Spain are the bookie's choice for champions of the world. They are reigning European champions and have maybe the strongest side I have ever seen. However, Argentina should be tipped as the clearest competition, with Germany and of course Brazil. I want to discuss the strength of the squad Maradona has at his possession.
The only weakness is the goalie, but he plays for last years Dutch champions so he should be up to the task, the only question is his international experience.
The general opinion about Maradona's squad is that some big ones are missing like, Cambiasso and Zanetti, and I agree that these two should have been in the starting XI. But the attatcking force of Argentina is almost unmatched. Brilliance combined with strength and leathalness! Messi, Tevez and Higuain up front, how can you beat that? Milito on the bench(!) with Palermo means that if against all odds that Argentina should have a problem with scoring they have players who can change any match! The defensive side is actually looking good. They don't have a tradition in Argentina when it comes to producing defensive giants, but Demichelis and Samuel are experienced players who daily play at the highest level. Mascherano will stabilize the midfield with Veron playing ahead of him.
I think that Argentina benefits from being an underdog while Spain will come into the competition guns blazing and play like gods until they meet a cynical side like Italy or Germany. Everyone expects that SPain will play like they did in the European Cup, but everyone are prepared for them now.
So my guesses are that SPain will go out in the Quarter Final while Argentina will win if they avoid injuries and Maradona will have his revenge against all his critics!
Hey friend,nice blog but there is one thing that you didn't notice.Attack wins results and defends wins trophies (Verified by jose mourinho).If Maradonna picked Zanetti and Cambiasso then i would have considered them as favourites but demichellis isn't always solid (see the CL final) and Walter samuel,make sometimes some defensive errors but overall a very good defender+ Jonas Gutierrez plays in a second division so he hasn't any big league experience neither the world cup.Argentina is a definite candidate for the world cup but their defence might cost them the trophy when playing against an attacking team like holland,germany,brazil or spain.
Karim
Maradona is they key point.
Most people would say the he is the reason that they wont win.
I think he has som cards on his hands that will make him go all the way.
Man,was I wrong or what?? HAHAHA