Argentina slip up - again

Argentina lose another away game, this time 2-0 away to Ecuador in the high altitude of Quito. They seem to be floundering under Diego Maradona's coaching - if u can call him a coach. The Ecuador debacle came just days after Argentina narrowly & unconvincingly beat Colombia 1-0 at home. Reports say Argentina may have been a little unlucky in Ecuador, with a penalty missed when the score was stil goalless & chances created but not converted. Pffffhhh, enough with all that. And the end of the day, they didn't do the business they were supposed to do, & so it's back to the drawing board.

This Argentinian team seem to be uncomfortable playing at high altitude. They lost heavily in Bolivia just months ago, at the even higher altitude of La Paz. And now, they lost in Ecuador. Why this aversion to altitude? I'm not sure why. During the previous series of South American qualifiers 4 years ago (when qualifying for the 2006 World Cup), Argentina beat both Bolivia & Ecuador away, at the same high altitude venues that they recently lost in. So the business can be done, if the team is properly prepared & focused. It should be noted that the Argentinian teams that recently lost in Bolivia & Ecuador are no less talented than the ones which won at both places 4 years ago. What's different? The coach. Jose Pekerman was the coach 4 years ago, & he is a much better coach than Maradona currently is. Pekerman may have made some mistakes here & there, but he is said to be far superior to Maradona when it comes to various aspects of coaching, tactics, motivation, pre-match preparation, etc. Maradona is not the right man to take charge of Argentina. That's what a majority of Argentinian fans think & that's what I think too. No one knows why he was appointed in the first place, when better candidates could have been chosen. But the fact is, he is in charge. And so, the fans will have to just wince & bear it while he continues to bungle his way through the rest of the World Cup qualifiers.