Gonzalo Higuain reminded Manuel Pellegrini of his worth at the weekend, scoring both goals for 10-man Real Madrid in their 2-0 victory over Getafe.

The Argentine youngster was Real’s top scorer with 22 league goals last season, but was making only his third start in nine league games on Saturday.

Higuain has found his chances limited with the arrival of president Florentino Perez and his new batch of Galacticos including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema.

He also has to compete with the experienced heads of Raul and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

“We’ve had to integrate Benzema, Ronaldo and all the others into the team,” coach Manuel Pellegrini said after the Getafe game.

“I am sure that this season Higuain will have a major role to play again. For me he is a fundamental player.”

Higuain has pace, loves to run at defenders, and is not afraid of shooting from distance, but against Getafe he showed one of his most valuable assets which is a gutsy ability to score important goals in high-pressure situations.

The Getafe game was a tense affair at the Bernabeu where defeat could have signalled the end for Pellegrini, and the team had to endure a disgruntled home crowd after their humbling 4-0 King’s Cup defeat to third-tier Alcorcon.

Last season, in the same fixture, Higuain scored a screamer in time added on to give Real a 3-2 victory. His strike came as scuffles broke out all around him following Pepe’s spectacular loss of control that led to him getting a 10-match ban.

In 2008 he scored the goal that delivered Real’s 31st league title, when Bernd Schuster’s side came back with 10 men to beat Osasuna 2-1 away.

The year before that, he completed the remarkable comeback from 3-0 down against Espanyol, netting in the last minute for a 4-3 win that proved to be a psychological turning point in Fabio Capello’s title winning campaign.

After being overlooked by Argentina, Diego Maradona finally threw him on for his first cap against Peru last month and Higuain rose to the challenge scoring the first in a 2-1 win.

Higuain may not sell as many shirts around the world as the players in front of him at Real Madrid, but his fighting spirit should keep them on their toes.

PHOTO: Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain (R) fights for the ball with Getafe’s Cata Diaz during their Spanish First Division soccer match at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid October 31, 2009. REUTERS/Dani Cardona

Unusually, the final night of European World Cup qualifying is a bit of a damp affair. Most of the groups have been decided, with by and large just the second-places, and play-off berths, up for grabs.

Undeterred, we shall keep you up to date with what’s going on in Europe as a prelude to the really serious business of the night … the decisive match in Montevideo, where Argentina are playing for their lives against Uruguay.

Here at Reuters Soccer Blog we particularly welcome comments, so please give us your views on how things are going as the actions progresses.

The above picture was the defining image of Argentina’s dramatic 2-1 victory over Peru in the rain on Saturday, and perhaps Diego Maradona’s tenure as national team coach to date.

For many in Argentina, Maradona’s reactions are indicative of an approach to the job that is too emotional.

Whatever he is really thinking, he often looks slightly bemused on the touchline when his team are not in control. He has been criticised for being unable to make the right substitutions, though he did pull a rabbit out of the hat with the introduction of mircale maker Martin Palermo, a striker who has been dubbed “the goal optimist”.

When Maradona celebrates he is like any fan and while his dive on to the sodden pitch after Palermo’s winner made for great pictures, the sports talk shows have been asking whether it was the image the national team manager should be giving.

The always elegant Cesar Luis Menotti, the coach who wrought a sea change in how Argentina’s national team is run when he took charge in 1974 and set the tone for two World Cup victories, is probably having nightmares watching the present side.

Yet here they are, one win away form clinching a place at the World Cup finals.

Might emotional Maradona yet have the last laugh?

PHOTO: Diego Maradona celebrates Argentineas winning goal in their World Cup qualifier against Peru in Buenos Aires, October 10, 2009. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Marcelo Bielsa’s feats – leading Chile’s national team to the third spot in the World Cup qualifiers and just one win from a ticket to South Africa 2010 – have turned him into one of Chile’s most beloved figures. Men say he should run for president; women rank the introverted coach a sex symbol.

His popularity is backed by numbers. A poll in El Mercurio newspaper ranks Bielsa the best trainer in Chile’s soccer history, above Nelson Acosta who took the team to the second round of France 1998 and Fernando Riera who led “La Roja” to the third spot in Chile 1962.

