Talented Argentines seek third World Cup

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Argentina's dream of winning its third World Cup could be concreted in South Africa if its coach Diego Maradona harmonizes a team of talented individuals.

If the possible 23 players to be part of the squad are analyzed by name, it is clear that any coach will envy the potential of the Argentine team.

Maradona has on mind the squad for the World Cup opener against Nigeria on June 17 for Group B, which is also formed by South Korea and Greece, rivals that are considered accessible for the first phase.

Maradona will use for that match Sergio Romero; Nicolas Otamendi, Martin Demichelis, Walter Samuel, Gabriel Heinze; Jonas Gutierrez, Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria, Juan Sebastian Veron; Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain.

The forwards are stars of the world soccer and they are at their best moments, having scored 31 goals with the Spanish club Barcelona and 26 goals with the Spanish club Real Madrid.

Once Messi or Higuain falters, ready to take their places are Diego Milito, Carlos Tevez and Sergio "Kun" Aguero.

Milito just gave the Italian club Inter Milan the Italy Cup with a goal and he was a key player in Inter's entry to the Champions League final.

Meanwhile, Tevez is the figure of the English club Manchester City and Aguero is perhaps the one with inferior level compared with the other strikers.

Javier Mascherano plays for the English club Liverpool and is Maradona's favorite. When he started coaching the team, Maradona said that his team will be "Mascherano and 10 more" players.

Di Maria was a key player for the Portuguese club Benfica and Veron is outstanding with Argentina's Estudiantes de La Plata, which is fighting to win the local Clausura tournament and also has possibilities of winning the Liberadores Cup.

Demichelis of the German club Bayern Munich and Samuel of Italian club Inter made Maradona happy during the friendly match against Germany two months ago, when Argentina triumphed 1-0.

Defender Otamendi of Velez Sarsfield and Henze of French club Olympique de Marsella also pleased Maradona.

Gutierrez is shining with the English club Newcastle with versatility and combative sprit, which helped him win Maradona's trust.

Goalkeeper Romero of the Dutch club AZ Alkmaar is fighting an injury, but expected to recover in time for the World Cup.

Also Marino Adujar of Catania, Nicolas Burdisso of Roma, Mariano Bolatti of Fiorentina and Javiero Pastore of Palermo have a place assured at the squad.

Clemente Rodriguez, goal maker of Estudiantes de la Plata, Martin Palermo of Boca Juniors and Ezequiel Lavezzi of Napoli are expected to make the final team.

Despite the depth of the team, Argentina got its World Cup ticket with problems, qualifying at the last moment, with a win over Uruguay.

Let's wait for the ball to roll and see if Maradona's team will repeat its 1978 and 1986 World Cup winning feats.

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