Argentina will be looking to secure a place in the Quarter-Finals when they face Colombia on Monday in both teams’ second match in the Copa America Venezuela 2007.
In a way, they will both be playing to put away the memories of a 5-0 loss.
Colombia because the lost by that score against Paraguay last Thursday in Group C opening game and they can’t play for the draw as that will be too risky coming into the last round of matches.
Argentina, because it will be the first time that Coco BASILE will face his nemesis. A side that applied the worst treatment our National Team ever received at home, by defeating the Albicelestes 5-0 in the World Cup Qualifiers for USA 94.
Even though Coco minimized the importance of this match by saying Argentina’s true South American classic matches are against Brazil and Uruguay, I would like to think that he will be all out for revenge. That blow he took after that 5-0 defeat in Buenos Aires was impossible to take. The media went all out to ask for his head. The team was in shambles and he even had to call Diego out of retirement to lead us past Australia in the last chance we had to qualify for the World Cup.
14 years have past now. And I think Coco is beyond those horrible memories from 1993. In a way, Colombians are also beyond it.
A friend of mine, Juan Carlos from Cali, once told me that it was the worst result in the history of Colombia, his country.
I said: “What? You won 5-0 in Buenos Aires, playing the most beautiful football I’ve witnessed in my life and you said it was your worst result? Get a grip man!”.
But he replied: “Yes, Seba, it was all so very lovely that night and the day after. But by beating Argentina 5-0 in Buenos Aires, we thought we were going to be World Champions. There was nobody thinking we were going to lose a game again in this life. After that game, we played a lot of friendlies and we won them all. Then, that complacency, that started that cold Buenos Aires night, eventually killed us”
I never saw it that way until I had that conversation with Juan Carlos. In a funny twist, that result had the opposite effect on Argentina and the team started to build up and eventually showed some great football in the USA, before that doping scandal and the elimination that followed.
Even though Lionel MESSI, for example, was 6 at that time and Carlos VALDERRAMA is 45 now, this game will have a lot to do with history and both, Cafeteros and Albicelestes will be looking to avenge a 5-0 result.
I like our chances. Do you?
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3 comments:
I like our chances. we are definitely the better team but that doesn't always equal victory.
I said it before, I worry about our lack of pace in the midfield with veron and the nameless one playing.
We will see what happens.
found this on youtube. If you didn't see the the argentina-usa game. He has posted the whole game.
http://youtube.com/user/tubesoccer123
Great find!
about columbia. seba pretty much covered it all. they'll play offensive possession, and we'll do the same. but we're more disciplined defensively which should give us a significant edge.
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