<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (An Tarbh @ Oct 7 2009, 02:54 PM)
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So is this Peru match make and break or is there still a chance of a playoff match if you don't get the result?[/b]
Well, we can afford to lose the game against Peru, but we'd be obliged to get a win in Uruguay, who are also in the run to qualify. The Uruguayans are famous for their passion, pride and their physicality in the game -- and they will kill to win in front of their crowd.
If we end up fifth in the general standings, we'll have to play a home and away leg against either Costa Rica or México.
Perú, on the other hand, has got no chances to qualify whatsoever, which prompts for debate: Will Perú try to outplay us? Or do they not care about this match? Logic says they will try to upset us. In fact, the newspapers are stating Colombia and Uruguay might fork up a 200.000 USD dough as an incentive for their players to defeat us next Saturday.
On a personal level though, I think we must win both games. There is no room for speculation for a football powerhouse like Argentina. With such a glorious past we cannot, and moreover, should not think that way.
We played against Ghana last week, and won 2-0. Our team comprised of players based in Argentina, and bolstered a good performance by MartÃn Palermo (Boca Juniors' historic striker), who scored both goals. If I were the coach, I'd leave all the "European Superstars" out of the team and field in the very same guys that played the aforementioned match. But then again, I'm a logical thinking person; Maradona's not. He's already threatened to <strike>please us and get the heck out of here</strike> quit if Argentina fails to qualify, and / or if Julio Grondona (<strike>Mafia Capo</strike> AFA chairman) does not bestow him with full control over his coaching staff.
Perú is a VERY limited team, but so were Bolivia and Ecuador. This will be an off game. I'm going to go to the stadium myself to attest whether Maradona is stubborn enough not to hear the million suggestions and critics that have been dished out by the Argentine people.
One thing is clear though. Regardless of whichever outcome we are headed for, Diego is no longer the living god it used to be for his followers. He single handedly won the WC for us in 1986, and that's fine. But he screwed us in 1994 when his drug addiction kicked off. And I assure you nobody - NOBODY here will like to see him leaving us without a WC again.
