Buenos Aires - Argentina won two editions of the World Cup, but the most recent was in 1986 and they approach South Africa 2010 from a platform of recent disappointments and poor results. Coach Diego Maradona and superstar Lionel Messi have been unable to lead the side confidently off and on the pitch, and Argentina only secured a place in South Africa in the last game of the qualifiers.
By that time, fans in the football-crazy country were growing restless. They want to see their team reclaim global glory, but recent play - and the results of the last few editions of the World Cup - provide ample evidence that that will not be easy.
In the qualifiers, Maradona has fielded scores of players - in just one year as coach - without finding an ideal team, or even so much as a reliable side.
Striker Messi - arguably the best player in the world - has been a shadow of the player who last season led Barcelona to a historic treble.
Other world-class stars, like Carlos Tevez or Sergio Aguero, have also been unconvincing, keeper Sergio Romero has only been in goal for a couple of games, and striker Gonzalo Higuain only just made his national team debut.
Only veterans like Juan Sebastian Veron and Martin Palermo are widely regarded as worthy representatives of Argentina by the country's demanding fans.
Argentina head for South Africa as a most hesitant team, one that only qualified fourth in the South American region and only escaped the playoffs in the last round.
The ghost of 2002 - when Argentina crashed out of the World Cup in the first round - sounds like a realistic threat. In 1998 and 2006, moreover, the South American team did not make it past the quarter- finals and clearly fell short of fans' expectations.
Against that backdrop, it may be a good thing that expectations are not very high ahead of the trip to South Africa.
Having said that, however, rivals in the World Cup would be ill- advised to consider Argentina anything less than a sleeping giant. Argentine footballers unquestionably hold great quality in their boots, and their frustrations with the national team will not necessarily go on forever.
The Coach:
Diego Maradona, 49, is one of the top two candidates to the title of best footballer in history, as well as an Argentine living legend.
As a coach, however, he has had little experience and even less success. But neither that nor a history of past addictions to alcohol and cocaine stopped the Argentine Football Association from turning to him when the national team appeared to run out of steam under veteran Alfio Basile in late 2008.
In a year as Argentina coach Maradona did little to justify the choice. His experience and charisma as a player were expected to motivate youngsters who had idolized him all their lives, but instead the team looked lost on the pitch and player rotation was extraordinarily high.
Upon securing a place in South Africa, Maradona rudely insulted Argentine reporters, for their alleged lack of support for the team. The peculiar outburst brought him at loggerheads with public opinion in the South American country, and also prompted an investigation by FIFA, which resulted in a two-month ban. But that was hardly that new for a man who has been controversial throughout his career.
The Star:
Lionel Messi is arguably the best player in the world, and he is regarded as the main candidate to win the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA Player of the Year award in 2009.
The striker, 22, started playing for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario before moving to Barcelona at age 13. The Catalan club was willing to pay for an expensive treatment to combat a growth hormone deficiency.
Messi quickly rose through Barcelona's youth schemes and made his official La Liga debut at 17. A few months later, he became the youngest player ever to score a league goal for Barça, still aged 17, although the record would later be broken by Bojan Krkic.
Messi led Barcelona to a historic treble last season, but for all his record-breaking prowess at the club-level he has consistently disappointed Argentine fans and failed to make a real difference on the pitch in the national team shirt.
Factfile:
Nickname: Albicelestes (White and Sky blue) Founded: 1893 FIFA affiliation: 1912 Highest FIFA ranking: 1 - March 2007 (first achieved) Lowest FIFA ranking: 24 - August 1996 Previous World Cup appearances: 14 (1930, 1934, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006) Best World Cup performance: Winners (1978, 1986) Date qualified for finals: October 14, 2009
