FanHouse Argentina

For one day, at least, Diego Maradona can silence his critics and get the last laugh.

Lampooned, mocked and second-guessed throughout Argentina's nearly disastrous 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, Maradona can let out a massive sigh of relief after Wednesday's 1-0 win against Uruguay in Montevideo, Uruguay. Argentina gains the fourth and final automatic CONMEBOL qualifying spot, while Uruguay moves into the playoff against either Costa Rica or Honduras.

Last June a friend and I decided to break our self-imposed ban on attending soccer matches at Giants Stadium. The reason? The U.S. National Team was hosting two-time world champion Argentina in a friendly in the New Jersey swampland.

We weren't alone, as close to 77,000 hot and sweaty bodies packed into the venerable stadium, leaving us peering down from the final row of the upper deck and racing for my car as the skies opened up in the final 10 minutes causing a torrential downpour.

A little more than a year later, there's a scenario however unlikely, which the U.S. and Argentina could face each other with a 2010 World Cup berth on the line.

During the remainder of the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will give you 5 Things to watch for in each game.

It's Always Manu, Manu, Manu!: Yes, that's right. Your favorite Argentinian is here to join us. Manu Ginobili has been his usual spectacular self in Olympic play, leading all players in scoring at 19.6 points per game, and second in assists at 5 per game. Ginobili's likely to face a tougher defense tonight/tomorrow though, with the Greek swarming defense and tight zone. Still, Ginobili's been on quite the tear, and if you're looking for fireworks, look no further.

Welcome To The Danger Zone: Greece's zone has been very effective, holding opponents to 45% shooting (in the Olympics where everyone's percentage is high) and that's after the USA drubbing. Argentina is tied for the second best offense in the Olympics, so Greece will want to do everything they can to make it a knock down, drag-out affair. Even with Argentina's #2 defensive ranking, the Greeks have a much better shot if they can slow the game down and make it a physical scrap. Let the Argentinians get rolling, and this could get out of hand, fast.

So Argentina recently announced the roster for its Olympic soccer team. It's overage players are Boca Juniors midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme, Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano and Inter Milan center-back Nicolas Burdisso. That's in addition to Lionel Messi from Barcelona, Fernando Gago from Real Madrid and Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid, who are all under 23.

The rest of the field suddenly looks quite doomed, doesn't it? With Ivory Coast, Australia and Serbia in Group A with them, Argentina looks like a lock to go through as the group winner.

That's really bad news for the USA, which is in group B with Japan, the Netherlands and Nigeria. The Group A winner plays the Group B runner-up in the quarterfinals. If the USA wants any hope of a medal in men's soccer, it must win Group B. Finishing second likely means a quarterfinal tie against Argentina. Yes, the senior team held Argentina to a 0-0 draw a month ago, but that wasn't a competitive match at a neutral site. Plus, most of that USA backline won't be in Beijing.

U.S. Soccer has yet to announce its roster for the Olympics, though Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and Freddy Adu are expected to be on it.

...and that's pretty much the thumping you expect when you throw your second-stringers out against Argentina, but it almost wasn't. Maybe not "almost". But it 2/3rds wasn't? Eddie Johnson drew a ninth minute penalty; Argentina responded with a set piece chip that bobbled around the box until Hernan Crespo slammed it home, and from there a stalemate settled in until Leo Messi did his Messi thing, found Crespo, and staked Argentina to a 2-1 lead, at which point things disintegrated.

Despite the constant exuberant praise heaped upon the US defenders by GolTV's shockingly not Scottish color guy (he's apparently from Newcastle, which is so close to Scotland it might not be total crap), it always seemed a matter of time before the Argentines got a grip on the knobbly oyster shell that was the US defense, inserted the knife, and prised it open to devour its meaty goodness. Tortured, shellfish-themed metaphors aside, this is exactly what happened in a deflating final half hour that firmly established that yes, Virginia, they're Argentina... and we are not.

It's not all bad. For 60 minutes the US played with one of the top teams in the world, and though they lacked the cutting edge near goal the Argentines had, large parts of the match were impressive soccer. The last 30 minutes, though, was another demonstration that the United States lacks the lethal quality of the world's best sides. Boxes post jump.