Football World Cup 2014 / Argentina

This article covers the Argentina national soccer team at the 2014 World Cup . Argentina took part in the final round for the 16th time and in a final round in South America for the fourth time . At the last finals in South America in 1978, Argentina could use their home advantage and become world champions for the first time. In 1950 Argentina did not take part in the first World Cup in Brazil. Argentina reached the final again after 24 years, losing 1-0 to Germany as in 1990, making them the first South American team to lose a final against a European team on the American double continent.

qualification

Argentina qualified through the qualifying games of the South American football association CONMEBOL .

All nine teams, which belong to the South American association CONMEBOL as well as hosts Brazil, played against each other in a single group stage with a return game, with a total of 16 matches for each team and one team free of play on every match day. The four best-placed teams qualified directly for the final round of the 2014 World Cup. Argentina, which was coached by Alejandro Sabella after the unsuccessful home Copa , started the qualification with a 4-1 against Chile, but then lost for the first time against Venezuela and also came in Home game against Bolivia not beyond a 1-1 draw. Ezequiel Lavezzi, who was substituted on in the 59th minute, scored the equalizer a minute later. After that, however, no game was lost until the successful qualification and on September 11, 2013 Argentina was the first team to qualify for the finals in the neighboring country in the South America qualification. The last game against Uruguay was lost.

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Argentina	16	9	5	2	035:150	+20	32
2.	Colombia	16	9	3	4th	027:130	+14	30th
3.	Chile	16	9	1	6th	029:250	+4	28
4th	Ecuador	16	7th	4th	5	020:160	+4	25th
5.	Uruguay	16	7th	4th	5	025:250	± 0	25th
6th	Venezuela	16	5	5	6th	014:200	−6	20th
7th	Peru	16	4th	3	9	017:260	−9	15th
8th.	Bolivia	16	2	6th	8th	017:300	−13	12
9.	Paraguay	16	3	3	10	017:310	−14	12

Game results

date	place	Home team	-	guest	Result	Goal scorers for Argentina
07/10/2011	Buenos Aires	Argentina	-	Chile	4: 1 (2: 0)	Higuaín (7th, 52nd, 63rd), Messi (25th)
10/11/2011	Puerto La Cruz ( VEN )	Venezuela	-	Argentina	1: 0 (0: 0)
11/11/2011	Buenos Aires	Argentina	-	Bolivia	1: 1 (0: 0)	Lavezzi (60th)
11/15/2011	Barranquilla ( COL )	Colombia	-	Argentina	1: 2 (0: 0)	Messi (60th), Aguero (83rd)
06/02/2012	Buenos Aires	Argentina	-	Ecuador	4: 0 (3: 0)	Agüero (19th), Higuaín (29th), Messi (31st), Di María (76th)
07.09.2012	Cordoba	Argentina	-	Paraguay	3: 1 (2: 1)	Di María (3rd), Higuaín (30th), Messi (64th)
09/11/2012	Lima ( PER )	Peru	-	Argentina	1: 1 (1: 1)	Higuain (37.)
October 12, 2012	Mendoza	Argentina	-	Uruguay	3: 0 (0: 0)	Messi (65th, 79th), Agüero (74th)
10/16/2012	Santiago de Chile ( CHL )	Chile	-	Argentina	1: 2 (0: 2)	Messi (28th), Higuaín (31st)
03/22/2013	Buenos Aires	Argentina	-	Venezuela	3: 0 (2: 0)	Higuaín (29th, 59th), Messi (43rd / Elfm.)
03/26/2013	La Paz ( BOL )	Bolivia	-	Argentina	1: 1 (1: 1)	Banega (44.)
06/07/2013	Buenos Aires	Argentina	-	Colombia	0-0
06/11/2013	Quito ( ECU )	Ecuador	-	Argentina	1: 1 (1: 1)	Agüero (4th / Elf)
09/10/2013	Asunción ( PRY )	Paraguay	-	Argentina	2: 5 (1: 2)	Messi (12./Elfm., 52./Elfm.), Agüero (32.), Di María (49.), Rodríguez (90.)
10/11/2013	Buenos Aires	Argentina	-	Peru	3: 1 (2: 1)	Lavezzi (23rd, 34th), Palacio (47th)
October 15, 2013	Montevideo ( URY )	Uruguay	-	Argentina	3: 2 (2: 2)	Rodríguez (14th, 41st)

