Argentina-vs-Uruguay is probably the mother of all football games. The encounter has the historical significance of an England-vs-Scotland contest, because in the nascent days of the World Cup, a match between the two South American giants was a clash between the world’s leading teams, a far cry from today’s artificial and commercial derby between Argentina and Brazil. It is a meeting between old foes, and when the Albiceleste host Uruguay on Thursday night (Friday morning India time), the game will carry significant weight again.
Uruguay sit jointly on top of the South American 2018 World Cup qualifying table with 13 points, along with Equador. Argentina are in third place with 11 points. It is a smooth and rosy position for both countries, but the institutional crisis engulfing Argentine football has almost derailed their road to Russia.
Argentine football in crisis
The problems of the Argentine Football Association have exacerbated. For decades, the AFA had been the personal fiefdom of Julio Grondona, a FIFA bigwig and an unscrupulous football official. The AFA has been waist-deep in trouble, lacking both command and resources. Last December, the presidential elections between Luis Segura and Marcelo Tinelli ended in a farcical 38-38 tie.
Domestic football in the country has found itself trapped between a FIFA-led normalisation committee, the big clubs, the small clubs, the players and television broadcasters. The causes for the crisis were not just Lionel Messi’s sudden retirement in June and Grondona's misdeeds, but also the repercussions from the FIFA corruption case and President Mauricio Macri's refusal to write the same blank cheques for television rights that his predecessor Cristina Kirchner did.
For 89 days, the domestic league, the Primera, was dysfunctional, but the league returned to action last Friday with Sarmiento beating Arsenal 1-0. The AFA still remains bankrupt because it stands as guarantor for the millions of debts of the clubs. The forthcoming election of a new president may steer the rudderless organisation in a new direction.
Lionel Messi’s u-turn
The short-lived nature of Messi's retirement has also boosted the national team. After scooping his penalty shot high into the New Jersey air in the Copa America final, Messi had faced a painful déjà vu: another final lost in the shoot-out. The defeat in that once-in-a-life-defining game, the game to end a 23-year drought, spurred him into an emotional and rash decision.
His exit caused a ripple effect. For a decade, or so, a swat of football coaches – Jose Pekerman, Diego Maradona and Gerardo Martino among others – had failed to address the simple and singular question: where to position Lionel Messi in the national team so as to extract his maximum potential. The diminutive Argentine is a winger, a playmaker, a striker and a false number nine. He shapes the team around him – at least, at FC Barcelona.
Suddenly, the conundrum was upended: what to do without Messi? Very little, it seemed. Coach Gerardo Martino resigned, exasperated by both the Messi-sized hole in the national team and the dreary prospect of leading an understaffed and undercooked Under-23 squad to Rio 2016. Javier Mascherano and other veterans of the national team also hinted at retirement.
At the Rio Olympics, Argentina, with a squad cobbled together under youth coach Julio Olarticoechea, crashed out unceremoniously in the first round, collecting four points in a group with Portugal, Honduras and Algeria. The Hondurans edged them for second place. Two days later, Messi announced his return to the national team. He has already won everything at club level – there is nothing left to conquer with FC Barcelona. A tournament victory with the national team would be the real coronation of his career.
Messi is doubtful for the clash with Uruguay, though. He struggled in training. Lethal striker Sergio Aguero is out with injury, but for Edgardo Bauza, the game represents his debut as coach. The AFA had Marcelo Bielsa and Jorge Sampaoli on top of their wish-list. These two coaches are committed to ideas and philosophies of uncompromising, attacking football. Bauza, the former coach of Brazilian club Sao Paulo, is very different: his teams play a defensive and pragmatic game.
Caution over aggression
But that approach may serve him well very against Uruguay, a team coached for over a decade by Oscar Washington Tabarez. Uruguay has two players of note – Luis Suarez from FC Barcelona and Diego Godin from Atletico Madrid. They take to the field together for the first time in the qualifiers. Uruguay’s gameplan is fixed: stern defending, counter-attacking, striking at set pieces, and a moment of magic from their gifted strikers. In short, Bauza can expect Uruguay’s usual grit.
He has stuck to the squad of his predecessor Martino, but with the inclusion of two top nine players, Lucas Pratto of Atletico Mineiro in Brazil, and Lucas Alario of Buenos Aires giants River Plate. This suggests Bauza wants to play with a fixed striker, which Messi is not accustomed to. “Messi causes problems for the opposition,” said Bauza. “The team can benefit with him playing in several positions. But one thing is clear: he will always have two or three opponents around him. We have to try to make the most of that because it leaves other players free.”
He added: “I don’t want Messi to fix all of our problems. We have to work to find a solution. It’s a nice challenge.”
Uruguay will be the first ringmaster in Bauza’s new mandate.