Every four years, the hierarchy of world football is shaken up. Fallen favorites, inspired underdogs, moments of genius, flashes of temper: the World Cup always delivers its share of surprises. This series looks back at those storylines that defied every prediction.
For the 2006 edition in Germany, Argentina came in with a squad strong enough to leave the young Messi and Tevez on the bench at kickoff.
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And for good reason: José Peckerman could field Hernan Crespo, Juan Roman Riquelme, Javier Saviola, Esteban Cambiasso, and Pablo Aimar.
In the group of death with the Netherlands, Ivory Coast, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, La Albiceleste would produce polished possession football that would surprise the entire football world.
The clearest expression of that approach came in the win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, when Esteban Cambiasso finished off one of the most iconic team goals in World Cup history.
Unfortunately for them, Argentina’s run would end in the quarter-finals, beaten by Germany on penalties.
In the meantime, Maxi Rodriguez still had time to give us one of the most beautiful goals in the history of the competition in the round of 16 against Mexico.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.
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