FIFA World Cup 2010: Diego Maradona Sticks to His Guns

After a few days of of speculation and a flurry of conflicting information, it seems Argentina's starting lineup to face South Korea has emerged, and is now all but confirmed.

Contrary to what I myself held to be true, Diego Maradona continues to be convinced that Jonás Gutiérrez can handle the right-back position. His reading is that a few players (Gutiérrez and Di María, for instance) underperformed due to "opening match jitters".

So in his mind, the ideal starting lineup is still the one that faced Nigeria. There will, however, quite likely be a variant due to Veron's calf strain, which may not have fully recovered. The replacement would be Maxi Rodríguez.

Probable formation vs. South Korea

Romero

Gutiérrez       Demichelis        Samuel        Heinze

M. Rodríguez         Mascherano             Di María

  Messi

          Higuaín           Tévez

You'll notice that with M. Rodríguez on the right flank, Tévez is no longer needed to chip in at midfield and would likely be swapped over to the left side of attack. Messi would then be this teams out-and-out play-maker.

Pro:

Maradona takes a risk by sticking with Gutiérrez in the back, despite poor results. This shows conviction in his ideas and instills confidence in his players.

Con:

If the Gutiérrez experiment were to fail once again, it could cost Argentina dearly.

Disclaimer: Despite the fact that this starting lineup is the one that's circulating on nearly all of the Argentine news sources, "it ain't over till the fat lady sings." Don't take my word for it till you see the team on the field.