But passion for the Argentine transcends the soccer pitch and enters the realm of the altar.
In the most recent act of fervour, a group of fans is asking the Vatican to canonise him. The site asks fans to support the effort by lighting 100,000 virtual candles for “San Marcelino.”

Bielsa, who is pictured with a halo on an altar, wearing the red jumper of the Chilean squad, even has prayers in his honour. “Blessed San Marcelino, lead your serious glare towards our fans and fill our nation with your glory,” reads one of them. It adds: “The nation you’ve chosen to change history and bring only triumphs to La Roja.”

The site asks for three miracles from “the saint”: Chile’s classification to the next World Cup, reaching round two, and winning the tournament.

The first miracle could be granted if “Saint Marcelino’s” Chile beats Colombia in Medellin on Saturday. For now fans can only pray and hope the miracle is achieved and their team can come back to a World Cup after 12 years of purgatory.

Sunday update: I guess we can say, All that and then some, after Chile clinched qualification. Here’s how we reported it:

Chile qualified for the 2010 World Cup on Saturday, beating Colombia 4-2 away to secure their place after a typically audacious move from their coach Marcelo Bielsa.

With Chile trailing 1-0, Bielsa took off his out-of-touch playmaker Matias Fernandez after 32 minutes and within four minutes of the move saw his team go 2-1 up.

 

Chile, whose last World Cup appearance was in 1998, have 30 points from 17 games and are guaranteed a top four finish in the South American group with one match to play. The defeat meant that Colombia, eighth with 20 points, were eliminated.

Click here for the full story.

PHOTO: Chile’s coach Marcelo Bielsa listens to a question during a news conference at Santiago August 31, 2009. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

Some of football’s biggest names, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, are in danger of missing out on next year’s World Cup, as countries such as Argentina, Portugal and France struggle in qualification.

Most, if not quite all of them, may make it in the end, of course, but for a bit of pre-weekend qualifier fun, here’s my stab at a world XI wtill fretting over their places at South Africa 2010.

Think I’ve got it about right? Missed anyone out? Let me know in the comments.

Petr Cech (Czech Republic): The Chelsea keeper is arguably the best in the business, but the Czech Republic are currently fourth in group three and could be eliminated on Saturday if results go against them.

Patrice Evra (France): The left back could pick up his fourth consecutive Premier League crown with Manchester United this season, but he could miss out on the World Cup with France currently second in their group behind Serbia and hoping for a play-off place at a realistic best.

Thomas Vermaelen (Belgium): The former Ajax defender has enjoyed a superb opening to the season since completing a move to Arsenal, but he will not get the chance to showcase his talents in South Africa after Belgium were eliminated from their qualifying group.

Dmytro Chygrynskiy (Ukraine): Barcelona paid €25 million for the former Shakhtar Donetsk defender, but Ukraine will need to overhaul Croatia in Group Six for the centre back to stand a chance of playing in the World Cup.

Christian Chivu (Romania): The Inter defender was a €16 million signing for Serie A champions Inter in 2007 and has since won consecutive Italian titles. But his Romania side need to beat Serbia on Saturday for them to stand any chance of making the finals.

Javier Mascherano (Argentina): The Argentina captain is one of the most highly regarded holding midfielders in the world, but his team have suffered an accident-prone qualifying campaign that has left them fifth in their group, clinging on to a play-off place.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal): The World Footballer of the Year became the most expensive player in history when he completed his move to Real Madrid from Manchester United. With Portugal currently third in their qualifying group, he could be the biggest absentee from this summer’s tournament.

Lionel Messi (Argentina): The miniature magician has lit up pitches across Europe for Barcelona, but he is another who could be absent from South Africa, if Argentina cannot get results from their final two group games against Peru and Uruguay.

Franck Ribery (France): He was reportedly being lined up by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson as a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo after some devastating displays in the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich. But France are currently four points behind Serbia in their group, and are likely to need the play-offs to make it to the finals.

Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo): The Togo international has courted controversy since leaving Arsenal for Manchester City, but has proved an instant hit at his new club. His country, however, are currently third in their qualifying group behind Cameroon and Gabon with only two games left to play.

Karim Benzema (France): The France striker’s move to Real Madrid was overshadowed by the signings of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, but he has made an early impact at the Bernabeu. He may not have the same effect in South Africa, however, with France needing to beat Faroe Islands just to guarantee a play-off place.

