SB Nation World Cup World Cup 2010 -- Round of 16
+12
Whether they wanted it or not, Mexico has their rematch of 2006. But this year, Argentina is playing like a team that will need only 90 minutes to dispatch El Tri. Can Mexico find goals and a win against the Albiceleste?
Argentina has created a quarterfinal rematch against Germany, a repeat of a match-up in the same round of the 2006 tournament, after beating Mexico 3-1 on Sunday, a repeat of their Round of 16 match four year ago.
That match required extra time and a memorable Maxi Rodriguez goal. Today's match needed no such dramatics, though controversy surrounded Carlos Tevez's opening goal.
In the 25th minute, Tévez headed him a goal from inside the six yard box while Lionel Messi's pass, when played, saw him in an offside position.
Goals by Gonzalo Higuain (33') and Tévez (52') muted the argument about the goal's significant, but come after Frank Lampard's disallowed goal in the day's early match, the officiating error increased the calls for a use of video technology.
Higuain's goal, however, helped the match move on quickly from the controversy, with defender Ricardo Osorio's error becoming the new talking point.
In the 33rd minute, a pass played back by right back Efraín Juárez was misplayed by Osorio. Higuaín took the ball in alone on goalkeeper Óscar Pérez and finished for Argentina's second goal.
After halftime, a 24-yard rocket from Tévez beat Pérez into the upper-right hand corner, making it 3-0 in the 52nd minute.
Mexico striker Javier Hernández would pull one goal back in the 71st minute, a left-footed finish into the top of the net at Sergio Romero's right post, making the score 3-1.
Argentina would maintain that scoreline to move into the quarterfinals to face Germany, who beat England 4-1 in the day's first match.
Carlos Tevez's second goal, set to rank as one of the best strikes in this year's World Cup:
Chicarito, Javier Hernandez, has his second goal of the World Cup, a powerful finish from 11 yard out to beat Sergio Romero near post, pulling Mexico to within 3-1 of Argentina.
Hernandez was put through on goal by a perfect pass from Gerardo Torrado, who put his striker beyond defender Nicolas Otamendi with a ball weighted to allow Hernandez to run onto it with bringing out Romero.
The left footed finish went high into the next to cut Mexico's deficit to two in the 71st minute.
Carlos Tevez and his two goals (half of them legal) are out. Diego Maradona has inserted South American Player of the Year Juan Sebastian Veron.
Tevez has goals in the 25th and 52nd minutes, the first a controversial header from an offside position, the second a right footed rocket to open the second half.
Carlos Tévez's right-footed blast from 24-yards out into the upper right hand corner of goal has given Argentina a 3-0 lead early in the second half.
Tévez, in possession outside the box, even with the left post, played the ball to hit right, creating room before letting go of a shot that gave goalkeeper Óscar Pérez no chance.
Argentina maintains a 3-0 lead in the match's 56th minute.
Argentina goes into halftime up two against Mexico, and while they played better soccer over the first forty-five minutes, their two goals were gifts. The first gift came courtesy of the officials in the second controversial non-call of the day. The second gift came from Ricardo Osorio.
In the 25th minute, Carlos Tévez headed home the opening goal though he was in an offside position. The chaos of a play that saw goalkeeper Óscar Pérez come far off his line to make a save on the Argentine may have contributed to the non-call, but when Lionel Messi's played the ball that was headed-in by Tévez from four yards out, no players were between the forward and goal.
Eight minutes later, Efraín Juárez's pass back to Ricardo Osorio was misplayed by the central defender. Osorio touched the ball toward the center of the pitch, allowing Gonzalo Higuaín to go in alone and beat Óscar Pérez for Argentina's second goal.
Argentina would take that score into half time holding 56 percent of the half's possession. The Albiceleste have suffered 13 fouls (while committing five), six of which have been incurred by Lionel Messi.
Central midfielder Rafa Marquez, starting in the same role he's played throughout the tournament, was responsible for one of those fouls, earning Márquez the only card of the half.
Gonzalo Higuaín's fourth goal of the tournament has given Argentina a 2-0 lead over Mexico in the 33rd minute, with Mexican defender Ricardo Osario's error assisting on the Argentine's score.
