Argentina continue their quest for the World Cup on Sunday evening when they meet Mexico in the last 16.
Having rested key players against Greece in their final group match, Maradona’s side will be at full strength for this clash against the dangerous Central Americans.
Argentina won Group B at a canter as they recorded 3 straight wins with 7 goals scored and just 1 conceded, and they now move on to the knockout stages having fully justified their status as one of the favourites for the title. Another win for Argentina is 8/15 with Blue Square, with the draw at 3/1 and Mexico 11/2 long shots to cause an upset.
Gonzalo Higuain of Real Madrid added to his growing reputation with a hat-trick against South Korea, taking him to an incredible 5 goals in 7 appearances at international level, and he is a very attractive 4/1 chance for the first goal in this match, or evens for a goal at any time during the 90 minutes. An amazing repeat of that hat-trick is 25/1.
Lionel Messi has done everything but score so far in this tournament and frankly it’s a miracle that the little magician is still waiting for that first goal, and surely its only a matter of time. If you think that time is now, Messi is the red-hot favourite in the first goalscorer market at 7/2 and is 4/5 to score at any time. When you consider that this is the best player in the world against a side who aren’t known for their rock-solid defending, that could be a fantastic bet.
It was a mixed bag for Mexico in Group A with a win over France, a defeat to Uruguay and a draw with South Africa, and there was a surprising lack of goals in their matches, with 3 scored and 2 conceded in those 3 games. A neat and tidy side with some good technical attacking players, they do look limited however, and the way they out-classed England for long spells yet still lost 3-1 at Wembley last month is indicative of the kind of side they are.
France were in such a mess by the time they met the Mexicans that you must not get carried away by what looks like a great result on paper, and they were actually fairly poor themselves that night in a low-quality encounter as they won 2-0. I think Maradona has been widely underestimated and his side look solid at the back with a lovely flow going forward, and for me, Mexico to score no goals at 20/21 looks like a great bet.
For those who disagree, Barcelona’s Rafael Marquez is Mexico’s skipper and main man, and having already found the net in this tournament, he could appeal as an 8/1 shot for a goal at any time in the 90 minutes. Young starlet Javier Hernandez recently completed a dream move to Manchester United and is another player who is already off the mark in this World Cup, and the young hitman is rated as his side’s biggest danger and is 9/1 for the first goal of the match and 11/4 to score at any time.
This should be a match that is very pleasing on the eye, given the technically sound, attacking nature of both teams, and I expect goals here as teams simply must push forward if they slip behind in knockout matches. Over 2.5 goals looks like a great bet at 10/11
