Albiceleste Bringing Back that Beauty to the Game

Football has returned, I mean it. The game is back in the hands of the people who know how to play with the ball. Argentina thrashing Serbia and Montenegro with half a dozen golas is not a game with only one team playing. The former Yugoslavian team came to the World Cup with a qualifying campaign in which they conceded only one goal. The team hailed for their defence has been on the receiving end of the Albiceleste attack. After twenty long years, the Beautiful Game is alive.

A perfect example of their beauty is the second of the six goals Argentina have scored. The attack started from the midfield. A string of 24 uninterrupted passes between eight Argentine players made the move. The ball was in the box to Crespo. In one magical back-flick he gave the ball to Cambiasso. No shilly-shallying to strike on goal. The ball is in the back of the net. The commentator cries out of joy, “If you love football, you will love this goal”. All the goals were exhibitions of attractive team play. In their opening match it was the ‘silent composer’ Riquelme the architect of the goals. This time it was a combined effort.

In Riquelme they have a player who conducts an orchestra. In Crespo they have a proven goal getter, not simply a scorer. Ayala and Heinze stabilize the defence. Captain Sorin and Maxi Rodriguez make those darting runs through the wings. Mascherano and Cambiasso sit in front of the back-four and connect them with the midfield. Saviola has regained the form that made him once to be compared to the great Diego. Tevez can anytime come on from the bench and will not fall down to tackles and cry out for a free-kick, he just goes on running and is a lethal scorer too. Then there is the hottest sensation, Lionel Messi who can do anything. This group of players assembled by Jose Pekerman has got the ability to win it, what that is left is to accomplish that great feat. Pekerman has groomed these players when he was the youth team coach and has got a fantastic chemistry working between them. The spirit in the camp is high and now that they have shown it on the field.

Two games in the group stage are not enough to judge a side. They are still to face the young might of Dutchmen in the group. Then comes the dreaded knockout matches. But the signs are positive. If they continue to play this brand of attractive passing football and score freely, they will be a team to beat. Brazil, who had a narrow escape, claimed they were playing with a plan after doing it poorly. France and their most hyped up player, Henry, who was always a failure in big matches (Champions League final is a recent instance) couldn’t score and they blamed it on the grass of the pitch. Now Argentina is sounding alarm bells to all of them. It is not just the quick bursts that produce moments of joy to cherish. The dexterity of artistic framework woven on the field is a result of a lot of diligence, the design of creativity and the ultimate expansion of the the figurine.