[South American Regional Qualifiers]
16 Matches 8 Wins 6 Ties 2 Losses (30 Points)
| 4/24/96 | Vs. Bolivia | Win | 3-0 |
| 6/2/96 | Vs. Ecuador | Lose | 0-2 |
| 7/7/96 | Vs. Peru | Draw | 1-1 |
| 9/1/96 | Vs. Paraguay | Draw | 1-1 |
| 10/9/96 | Vs. Venezuela | Win | 5-2 |
| 12/15/96 | Vs. Chile | Draw | 1-1 |
| 1/12/97 | Vs. Uruguay | Draw | 1-1 |
| 2/12/97 | Vs. Colombia | Win | 1-0 |
| 4/2/97 | Vs. Bolivia | Lose | 1-2 |
| 4/30/97 | Vs. Ecuador | Win | 2-1 |
| 6/8/97 | Vs. Peru | Win | 2-0 |
| 7/6/97 | Vs. Paraguay | Win | 2-1 |
| 7/20/97 | Vs. Venezuela | Win | 2-0 |
| 10/12/97 | Vs. Uruguay | Draw | 0-0 |
| 11/16/97 | Vs. Colombia | Draw | 1-1 |
| Offense |
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Defense |
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| Organization |
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Experience |
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Capacity to surprise |
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Argentina passed through at the top of the South American qualifiers, but struggled a bit at the start. Coach Pasarella using young players bore fruit and succeeded in waking up the team.
The largest reason for this was the use of Gallardo and Belon. With the unexpected productivity and growth of these two, Coach Pasarella's concept of his team has been decided. Specifically, Ortega and Gallardo work together as offensive mid-fielders and a bit back Simeone and Veron cover for them with their wealth of dynamism. This marks the birth of a new system: 3-3-2-2.
It goes without saying that the Argentine team's greatest weapon is its offensive power. One corner of the two tops is locked down by Batistuta, but Crespo and Lopez are waging a fierce rivalry to be his partner. It is hard to pick one over the other, but the attack has greater breadth with Lopez in the lineup than with Crespo. This is a difficult point for the Argentinians.
In midfield, the second tops are Ortega and Gallardo. At the defensive positions, Atrada is strong at the center and Simeone is on the left and Veron on the right. The problem is in the goalkeeper and the three backs behind them. The goalkeeper should be Roa, but so far he has not quite been able to lock down the position. Also, the three weak backs will probably settle down with experience of Ayala in the center, Chamot on the right, and Sensini on the left. However, the strength of the Argentinians is that they have an offense powerful enough to make you forget their unstable defense.
*Asociacion del
Futbol Argentino
[Address]
- Viamonte 1366/76.
- 1053 Buenos Aires
[Established] 1893
*12th World Cup
(1930, 1934, 1958, 1962,
1966, 1974, 1978, 1982,
1986, 1990, 1994, 1998)
2 championships
(1978、1986) |
Marcelo GALLARDO
* MF
As the command tower with which Batistuta, Ortega, Crespo and others can move freely, Gallardo is critical. The most key player on the Argentine team is not Batistuta or Ortega, but rather the 22-year Gallardo. He is world-class in every area: pass sense, breakthrough dribbling, long shooting, and free kicking. He is always the starting point for the attack and handles the other midfielders and forwards freely. With Argentina in a period of strengthening itself by switching over to younger players, Gallardo made his pro debut at the age of 17 years and 3 months and continued to grow steadily to become a super-elite player. If opposing teams overlook Gallardo, which can happen with the star-studded Argentine team, they will pay a heavy price for that. He is Argentina's candidate for underrated star.
Daniel PASARELLA
Captain of the 1978 World Cup championship team. With the difficult period of transition between generations coinciding with the World Cup qualifying matches, Coach Pasarella was the target of much criticism from the mass media during the early going and was in danger of being replaced. However, his shift to his young favorites, such as Ortega, Crespo, Veron, and Gallardo has paid off handsomely and Argentina passed through the qualifiers in first place. Pasarella sees eye-to-eye with Coach Galliego, his close friend from the 1978 era and the Argentine people trust him deeply. However, there has also been criticism from Boca fans that he uses too many players from Libel. Pasarella will be aiming for his first World Cup championship as coach.
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