The 2018 Russia World Cup Qualifiers will go through an important stage over this next two weeks. And we could be on the verge of seeing one of the top players in the world not featuring with his side.
Let’s be honest: does anyone imagine the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia without Lionel Messi? I’m assuming the answer is no. Well, the reality is that it might happen if Argentina doesn’t improve their play. And that has to happen sooner than later.
The problem is that things will be pretty tough for La Albiceleste in their upcoming matches. First they will play against Chile on Thursday, and next Tuesday they will take on Bolivia in La Paz.
First, let’s take a look at their game against La Roja on Thursday. Sure, history is on Argentina’s side as Chile have lost their last three WC Qualifying games there. However, Juan Antonio Pizzi’s side won the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals against them. And while both win came via penalties, the wound still lingers in Argentinian fans.
It’s not like Chile has a bad team, either. They won’t have Arturo Vidal and Marcelo Diaz, so they will be a bit shorthanded. But there’s Gary Medel, Alexis Sanchez, Claudio Bravo, Eduardo Vargas and Mauricio Isla, among others. That’s a competitive team that won’t make things easy, even if they are playing at home.
If they manage to win against Chile they will likely move into the top four that would qualify automatically, but they would have to maintain that position with a win against Bolivia. Los Altiplanicos are sitting near the bottom of the standings and they don’t have a realistic shot to qualify, but they have a big advantage: they play their home games at over 3000 mts above sea level.
Bolivia doesn’t have a potent team, but the altitude gives them quite an edge. Most of the national team players are used to those conditions, and the majority of the squad comes from The Strongest and Bolivar, arguably the country’s two top teams. In fact, stars like Alejandro Chumacero and Pablo Escobar play together on a weekly basis. And as we all know, chemistry is pretty important in modern soccer.
To make things even more complicated, Argentina suffered one of their biggest losses in WCQ history against Argentina in La Paz a few years ago, losing 1-6 when Diego Maradona was the team’s head coach. Argentina wants to have revenge, but playing Bolivia in La Paz is not easy. And even if they play with Messi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and all their stars, that won’t guarantee a victory. So Edgardo Bauza will have to select the team carefully. Anything less than six points could complicate Argentina’s chance to make it to Russia.
Like I said before, I think no one imagines a World Cup without Messi. But if the team doesn’t improve drastically, then we might have to adjust our reality to that scenario.