A total of 44 players were used by Alejandro Sabella in the 16 games. No player was used in all games. Goalkeeper Sergio Romero and captain Lionel Messi were the most frequently used (in 14 out of 16 games). The top scorers were Lionel Messi with ten goals (including three penalties) and Gonzalo Higuaín with nine goals, making them second and third best scorers for CONMEBOL.

preparation

Test matches

• March 5 in Bucharest against Romania : 0-0
• June 4th against Trinidad and Tobago in La Plata 3-0 (goalscorers: Palacio / 45th, Mascherano / 51st and Rodríguez / 64th)
• June 7 in Buenos Aires against Slovenia .: 2: 0 (goal scorers: Álvarez / 12. And Messi / 76.)

Squad

The following is Argentina's squad for the 2014 World Cup.

No.	player	society	International matches	Länderspiel- gates	Date of birth	Games	Gates				World Cup participation	World Cup games (before 2014)	World Cup goals (before 2014)
goalkeeper
21st	Mariano Andújar	Catania Calcio A	10	0	July 30, 1983	0	0	0	0	0	2010	0	0
12	Agustín Orión	CA Boca Juniors	3	0	July 26, 1981	0	0	0	0	0
01	Sergio Romero	AS Monaco	47	0	Feb 22, 1987	7th	0	0	0	0	2010	5	0
Defense
23	José María Basanta	CF Monterrey	10	0	0Apr 3, 1984	2	0	0	0	0
03	Hugo Campagnaro	Inter Milan	15th	0	June 27, 1980	1	0	0	0	0
15th	Martín Demichelis	Manchester City M	38	2	Dec 20, 1980	3	0	1	0	0	2010	5	1
17th	Federico Fernández	SSC Naples P	26th	2	Feb 21, 1989	4th	0	0	0	0
02	Ezequiel Garay	Benfica Lisbon M, P	18th	0	Oct 10, 1986	7th	0	1	0	0
16	Marcos Rojo	Sporting Lisbon	22nd	0	20 Mar 1990	6th	1	2	0	0
04th	Pablo Zabaleta	Manchester City M	36	0	Jan 16, 1985	7th	0	0	0	0
midfield
19th	Ricardo Álvarez	Inter Milan	7th	1	Apr 12, 1988	1	0	0	0	0
06th	Lucas Biglia	Lazio Rome	19th	0	Jan. 30, 1986	6th	0	1	0	0
07th	Ángel Di María	Real Madrid C, P	47	9	Feb. 14, 1988	5	1	1	0	0	2010	5	0
13	Augusto Fernández	Celta Vigo	9	1	Apr 10, 1986	0	0	0	0	0
05	Fernando Gago	CA Boca Juniors	49	0	Apr 10, 1986	6th	0	0	0	0
14th	Javier Mascherano	FC Barcelona	98	3	0June 8, 1984	7th	0	0	0	0	2006, 2010	9	0
08th	Enzo Pérez	Benfica Lisbon M, P	8th	1	Feb. 22, 1986	3	0	0	0	0
11	Maxi Rodríguez	CA Newell's Old Boys	55	16	0Jan. 2, 1981	2	0	0	0	0	2006, 2010	10	3
attack
20th	Sergio Aguero	Manchester City M	51	21st	0June 2nd, 1988	5	0	0	0	0	2010	3	0
09	Gonzalo Higuaín	SSC Naples P	36	20th	Dec 10, 1987	7th	1	0	0	0	2010	4th	4th
22nd	Ezequiel Lavezzi	Paris Saint-Germain M.	31	4th	0May 3, 1985	7th	0	0	0	0
10	Lionel Messi	FC Barcelona	86	38	June 24, 1987	7th	4th	0	0	0	2006, 2010	8th	1
18th	Rodrigo Palacio	Inter Milan	22nd	3	0Feb. 5, 1982	5	0	0	0	0	2006
Coaching staff
	Alejandro Sabella	Trainer	4th	0	5th November 1954	7th
	Julián Camino Claudio Gugnali	Assistant coaches	11	0	May 2nd, 1961 May 4th, 1960
	Juan José Romero	Goalkeeping coach
	Pablo Blanco	Fitness trainer