Osario received a pass from Efraín Juárez, with a poor touch toward the center of the pitch allowing Higuaín to take the ball at the edge of the box and go in on goal, beating Óscar Pérez for Argentina's second goal.
Carlos Tévez headed Argentina home from an offside position in the 26th minute, giving the Albiceleste a 1-0 lead over Mexico.
The goal came after Tevez, with no players between him and goal, headed home a Lionel Messi chip from inside the six yard box.
Messi had played a through ball for Carlos Tévez, who was kept onside at 18 yards by right back Efraín Juárez. Goalkeeper Óscar Pérez came out to meet Tévez as he came onto the ball, blocking the shot, with the ball some back out to the edge of the box. Messi ran into the ball and hit it towards the empty goal, where Tévez, whose momentum had carried him toward goal, headed the ball into the empty net.
The goal was initially counted before referee Roberto Rosetti discussed the call with his linesman. After a one minute delay after the goal, Rosetti moved toward the center circle to restart play, allowing the goal.
Argentina remains head of Mexico 1-0 in the 32nd minute.
A speculative shot from right back Carlos Salcido was barely pushed against the cross bar in the eighth minute, with Andres Guardado missing by two feet to the left of goal one minute later, the two shots the first times either Mexico or Argentina have threatened goal.
Carlos Salcido's shot from near 40 yard out started innocently but nearly floated over Sergio Romero's head an into goal, with a late reaction from the goalkeeper forcing him to push it against the bar.
One minute later, an attack down the right was played back to midfielder Andres Guardado' whose left footed strike from the right of goal was put just wide, outside the far post.
Mexico and Argentina remain scoreless after 13 minutes.
Against Argentina in the Round of 16, Mexico coach Javier Aguirre is giving Adolfo "Bofo" Bautista his first start at this year's World Cup.
The 31-year-old Chivas striker will start in attack with Javier Hernández, getting his first start, and Giovani dos Santos.
From the team sheet, it's unclear how Javier Aguirre will deploy his team. The team has played a 2-3-2-3-type formation to this point, with Rafa Márquez playing an advanced position in defense that morphed into a defensive midfield role. Mexico's announced personnel could deploy in that formation or in a 4-3-3, listed below.
Mexico's starting XI for Argentina:
G - Óscar Pérez
LB - Carlos Salcido
LCB - Rafael Márquez
RCB - Francisco Rodríguez
RB - Ricardo Osorio
LM - Andrés Guardado
CM - Gerardo Torrado
RM - Efreían Juárez
F - Adolfo Bautista
F - Javier Hernández
F - Giovani Dos Santos
Diego Maradona has two small surprise for his starting Xi against Mexico.
In addition to Nicolás Burdisso replacing the injured Walter Samuel, a change we knew was coming, Maradona is staying with right back Nicolás Otamendi.
Otamendi, who plays his club soccer for Vélez Sársfield in Argentina, started against Greece with Jonas Gutierrez suspended. Otamendi had started frequently at right back leading up to the tournament.
In less of a surprise, Juan Sebastián Veron finds himself on the bench, with Maxi Rodríguez getting the start in midfield along with Javier Mascherano and Ángel Di María.
Argentina's starting XI:
G - Sergio Romero
LB - Gabriel Heinze
LCB - Nicolás Burdisso
RCB - Martín Demichelis
RB - Nicolás Otamendi
DM - Javier Mascherano
LM - Ángel Di María
RM - Maxi Rodríguez
F - Carlos Tévez
F - Gonzalo Higuaín
F - Lionel Messi
The redemption of Diego Maradona continues on Sunday, when the Don tries to push his Argentina side into a quarterfinal match-up with Germany, mirroring the Albiceleste knockout stage path from 2006.
Then, Argentina was eliminated on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals but only after they had taken-out rival Mexico in the Round of 16. Of course, "taken-out" is a bit a euphemism for what happen. The Maxi Rodríguez goal should be made into a poster with 24-point, Times New Roman
GUTTED
... captioning.
Today, Mexico gets their chance to augment history, though this year they have to worry about something more dangerous than Maxi’s left foot.
