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December 8, 2013

2014 FIFA World Cup teams: Argentina (CONMEBOL), prominent players in 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifying (theoretical best XI for Argentina, with 6 other player-options listed).

Filed under: Argentina — admin @ 10:26 pm




Argentina national team. CONMEBOL (South America). Nickname: La Albiceleste (The White and Sky Blue). Home jersey: sky blue and white vertical stripes, with black trim.
-Argentina is in Group F (with Bosnia, Iran, and Nigeria). ‘2014 FIFA World Cup/Group F‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
FIFA World Cup qualification: 2014 is Argentina’s 16th qualification out of 19 tries [note: Argentina withdrew from the qualifying for both the 1938 and for the 1950 World Cups, while in 1954 Argentina did not enter the qualifying for the World Cup at all. The only other time Argentina did not qualify for a WC tournament was for 1970. So technically, overall, Argentina have made it to the World Cup in 16 out of a possible 20 times].
Argentina has qualified for the World Cup in: 1930, 1934, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014.
Previous WC Q: 2010, Quarterfinals / 4-0-1.
Highest World Cup finish:
1978, Champions / 5-1-1.
1986: Champions / 6-1-0.

Population of Argentina: 41.6 million {2013 estimate}. Capital (and largest city): Buenos Aires, pop. 12.8 million (metropolitan area) {2011 figure}.

-Coach of Argentina: Alejandro SabellaAlejandro Sabella‘. Sabella has had the job since July 2011. Sabella was a midfielder who played with River Plate, Sheffield United, Leeds United, and Estudiantes, winning Argentine titles with River in 1975, and with Estudiantes de La Plata in 1982 and ’83. He went on to coach as Daniel Passarella’s number two for many years (at Parma, the Uruguay national football team, Monterrey, and Corinthians). Sabella was hired to manage Estudiantes in March of 2009, with immediate success, guiding them to their winning of the 2009 Copa Libertadores title in July 2009, and, half-a-year later, the Argentine title for the 2012-Apertura.
-Captain of Argentina squad: Lionel Messi. FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, age 26 and born on 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina, is the first player ever to win 4 Ballons d’Or (2009-12). He also has the Guinness World Records title for most goals in a season, with 91 goals scored during the 2011-12 season {see this, ‘BARCELONA STAR LIONEL MESSI SETS NEW GOAL-SCORING RECORD‘ (guinnessworldrecords.com)}.
-Squad:. Argentina has questions in defense but boasts a wealth of attacking options. They will probably play 4-3-3 for some of their World Cup matches in Brazil. Aside from the Higuaín/ Messi/ Agüero trio featured in the illustration below, coach Sabella also will likely utilize PSG striker Ezequiel Lavezzi, and maybe former Boca Juniors and current Internazionale forward Rodrigo Palacio. In the midfield, besides the di Maria/ Mascherano/ Maxi Rodríguez trio featured below, Sabella might also utilize Lazio defensive midfielder Lucas Biglia, as well as Boca Juniors defensive midfielder Fernando Gago. Gago, and Rodríguez (of Newell’s Old Boys), are the only two outfield players selected for the 2014 WC squad who play in the Argentine first division. Despite his solid season in Italy in 13/14 with Juventus, striker Carlos Tévez will not feature at all in the squad, as he has fallen out of favor with Sabella (and the coach does not want to risk upsetting the team’s chemistry and discomfiting Messi, the team’s talisman). Argentina are expected to advance far into the tournament, and have a real a shot of going all the way. Odds for an Argentine World Cup win are 9/2, which is the second-best odds behind hosts Brazil, at 3/1 {see this}.

[Note: squad chart caps & goals are updated to Argentina’s Semifinals match on 9 July 2014, with all Argentina players (19 players) who have appeared in the 2014 World Cup shown ‘Argentina national football team/Current squad’ (en.wikipedia.org).
Below: Theoretical Best XI for Argentina (with 8 other player-options further below) -
argentina_2014-fifa-world-cup_squad_best-xi_alternate-options_a-sabella_t_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
Map of Argentina on globe, by Addicted04 at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina.
Map of Argentina with provinces by NordNordWest at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Argentina_location_map.svg.
Argentina home jersey photo and photo of Argentina badge, from adidas.com/argentina-home-jersey.
Coach,
Alejandro Sabella, photo from AFP via conmebol.com.
Goalkeeper,
Sergio Romero (AS Monaco), photo from ligue1.com/joueur/romero-sergio.
Defenders,
Pablo Zabaletta (Manchester City), photo from uk.eurosport.yahoo.com.
Federico Fernández (Napoli), photo by Frank Augstein/AP Photo via bigstory.ap.org/photo-gallery/germany-soccer-champions-league-4.
Hugo Campagnaro (Inter), photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Ezequiel Garay (Benfica), photo by Getty Images Europe via metro.co.uk.
Midfielders,
Ángel di María, photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Maxi Rodríguez (Newells Old Boys), photo by Télam via utbolparatodos.com.ar.
Forwards,
Gonzalo Higuaín (Napoli), photo by Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona), photo by David Ramos/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Sergio Agüero (Manchester City), photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Other options for squad -
Rodrigo Palacio FW/W (Inter), photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Ezequiel Lavezzi FW(PSG), photo by Harry Engels/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Lucas Biglia MF (Lazio), photo from spaziocalcio.it.
Fernando Gago DM (Boca Juniors), photo from labombonera.com.ar/fernando_gago.
Marcos Rojo CB/LB (Sporting CP), photo from zerozero.pt via media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com.
José María Basanta DF/LB (Monterrey), photo by Mexsport via deportes.terra.com/futbol/liga-mx.
Martín Demichelis CB/DM (Manchester City), photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Enzo Pérez CM/LM (Benfica), photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.

Thanks to the contributors at ‘2014 FIFA World Cup qualification‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
Thanks to the contriutors at ‘Argentina national football team‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
Thanks to http://www.transfermarkt.com/en/, for player-position details.
Thanks to Sam Kelly & company at Hand of Pod, for Argentina national team info, handofpod.wordpress.com.

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