1. ↑ C = The club won the UEFA Champions League in the 2013/14 season , M = The club won its country's championship in the 2013/14 season, A = The club was relegated from the country's highest league, P = The club became cup winners in the 2013/14 season.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Only the games and goals that were played or scored before the start of the World Cup are given ( source (as of May 16, 2014) , updated after the games against Trinidad & Tobago on June 4, 2014 and Slovenia on June 7 2014 ).
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} As a player

Finals

Group stage

Belo Horizonte Rio de Janeiro Porto Alegre Vespasiano São Paulo Brasília

Preliminary round venues (red), eighth and semi-final venues (green), quarter final venues (yellow), preliminary round and final venues (black) and quarters (blue)

When the final round was drawn on 6 December 2013, Argentina was placed in Pot 1 due to its placement in the FIFA world rankings in October 2013 and was drawn as the head of Group F. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran and Africa champions Nigeria were drawn. There was previously only one game against Iran on March 22, 1977 for Real Madrid's 75th birthday , which was won 4-1 after a 1-1 draw on penalties. Bosnia and Herzegovina faced two friendlies, the last one on November 19, a few days before the draw. Nigeria have already faced three opponents in the preliminary round of the World Cup: 1994, 2002 and 2010 - all three games were won (first 2-1, then twice 1-0). There was also an encounter at the King Fahd Cup in 1995 , which ended goalless. In a game they lost 4-1 to Nigeria on June 1, 2011 in Abuja , Argentina only used two players from the squad for the 2011 Copa America, which began a month later . After the game, it was reported that there were unusually high stakes on the game and that FIFA was investigating the game. The game is still listed by FIFA.

Argentina had already played several times in the three preliminary round venues.

Team headquarters and training facility was the Cidade do Galo from Atletico Mineiro in Vespasiano , in the immediate vicinity of the second round match location. Argentina won all group games and was first in the group. Superstar Lionel Messi scored four of Argentina’s six goals. In the first game they beat strong Bosnians 2-1. Just a few minutes after kick-off, Bosnia had scored an own goal. Messi later increased to 2-0. Four minutes before the end, Bosnia was able to score the next goal to make it 2-1. Argentina struggled against the defensively strong Iranians and was lucky that a foul on Ashkan Dejagah in the penalty area did not result in a penalty. Messi scored 1-0 in stoppage time. The game against Nigeria ended 3: 2 for Argentina where the strengths on the offensive on the one hand and the deficits in defense of the two-time world champions became apparent.

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Argentina	6: 3	9
2	Nigeria	3: 3	4th
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4: 4	3
4th	Iran	1: 4	1

• Sun., June 15, 2014, 7:00 p.m. (12:00 p.m. CEST) in Rio de Janeiro Argentina - Bosnia and Herzegovina 2: 1 (1: 0)
  
• Sat., June 21, 2014, 1:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. CEST) in Belo Horizonte Argentina - Iran 1: 0 (0: 0)
  
• Wed., June 25, 2014, 1:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. CEST) in Porto Alegre Nigeria - Argentina 2: 3 (1: 2)
  

Knockout round

• Round of 16: Tuesday, July 1, 2014, 1:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. CEST) in São Paulo Argentina - Switzerland 1: 0 a.d. (0: 0)
  

Before that, there were 6 games against Switzerland (4 wins and 2 draws, 14: 3 goals). At the world championships, both met once before: Argentina won 2-0 in the preliminary round in 1966. With the victory against Switzerland, for which Angel Di Maria ensured in the 118th minute, Argentina reached the quarter-finals for the first time in three consecutive World Cup finals.

