The Guardian (U.K) Titula: Can Anyone Stop Argentina ?

El Diario de the Guardian uno delos mas duros con los Argentinos Titula y hace esta nota. Para Beckham que lo mira por TV!!

Imperious Argentina give Serbia six of the best
Argentina 6-0 Serbia & Montenegro

Rodriguez 6 41, Cambiasso 31, Crespo 78, Tevez 84, Messi 88

Jon Brodkin in Gelsenkirchen
Saturday June 17, 2006
The Guardian


Dumped out of the last World Cup at the group stage after a disastrous campaign in which they scored just twice, both times from set pieces, Argentina are clearly in for the long haul this time. Yesterday's magnificent performance humiliated Serbia & Montenegro and produced a series of stunning goals, the second of which could prove the tournament's finest team effort. It said everything that the move was finished by Esteban Cambiasso, a defensive midfielder. Diego Maradona roared his approval at what his countrymen served up.

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The combination of silk and steel - when required - was marvellous, and the margin of victory could have been greater. Argentina's players ended by twirling shirts above their heads in front of their celebrating fans to mark what must rank among the finest performances of any World Cup. Serbia & Montenegro are competing as a unit for the final time in Germany, and this Argentina display felt good enough to beat two countries.
Talk of them taking Brazil's crown is now inevitable. With Javier Saviola sharp in movement and possession, Maxi Rodríguez bursting from midfield to score twice, and Juan Román Riquelme decorating proceedings with a number of fine touches, Argentina were 3-0 ahead by half-time. As if to tease every other country with the depth of their attacking talent, the South Americans then brought on Lionel Messi and Carlos Tévez. The electric Messi set up a goal and scored another on his long-awaited return from injury and Tévez also found the net. For all the talk of Brazil's resources up front, Argentina can match that.

Although the final three strikes came after a flailing Serbia had been reduced to 10 men by the 65th-minute sending-off of Mateja Kezman, that should not detract from Argentina's showing. They demonstrated their ability to hold possession and suddenly quicken the pace of the game with phenomenal thrusts, and their fluid interplay featured countless excellent flicks, passes and movements as they showed they share a wavelength and touched the heights. In the second half they were content to play in bursts, rather than at full throttle, but what bursts!

This victory and a win over a tough Ivory Coast have them galloping towards the second round and their run will surely go much further. Serbia had conceded only two goals in their previous 12 competitive matches and got to this tournament by winning a qualifying group that included Spain, who scored against them once. Admittedly, Serbia were weakened here without Nemanja Vidic and their left-back Ivica Dragutinovic.

With Riquelme moved into a central position, having played the previous game from the left, Argentina would surely have been 4-0 up by half-time had Hernán Crespo not been wrongly flagged offside. Crespo would get his goal later from Messi's cross. Before half-time Saviola more than caught the eye, and it is extraordinary to think Barcelona have told him he can leave. By drifting from side to side and dropping deep he found space from which to torment Serbia.

His pass, after Juan Pablo Sorín's backheel, enabled Rodríguez to put Argentina ahead, but the best was yet to come. In a blur of a move, Serbia were two down. The ball was transferred from Saviola to Riquelme and then to Cambiasso, who played a pass to Crespo and ran on to receive the Chelsea striker's backheeled return before finishing. The closed roof here almost came off.

Rodríguez made it three after Saviola had robbed the dithering Mladen Krstajic and drifted past Milan Dudic before having a shot parried, but it was not just Argentina's attacking that stood out. They prevented Serbia from posing a threat apart from one whiff of goal early in the second half, with Javier Mascherano shielding the defence well and dropping into a centre-half position to cover when required. Although Sorín looked to attack down the left, Nicolás Burdisso rarely got forward from right-back, ensuring Argentina almost invariably had three defenders and Mascherano to deal with any breaks. In Roberto Abbondanzieri they also have a goalkeeper comfortable catching crosses.

Serbia were broken even before Kezman showed his frustration with a studs-up challenge on Mascherano for which he received a red card. Messi duly set up Crespo before Tévez beat two defenders to slot in number five, and another fine move involving Tévez and Crespo paved the way for Messi to finish the rout. As they might say in Barnsley - but not Buenos Aires - it was like watching Brazil.

