Argentina - Colombia
06.06 23:00
Diego Maradona is without a doubt the biggest name in the history of the Argentinean football. Words don’t need to be spent to describe what kind of player he was, but his coaching qualities are still questionable. A 6:1 defeat against Bolivia seriously embarrassed the Argentinean national team and their coach. It’s not just about getting embarrassed but their qualification for the World Cup is not in serious danger. If they don’t beat Colombia, the path to South Africa will be much harder, especially cause they’re awaiting a very tough and uncertain match in Ecuador. Argentina are traditionally playing tough against Colombia, and before that infamous match against Bolivia, their biggest defeat in the qualies was back in the USA World Cup qualies 15 years ago, when Colombia crushed them by 5:0 in Buenos Aires. In the first round of the qualies for this World Cup, Colombia defeat Gauchos by 2:1. As far as the quality of the teams is concerned, then every advantage should go in favor of the Argies. They have extremely quality and talented players at all positions, and that primarily refers to their attack, which might be the best one in the world. Phenomenal Messi and excellent Aguero can outplay any defense, and the paradox is that Tevez would have a spot in almost any world national team’s starting 11, while he has to seek his chance from the bench here. The main problem is their organization in the midfield. Their creative leader was Riquelme, but due to bad relations with Maradona, he decided not to play for Argentina. Maradona decided to replace him by again calling up Veron. Thirty-four year old Veron is playing great for Estudiantes, and was very thrilled he got called up again. Regarding the rest of the squad, Maradona won’t be making many changes and only goalie Carizzo will be replaced by Andujar. The following squadhas been announced: Andujar; Demichelis, Diaz, Heinze, Gago; Mascherano, Gutierrez, Veron; Messi, Aguero, Tevez. As it can be seen, Maradona decided to field a very offensive formation with three strikers, so we can expect their attacks from the first minute of the match.
Small chances
Colombia aren’t even a shadow of the national team that once had the key role at the World Cups. Although they still have chances to qualify for South Africa, those chances are small, especially if the quality of their game is taken into account. They started the qualies with a surprising win over Argentina, but then it all started going bad for them, and the results were totally unsatisfactory. In the 12 matches, they only scored six goals, which makes them the worse in that category along with Peru. They made their fans angry with constant defensive tactics in every match. That did bring them a few good results away from home – they drew with Brazil and Ecuador, while they surprisingly lost at home to Uruguay and Paraguay. They will enter the clash against Argentina with a desire to get one point by keeping a clean sheet. Coach Lara still hasn’t named the squad, but there’s a big chance they will field one attacker and strengthened midfield. River Plata’s striker Garcia will start off the bench, while midfielder Torres will replace him. The lineup could look like this Ospina; Perea, Cordoba, Yepes, Armero; Vargas, Guarin,Bedoya, Marin, Torres; Rodallega.
The Gauchos are shootin` in all directions
Although these South-American qualifiers have also shown that any kind of results and outcomes are possible, I believe there won’t be any surprises in this clash. Colombia will attempt to defend at the Monumental, but the chances they succeed in that are almost zero. Atomic forwards of the Argentina’s nat’l team will be too much for them, and we can expect their defensive wall will be destroyed in the first half already. Once that happens, Colombia will additionally open up, and that will be even more fatal for them and the scoreline in this match. I expect an easy home win, and plenty of goals in this match. Since the odds on the home win is pretty small, I suggest an over 3 bet. The risk is a bit higher but I think it’s realistic Argentina will avenge for their embarrassing result from the previous qualifying round, and revenge Colombia for the defeat in the first round of these qualies.
Tip: Over 3.0 Goals, Odds 2.15;
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