These qualifiers are a long, long road to Brazil 2014. The idea is not only book a place for the next world cup, but also to find the team, the system, and a way to get results when things don’t go according to plan.
Yesterday was a case of that.
The team spirit and the system are nearly there, the football being played for the past few games was of high quality, but last night Peru, was a hard opposition.
They tried to stop the fluidity of our passing, rather successfully I might add, attacked in a compact and efficient way, and put Argentina where these players feel less comfortable, their own half.
And then the Argentina that we never knew existed, came to the surface and dag deep, battled and ran and never gave up an inch without a fight.
I understand that is not in our tradition, it is not our style, we love possession, we love a short passing game and going forward as much as we can.
However, it will not always be possible to play like that, football is a game of 2 teams, and the rivals play a big part on how the match develops.
Mascherano marshalled the midfield area, we defended well at times (which is more than we have done in the recent past), Messi was not on one of his better nights, but came back to help the rest of the guys in the fight to recover the ball.
You could tell that Higuain was there waiting for what he knew it could be his one and only opportunity, he looked lonely but focused, as if he was determined to make that chance count (if it arrived)
It was fair when Peru went 1-0 up, and the Lima crowd exploded, sensing that it could be done, that they could beat their powerful neighbours.
But Pipita did make his chance count, and when it arrived he made no mistake to put the final score to 1-1.
Next on the agenda are 2 extremely difficult games. At home to Uruguay on the 12th of October and away to Chile on the 16th.
Two good results there can cement the progress made by the team and can start shaping qualification to the WC, which remains the objective.
Yesterday was a case of that.
The team spirit and the system are nearly there, the football being played for the past few games was of high quality, but last night Peru, was a hard opposition.
They tried to stop the fluidity of our passing, rather successfully I might add, attacked in a compact and efficient way, and put Argentina where these players feel less comfortable, their own half.
And then the Argentina that we never knew existed, came to the surface and dag deep, battled and ran and never gave up an inch without a fight.
I understand that is not in our tradition, it is not our style, we love possession, we love a short passing game and going forward as much as we can.
However, it will not always be possible to play like that, football is a game of 2 teams, and the rivals play a big part on how the match develops.
Mascherano marshalled the midfield area, we defended well at times (which is more than we have done in the recent past), Messi was not on one of his better nights, but came back to help the rest of the guys in the fight to recover the ball.
You could tell that Higuain was there waiting for what he knew it could be his one and only opportunity, he looked lonely but focused, as if he was determined to make that chance count (if it arrived)
It was fair when Peru went 1-0 up, and the Lima crowd exploded, sensing that it could be done, that they could beat their powerful neighbours.
But Pipita did make his chance count, and when it arrived he made no mistake to put the final score to 1-1.
Next on the agenda are 2 extremely difficult games. At home to Uruguay on the 12th of October and away to Chile on the 16th.
Two good results there can cement the progress made by the team and can start shaping qualification to the WC, which remains the objective.