Coach: Giovanni Trapattoni: Trap is one of the most successful coaches in the history of club football having won 10 league titles in four different countries. But as manager of Republic of Ireland, he needs to beat the country of his birth on Saturday to stand any chance of winning the group and booking a spot in South Africa.

Let me know in the comments if you disagree with my choice…

PHOTO: Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo (L) and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi shake hands before the start of the Champions League final soccer match at the Olympic Stadium in Rome May 27, 2009. REUTERS/Albert Gea

Is Martin Palermo’s amazing winner for Boca Juniors on Sunday, a header from nearly 40 metres that bounced just once on the line of the six-yard box on its way into the net, worthy of an entry into the Guinness Book of records?

This is a question Argentines have been asking, while TV sports chat shows have been running footage of other remarkable goals and moments in the career of the 35-year-old striker.

Palermo himself barely knew what had happened on Sunday. His expression as he celebrated his feat said it all. First a quick run, taking his shirt off and waving it over his head. Then a stance with feet and arms out wide in front of the hardcore fans at the Bombonera, soaking up the adulation but also with a wry grin as if to ask “How did I manage that?”

Velez Sarsfield goalkeeper German Montoya came out of his box to kick the ball clear. It went at head height towards the centre circle. Palermo, standing just outside the circle 38.90 metres from goal headed it right back and it sailed, veering towards the right, into the net. Another 10 metres and it would have hit the post or gone just wide.

“It always happens to me. When I look for similar stories of other players there aren’t any. Things happen to me that I can’t explain,” Palermo told TyC Sports cable TV.

Diego Maradona is probably going to give Palermo, who scored twice with two orthodox headers in a friendly 2-0 win against a weak Ghana team last Wednesday, a start in Argentina’s critical World Cup qualifier against Peru at the Monumental on Saturday.

It is another remarkable moment in the career of a striker who won seven caps in 1999, one of which came in a match against Colombia in which he missed three penalties, and then did not put on an Argentina shirt for 10 years.

Last month, he made his international comeback as a substitute in Argentina’s 1-0 defeat by Paraguay that has left Maradona’s team teetering on the edge of World Cup oblivion. Argentina’s only real chance of that match fell to him in stoppage time but he was just short of getting to Rolando Schiavi’s header across the face of goal.

A younger Palermo would probably have reached it and turned it in for an equaliser. Maradona hopes he can score against the Peruvians and Palermo said his wonder header on Sunday has been a confidence booster.

“Mentally, it’s a great boost for what’s coming with the national team,” said Palermo, who, if he plays, will win his 10th cap.

“Obviously it’s not the same to arrive (at the match) in good form as getting there in (the middle of) a bad run,” added Palermo, whose Boca side had lost their previous four matches before Sunday’s 3-2 victory over league title holders Velez.

PHOTO: Argentina’s Martin Palermo celebrates after scoring against Ghana during their friendly in Cordoba September 30, 2009. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Lionel Messi walks off the pitch in Asuncion his head bowed after Argentina’s 1-0 defeat to Paraguay. A few days later he scores for Barcelona and the dimpled grin is back on his face.

Diego Maradona says that on the compact Rosario central pitch Argentina will pin Brazil against their goal. They do up to a point, with masses of possession, but Dunga’s men demolish them in lethal counter-attacks with Maradona watching in glum silence and Argentina return to River Plate for next month’s key World Cup qualifier against Peru.

“Coco” Basile is all grins, throaty one-liners and “I know the dressing room inside out” at his official presentation as Boca Juniors coach on July 1. Last weekend it was his empty look the cameras caught as he walked off the Bombonera pitch after another defeat.

Nestor Gorosito welcomes the three musketeers Ariel Ortega, Marcelo Gallardo and Matias Almeyda at the start of a new campaign last month. Last week he went sprawling in the mud on the side of the pitch when a Lanus player slid into him in pouring rain during a 1-0 defeat that put River Plate out of the Copa Sudamericana, and the crowd cheered.

Argentina’s big teams, the national side that have won two World Cups and the multi-decorated Boca Juniors and River Plate, are not well and fans and media are struggling to understand why.