Asi describieron el segundo Gol: "31 mins: Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Back-heel from Crespo. Cambiasso ... goal!

Awesome Argentina dance to top of Group C

Argentina 6 - 0 Serbia & Montenegro
Rodriguez 6, 41; Cambiasso 29; Crespo 78; Tevez 84: Messi 87

Paul Doyle
Friday June 16, 2006


The general consensus after this tournament's first series of matches was that only Argentina, Spain and the Czech Republic had shown the fizz, finesse and fearsome finishing of potential world champions. But on the evidence of Argentina's awesome destruction of Serbia and Montenegro today, the Spaniards and Czechs will have to up their game considerably if they're to thwart the boys from Buenos Aires.
Jose Pekerman's troops began at a cracking pace and were three up at half-time before adding another three after the break - two of the goals, in particular, being works of rare beauty.


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Serbia and Montenegro are certainly no mugs - they had conceded only one goal in 10 qualifying matches - but they were dominated from the outset, Argentina forcing two corners in the first minute. Seven minutes later, Maxi Rodriguez knocked the ball wide to Juan Pablo Sorin, who helped it on to Javier Saviola with a wonderful flick. The little striker skipped past his marker to lay the ball into the path of the in-rushing Rodriguez, who finished what he'd started by firing first-time past goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevric.
The second goal, after 32 minutes, was even better, concluding a majestic 24-pass move that went the whole length of the pitch. The climax came when Juan Roman Riquelme exchanged a snappy one-two with Saviola, who clipped it to Esteban Cambiasso at the edge of the box. The Internazionale man took one touch to find Hernan Crespo, who returned the ball to him with a smart back-heel and Cambiasso blasted it into the roof of the net. If you didn't see it, don't worry: it will be shown on TV over and over again for decades to come.

The fact that Cambiasso had only come on as a substitute 14 minutes earlier in place of the injured Luis Gonzalez proved that in addition to class, speed and cohesion, the Albiceleste have strength in depth. When Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez came on in the second half, the point was underlined emphatically.

The third goal was more straight-forward than the previous two but illustrated yet another quality of this exhilirating young Argentinina team: their hunger. Two minutes before half-time, 5ft 5' Saviola chased a rare punt from defence and outmuscled 6ft 4' Mladen Krstajic before twisting past Milan Dudic and into the box. His low shot was blocked by Jevric, but as ever an Argentinian was first to the rebound, Rodriguez pouncing to slam it home.

Argentina had the match won and everyone knew it, from the elated Diego Maradona dancing in the stands to the outclassed Serbian players battling gamely throughout the second half in a bid to preserve their pride. Savo Milosevic even had a chance to grab a goal for Ilija Petkovic's charges, but he headed weakly wide from six yards after excellent work on the right by Danijel Ljuboja.

Though they played with slightly less adventure in the second period, Argentina continued to zing the ball around via sublime one-touch football or extravagant dribbles and flicks. Any straw of hope the Serbians were clutching was ripped from their grasp in the 65th minute, when Mateja Kezman was harshly sent off for a two-footed tackle on Javier Mascherano, even though he got the ball.

When Messi joined the fray moments after that the Serbians must have feared a massacre and, sure enough, the precocious Barcelona forward soon created a fourth goal, hurtling down the left to deliver a low cross to the back post, where Crespo slid it into the net.

Six minutes from time, it was the turn of another substitute, Tevez, to bring his tricks to the party. Collecting a dainty chip from Mascherano, the 22-year-old nutmegged one defender then barged past another before curling it deftly past the keeper's outstretched arm.

Crespo could have made it six two minutes later but Jevric made a solid block. That was only delaying the inevitable, however, as Argentina were playing at such a rarefied height their opponents simply couldn't live with them. Their sixth goal came in the 88th minute and was almost as breathtaking as the second. After yet more slick interplay, Crespo and Tevez performed a one-two before the latter released Messi, who stormed into the box and rifled it underneath the keeper. That concluded by far the best team display of the tournament. Possibly of any tournament.

y mejor seria poner el link a las paginas, no?