Maradona`s Argentina faces Nigeria at World Cup

Johannesburg: The memorable feature of Argentina`s performance in its opening World Cup match against Nigeria might be either some Lionel Messi inspired brilliance, or just a plain mess.

Argentina has come to South Africa with a powerful team, its group of elite goalscorers led by Barcelona`s Messi. But the haphazard direction of coach Diego Maradona has created doubts over the team`s readiness for the World Cup. With Maradona using more than 100 players during the qualifying rounds, Argentina barely made it to South Africa after winning its last qualifier, against Uruguay, and narrowly avoiding a playoff with Costa Rica for a spot at the World Cup. Leading into tomorrow`s match at the Ellis Park Stadium, Maradona seems to have decided that he just can`t have enough scorers. He is expected to leave out defender Nicolas Otamendi in order to have Messi, Real Madrid`s Gonzalo Higuain and Manchester City`s Carlos Tevez leading a three-pronged attack. With Diego Milito and Sergio Aguero available on the bench, Argentina`s scoring chances should be numerous. Yet, despite having some of the world`s best at his disposal, Maradona`s capacity to pull it all together and send a disciplined, well-drilled team onto the pitch is far from certain. Widely regarded along with Pele as the best ever footballer, "El Diego" led Argentina to victory at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and to the final against Germany four years later. But his coaching credentials are thin - just two brief spells with Argentine club teams Racing de Avellaneda and Mandiyu in the mid-1990s. Some unexpected selection choices - such as the absence of Inter Milan defender Javier Zanetti - and his bizarre relationship with the media have also made it hard for Maradona to carry over the respect he had as a player to his current assignment. Still, Argentina is the favorite to win Group B, which also includes Greece and South Korea. While Nigeria is not quite the dynamic team which lived up to its nickname of the "Super Eagles" in the 1990s, it is ranked third in Africa behind Egypt and Cameroon and reached the gold medal match at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where it lost 1-0 to Argentina. The speed of the Nigerians could cause problems for Argentina, which despite victories over Nigeria at the 1994 and 2002 World Cups shows nothing but careful admiration for the squad coached by Sweden`s Lars Lagerback. "Nigeria is a strong and fast team which could present difficulties in a first game," said midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron. "They have experienced players who play in some of the best leagues in Europe." Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze marveled at the athleticism of the Nigerians, saying he`d never seen Marseille teammate Taye Taiwo tired. Nigeria will be without injured Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, while their attack will likely be led by Malaga`s Victor Obinna and Everton`s Yakubu Aiyegbeni. In its last exhibition match before the World Cup, Nigeria defeated North Korea 3-1 this week in Johannesburg. Maradona, by contrast, chose to give his team a longer rest and they haven`t played since a 5-0 drubbing of Canada at Buenos Aires on May 24. With players from other World Cup team`s picking up injuries in recent friendlies, Maradona`s decision might be the right one and it may be a more relaxed squad which tries to win Argentina`s third World Cup title. In any case, Maradona declared himself to be "the happiest man on earth" last week and was confident his team would go deep into the to tournament. "These kids deserve to reach the final because of all of their efforts," Maradona said. "And based on what they are showing me, they are sure to achieve it." Bureau Report