Argentina not too poor despite economic slump

Well, the Argentinians - torn apart by civil war - were also written off months before hosting the Cup in 1978.

Even I fell into the trap, following hot on the heels of Dutch wizard Johan Cruyff refusing to take part for fear of street violence.

In the end, Argentina was crowned on home ground, beating Johan Neeskens' Holland 3-1 in extra time.

Mexico, 1986. Torn by two bitter camps and riddled with news of an impending illegitimate child for its best player, it again triumphed.

That 'best' player happened to be Diego Maradona, whose Italian girlfriend Cristina Sinagra, then eight months pregnant, exposed their secret at home in Naples and the headlines screamed 'The Sinagra Affair' a few days before the tournament began.

But, after an acrimonious takeover of the captain's armband from the leader of the rival camp, the 1978 winning captain Daniel Passarella, precocious Maradona led his country to its second title.

As Argentina could pull itself together on two discouraging, contrasting occasions - the former political and the latter personal - is there any reason to believe the current lot will not win the Cup despite a third upheaval?

Gabriel Batistuta, a striker who can score from anywhere, hit the nail on the head last week when he said: 'Our objective is to do well. But I hope if we were to win the World Cup, it would not be exploited by our politicians.'

About the only problem seeping through today's ranks was coach Marcelo Bielsa's threat to resign last month because his contract, signed in greenbacks but paid in pesetas, almost became a worthless piece of paper in the wake of currency devaluation.

And it is also a given in the game that once the whistle goes, footballers of high calibre will get on with it.

Bielsa said last week: 'The thought of not going to the World Cup never crossed my mind. Collective interests come before individual ones. That's the way I behave.'

So let us watch the coach play his collective brand of the game's latest attacking mode, the adventurous 3-4-1-2 which sends out five forwards at the peak of its rampage.

Imagine, AS Roma's all-angle Batistuta and Lazio's hefty Hernan Crespo as the front two. Valencia's Kily 'Speedy' Gonzalez bursting down the left, River Plate's twinkle-toed Ariel Ortega down the right, and Manchester United's visionary Juan Veron lurking behind the two strikers.

A few strides back in the middle is where Lazio's Diego Simeone operates - he, who is still Argentina's No 1 destroyer of anything flowing from the other side.

Alongside him would be the overlapping Javier Zanetti of Inter Milan on the right, and Cruzeiro's Juan Pablo Sorin backing Gonzalez's penetration on the left.

To complete the formula, Bielsa has three of the game's steadiest defenders: Valencia's Roberto Ayala, Roma's Walter Samuel and AC Milan's Jose Chamot, plus big German Burgos of Atletico Madrid in goal.

On the bench, Lazio's all-rounder Claudio Lopez, Celta Vigo's pacey Gustavo Lopez and veteran Claudio Caniggia complete the attacking array.

Indeed, of all the good 3-4-1-2s - be it that of Portugal, Germany or Italy - it looks as if Bielsa's has the most impact, the most bite.

In the South American qualifiers, Argentina ran away with the top ticket, winning 13 games out of 18, drawing four and only losing one, to Brazil 1-3 away.

A 12-point gap from second-placed Ecuador (43 to 31 points) is surely a respectable record for a team, which is going into its second World Cup with the firm promise of doing better than its quarter-final finish in France 98.

But first, it must come through the 'Group of Death', in the company of arch-enemy England, talented Nigeria and fast-improving Sweden.

It will be close, surely. But once through to the next round, it will meet the likes of Senegal or China, which would mean a semi-final showdown with Brazil.

Call that D-Day for both sides. A Cup final, indeed.

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