A legend with a bunch of talents

Argentina

World Cup Winners in 1978 and 1986. How much La Albiceleste would give to win the World Cup a third time and for keeps?
Under the tutelage of legend Diego Maradona, the White and Sky blues can boast of another legend in the making in the form of Lionel Messi.
The diminutive striker has set Spain and Europe alight with his dazzling skills for two seasons. The FIFA World Footballer of the year seems to be off pace and off colour when he wears the white and sky blue of his homeland.
Perhaps he misses Andreas Iniesta's passes or Xavi Hernandez's through balls while playing for Barcelona.

Maradona has been heavily criticsed for fielding over 100 players during the South America World Cup qualifiers, on the other hand the World Cup legend has given every player a chance to play for La Albiceleste some may say. Maradona's 2010 squad is akin to Marcelo Bielsa's 2002 WC squad; bursting with talents. On paper, that Argentine squad of 2002 in the Far East were the best, but it should not be forgotten that the very talented squad failed to make it pass the group stage in Korea/Japan.

Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguerro, Diego Milito, Carlos Tevez, Di Maria, Higuain, Javier Mascherano, Juan Veron to mention but a few are all talented players in their rights. The question remains; can they be a force to reckon with in South Africa? Argentina endured a heart-wrenching qulaifiers, eventually finishing fourth and escaping the rigours of the play-offs. Maradona's side endured humiliating defeats during the qualifiers including a 1-6 loss to Bolivia in the altitude of La Paz, not to mention the 1-3 home loss to arch rivals Brazil.
La Albiceleste were knocked out by host Germany in an ill-tempered match four years ago; their quarter-final exit in 2006 was an improvement when compared to the debacle of 2002 in the Far East. The Argentines were knocked out of the 1998 Mundial by the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.

The world waits to see what Maradona and Argentina will do in South Africa, his coaching experience has been under scrutiny and will be put to test in as the tournament progresses.