Coming into Canada’s high-profile friendly against Argentina tomorrow there are plenty of storylines, as a Canadian supporter one of the more intriguing is the tactical battle off the pitch behind the benches. Diego Maradona, international superstar, Argentine god, charismatic, passionate, and outspoken up against Stephen Hart, unknown outside Canadian soccer circles, reserved, tactically savvy and friendly. It’s quite a clash of two polar opposites, much like the two teams playing tomorrow. Argentina, a favourite going into the World Cup, a team boasting the best player in the world, a team full of flair playing against a Canadian team who are perennial under achievers, haven’t qualified for a World Cup since 1986 and play a very disciplined, patient style. However despite the difference in quality between the two teams on the pitch Canada may just have the upper hand in tactical nuance with Stephen Hart.
Looking back at some of the managers Argentina have had in recent time the list is full of well-respected coaches with impressive resumes: Jose Pekerman, Marcelo Bielsa, and Alfio Basile. All coaches who would be welcomed into the Canadian system. However this time around looking at Diego Maradona and Stephen Hart, as little as the Argentine Football Association would like to admit it Canada probably has the better coach.
The AFA brought on Maradona hoping that what he lacked in coaching experience he would make up for with his ability to inspire and bring the best out of the players. Their World Cup qualifying results show that the experiment from the AFA may have been an ill-advised risk. The low point was a 6-1 loss to Bolivia, but in the end the campaign was saved with a 1-0 win on the final day of qualifying over Uruguay which secured Argentina’s passage to the World Cup. Now Maradona has the chance to prove himself by taking Argentina to the World Cup final, but before that he hopes that his team can leave Argentina for South Africa with a win over Canada. He isn’t leaving Argentina without his fair share of controversy though after he ran over a journalist and proceed to call him an asshole. Tomorrow the top brass of the AFA may just be looking across the way at Canada’s bench and for even just half a second wish they had their own calm, controlable, intelligent Stephen Hart.
Hart is dealing with one of the most difficult situations any international manager could ever ask for. He rarely gets friendlies, he has to convince players to leave MLS clubs during the league season, he has to convince European based players to fly over to this side of the world for a midweek trip and get back to their clubs jet lagged on a friday night. This isn’t even going into the political side of the Canadian soccer scene, yet Hart never complains he takes what he has and is doing a very good job. The reserved Hart had a Canadian team with few quality players squeaking out wins in the Gold Cup last summer. He previously took a Canadian team which failed miserably in World Cup qualifying to a Gold Cup semi-final which they arguably should have won. Unlike Maradona, Hart has never attacked his country’s national football association and under his leadership Canada is starting to punch above its weight on the international scene.
Maradona has already thrown Canada aside as an opponent, attacking the AFA over the decision to play Canadain such a crucial friendly during the build up to the World Cup. He has said he will play three up front against the Canadians with Messi, Higuain, and Tevez. Behind these three it’s doubtful that Argentina will show Canada much respect and they will probably look to play Di Maria and maybe even Aguero in attacking roles at some point during the match.
On the other side Hart will look to contain Argentina and hit on the counter attack. Most likely Rob Friend will be Canada’s lone man up top with a five man midfield behind him. Canada defend very patiently, again another characteristic of Hart that rubs off on his team. They will look to frustrate Argentina and keep the score 0-0 for as long as possible. Although Hart does have some quality out on the wings in De Rosario and Johnson so don’t expect Canada to sit back for the whole ninety minutes they will look to try to get forward as well.
As a Canadian supporter the chance to play Argentina is fantastic and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, the fact we do have the advantage over Argentina in just this one category could help make tomorrow just that little bit sweeter.
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