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YOUR FAULT, JOSE
By Wang Meng Meng
July 03, 2006
NO way, Jose.
Normally so astute and so wise, Argentina's rocket scientist of a coach picked the most inopportune moment to make his only tactical goof of the competition.
And now, Jose Pekerman has paid the ultimate price - his head.
As he announced his shock resignation in the wake of his country's 4-2 defeat on penalties to Germany in the last eight, having drawn 1-1 at the end of extra-time, he knows that victory, a spot in the World Cup semi-finals and a place in footballing immortality was there for his taking. But he let it all slip away.
It seemed to be against all logic, to say the least.
Pre-match, the 56-year-old was on an unprecedented high.
He is hailed as the best youth coach ever, having taken Argentina's Under-20s to three world titles in 1995, 1997 and 2001.
He reached the quarter-finals of this World Cup by playing some of the finest football seen in Germany, especially that 6-0 slaughter of Serbia and Montenegro.
And he has been praised by the Argentinian press for taking 10 attacking players to Germany - Juan Roman Riquelme, Lionel Messi, Pablo Aimar, Carlos Tevez, Hernan Crespo, Julio Cruz, Rodrigo Palacio, Luis Gonzalez, Maxi Rodriguez and Javier Saviola.
But against all logic, Pekerman kept his high-calibre guns holstered in Berlin just when it was the perfect time to brandish them and pump the Germans full of lead.
Up until the 72nd minute, Argentina were coasting.
An off-colour German side were on the backfoot, having fallen behind to Roberto Ayala's emphatic header in the 49th minute.
The deadly triangle of Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski were feeding on crumbs. And Juergen Klinsmann simply could not find a way to outwit his South American opponents.
Sensing that a famous victory was close at hand, Pekerman boldly removed his chief architect Riquelme and replaced him with holding midfielder Esteban Cambiasso. It was a decision that was greeted with joy on the Rhine and met with shock back at River Plate.
Lest it be forgotten, it was the man they call Romi who was punching holes in Klinsmann's armour with those radar-guided through passes. And it was his unerring corner that was thumped home by Ayala.
Though there was space to be exploited, which was right up the playmaker's alley, the coach's decision to send in a destroyer proved fatal as it surrendered all the initiative to the Germans.
As the hosts poured more resources forward, Pekerman could have sealed his opponents' fate by sending in the fleet-footed Messi, Saviola or Aimar to make a beeline for lumbering centre-backs Per Mertesacker and Christoph Metzelder.
TIMELY
In addition, with Germany's energy sapping away laying siege on stand-in Leonardo Franco's goal, the timely use of fresh legs with fresh ideas by Argentina would probably have buried the Germans for good.
Instead of making one final push, Pekerman forced his team to take two steps backwards. His choice of substitutes, Cambiasso and Julio Cruz, proved to be uninspiring.
And there never was any coming back against arguably the most resilient national team ever.
Right on cue, Klins-men made Argentina pay with just 10 minutes left.
Drifting to the left, Ballack found some room to plant a cross inside the box where Tim Borowski was on hand to provide the flick-on.
And Klose needed no second invitation to send a powerful header past Franco, who had replaced the injured Roberto Abbondanzieri.
Then came the inevitable, the dreaded penalty shoot-out after the stalemate in extra-time, which really should be re-named the German Roulette after their amazing knack of winning these World Cup tie-breakers against France (1982 semi-final), Mexico (1986 quarter-final), England (1990 semi-final) and even during the European Championships (England again, in the 1996 semi-final).
In the test of nerves, Ballack, whose calf injury had flared up again, defied medical science to step up and hoof a shot that totally wrong-footed Franco.
How Pekerman could do with the marksmanship of Riquelme, Crespo, Aimar, Saviola and Messi in his hour of need.
Instead, Ayala and Cambiasso hardly looked confident as they aimed their kicks straight at Lehmann.
He took risks. He gambled. He bet the farm.
But what is it they say about unhatched chickens?
What a cock-up.