Argentina determined not to fall in 'graveyard'
Reuters - Wednesday 06 July 2011, 01:55
SANTA FE - The 'Elephants Graveyard' has
played host to a string of major upsets through the years and
Argentina are determined not to become the next giant to fall
there when they face Colombia in the Copa America on Wednesday.
Argentina, the tournament hosts and favourites, were held to
a 1-1 draw against Bolivia in La Plata in their Group A opener
and need a win at Colon's stadium to get
their campaign back on track.
Lionel Messi was kept quiet by a well-organised Bolivian
defence and Argentina needed a late equaliser from Sergio Aguero
to save their blushes.
Argentina have suffered upsets by Colombia in the past in
World Cup qualifiers and the Copa America, and the ground,
officially known as the Brigadier Estanislao Lopez stadium, has
been the site of some of Colon's great shocks in club football.
Argentina coach Sergio Batista acknowledged the pressure on
his team after their opening draw.
"The national team always has pressure, the more so now with
the obligation of winning after the draw," he said after
arriving in Santa Fe with his squad on Tuesday.
Batista hopes his tactics work better against Colombia than
they did against Bolivia when Messi was drawn deep into midfield
to get possession.
"Messi had a good first half but when we gets disorganised
maybe he gets lost," Batista told a news conference.
"Even if we'd won, there were things that needed correcting
and working on... that concerned me, we didn't play the way we
had in friendlies."
Colombia coach Hernan Dario Gomez said he would not let the
big names in the Argentina team distract him.
"Out of respect, I base myself on an improvement in my team
because if I start thinking about Argentina I'll go crazy. How
do I mark Messi, [Carlos] Tevez, Aguero, [Angel] Di Maria?" he
told a news conference at his team's practice.
"I don't know how to mark Messi. It's very difficult. What
we do have are support lines, back-up, work we can put into
action."