With the 2010 FIFA World Cup less than 100 days away, its time to breakdown the nations that will be participating in The Great Tournament. Next up are the teams in Group B, beginning with South American giants, Argentina.



Official Name: Asociación del Fútbol Argentino

Nickname: La Albiceleste

FIFA Confederation: CONMEBOL (South America)

FIFA Code: ARG

How They Qualified: Finished 4th in CONMEBOL qualifying

World Cup Appearances (Including 2010): 15

Best WC Finish: Champions, Argentina 1978 & México 1986

World Cup Record (MP: Wins - Draws - Losses): 65: 33W - 13D - 19L

Head Coach: Diego Maradona

Most Capped Player (# of caps): Javier Zanetti (136)

All-Time Goal Scoring Leader (# of goals): Gabriel Batistuta (56)

Brief Footballing History:
Argentina is one of the great footballing nations in history. On a national team level their impact on world football is powerful. Argentina is one of 2 nations to have a World Cup trophy, Confederations Cup trophy, and an Olympic Gold Medal, the other being France.

Argentina has produced some of the world's greatest talents, Alfredo Di Stefano, Mario Kempes, Gabriel Batistuta, Lionel Messi, and arguably the greatest of all-time Diego Maradona. All of them were developed by Argentina's football clubs. Teams like Boca Juniors, River Plate, Vélez Sarsfield, and others have made Argentine clubs the most successful in terms of international trophies in world football history.

Player To Watch:
All eyes will be on Barcelona superstar, Lionel Messi but the player to watch that could reap the benefits of a great World Cup is Benfica midfielder, Ángel Di María.



The 22-year old left winger from Rosario, scored the game winning, gold medal clinching goal in the final of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and his star has been on the rise ever since. Di Maria has been targeted by EPL powers, Chelsea & Manchester United and reports say he turned down a record transfer deal from Manchester City that would have made him the most expensive player in English football history. With all the attention on Messi, Di Maria will have plenty of space and opportunity in the Argentine attack to terrorize opposition defenses.

Outlook:
Argentina is always a threat to lift the trophy because of its pedigree, experience, and talent. The wild card is the coaching ability and tactical acumen of Diego Maradona. Everyone knows the history of Argentina but no one knows about Diego's Argentina and what to expect. La Albiceleste barely qualified for the WC and got by on talent. Argentina can't win The Great Tournament on talent alone so Diego Maradona will have to pull some great coaching out of his ass if Argentina are to win their 3rd World Cup.

Final 23-Man WC Roster:
Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar/NED), Mariano Andujar (Catania/ITA), Diego Pozo (Colon)

Defenders: Nicolas Otamendi (Velez Sarsfield), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich/GER), Walter Samuel (Inter Milan/ITA), Gabriel Heinze (Marseille/FRA), Nicolas Burdisso (AS Roma/ITA), Clemente Rodriguez (Estudiantes), Ariel Garce (Colon)

Midfielders: Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle/ENG), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Liverpool/ENG), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool/ENG), Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiantes), Angel Di Maria (Benfica/POR), Javier Pastore (Palermo/ITA), Mario Bolatti (Fiorentina/ITA)

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona/ESP), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid/ESP), Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Diego Milito (Inter Milan/ITA), Carlos Tevez (Manchester City/ENG)

WC Group Schedule:
June 12 vs. Nigeria
June 17 vs. Korea Republic (S. Korea)
June 22 vs. Greece

Next up in Group B is Nigeria