There is an Argentine colloquialism that says "When Argentines hit rock bottom, they begin to dig." With Diego Maradona at the helm, he has been able to find new lows for the national team not seen in generations as far collective form.
Argentina looked like their recent selves as they had not rhythm and any attacks were being quashed by an organized Jamaican defense. The first half ended with very little action, but the second half saw the Reggae Boyz surprisingly open the scoring courtesy of a perfectly placed header by Ryan Johnson forcing goalkeeper Nelson Ibañez to pick the ball out of the nets along with his shattered World Cup chances.
Jamaica surprised everyone with the score and Argentina surprised even more with their inability to respond. For 83 minutes, Jamaica was an impenetrable fortress that the Albiceleste had no idea how to get past.
Argentina seemed to be taking this game like this was just a formality. In the end they were thanking their lucky stars after avoiding an embarrassment of biblical proportions after falling behind 1-0 to the CONCACAF representatives.
"It seemed like they were everywhere," said Maradona of the Jamaicans. "We would pass one and there would be another one there. I asked myself "How many of them are there?"
There was very little that people could draw conclusions out of in this match. The overwhelming majority of players that were called up for this friendly match will not be on the final roster for South Africa. with the exception of one player. "Martín (Palermo) is 80 percent in the World Cup squad. The other 20 percent depends on his level of play at Boca. If he keeps this level of play, he will be very important for me on the national team."
Maradona's Musings
Whatever Maradona was looking for in this match, it apparently impressed him. "With work and coaching this team will surpass the 1986 side," he said in the press conference.
"I have magic powers. I told Canuto to go and score a goal and he did," said Maradona. For Canuto, this was a very emotional moment as he suffered the death of his brother just the week before.
Despite the win, long gone were the memories of 1998 when these two teams faces off at the Parc de Princes in Paris. Overall the week has not been a good one for Argentine football if one adds Newell's Old Boys' and Colón's respective eliminations from Copa Libertadores. What was sadder was to see Argentina celebrating like they had won the final of the World Cup against Jamaica's B or C side that included amateurs and even a high school player.
Starting lineups:
Argentina: Nelson Ibañez; Gabriel Mercado, Leonel Galeano, Mariano Echeverría, Fabián Monzón; Patricio Toranzo, Juan Ignacio Mercier, Walter Acevedo, Federico Insúa; Franco Jara, Martín Palermo
Jamaica: Dwayne Miller; Shavar Thomas, Lovel Palmer, Jermaine Taylor, Adrian Reid; Rodolph Austin, Richard Edwards, Navion Boyd, Keammar Daley; Omar Cummings, Ryan Johnson
Newsodrome
El Octagono
Listen to the best MMA podcast around...in español!!!
