National Team Overview: Argentina

Our aim was to highlight the most important aspects in connection with the Argentinian football team before the upcoming Copa América.

The Copa América will start on 11 June and it will take place in Chile. The South American continental tournament is one of the most expected event in the football world as it is expected to bring us amazing spectacles and attractive style of football.

• Argentina has top-quality players
• The Albiceleste are title-favourites
• Messi is expected to shine

In our series, we are aiming to introduce every team participating in the prestigious competition. This time, we will go into details about the Argentinian team, so if you would like to find out more about the Albiceleste, keep on reading!

Argentina’s squad is among the strongest ones

online gambling sites in Argentina report that Gerardo Martino, head coach of the Argentinian national football team, has announced recently which players he selected for the Copa América 2015. There were not any major surprises or upsets in his decision, however it was doubtful until the last minute whether or not Angel Di Maria will make it to the top 23.

The Albiceleste mostly built on footballers who are playing for European clubs. We can find only 2 players who are playing in Argentina – they are Fernando Gago, who plays for Boca Juniors, and 27-year-old Milton Casco, who is a member of Newell’s Old Boys, and is about to make a debut for the national team in the Copa América.

The goalkeppers, so Sergio Romero, Mariano Andújar and Nahuel Guzmán play for Sampdoria, Napoli and Tigres UANL respectively. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the defenders are strengthening the two Manchester-based teams as Marcos Rojo is at United, while Martín Demichelis and Pablo Zabaleta are Citizens.

But Zenit Saint Petersburg’s Garay and Valencia’s Nicolás Otamendi are also in the squad, as well as Facundo Roncaglia, a 28 years old back of Genoa. To create stability and balance on the midfield, Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano will be the key member, and probably Valencia’s Evar Banega or Lazio’s Lucas Biglia will play next to him.

For midfielders with more attacking roles, we can find Paris Saint-Germain’s talented attacking midfielder, Javier Pastore, in addition to the newly discovered Roberto Pereyra from Juventus and 23-year-old Tottenham Hotspurs talent Erik Lamela. Ángel Di Maria is also in the squad, however it was in doubt until the last second due to his poor form at Manchester United, according to mobile betting sites.

Attackers of the Argentinian national team are of the highest possible class. Their main person is 4-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, who will be helped out by another champions League finalist, Carlos Tevez, in addition to the Premier League top scorer Sergio Agüero. Furthermore, there will be Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuaín and PSG’s Ezequiel Lavezzi to score.

Argentina are favourites for the title

With the likes of Messi, Mascherano and Agüero, it is only natural that Gerardo Martino’s men are pure favourites for winning the tournament, according to online internet casinos. However, for that, they will have to face the first challenge in the group stage, and they will definitely not have an easy job, not even there.

They were drawn together with Paraguay and Jamaica in addition to their ach-rival, Uruguay. The Albiceleste will start the Copa América against Paraguay on 13 June, and the second game will be the great derby on the 16th, Argentina – Uruguay. The winner is expected to qualify on the first place.

The last match in the group stage will be 4 days later against Jamaica. Argentina has much better squad than Paraguay and Jamaica, but they are also stronger than Uruguay regarding the names and the previous forms, especially now that Uruguay’s shiniest star, Luiz Suarez is banned from the competition.

The previous World Cup’s runner-up will probably be able to claim one of the first 2 spots in the group stage. It would be a major upset if they only reached the third place, or not even that one. And in the knockout round, anything will become possible as all rivals are dangerous then.

It all depends on only one match, only one performance that decides about elimination or qualification. online sportsbooks in Argentina belive that the Albiceleste has the most chances of winning the title as they have set the odds of Gerardo Martino’s men’s success at 3.5 (9/4) by Bet365.

Of course, when a team has great stars, like Messi, Higuaín, Agüero, Di Maria or Mascherano, incredible things are expected from them. With these players they are obviously supposed to reach at least a medal, especially now that they are only the second most successful team in the Copa América, as current title-holder Uruguay have won the competition 15 times.

Read more about how to bet on the Copa America here