Argentina Soccer Team

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General Information-Argentina Soccer Team
Country - Argentina
Capital City - Buenos Aires
Continent - South America
Manager - José Pekerman
Captain - Diego Simeone
Star Man - Hernan Crespo

Argentina Soccer Team History
Founded 1893
Affiliated 1912

WC participations 13 (1930, 1934, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002)

WC honours 2-time FIFA World Cup winners (1978, 1986), 2-time FIFA World Cup runners-up (1930, 1990)
Continental Titles Copa America 14 times (1921, 1925, 1927, 1927, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1991, 1993), Pan American Cup 6 times (1951, 1955, 1959, 1971, 1995, 2003) First International: Uruguay 2 - 3 Argentina (Montevideo, Uruguay; 16 May 1901)
Largest win: Argentina 12 - 0 Ecuador (Montevideo, Uruguay; 22 January 1942)
Worst defeat: Czechoslovakia 6 - 1 Argentina (Helsingborg, Sweden; 15 June 1958)
Uruguay 5 - 0 Argentina (Guayaquil, Ecuador; 16 December 1959)
Argentina 0 - 5 Colombia (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 5 September 1993)
Copa America
Appearances: 37 (First in 1916) Best result Winners, 1921, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1991, 1993

Argentina Soccer World Cup Record:

Year Host Performance
1930 Uruguay Runners Up
1934 Italy First Round
1938 France -
1950 Brazil -
1954 Switzerland -
1958 Sweden Fourth, Pool One
1962 Chile Third, Group Four
1966 England Quarter finals
1970 Mexico -
1974 West Germany Second Group stage
1978 Argentina Winners
1982 Spain Third, Group C
1986 Mexico Winners
1990 Italy Runners Up
1994 U.S.A. Second Round (last 16)
1998 France Quarter finals
2002 S.Korea/Japan Third, Group F
2006 Germany in Group C with Cote d’Ivoire, Serbia and Montenegro,
Netherlands

ARGENTINA Football Team for 2006 FIFA World Cup

Coach:
Jose Pekerman

Goalkeepers: Roberto Abbondanzieri, Oscar Ustari, Leonardo Franco

Defenders:
Roberto Ayala, Gabriel Heinze, Juan Pablo Sorin, Nicolas Burdisso, Gabriel Milito, Leandro Cufre, Fabricio Coloccini.

Midfielders:
Javier Mascherano, Esteban Cambiasso, Pablo Aimar, Javier Mascherano, Luis Gonzalez, Maximiliano 'Maxi' Rodriguez, Lionel Scaloni.

Forwards:
Carlos Tevez, Hernan Crespo, Lionel Messi, Javier Saviola, Julio Cruz, Rodrigo Palacio.

Argentina statistics in Group C with Cote d'Ivoire, Serbia and Montenegro, Netherlands
The team is known as 'Albiceleste'

Jersey No. Name of the Player
1 Roberto Abbondanzieri
2 Roberto Ayala
3 Juan Pablo Sorin
4 Fabricio Coloccini
5 Esteban Cambiasso
6 Gabriel Heinze
7 Javier Saviola
8 Javier Mascherano
9 Hernan Crespo
10 Juan Roman Riquelme
11 Carlos Tevez
12 Leonardo Franco
13 Lionel Scaloni
14 Rodrigo Palacio
15 Gabriel Milito
16 Pablo Aimar
17 Leandro Cufre
18 Maximiliano 'Maxi' Rodriguez
19 Lionel Messi
20 Julio Cruz
21 Nicolas Burdisso
22 Luis Gonzalez
23 Oscar Ustari

Argentina Soccer Team, a two-time world champion is one of the favorites for the FIFA World Cup 2006, Germany. The team became the first South American country to qualify for the World Cup Finals on 8th June 2005 when they defeated Brazil 3 - 1, with three matches still to be played in their CONMEBOL zone.

Player to look for in the 'Albiceleste' side are midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme (jersey no. 10) (Villarreal), defender Gabriel Heinze (jersey no. 6) (Manchester United) and forwards Carlos Tevez (jersey no. 11) (Corinthians), Hernan Crespo (jersey no. 9) (Chelsea) & Lionel Messi (jersey no. 19) (Barcelona).

Argentina's defeat of Brazil in Buones Aires confirmed their qualification with 34 points. This time they secured the second position in their qualifying group, the first position being held by Brazil. In the past since the qualifiers of USA 94, Argentina Soccer Team has been securing the top place in the CONMEBOL Group. This time the team had ten wins, four draws and four defeats.

Argentina has won the World Cup twice in the years 1978 and 1986. Mario Kempes was the star player in the 1978 triumph and Diego Maradona led the 1986 triumph.

Argentina Soccer Team will be playing in Group C along with Serbia and Montenegro, Cote d'Ivoire and Netherlands. When the eight groups were drawn on 09th Dec 2005; Group C was termed the suicidal group as all the four teams are strong and only two will go into the next round.

Serbia and Montenegro topped its group without losing any match and conceding only 1 goal in the 10 qualifying matches. Their group included Spain.

Cote d'Ivoire topped its group, which included Cameroon and Egypt (winner of 2006 Africa Cup of Nations).

Netherlands topped its group, which included Czech Republic by scoring 10 wins and 2 draws in the 12 qualifying matches.

The Argentinians unfortunately failed to advance from the group stage in Korea/Japan 2002. It was a painful exit for the Albiceleste and they are looking forward to conquer the crown for the third time. This time it is difficult to predict if Argentina can shine like its earlier glorious days.