Argentina patiently waiting its turn

Soccer Betting Lines

06/21/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Behind a devastatingly skilled attack and coached by a personality to match, it is a bit of a mystery as to how Argentina has faded into the peripherals of South Africa.

Despite having won both its matches in convincing fashion - even in the 1-0 win over Nigeria, they dominated the flow of the game - Argentina find themselves taking a back seat to headlines of early upsets and team mutiny.

Favorites by anyone's definition, the Albiceleste entered the 2010 World Cup without the same type of fanfare and hype allotted to countries such as Spain and Brazil.

This, in spite of a roster that includes one of the most talented players in the world, in Lionel Messi, and football legend Diego Maradona patrolling the sidelines.

And that Maradona guy - the one who almost single-handedly won the 1986 World Cup with a virtuoso performance cemented in soccer lore - he's more than happy to pull the curtain back and praise a group talented enough to win their third Cup title.

"I want to congratulate my players for having perfectly executed our game plan. We deserved a win like this because we'd already threatened this kind of result against Nigeria," Maradona said after his team's 4-1 thrashing of Group B rival South Korea.

"Except from the ... error [that led to South Korea's goal], we had all the play and did what we wanted with the ball."

Such confidence appears misplaced given Maradona's lack of pedigree when it comes to directing a squad on the pitch.

After navigating his team through an uninspiring qualifying round and with just two Cup games under his belt, there is plenty of ammunition to shoot down hopes of a third world title for the storied soccer nation.

Having all but secured a trip to the round of 16 prior to playing their final group match versus Greece on Tuesday, the Argentineans can look ahead to the elite portion of the tournament with shades of Germany fresh on their minds.

It was then that Argentina's 19-year-old prodigal striker, Messi, could only watch from the bench as his team was eliminated in the quarterfinals by the host country in a heartbreaking penalty shootout.

For Messi, who scored at a rate of more than a goal a game for his club team Barcelona this year, performing on the international stage will be everything in defining his legacy as one of the all-time football greats.

And yet despite lofty comparisons to his coach - whose five goal performance in the '86 tournament stands as one of the gold standards in the history of the sport - Messi will have to start finding the back of the net if Argentina have any thoughts of knocking off Brazil, Germany, or Spain.

Through their first two games, the team's top striker has been held off the score sheet even though his electric speed and mesmerizing footwork has remained the focal point in an impressive Albiceleste offense.

Although questions as to the club's ability to defend and stop the opposing attack are considered to be its main deterrent to the final, Argentina's success will hinge on the performance of its two superstars.

But this time around, only one of those men can look on while the other tries to revive those fond memories of 24 years ago.

"Messi is my Maradona," the coach said upon assuming national team duties.

If such sentiment holds true, Argentina's story will be front and center this summer.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.