Former Argentina captain Roberto Ayala said recently in Spain he saw a “surprising lack of rebellion” in Argentina’s players against their situation as Maradona’s side hovered dangerously close to World Cup elimination.

The coaches may not have the answers but players who week in, week out make the European headlines for their clubs, the likes of Messi, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and Diego Milito, are failing to deliver for Argentina.

Does at least part of the answer lie in the fact that Argentina, who won the last two World Youth Cups, did not even qualify for this year’s tournament kicking off on Thursday in Egypt?

Yet it was the very World Youth Cup that made world junior champions of Maradona in 1979, Juan Roman Riquelme and Pablo Aimar in 1997, Andres D’Alessandro in 2001, Messi in 2005 and Aguero in 2007. There is no questioning their quality.

Argentina may be lacking a midfield general, the kind of traditional No.10 who strolled the pitch spraying telling passes, the most recent of which was Riquelme.

Captain Javier Mascherano is not that man. Apart from the fact he is off his game, he patrols the area in front of the back four as Americo Gallego did for Cesar Menotti’s 1978 world champions.

Maradona’s Argentina now rely on Juan Sebastian Veron — suspended against Peru after being sent off against Paraguay — to dictate play but he is being asked to play further upfield than he does to greater effect from deeper for Estudiantes.

Argentina bunch up in the middle of their opponents’ half, the forwards often get in each others’ way and the defence is left thin and open to the counter-punch.

Sadly, River Plate and Boca Juniors, two of the country’s traditional player production lines, have dried up in that department. All the most recent major exports are strikers.

Former River Plate midfielders Pablo Aimar, now at Benfica, and Andres D’Alessandro, who is in Brazil with Internacional, are on people’s tongues again as the sort of No.10 Argentina need.

Maradona as a player was that and much more. He appears unable, though, to inject his team with the passion he showed in an Argentina shirt or, as their coach, a strategy that brings the best out of them.

PHOTO: Argentina’s Lionel Messi pauses during their World Cup qualifying defeat against Paraguay in Asuncion, Sept 9, 2009. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Join Owen Wyatt for our regular wrap of world sport. This week, it’s a World Cup qualifier special, as we consider the plight of Diego Maradona and the battle for golden tickets for South Africa 2010.

We particularly welcome comments, so if you’d like to critique Owen’s schoolboy fashion errors, please do…

Those waiting for Diego Maradona to resign or be sacked after yet another dismal Argentina performance in the World Cup qualifiers forget that he is untouchable.

Maradona will press on blindly, brushing off criticism with remarks about having always fought adversity and come out on top.

The team he led to victory in the 1986 World Cup forged their solidarity in the them-and-us syndrome: Them being influential people in Buenos Aires, like then government Sports secretary Rodolfo O’Reilly, trying to get coach Carlos Bilardo ousted weeks before the tournament in Mexico when they looked a poor team.

Victory served to increase Maradona’s self-belief and aura of invincibility.

Maradona recalled on Wednesday night that Argentina were close to elimination in the qualifiers for the 1986 finals and that they had to play Australia in a playoff for the 1994 tournament.

He is the arch-survivor, from the time an uncle plucked him as a little boy out of a cesspit in the shantytown where he grew up to the several occasions when he cheated death by drugs or obesity after retiring as a player.

Whether or not he is a good coach, an astute leader of men, an inspiration to his players doesn’t come into it: Faith is the issue and “The Hand of God” claims to have plenty.

Maradona’s appointment last October appalled a lot of Argentines but just as many had faith that he could inspire the team like no-one else, touch Lionel Messi with his magic wand and transform Argentina.

Good results in friendlies in his early games in charge fuelled the faith and a 4-0 home win over Venezuela in his first qualifier in charge looked good — on paper.

Ultimately it did a lot of damage, because the team tried to play the same game more than 3,500 metres up in the rarefied air of La Paz and got pasted 6-1 by Bolivia.

There has been just one win in the four qualifiers since, 1-0 at home to Colombia who were unlucky not to get at least a draw.

In Maradona’s defence, the team played well away to Ecuador in their next away game at altitude, pacing themselves, but a penalty miss by Carlos Tevez denied them the halftime lead they deserved. They lost their legs in the final quarter of an hour and conceded two late goals to go down 2-0.

The Brazil and Paraguay defeats in the last six days followed, leaving Argentina in the playoff position.

