Argentina went to the 1990 FIFA World Cup with no qualifiers needed as being the last champion. Previous to World Cup the national team played some several matches with no good results: Argentina lost to Mexico (0-2) and Scotland (0-2), winning just one of the five games played (to Israel, chosen again to be the last rival before the tournament as it had been four years before). In addition, Jorge Valdano (one of the most important players in Mexico) trained hardly in order to be in good physical condition for the Cup but Bilardo decided not to include him in the definitive list of players. Due to that Valdano said his famous cite: I swam through the ocean but I drowned at the shore. [42] Argentina finally debuted at the inaugural match in Giuseppe Meazza Stadium of Milan , being defeated by Cameroon (which played its 2nd World Cup) by 1-0. This result caused a great surprise in Argentina[43] so the national team line-up was based on the 1986 World Champion. Argentina won its second match against the Soviet Union 2-0 (where titular goalkeeper Nery Pumpido seriously injured being replaced by Sergio Goycochea for the rest of the tournament), and drew 1-1 with Romania the last game of first round. The team qualified to the second round, where faced Brazil in Stadio delle Alpi of Turin. In a match where Brazil played much better than Argentina, with forwards Muller and Careca repeatdly shooting to the goal but missing the target (the ball clashed Argentinas posts a couple of times, while Goycoechea stopped other shots) Argentina (with Maradona in bad physical condition) resisted Brazilian offensive movements during the first half, which ended 0-0. In the second half, Brazil was not so persistent as it had been during the first 45 minutes, so Argentina took advantage of the situation. When 9 minutes left to the end of the game, Maradona took the ball in the centre of the field, dribbled 3 opponents and throwed a precise pass to winger Claudio Caniggia who advanced with the ball scoring a goal after dribbling goalkeeper Taffarel . Argentina won the match 1-0 eliminating its arch-rival in a World Cup for the first time. That match is still regarded by the media and fans as one of the most remarkable moments of an Argentine national team. [44][45]
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 04:16:20 +0000
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