MEXICO CITY: Argentina coach Diego Maradona predicts victory over Brazil in Saturday’s critical World Cup qualifier. He better be right. Otherwise, trouble unfolds for a team struggling to reach next year’s tournament in South Africa. A loss would put Maradona under even more pressure from some of the world’s most demanding soccer fans, many already questioning his tactical acumen. And the tension will only grow for next week’s game at Paraguay, which leads the Argentines in the qualifying standings.
“We’re going to win because we have better players,” Maradona said in a recent radio interview.
It’s unlikely the Brazilians need added motivation against their biggest rival. But if so, they’ve got it.
Brazil is in much better shape, and with another stumble, the two-time world champion Argentines face the possibility of missing their first World Cup since 1970.
Brazil is the No. 1 team in the world and leads the South America standings with 27 points, followed by Chile with 26, Paraguay with 24 and Argentina with 22. Behind them are Ecuador with 20 points, Uruguay with 18 and Colombia and Venezuela with 17 each.
The top four teams in the group advance automatically to South Africa. The fifth-place team faces a playoff with fourth-place team from CONCACAF for another berth. The four other games Saturday could shift the standings: Colombia vs. Ecuador; Peru vs. Uruguay; Paraguay vs. Bolivia; and Chile vs. Venezuela. After the day’s play, only three games remain for each of the 10 teams.
Argentina has scored only two goals in its last three World Cup qualifiers, two of which were losses in the thin air of the Andes-2-0 at Ecuador and 6-1 at Bolivia. The lone victory was 1-0 at home against Colombia.
Argentina is looking for every advantage. It will play at Gigante de Arroyito Stadium in Rosario, a cozy, 45,000-seat venue with a field that is close to the stands.
Maradona asked for the game to be moved from River Plate’s stadium in Buenos Aires, and has also ordered the grass be closely cropped to give quick attackers like Lionel Messi an advantage against Brazil’s bigger defenders.
Maradona will probably team Messi up front with Carlos Tevez, who has the edge on striker Sergio Aguero-Maradona’s son-in-law.
Brazil is unbeaten in 17 matches, but it hasn’t defeated Argentina in a World Cup qualifier in Argentina since 1995. The Brazilians can clinch a spot in South Africa if they defeat Argentina while Colombia beats Ecuador and Uruguay fails to win against Peru.
“It’s a football classic regardless of the situation of the teams,” Brazil coach Dunga said. “It’s not going to be different this time. It’s a match between the nations with most World Cup titles in South America. It’s natural there is a strong rivalry.”
