Football - Liverpool FC: WHEN Liverpool supporters tire of the hype and expectation placed upon England’s shoulders at this summer’s World Cup, where can they turn for an alternative team to support?
Many will see Spain, featuring Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina and their aesthetically-pleasing style of play, as the ideal ‘second team’.
But what about Argentina – traditionally a rival of the English, but now a team housing two of Liverpool’s finest?
Both Javier Mascherano and Maxi Rodriguez, despite problematic starts, enjoyed stellar campaigns at Anfield this season.
Both will be key next season if Liverpool are to recover from the disappointment of 2009-10.
Mascherano turns 26 just four days before Argentina’s opening Group B game with Nigeria in Johannesburg on June 12, but it feels as if he has been around a lot longer.
Named as captain by Diego Maradona in one of the maverick coach’s more sensible moves, the midfielder is set to be one of the key players for his country this summer. In a side containing Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero, that is some achievement.
Rafael Benitez, not one prone to bouts of hyperbole, believes Mascherano deserves to be mentioned in the very top bracket of midfield players.
“He is captain of Argentina, one of the best teams in the world, so if you say to me ‘How many?’ I would say there are four or five players at this level in the world and he is one of them,” says Benitez. “He’s a player every manager would like to have in their team.”
Fortunately for Liverpool, and for Argentina, they have him.
Having bounced back from a curiously disappointing start to his career in English football with West Ham United, Mascherano has blossomed from a promising talent into a bona fide star. In a position pioneered by Frenchman Claude Makelele, Mascherano is now the benchmark for defensive midfield play.
Argentina are well fancied this summer, with most identifying Barcelona superstar Messi as the key component of Maradona’s plans. Not that the coach agrees with this, of course.
“I say Mascherano and 10 more,” is the 1986 World Cup winner’s response to being asked who is Argentina’s most important player. “After him you have Carlos Tevez or Lionel Messi. Mascherano is much more important than Messi.”
Praise indeed. And Maradona rates Mascherano so highly, he has seen fit to leave out the likes of Fernando Gago, Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti from his final squad.
Mascherano admits to feeling greater strain now he is captain but is confident he can maintain his form long enough to help his nation to a glorious summer.
“As captain you feel a more general pressure of the team, rather than just as an individual,” he says. “I have learned a lot very quickly from being captain of the national team and it has made me a better player and a stronger person.
“But I don’t think any player can stop and say ‘This is my best form’. The day you say that, you are finished as a player because nobody is complete.
“I’m not going to win any personal awards because of the position I play in and the way I play. I just try to do what I do well and help the team, that’s all.
“Every morning when I get up I know I’ve got to give my all to keep on progressing. Only after your career has finished can you look back and point out the best moments and the worst moments, otherwise you can lose focus and a determination to become better.”
For Maxi Rodriguez, things are a little bit different.
The winger was seemingly heading down a career cul-de-sac before Liverpool stepped in and offered him the chance to move to Anfield back in January, but after a strong showing at the back-end of the season, the 29-year-old survived Maradona’s cull and will be hoping for a chance to shine in South Africa, as he did four years ago in Germany.
The former Atletico Madrid man already has plenty of fans on Merseyside, with both Dirk Kuyt and Sammy Lee praising his attitude, and Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard saying: “Maxi is a fantastic player. He’s got good movement and as a footballer it’s a pleasure to play with good players, and that’s what Maxi is. He’s a fantastic player.”
This summer, both Mascherano and Maxi will be looking to follow in the footsteps of their coach by lifting the biggest prize of all.
Argentina have been handed a friendly-looking draw, with Greece, Nigeria and South Korea joining them in Group B, and Mascherano is confident his side can shrug aside their recent inconsistencies at World Cups – they are yet to reach a semi-final since 1990 – and, perhaps, go all the way.
“We have some great players who are in fantastic form and the challenge for us is to reproduce that for the national team, which is something we didn’t do in the qualifiers,” he says. “It’s a big challenge to be captain as you have to be able to rise to the occasion.”