• Quarter-finals: Sat., July 5, 2014, 1:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. CEST) in Brasília Argentina - Belgium 1: 0 (1: 0)
  

In the quarter-finals Argentina had to do without Marcos Rojo , who received the second yellow card in the second round .

Although both met for the first time at the Olympic Games in 1928, there were only four games against Belgium with three wins and one loss. Was lost in the opening game of the 1982 World Cup when Argentina was defending champion. The last game between the two so far was the 1986 World Cup semi-finals, in which Diego Maradona scored two goals for the eventual world champion's 2-0 victory. It was their first game in Brasília for both of them . With the victory, Argentina reached the semi-finals for the first time in 24 years.

• Semi-finals: Wed., July 9, 2014, 5:00 p.m. (10:00 p.m. CEST) in São Paulo Argentina - Netherlands 0: 0 a.d., 4: 2 p. E.
  

There were eight games between the two teams. Argentina won only once - in the World Cup final in 1978 - three games ended in a draw, one of which was won by a friendly game on penalties and the Dutch won four times. The last game was at the 2006 World Cup in the preliminary round and ended goalless. Argentina had to do without Ángel Di María in the semi-finals and final , who sustained a hamstring injury in the quarter-finals.

Before the kick-off, the former Argentine and Spanish national player Alfredo Di Stéfano , who died a few days before the game, was remembered and Argentina played with a mourning ribbon in his memory .

Argentina was the first team to go to penalties for the fifth time at a World Cup and used this as in 1990 to reach the final again after 24 years.

• Final: Sun. July 13th, 4:00 p.m. (9:00 p.m. CEST) in Rio de Janeiro Germany - Argentina 1: 0 a.d. (0: 0)

Both teams had previously faced each other six times at world championships. Argentina won only once - in the 1986 final. Two games ended in a draw, one of which Argentina lost on penalties and three games were lost in normal playing time. In comparison, Argentina had won against Germany more often in friendly matches (7 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats before the World Cup). There was also a win, a draw and a defeat at other tournaments. It was the third final pairing between the two, so often no other teams met in the final. As in 1990, Argentina could not score a goal in the final and lost again with 0: 1. This means that Argentina failed to win three World Cups in a row (2006 and 2010 in the quarter-finals) to Germany.

Both faced each other again on September 3, 2014 in a friendly match in Düsseldorf , which Argentina won 4-2 with a strong Ángel Di María.

Awards

Lionel Messi was the second Argentine to be awarded the Golden Ball as the best player after Diego Maradona , who criticized this just as much as Sepp Blatter , and was nominated for the election of European Footballer of the Year just like Angel Di Maria . He was also named "Man of the Match" four times. Defender Marcos Rojo was named to the top 11 of the tournament.

Sports impact

In the FIFA world rankings , Argentina climbed three places from fifth to second place, making it the best South American team in the rankings. It was not until April 2017 that the Argentinians, who had meanwhile even risen to number 1, were overtaken by Brazil.

Resignations

Alejandro Sabella resigned as national coach 16 days after the World Cup.

Web links

• All matches of the preliminary round at a glance
• All qualifying matches of Argentina

Individual evidence

1. ↑ afa.org: "Argentina se enfrentará con Trinidad y Tobago y Eslovenia"
2. ↑ Argentina: Werder professional di Santo & Demichelis in 30er Kader transfermarkt.de, published on May 14, 2014, accessed on May 14, 2014
3. ↑ handelsblatt.com: FIFA investigates Nigeria-Argentina ( memento of the original from June 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ fifa.com: team quarters
5. ↑ sport1.de: "Maradona criticizes Messi honor"
6. ↑ uefa.com: "Shortlist to vote for the" Best Player in Europe ""
7. ↑ dfb.de: "Argentina's association president confirms Sabella's resignation"