Tevez’s Argentina form is symptomatic of the team’s ills. He is no longer the South American Tevez who inspired Boca Juniors and Corinthians to titles. He has moulded himself into the ultimate idol of the English fans’ and managers’ love of the work ethic. He always gave his all but he seems to have lost his ball touch.

Messi’s performances have merely highlighted the superb job Pep Guardiola does at Barcelona where the Argentine wonder kid responds brilliantly to a tune dictated by Xavi and Iniesta.

Argentines want to see the Barcelona Messi playing for their country but there is no strong team structure for him to shine in and he can’t carry the team like Maradona did at a similar age.

The Argentina team became Maradona’s baby as a captain. It is no different as a coach, only he lacks the ability from the touchline to carry the team to victory that he had as a player.

Critics have said they hope Maradona fails and Argentina don’t go to the finals in South Africa so the team can make a new start. A process that brought Argentina five of their record six World Youth Cups in the last decade and a half and produced a team who were favourites to win the senior title in 2002 and met Brazil in the 2004 and 2007 Copa America finals has hit the buffers.

Maradona believes only he can save them.

PHOTO: Diego Maradona sits on the bench during Argentina’s defeat by Paraguay in Asuncion, Sept. 9, 2009. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Ten wins in a row and unbeaten for eighteen games. The run includes 2-0 and 3-0 wins over Italy, 4-0 wins in Uruguay and Venezuela, 3-0 in Chile and, of course, Saturday’s 3-1 demolition of Argentina, the first time Brazil’s arch-rivals have lost at home for 16 years. Nothing, it seems, can stand in the way of Dunga’s Brazil and and a sixth world title.

There’s only one small problem: everyone was saying the same about Carlos Alberto Parreira’s team four years ago after they won the Confederations Cup with a 4-1 win over Argentina in the final. Like Dunga’s team, they were Copa America champions at the time and their so-called Magic Quarter of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka and Adriano looked unstoppable.

Instead, Brazil relaxed. They took the Confederations Cup too seriously, forgetting that the Argentine side they had beaten was a second-string line-up. Their pre-World Cup training camp in the small Swiss village of Weggis had a carnival atmosphere. Five thousand paying spectators packed a specially constructed arena to watch every single training session. A subdued World Cup campaign ended with a 1-0 defeat to France in the quarter-finals. 

This time, the Brazilian confederation has vowed not to repeat the mistakes. Dunga, who shuns celebrity status for both himself and his players, is probably the last coach in the world who would accept such a set-up. But there are other things which could go wrong.

Brazil are heavily dependant on striker Luis Fabiano and goalkeeper Julio Cesar and a loss of form for either player would seriously weaken them.

Luis Fabiano has scored five goals at the Confederations Cup and nine in the World Cup qualifiers despite playing in only nine of their 15 games. They have looked fairly toothless when he has been absent .Julio Cesar has been in inspired form and has often made the difference.

Luck also comes into it and Brazil have been getting all the breaks recently. Their match away to Ecuador in March last June was an extraordinarily one-sided affair in which the hosts should have been several goals to the good by halftime. Instead, Brazil somehow sneaked a 1-1 draw.

Brazil again found themselves under the cosh in Uruguay, yet managed to go in 2-0 ahead at halftime thanks to some more heroics from Julio Cesar and a blunder from his opposite number Sebastian Viera. It was a similar story on Saturday when Argentina did all the attacking but Brazil led 2-0 at halftime. And we must not forget the farcical penalty which gave them a 4-3 win over Egypt at the Confederations Cup.

Brazil’s World Cup opponents are less likely to play into their hands than their South American neighbours.

Dunga has turned Brazil into a counter-attacking outfit who are at their most comfortable away from home against teams who come out and take the initiative.

Argentina, who have descended into chaos under the leadership of Diego Maradona, played straight into Dunga’s hands as they poured forward in Rosario and left gaping holes at the back.

World Cup opponents are likely to be play more like Colombia and Bolivia, who both held on for goalless draws in Rio de Janeiro as they exposed Brazil’s lack of ideas when faced with packed defences.

PHOTO: Brazil players salute their supporters at the end of the World Cup qualifying win over Argentina in Rosario, September 5, 2009 REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian