And What About Football?

The Argentina rugby team set a record recently by winning by the largest margin in their entire Rugby history. In the opening match at St. Denis stadium in Paris, Argentina overcame the hot favourites France, shattering the hopes of the home nation.. Rugby is a popular sport in Argentina. Rugby stars are gaining massive popularity with their faces splashed across magazine frontpages and the captain of their national team has enshadowed even the country's footballing stars.

The basketball team recently qualified for the Olympics tournament in Las Vegas against all odds. Without six regular members of the team which bagged the gold in the last Olympics – Ginobili, Nocioni, Oberto, Pepe Sanchez, Herrmann and Wolkowiski – the Argentine team sensationally qualified for the upcoming Olympics in China, even though only two teams have been guaranteed a spot in the premium tournament – it is no need to point out that one of these was reserved for a strong US Dream Team. The Gauchos battled hard, eliminated their fierce rivals Brazil in the semi finals and only lost two matches, both against USA.

On the other hand, Argentinian football is suffering. The team hasn't won any major international title in 14 years. The win against Australia in Melbourne, albeit a friendly, did come as a boost ahead of the start of the South American World Cup qualifiers, but the recent Copa America final defeat against Brazil still hurts. The Argentinian team had a marvelous tournament all the way till the finals and were absolulty convinced that the national team would lift the trophy which made the final loss even more tough to swallow.

The national team coach Alfio "Coco" Basile appears to be losing the faith of those back home. For the umpteenth time, Coco experimented with the team in search of the ideal eleven against Australia and it appears that the Argentinians are getting tired of his constant tinkering. On a brighter note, Lionel Messi was the star of the show once again with his trademark flair, while Martin Demichelis did a good job in the back of defence in a position which traditionally "belonged" to captain Roberto Ayala. The Argentinians are confident the national team will qualify for the next World Cup, but they are more concerned about their performance there. One mistake is all it takes to be out of contention and you're given 4 long years to reflect.

In the opening match of the qualifiers Argentina are to host Chile. The match will have a very special meaning because of Chile's new coach, Marcelo Bielsa – the same coach who was sitting on Argentina's bench in the previous qualification cycle. Pundits in Chile are thrilled by the perforamance of national team in the recently friendly against Austria in Vienna and many believe Bielsa's appointment has brought life back to the team. Chile usually play exciting football, but routinely fail in the crucial stages, which consequently leaves their silverware shelves empty. Bielsa's major task is to influence team morale and the players' attitude towards the national jersey.

It is questionable how Bielsa will be received at Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires and even harder to predict whether he'll be greeted with applause or jeers. I assume "Loco" will have a hard time in the visiting team's dugout, but, considering the reputation Basile currently has in Argentina, I also wouldn't be surprised if the fans greet Bielsa with cheers.

English version of the article writen by Sathish Kumar.