Argentina - The time is now !

              THE BLUE BRIGADE

             Memories of South Africa and the Copa America a year later is now long gone . For Lionel Messi and his current group of magical footballers its now or never. Playing at their home continent which also happens to be the home of their eternal rivals , Argentina finally look set to go all the way in what is arguably the best sport festival in the world.

                Argentina finished atop the CONMEBOL qualifying fixtures with 32 points forcing 35 goals and conceding 15 along the way followed by Colombia and Chile in second and third positions respectively.With the authoritative and pragmatic Alejandro Sabella at the bench orchestrating things for the albiceleste, this could be their best ever chance to claim the most coveted trophy in all of football .

Alejandro Sabella:

Maradona disguised Messi into El Diego playing him as the classic number 10 in South Africa with all of Argentina's attack going through Messi. Argentina played well against the smaller teams but crashed out at the quater-final stage by a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of a superior German side who just knew what they were doing. Messi fought a lone battle without the support of Veron who used to be Messi's chief supplier being dropped in favour of a certain Carlos Tevez against a superior German midfield marshalled by Swainsteigger and company . Football has changed a lot and it was no more a one-man show in contrast to El-Diego's 86' exploits.Then came Batista who tried to convert Argentina into Barcelona playing Messi in a similar role he played week in week out at Barcelona , 'the false 9'. The system failed again simply because one cannot just play like Barcelona in a fortnight and Argentina did not a have a certain Xavieista to make things work behind Messi. 

 

 Then came Alejandro Sabella who made his mark in the side by giving the armband to his best player in the planet and things never looked  better in the recent past . Sabella is pragmatic in a way he understands that neither can Argentina repeat an 86' nor can they play like Barcelona . He built a defensive team around the attacking prowess of the " Fab 4 " - Lionel Messi , Sergio Aguero , Angel Dimaria and Gonzalo Higuain . His side admitted that they cannot play an attractive possession based football but rather started playing to their strengths . The result saw Messi netting 10 goals in the qualifying , his best ever period in a Argentina shirt.

  

Squad :

Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (Monaco), Mariano Andujar (Catania), Agustin Orionu (Boca)

Defenders: Ezequiel Garay (Benfica), Federico Fernandez (Napoli), Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City), Marcos Rojo (Sporting), Jose Maria Basanta (Monterrey), Hugo Campagaro (Inter), Nicolas Otamendi (Atletico Mineiro), Martin Demichelis (Manchester City), Gabriel Mercado (River), Lisandro Lopez (Getafe

Midfielders: Fernando Gago (Boca), Lucas Biglia (Lazio), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Ever Banega (Newell's), Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Newell's), Ricardo Alvarez (Inter), Augusto Fernandez (Celta), Enzo Perez (Benfica), Jose Sosa (Atletico Madrid), Fabian Rinaudo (Catania)

Forwards: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Paris Saint-Germain), Rodrigo Palacio (Inter)

Playing style and formation :

Formation : 4-3-3

The Probable 11 :

Argentina play lightning quick counter-attacking football but still have enough quality to slowly build up an attack from the midfield. Ideally Romero should start at goal ( Only questionable decision of Sabella choosing a bench player over the likes of Willy ). The defense should feature Garay and Federico Fernandez as the duo have been playing together for quite some time now with Zabalata and Rojo guarding the flanks. Mascherano will shield the defence at his natural position of defensive midfield. Injury concerns to Gago might tip the coin in favour of the ex- Valencia number 10 , Ever Banega as he looks to start ahead of injured gago in the right side of a 3 man midfield. Angel Di maria should play as the most advanced midfielder in the left. The attack would feature a fluid constantly changing trio of Aguero, Messi and Higuain with Messi playing a slighlty deeper role than the other two.

Style :

The defense is expected to stay as deep as possible as Argentina might play a conservative style of football. Mascherano might have become a CB but still hasn't forgotten his liverpool days and looks set to play the sweeper/destroyer role quite comfortably . Zabalata can maraud the right flank as Rojo is more defensive minded in the left flank. Ever Banega's ball playing skills would be largely influensive as he would shoulder the responsibilty of supplying Messi with the ball .With Dimaria in the midfield the attacks are going to be lightning quick as he acts as the linch pin between the midfield and attack. Now comes the cruicial part , the final 3- The trio of Messi Aguero Higuain , inarguably the best attack in the world. With Aguero and Higuain cutting in from the flanks , Messi has so much space to operate from the middle . The attack is going to be fluid at best with Messi and Aguero roaming across and Higuain happy being the poacher . Dimaria's inch perfect crosses should keep the opponent's defence on their toes.

Key Players :

Lionel Messi :

This is Messi's best ever chance to win donning the famous blue stripes.Messi is 27 and nearing the prime years of his career . Messi might have had a less illustrious season at Barcelona scoring (just)  40 goals by his standards but is optimistic to turn things around for the Albiceleste. This is your year Messi , go ahead , take the world cup and stamp your mark in history .

Angel Dimaria :

After emerging as a central playmaking figure for Real Madrid late in the 2013-2014 season -- and helping them to win the Champions League -- the former winger firmly established himself as one of the most versatile and most deadly attacking players in the world. There isn't simply no better crosser of the ball than Dimaria currently in the whole of football . Dimaria is playing the best football of his life and is the key-figure of Sabella's team.

Expectations :

Pitted with the likes of Bosnia and Nigeria expect the top seed to top the group, draw Ecuador in the Round of 16, and set its sights on a quarterfinal showdown against Portugal or Belgium.

Predicted finish  : Could face one of Germany or Brazil in the finals and come out as Champions.