The knives are already drawn.32 teams will fight for this coveted trophy and the glory that goes with it. Other teams will be dreaming of repeating the same feats like previous World cups; these teams might not have the same players or the same managers. Argentina, England, Brazil, Germany, France: This teams fall in this category that want to repeat their histories: Argentina - 1986, England - 1966, Brazil -1994, Germany - 1990, France - 2002, Italy - 2006.
Tears were shed in this World cups, hearts were broken, Managers lost their jobs, some players lost their lives etc.Bolivia star defender, Andreas Escobar who scored an own goal while trying to defend was shot 12 times by a hooligan on arrival to his home country after his team early exit from 1994 world cup tournament in USA. This World cup is not different and the same will happen. Who will be a villain, a hero, heart broken? Who will bask in the glory? Time will tell.
I have been an avid Argentina supporter since my childhood. I am still Argentina fan. I saw, have seen and will see Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Claudio Cannigia, Buruchaga, Diego Simeon, Sebastian Veron, Juan Roman Riquelme, Lionel Messi. The most important factor of the current Argentine Team is: Maradona is the Manager! Maradona remains the best player ever to grace this sport on the planet. Other might not agree with me, but if you saw him play, then you will agree with me. He single handedly won the 1986 world cup and the memorable game was Argentina Versus England. Maradona paced with ball from his team's quarter field dribbling past six England defender and finally dummying the goal keeper. Did he score? Oh yes! Do you remember the hand of God! He was a real soccer genius and played divine soccer and when he was banned in the middle of the 1994 world cup for using Cocaine, his absence proved very decisive; Argentina lost all their next matches.
Will Maradona repeat what he accomplished as a player? May be, may be not. He showed in the Qualifications that he has a genius in him. To qualify, he was supposed to win all the remaining matches! He narrowly won all those matches and the players who he had put faith in them proved themselves: Higuain was a real revelation. In my view Argentina will miss the services of mercurial, talented and decisive Juan Riquelme who retired early from international football. Maradona should have convinced Riquelme out of retirement because Argentina midfield requires his services: the clinical passes, high passes completed rate, accuracy, vision and possession. The player is a class! With Messi and Riquelme Argentina would have been a team to reckon. Will God save Maradona once more? He saved him while at Napoli, Barcelona, Boca Juniors, playing for Argentina in 1986 world cup and recently in the World Cup qualifications as a manager.
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