Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Aguero & Messi - Argentina's perfect partners


Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini was frustrated when his striker Sergio Aguero wascalled up by Argentina for a friendly against Germany two weeks ago.
And he is exasperated to see Aguero's name in his country's squad for the coming World Cup qualifiers.
The trip to Germany came just a few days before City began their defence of the Premier League title. And Aguero's injury means that he has limited chances of being fit in time to play for his country next month. A journey across the Atlantic is quite possibly not an ideal part of the player's recovery. Mancini's position, then, is totally understandable.
But so too is that of Argentina boss Alejandro Sabella.
His complaint is that of all those in charge of contemporary national teams - the lack of time with his players means that he can hardly function as a coach. He becomes a selector. In the quest to form a cohesive group, any time he can spend with his players has to be utilised.
It hardly matters to Sabella that Aguero is unlikely to be ready for Argentina's next game, at home to Paraguay on 7 September - the player is suspended. But everything will be worthwhile if four days later Aguero is able to come off the bench and make an impact on the tricky tie away to Peru.
That is exactly what Aguero did against Colombia last November.
Injury had kept him out of the first three rounds of the 2014 qualifiers, and Argentina had made a desperate start in his absence. They had lost to Venezuela, drawn at home to Bolivia and were a goal down to Colombia when Aguero was introduced at half time.
It proved a turning point. Aguero's presence opened up space for Lionel Messi. Both were on target as Argentina struck back to win 2-1. Messi has not stopped scoring since. In the next game he weighed in with a hat-trick as Switzerland were beaten 3-1 in a friendly.

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