Argentina vs. Ireland: Lionel Messi and Other Big Names Set To Start

John Tilghman Aug 10, 2010

Forty days after Argentina crashed out of the World Cup in South Africa in humiliating fashion to Germany, the South American outfit will take on Ireland in Dublin Wednesday with a full-strength squad under interim boss Sergio Batista.

Batista will take charge of Argentina's senior side after helping the Under-20 team reach the final of the Hexagonal Tournament in Paraguay earlier this month.

Although he may not come with the name or fame of his predecessor, Batista was a fine player in his own right and was a teammate of Maradona's at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups.

In his first game in charge, Batista has already seemed to correct a number of the mistakes made by Maradona, even though he was not able to name the squad.

In goal, Sergio Romero will remain Argentina's No. 1, but the AZ Alkmaar man will be under pressure from a number of competitors such as backup Mariano Anujar and River Plate shot stopper Juan Pablo Carrizo.

Romero was one of Argentina's biggest disappointments in South Africa and will need to prove to his new manager that he is capable of playing well at the top level and not just in the Dutch Eredivisie.

In defense, Batista will stick with the same blueprint used by Maradona, which means the absence of attacking fullbacks.

Gabriel Heinze will play at leftback, but there is a feeling that it could be one of, if not the last game for the Marseille man.

"Today I live day to day. Before my objective was only the World Cup," Heinze said. "Now I don't know what could come tomorrow."

At 32, Heinze could be a stretch to reach Brazil 2014, and given Batista's comfort with a number of young players from his days as the Under-20 and Under-23 coach, the former Real Madrid and Manchester United defender could see his days numbered.

In the center of defense, Walter Samuel returns to partner with Martin Demichelis, one of the chief villains of Argentina's World Cup campaign.

Samuel was supposed to be Maradona's lynchpin in South Africa, but a muscle problem forced him to be substituted 20 minutes into Argentina's second match against South Korea. Even though The Wall was back to perfect health before Argentina's clash with Germany, Maradona decided it would be bad to change a winning team, no matter how important Samuel may be to the side.

In the end, Maradona's choice to leave out Samuel was one of his biggest errors that led to the 4-0 defeat.

Demichelis looked very good at the back next to Samuel, but as soon as Samuel left the side, the Bayern Munich center back completely lost the plot and committed a number of blunders, perhaps the result of missing his more experienced partner.

At right back, Nicolas Burdisso will get the start despite pressure from Pablo Zabaleta.

In midfield, Batista is determined to not make the same mistakes as Maradona. While the previous boss ended his reign as manager playing with just one proper midfielder and two wingers, Batista will play three central midfielders to help control the middle of the park and give solidity to the spine of the team.

Captain Javier Mascherano will as usual protect the back four, while Fernando Gago and Ever Banega, both of whom were bizarrely left out of Maradona's World Cup plans, will play farther forward.

Banega, in particular, will be handed the task of distributing the ball to the attackers, a position Argentina badly missed against the Germans.

Up front, Batista will play Lionel Messi in his best position, on the right, where he plays for Barcelona. Messi was forced to play as a playmaker in the World Cup and had to drop deeper and deeper into midfield to receive the ball after Maradona banished Juan Sebastian Veron to the bench and left La Seleccion without a player to distribute the ball.

On the left wing, Angel Di Maria will play the spot that he so thrived in under Batista at the 2008 Olympic Games.

At the World Cup, Di Maria was one of the many players deployed out of position, and the Real Madrid winger was asked to defend more than he is accustomed too. With Maradona's strange 4-1-2-3 formation Di Maria was unable to use his speed to run at defenders, or get to the end line and send in crosses, two areas where he excels.

Up front, Gonzalo Higuain will take up his usual position as Argentina's No. 9.

Waiting for their chance from the bench will be a number of well-known stars including Inter Milan's Diego Milito and Atletico Madrid's Sergio "El Kun" Aguero.

The future is certainly bright for Argentina in terms of talent, and the hope is that a coach such as Batista can give the side defensive and midfield stability while putting his most talented and dangerous players into their favored positions on the pitch, as opposed to Maradona who attempted to throw as many big names on the field as possible without any real strategy or system.