Argentina desperately need a win to get automatic qualification from the CONMEBOL group
Argentina have had a rocky World Cup qualification campaign. The 2-time champions started off the campaign with a 2-0 loss at home to Ecuador. Then, the rest was a mixture of wins, draws and shock defeats.
Lowly Bolivia caused an upset with a 2-0 victory at home, while Argentina lost a hard-fought match to Colombia 1-0 away from home. But the most embarrassing defeat was a 3-0 loss to arch rivals Brazil at the Mineirão in Belo Horizonte.
The Federation has also been very harsh on the managers. Gerardo Martino resigned after the Federation criticised his squad’s performance in the Copa América Centenario. Then, the supreme body gave Edgardo Bauza the axe after Bauza failed to rejuvenate the qualification campaign.
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The AFA then parted with a hefty sum to land Sevilla manager and former Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli. But Sampaoli has not looked too promising in his new role. He has presided over 2 draws in his short and ongoing reign.
But a win is absolutely necessary against Peru. If Argentina fail to pull off a victory and Chile win against Peru, then Argentina will fall into 6th place. That would mean that Argentina would not qualify unless the side beat Ecuador in the last match and Chile lost to Brazil. Although a Brazil win over Chile is likely, Argentina should not risk it going down to the wire.
Jorge Sampaoli has left out Gonzalo Higuaín, Sergio Agüero and Javier Pastore for the game against Peru. This is odd, considering the fact that Argentina will jump into one of the automatic qualification places if they beat Peru.
Instead, the wily Argentine has called up newbies Darío Benedetto, Lautaro Acosta and Emiliano Rigoni. These players have a total of 3 caps between them, compared to 180 between Gonzalo Higuaín, Sergio Agüero and Javier Pastore.
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This brings a surprise element to the trio. Although that can unsettle the opposition, it can backfire too. In fact, there are more chances of the latter happening than the former. But nonetheless, the side has enough quality to put the Peruvian defence to the sword.