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Regarded as one of the most talented teams heading into the tournament, Argentina was under achieving under coach
Diego Maradona. With the #1 player in the world in Lionel Messi and arguably the hardest working midfielder in the
business in Carlos Tevez, Argentina turned their fortunes around just in time to clinch the (fourth) last automatic spot in
the South American zone qualifiers.
But they Argentina got off to a good start at World Cup South Africa and so did Maradona with his soaring popularity
as one of the world’s greatest players. Maradona got constant applause whenever he appeared on the sidelines or
was shown on the stadium big screen.
It seemed like the more attention Maradona received the more it distracted him. At times he went out of his way to
demonstrate his football skills with balls that went out of bounds. With the cameras focus on him at the sidelines, his
theatrics increased as his tactical awareness took a nose dive.
The Argentina-Korea Republic match was a typical example of Maradona’s inability to adjust his team defensively,
while calling more signals at the team bench than a policeman directing traffic at a busy intersection .
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