Finally, finally, Argentina have qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. They did so courtesy of a 1-0 win away to fierce South American rivals Uruguay, in the very last qualifying game. The goal was scored by midfielder Mario Bolatti, just little over 5 minutes from full-time. Argentina only needed a draw to stay in fourth place in the South American table & qualify directly for the World Cup, while Uruguay needed to win to get that fourth spot. Thanks to Bolatti's late strike, Argentina got a bit more than the draw they needed. And with it, South Africa beckons next year.
According to reports, the match in Montevideo really was a tight affair as the scoreline suggested, with few scoring opportunities as both sets of defence were on top of their game. Apparently, Argentina's narrow win was just about deserved. I am just relieved they will be going to the World Cup. Going into the Uruguay match, I was very worried for Argentina. In their previous game just days before, they narrowly won 2-1 at home to Peru, with Peru scoring a late equaliser before Argentina scoring the winner deep into time added on. Montevideo was certainly not the easiest of places to go to get a result from. The fact that Argentina did get a result there will, hopefully, spur them on to greater things.
But let's not sweep things under the carpet. Argentina really made a huge mess of the South American qualifiers. With the players they have, they should have been able to qualify for the World Cup much more comfortably & much earlier than they actually did. Instead, they bungled their way through many of their matches, & had to wait until 5 minutes from the end of their last game to secure qualification. They had a change of coach midway during the qualifying series, & that added to the struggles. Goodness gracious, thankfully they have made it.
Uruguay, meanwhile, will have to fight it out another day - the loss to Argentina & results elsewhere means they clinch fifth spot in South America, & they now go to the playoffs with a team from CONCACAF to see who goes through to the World Cup.
So, Argentina finishes in fourth spot in the South American qualifiers. The teams above them are Brazil, Chile & Paraguay. Interestingly, Chile & Paraguay are coached by Argentinians....& both sides finish above Argentina on the standings. That's interesting.....to me, this suggests that there are better candidates to coach Argentina than Maradona. Why was Maradona picked, despite his inexperience???? I keep asking this question, & to this day, I cannot find an answer.
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