Tears for Argentina as resurgence comes too late

June 13, 2002

ARGENTINA crashed out of the World Cup yesterday after drawing with Sweden, becoming another heavily-tipped favourite to disappoint in a competition littered with upsets.

It is the first time since 1962 that Argentina, twice world champions, have failed to reach the second round. Rather like France, they will head home wondering how a team with such a strong qualifying track record and one with so many gifted players will not be going through to the knockout stages of the competition.

For Gabriel Batistuta, wearing the captain’s armband in the absence of Juan Sebastián Verón, it was doubly devastating. Spectators of this game in the northern reaches of Honshu, Japan’s main island, will be left with the image of Argentina’s record goalscorer trudging to the bench after being substituted. In the background, Anders Svensson was lining up the free kick that dashed Argentina’s hopes.

It was the last that the world will see of one of the greatest strikers of his generation in action and it was a sorry sight. The 33-year-old is retiring from international football after three World Cups. When the final whistle sounded, Batistuta openly wept while his team-mates on the field collapsed where they had stood. Despite a late penalty, Argentina had not done enough.

One of the most talented teams in this tournament had failed to live up to the hopes of the fans back home, badly in need of a boost during a deep economic crisis that led to the devaluation of the peso. Instead, the Argentine currency is likely to go through the floor.

Marcelo Bielsa, the coach, whose refusal to field Hernán Crespo alongside Batistuta has confounded footballing opinion, said that he was “disillusioned” by what had happened. “This is an occasion of great sadness and disappointment for me,” he said. “Carrying the tag of favourites coming into this tournament meant there was a lot of pressure on me and the team. It was very difficult.”

Bielsa, appointed four years ago after Daniel Passarella resigned, would not be drawn on whether his contract would be renewed when it expires at the end of July. “I do not know what will happen but it is not up to me to decide.” It is hard to see many people calling for him to stay in the job.

The irony is that Argentina had just started to play some of the exciting passing football of which they are capable. After a stuttering start, the side burst into life against Sweden and found a playmaker in Pablo Aimar, who emerged as the new star of Argentine football when given a chance to shine in the role ineffectually played in previous matches by Verón.

Argentina had more than two-thirds of possession during the match and looked the superior side for the entire first half. So many times they looked like scoring. Each time, it was the space that the 23-year-old Aimar was able to create in midfield that opened up the attacking flanks.

The small, curly-mopped midfield player ran through the Sweden lines choosing just the right moments to pass out to either Claudio López on the left or Javier Zanetti on the right. Both wings were quick to whip in dangerous crosses to the waiting attack. Batistuta had previously griped about the lack of a good enough service. He could have had no complaints in this match. Juan Pablo Sorín, too, was guilty of not converting chances. Two of the best in the first half fell to him. The first, in the fourteenth minute, provoked a fine block from Magnus Hedman, the Sweden goalkeeper, while the second, in the seventeenth minute, came after a brilliant run down the middle by Aimar, who passed to López for the cross from the left. Sorín headed over the bar.

While Sweden never looked like scoring in the first half, the defence held firm thanks to the presence of Johan Mjallby, amply filling the shoes of Patrik Andersson, the injured captain. His clearing headers twice denied Argentina a goal before half-time. The frustration of failing to break down Sweden had clearly spread from Bielsa to others in the Argentina dugout, as Claudio Caniggia, a substitute striker, was shown a red card in injury time for verbal abuse off the bench.

Sweden’s consistency and patience paid off soon after the restart. A cautionable foul by Matias Almeyda on Anders Svensson 25 yards out from the Argentina goal set up the free kick. Svensson curled it beautifully around the defensive wall after Henrik Larsson jumped over the ball to fake the set-piece. It sailed into the top left-hand corner of the goal in the 59th minute, leaving Pablo Cavallero for dead.

A stunned Argentina side took a while to regroup before going for the equaliser and the next addition to the scoresheet came in the 88th minute. Mattias Jonsson, a substitute for Anders Svensson, brought down Ariel Ortega inside the box for a penalty. Ortega’s penalty itself was a bad one, saved by the mighty Hedman, but Crespo was quick to pounce on the rebound. One each but too late to allow Argentina back into the game. Batistuta’s tear-smeared face said it all.

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