Argentina, Going Forward: Lionel Messi has yet to crack the scoresheet for Argentina, but he’s been at the center of each goal the Albiceleste’s crafted from open play. Unfortunately for Mexico, Argentina’s proven themselves adept at getting goals other ways, with three of their seven World Cup scores coming from set pieces, an area of weakness for El Tri coming into the World Cup.
Seemingly having left his days as a right wing player to the first half of 2009, Lionel Messi is Argentina’s latest incarnation of a number ten, and while he isn’t dropping as deep into attack as the role’s predecessors, Messi has become the man providing the final ball. Gonzalo Higuaín owes his hat-trick (against South Korea) to him, and Martín Palermo’s goal came after Alexandros Tzovros had trouble handling one of Messi’s shots.
There is, however, a recently crafted blue print for containing Messi. During the club season, Internazionale coach José Mourinho used two deep-sitting central midfielders to help clog the pitch in the areas Messi’s become accustomed to dominating. When Messi went back to the right flank, Inter had a strong presence at left back.
Mexico, unfortunately, is not well-situated to implement this plane, having brought a squad short on midfielders to the tournament. Mexico will be using central defender Rafa Marquez in a type of deep-sitting midfield position (part of a line of three in front of two central defenders), possibly getting help from Efraín Juárez and Gerardo Torrado. If he can’t slow down Messi, Francisco Rodriguez and Hector Moreno - with little help from wing backs - will be tasked withe managing Messi and Higuaín.
Mexico, Going Forward: Mexico has one open play goal in three matches, scored by substitute Javier Hernández in the second half against France. Torrado’s sup-par tournament combined with coach Javier Aguirre’s use of five defenders has kept Mexico from controlling as much of the play as expected. Getting little from from striker Guillermo Franco and whoever has occupied the left side, Mexico has only one of their three attackers (right wing Giovani dos Santos) performing to expectations. Synthesized: this team hasn't had a way of scoring goals.
Still, dos Santos could dominate this game. He’s matched-up against Gabriel Heinze, more of a center half at this point in his career who, while excessively maligned, is not capable of dealing with one of the quickest players in the tournament. Supporting him will be left-center half Nicolas Burdisso, filling in for Walter Samuel - a good player who will offer little to help against Mexico’s best attacker. Diego Maradona may have to task central midfielder Javier Mascherano with making Gio’s life miserable any time dos Santos wants to come into the right edge of the box.
If that happens, what is Mexico’s Plan B? Hernández, off-the-bench, is an upgrade to Franco. Cuauhtemoc Blanco has looked his age. What else? Hope Carlos Vela plays better? It’s a paucity of options that’s reflected in Mexico having only Hernández’s open-play goal.
How The Match Turns: There are not many potential turning points foreseeable in this match-up. What’s not foreseeable is how Javier Aguirre will approach the match. At some point, be it before the match or during, he will have to adjust his formation to Messi and Higuaín. Perhaps he won’t and rely on excellent performances from Marquez, Rodríguez and Moreno. If so, those players will provide the match’s turning point.
VIDEO: Argentina's Gabriel Heinze Slaps Cameraman During Goal Celebration
No matter how deft a cameraman is, in close enough quarters, his camera is a burden. Wait, check that, His camera turns him into Lenny from Of Mice And Men: clumsy to the point of physical danger.
So with that in mind, let's send an ESPN cameraman onto the field as Argentina celebrates Gonzalo Higuain's goal in the first half. Watch as the cameraman tries to get right into the heart of the celebration, completely unbeknownst to the subjects at hand, and then enjoy the completely predictable aftermath.
What do the five fingers say to the camera? Pretty much the same thing the camera said to Heinze's face, actually.
Of course, cameramen do not count as soccer players, and Heinze wasn't up for on-field discipline for that slap. Which is probably for the best, really; if the cameraman had gotten the notion to milk a card out of that incident, we could have been treated to about 3 minutes of the best first-hand footage of diving in television history. "Look, there's the sky! And then the ground! Now his hands are over the camera! Honey, this is great!"
Jun 27 4:47p by Adam Jacobi - 0 comments