Yes the best team out of a bad bunch won in the end.

I'm not sorry to see the end of this World Cup......it was one of the poorest for quality I've ever seen. Not South Africas fault who seem to have put on a superb show though.

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Agreed on both counts.... South Africa put on a great show.

Also... nothing against a good player and a great Gentleman like Diego Forlan, but the fact that he got the Golden Ball shows what sort of a WC this was.....

And now I read Argentina plans to offer Maradona a new 4 year contract. Are they crazy?:confused:

Argentina had a hugely talented group of players in South Africa with a coach who hadn't a clue how to assemble them into an effective team unit nor a clue how prepare opposing team specific tactics nor a clue how to adjust tactics when facing adversity.

They coasted through with that approach against easy teams but fell apart the moment they faced well coached opposition. They might even have been in trouble against Mexico were it not for blind officials who gave them a lead that was undeserved at that point in the match.

Argentina wants more of that in the next World Cup in Brazil?:confused:

I suspected this would happen due to the non appearance of Maradonas resignation.
A lot can happen in four years so for me it's the right thing to do....no point in rocking the boat at least for another couple of years till we see how things progress.

Well posted.... could not have said it better myself.... ^

Hiddy makes a good point above..... the non appearance of the Maradona resignation has to do with politics.... Diego hates Grondona (the president of the Argentine Football association)... but he has to work with him.... and Grondona hates Diego, but knows that it would be difficult for him to take the "political damage" for firing Diego....

Hence, all this is a chess match....... both players hate each other but need to play their moves in a way that suits them best..... its all very complicated.

As Ive posted before, the real cancer here is Grondona... who should have been ejected as head of the AFA years ago, but he is the head of the soccer mafia and has most of the presidents of the football clubs in his hand due to financial advances that keep the clubs afloat (they are all technically bankrupt).... hence, Grondona keeps his job because last year he negotiated a mega deal with the K regime that stripped the TV rights of the Argentine Premiere League from Torneos & Competencias, the TV arm of the Clarin Conglomerate.... after the K regime booted Clarin from the Soccer TV deal, they made it a state run gig and advanced millions of $$$$ to the AFA that bought Grondona more time as president.........

its all very sad..... :( :td: but in the end, one golden rule of the monarchies still stands.... he who has the gold makes the rules.....

Gaucho100K, thanks for the political background. Grondona sounds like a national version of Sepp Blatter.

The real losers here are the players and fans. Argentina have such talent they should have done much better in South Africa. There's every reason to believe they'll have equal or better talent available 4 years from now. And there will be tens of thousands more fans who will travel next door to see their team play in Brazil. They deserve the best the country can produce. A top international quality coach is a key ingredient if Argentina are to be the best they can be in Brazil.

I'd say they need better defenders - that was the crux of the problem - Maradona non withstanding. I actually think the tactics they used were the right ones and the result would have been the same no matter the coach.

Excellent remark... Blatter is another dirty mafia boss undercover of his swiss passport... but he is the same dirtbag which uses the same tactics with all the African and SE Asian Football Federation Presidents to get his arse re-elected all the time...... also, its not a minor detail that Grondona has been making deals with Blatter and all the previous FIFA presidents to never be a candidate for the no. 1 job provided he keeps the Vice President position at FIFA...... :rolleyes:

Dirtbag or not, Grondona is one smart MFer..... :mad:

Totally agree.....the current squad are way over-rated in my opinion. One or two are great players and the rest are pretty ordinary. It wouldn't have mattered who was in charge to be honest.....the result would have been the same.
Seems to be a common thing nowadays for certain players to perform well when playing for their home clubs but don't perform for their national teams for some reason. Brasil, France, England, Italy and Argentina have their fair share of these players.

I know little about this so I'd be interested in other opinions. Leagues in places like Spain and Germany keep a lot of their national players in the country and you have to wonder if that provides an advantage because the teams within a certain league all tend to play a similar style. As talented as these guys all are, I'd have to think that provides a little bit of a benefit than the teams who have players scattered across a wide number of leagues.

Maybe this doesn't hold water because Italy keeps a lot of players as well, but it just seems like on the international level that tiny little bit of advantage could help some of the European sides.

And on the topic of mafia soccer bosses, you can add the MLS moron to that list. I read yesterday he's not willing to let Landon Donovan transfer anywhere (techincally MLS 'owns' the players and can do this). I understand you want to keep your star players in the league to try and build it, but I feel he's damaging the future of the US national team but not letting the very best explore transfer options.

Maradona out as Argentine coach
 

(CNN) -- Diego Maradona's contract as coach of the Argentine national soccer team will not be renewed, the spokesman for the Argentine Football Association said Tuesday.

The decision was made unanimously by the association's executive committee Tuesday afternoon, after a meeting Monday night between Maradona and the association's president, Julio Grondona, said Ernesto Cherquis Bialo.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/07/27/...ex.html?hpt=T2

Looks like Grondona, the master political ........ artist, aced Maradona, a polticial neophyte.

But will Grondona and his cronies now select some-one who can coach Argentina to the semis or the final in Brazil?:rolleyes:

I bet that the next coach won't make it to Brazil 2014. They'll probably go through 1 or 2 more over the next 4 years.

This is possible.... but it will depend largely on how the team does in the upcoming Copa America... which btw will be played in Argentina.