Argentina 4 Haiti 0: Maradona's Men Untested

It was a chance to donate ticket profits to Haiti, for Cultral Co (a small town in Patagonia) to see the National Team, and for two idols of archrival clubs, Ariel Ortega of River Plate and Martin Palermo of Boca Juniors, to play together for the first time in 11 years.

Charitable acts aside, watching Diego Maradona’s Argentina dismantle a very poor Haiti side begged the question: why did the Argentine Football Association choose such an opponent? 

One certainly does not want to criticize a country suffering so much at the moment, but Haiti’s football team played at a training session pace, with the exception of a few reckless challenges that should have merited red cards and could have seriously injured an Argentine players, such as three minutes in when Jean Paul went in wildly on Colon de Santa Fe youngster Facundo Bertoglio.

The promising young playmaker would have his revenge on 34 minutes when he robbed Haiti captain Bruny at the edge of his own penalty area before calmly slotting past stationary goalkeeper Jean Dominique who did not so much as charge off his line to block the Argentine.

Haiti were lucky again to keep all 11 men on the pitch when Kesnel Pierre Luis lunged fiercely upending Hurricane midfielder Patricio Toranzo, but again the referee showed mercy handing Luis a yellow just after the half hour mark.

Just before halftime, Argentina finally got a second when Palermo was left alone to emphatically head home Ariel Garcé’s cross. For Palermo, it was yet another chapter in the striker’s long history, but Maradona was certainly disappointed his side could only manage to breach the Haiti defense twice despite having nearly on the possession and creating numerous chances in the opening half.

The Haitians had a brief period of superiority after the interval, but Argentina struck again after just five minutes when Lanus star Sebastian Blanco’s cross-come-shot found the back of the net after Dominique badly misjudged the flight of the ball and gifted Argentina’s third, prompting Haiti to replace their keeper.

Haiti then returned to kicking the Argentines, with Ortega suffering a wicked hack on 55 minutes just outside the penalty box. Toranzo swung in the ensuing free kick to the unmarked Bertoglio at the far post to fire home his second and Argentina’s fourth. The final half an hour or so featured many substitutions for both sides and resembled more of a walk in the park than an international football match.

What did Maradona learn, if anything, in assessing those players fighting for the final World Cup places? Not much.

Neither of Argentina’s two goalkeepers on the night, Diego Pozo and Adrian Gabbarini, had to make a save of note, which leaves the incumbent Pozo as the favorite to be the third goalkeeper in South Africa.

Gabbarini, a poor game against Boca Juniors this past weekend aside, has been arguably the best player in Argentina’s Clausura and will feel unfortunate to not have received a chance to prove his worth to the National Team, something a stronger opponent would certainly have given him.

Juan Mercier played a great match for Argentina in the middle of the park, but has hardly troubled by the Haitans and Fernando Gago or Esteban Cambiasso would certainly be more logical choices than the Argentinos Juniors man to back up Javier Mascherano.

If Mercier get into the side, it will be a shame if Maradona bases his selection on tonight's display against the island nation.

Up front, Palermo was again on target, but the Boca Juniors captain faces far stiffer competition week in week out in Argentina than he did in Cultral Co. El Loco’s ticket to the World Cup will be punched thanks to his club form and his last ditch strike against Peru, not because of anything he did against Haiti. 

With little conclusions to take from the exhibition, Maradona (and more importantly the clubs of the players selected) will feel lucky no injuries occurred, and will go about evaluating talent over the weekend before he releases his preliminary squad of 30 on Monday.