the Argentines lost to Bulgaria and Romania and went home.
Subsequently, Argentina was constantly among the favorites of the world championship and was constantly lacking something.
In 1998 they were eliminated in the quarter-finals when Denis Bergkamp scored an absolutely crazy goal in the last minute. By the way, in the 1/8 finals, Argentina again clashed with England, and that match was remembered for the provocation of Diego Simeone, which ended with the removal of David Beckham.
Yes, even at that championship, Argentina defeated Jamaica 5:0, inspiring the Chaif group to create their musical masterpiece.
Argentina brought perhaps the best team in its history. At least the best one I've seen. Ayala, Pochettino, Samuel, Sannetti, Sorin, Almeida, Veron, Simeone, Aimar, Claudio Lopez, Batistuta, Ortega, Crespo, Caniggia.
This is not a team, this is a dream. Not a single weak point, the presence of at least two world-class stars in each line, an obscenely long bench. Along with France, Argentina were the main favorites for the championship.
But, ironically, this team did not even make it out of the group. After defeating Nigeria 1:0, the British and David Beckham personally took revenge on the Argentines, scoring the only goal in the match from the penalty spot. And in the last match, Albiceleste failed to get the necessary victory in the match with Sweden - 1:1.
The Argentines were not much weaker four years later against Germany, and they also included a then little-known 18-year-old prodigy named Lionel Messi. This time, the Argentines were unlucky in the penalty shootout against the championship hosts in the quarter-final match - Roberto Ayala and Esteban Cambiasso were unable to capitalize on their attempts.
True, everything could have ended much earlier, in extra time, but the referee's whistle remained silent. This brings me back to the question of some advantage that the hosts of the World Cup always enjoy.
Even at that championship, the Argentines were remembered for their goal against Serbia and Montenegro (6:0), which was preceded by a combination of 23 (!) accurate passes, the crown of which was Crespo’s heel pass to Cambiasso.
In 2010, in South Africa, the Argentina national team again lost in the quarterfinals to the German national team, this time with a humiliating score of 0:4. The head of the team, Diego Maradona, decided to play open football with the Germans, fielded five attacking players and was demonstratively beaten. However, Maradona could have done it differently; he could not have stepped on the throat of his own song.
Argentina team at the 2014 World Cup
Almost a quarter of a century later, Argentina again reached the final of the world championship. This time the team was not among the main favorites of the championship. The reason for this was the lack of a sufficient number of high-class defensive players.
But head coach Alejandro Sabella managed to mold the defense from what it had. In the playoff matches, Argentina conceded only one goal, and that was in extra time of the final match from the Germans (them again!).
Trouble crept up from the other side - the excellent attack in the person of Di Maria, Higuain, Messi, Palacio, Lavezzi, Aguero scored two goals in the same four matches - against Switzerland and Belgium. The Dutch were defeated only in a penalty shootout, and the German national team lost again.
Once again, Lionel Messi failed to cope with the role of leader of the national team, having scored all his goals in the group stage against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, and Nigeria.
Argentina national team at the South American Championships (Cups)
In terms of the number of continental titles (14), the Argentina national team is second only to Uruguay, which has one more gold. Everything would be fine if not for one big and fat BUT. The last victory of the Argentina national team at the Copa America dates back to 1993, when the Mexican national team was beaten in the final of the tournament.
But it all started so well. From 1916 to 1967, 26 tournaments were held and only once (!!!) Argentina did not get into the prize-winners (1922), having won 12 continental championships during this time.
Now compare this with another set of numbers - 15 tournaments (from 1975 to present), 2 wins and 5 prizes.
If anyone noticed the 8-year gap (1967-1975), I explain that this is not a mistake, the South American championship was simply not played during this period.
And in recent years, the “albiceleste” has been haunted by some kind of evil fate - four times in five draws it reached the finals and lost all of them, three of them in penalty shootouts.
The last two defeats from the Chilean national team are still fresh in the memory, including in connection with Messi's sensational statement and the end of playing for the national team.
By the way, at the last Copa America, Lionel Messi, having scored a goal against the USA, overtook Gabriel Batistuta, and is now the top scorer of the Argentina national team.
The Argentine specialist gained the greatest fame from his work with the Chilean national team, with which he won the 2015 Copa America, beating his fellow countrymen in the final.
Argentina national team emblem
Present tense
As I already said, the current Argentina team has a shortage of qualified defensive players. The main goalkeeper of the Argentina national team, Sergio Romero, comes to the team from the Manchester United bench.
Of the defenders, only Pablo Zabaleta can, without any stretch of the imagination, be considered a world-class player. But he is a full-back and by the time of the Russian World Cup he will already be 33 years old. And the only truly great Argentine midfielder, Javier Mascherano, will be 34.
In attack, a lot depends on how serious Messi's announcement about retiring from the national team is. I think he will still return to the team, because the World Cup in Russia will be his last chance to go down in history as a truly great player. However, the Argentines will always have decent personnel in attack.
In general, the Argentine national team in Russia will not have an easy walk, especially considering the complexity of their group opponents. , as for the general prospects of the team, for the reasons mentioned above, I do not believe in the victory of the Argentines at the World Cup. The limit for this team will be the semifinals.
The Argentina national team qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup with great difficulty. Only in the final round of the qualifying round, thanks to 3 goals from Lionel Messi, did they earn a ticket to the final part of the tournament. In qualifying and friendly matches, national team head coach Jorge Sampaoli tested many players and selected the best 23, who will eventually go to Russia in the summer.
Messi and company are going to the 2018 World Cup
The main asset of the Argentina national team is its powerful attacking line. Sampaoli has 5 high-class forwards at his disposal. They are Leo Messi, Paulo Dybala, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain. All of these players are individually good, Messi especially stands out.
Leo has one last chance to win the World Cup, as it is likely that the Barcelona forward will retire from playing for the country in the coming years. Throughout his career, Messi has failed to win a single major trophy for his homeland, for which he is often criticized by many Argentine fans. All of Argentina has high hopes for its leader, who is considered one of the best football players of our time.
The other lines in Sampaoli's squad don't look as balanced as the attack. The defense, which lacks experience and teamwork, especially does not shine. The goal frame also lacks a skilled goalkeeper. In the qualifying round, the main goalkeeper was Sergio Romero, who sits on the Manchester United bench, having virtually no playing experience in official matches.
The composition of the Argentina national team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup: official version
Goalkeepers
Defenders:
Midfielders: